STOLEN TomTom Sat Nav - help!

flutterbybutterfly

albertross wrote:

Nice to see the police putting the fear of god into everyone, rather than putting their minds at rest. That advice goes against the official advice from the police, the take me to bed campaign. If you are too scared to take them to bed, don't make it easy for them and leave them in the hallway, or in view on a windowsill. If you do that, you are more likely to be targeted in the first place.

I wouldn't put the keys in view from outside the house i.e. on a window sill or in view of a window.

I do however leave the keys in such a place that if someone broke into my house then they would see them and just take the car. I would much rather that than come upstairs and "ask" for them.

What's this "take me to bed campaign"??? If someone breaks in with full intention of taking your car, usually stolen to order, they are not going to be too worried about getting the keys off you if they can't find them.

Especially as we have had some of that locally.

The thing that worried me about having the address in the Sat Nav is that my husband has a desirable sports car and obviously the thieves know where the vehicle is kept from the address in the sat nav.

As far as claiming from household insurance, excess is £150 so we might as well just go for a new sat nav (cheaper version than original Tom Tom 700) as Tesco have some Navman's at £99.

Finally, someone told me that if you have Sat Nav with bluetooth, and set it to enable other devices to find it, the thieves will know if you have hidden it in the car by using their mobile phone to locate bluetooth devices!

martindow

Best thing is to have a rubbish car like mine - no one would make a journey to steal that!

gaming_guy

flutterbybutterfly wrote:

Finally, someone told me that if you have Sat Nav with bluetooth, and set it to enable other devices to find it, the thieves will know if you have hidden it in the car by using their mobile phone to locate bluetooth devices!

only if the unit is switched on! and if it made a noise they probably wouldn't hear it if the car was locked away in the garage with the satnav in the glovebox

lil_me

Yes it's advisable to not set home address, and we also wipe the screen when the sat nav has been in the car as there was a theif my friend interviewed and they asked him how he knew it was in the car, and he said the rings on the screen. There is no way of blocking them. Camera installed into the garage might help them if they do come back, other than that and security measures already suggested not much you can do.

basill

james_brown_06 wrote:

I have a pack of these in my car, so that I can easily remove tell-tale rings from my windscreen.

http://www.globalpositioningsystems.co.uk/armor-all-glass-wipes-pack-of-15-description.html

Good idea, but i think the suspiciously clean area of the screen of my motorised dustbin might give the game away aswell

B

amcluesent

I guess the desirability of SatNav is keeping prices up in the back-street pubs where stolen goods change hands. The lo price of videos and the like in Tesco means they're not worth nicking any more.

Good advice not to identify personal locations exactly. My TomTom 'home' is now the roundabout closest to my house.

Even though I use an iPaq PDA to run TomTom, it's been fully erased of all personal info. I know use a smartphone for contacts, diary etc. and never leave that lying about.

albertross_2

If they wake you up, they are far more likely to get caught, and if they beat you up in the process, leave dna around the house, then when they do get caught, they will be going to prison for a longer stretch.

A burglar would prefer to put your windows in with a brick, get the keys, and do a runner before you wake up, (or do a sneak in during the day) than start causing a fuss.

I've heard this argument before about not taking them to bed with you before on here, what do you do leave them in a drawer with a big fluorescent arrow pointing to them, and asking them not to wake the kids up.

The argument about "this is what insurance is for" is ridiculous, if you get burgled, you will lose out in monetary terms (you won't get the full price for the car, both your house and car insurance will go up as a result), have some serious hassle to deal with, and be a nervous wreck waiting for them to come back. Burglary and car theft has many more potential consequences than just the loss of a car which can be replaced.

If you make it easy for them by leaving the keys in an obvious place, they will wait for you to buy a new car, and come and get that a few months later.

http://www.westyorkshire.police.uk/section-item.asp?sid=69&iid=1123

http://www.essex.police.uk/news/n_cont.php?articleId=1636

If you make it hard, they will choose someone else.

flutterbybutterfly

albertross wrote:

and if they beat you up in the process, leave dna around the house, then when they do get caught, they will be going to prison for a longer stretch.

Well, I know I certainly wouldn't want to be beaten up in the process!

Raggie

I know the latest Firmaware upgrade to Tom Tom, enables you to set a pin number that needs to be entered or the unit will not boot.

A little late now for you but may help others.

Check out the upgrade section on the Tom Tom website. Available for all models

OK_Sauce

The Garmin street pilot has an anti-theft pin number protection. It will only work without a pin no. if you are located at a predetermined location, known only to you, (normally your house). Not much use to you now but worth bearing in mind if any one is looking looking for a new sat-nav.