WELL.... It finally happened!!!!

[hasher13]

[quote name="niteone"] [quote name="hasher13"]As I walk to my car this moring, I see a few odd looking car parts and wires next to my car. As I walk closer and look in the window, angryly noticed that someone finally did it. They finally stole my AVIC Z-1. After taking a quick glance to see if anything else was stolen, I called the police. Yes they also took my bluetooth adapter and navtrafic receiver. They did leave the CD changer, game port, and other quite valuable items (I guess not valuable enough). So I filed a police report and the forensic fingerprinting unit came by to investigate. Besides minor damage to the dash, I guess they knew what they were only going for. Luckily, everything was insured and should be all replaced. Will I re-install it again....who knows. Most likely not at this present location of living. OH WELL!!!

P.S. I guess that is what happens when living in the New York area.[/quote]

I have a couple questions...

you had additional coverage for that unit (AVIC-Z1), right?

and, if they damaged the auto, like the dash, that coverage was under your normal coverage, right?....so, a deductable would apply, correct?

my insurance (Nationwide) automaticily covers $1500.00 for the unit, but if they damage anything, it falls under the regular insurance, which I have a $500.00 deductable.

so, I called my insurance agent up, and wanted to add additional coverage, like another $1000.00 to the $1500.00 and they want another $80.00 per year.

I think that's to high, especially if there is damage and I'l have to at least pay $500.00 for the deductable on the damage.

how does your insurance work? Did you have to pay any out of pocket for the damage?[/quote]


Well I have to say that I am lucky because I believe to have a very nice plan with Geico. I guess that is what happens when you use them for so many years with many cars. Well, I did get a rider just for the unit and installation and everything else for about $2800.00 and it was only an extra 30 bucks every 6 months, totalling the yearly payment to about $700-800. And the kicker was that I have only a $50.00 deductable. So basically they reimberressed me for the unit and everything, plus the appeared damage to my truck, and they took out the $50.00 at the time of cutting the check. So yea, all is good now. Just upset about the whole incident and complete loosing faith in the area, to believe it or not, they also took a bag for work which I had a book in there, which is like a bible and is not replacable. Or atleast all the added info that I put in myself. Oh yea, and the bag had alot of sentimental value :-( Oh well. Life goes on!!!

[thxdave]

I feel your pain too, but in a different way. I had my AVH-P7500 destroyed (partially) by some jacka** who tried (and failed) to rip the head unit out of the dash. He managed to rip the screen module out of the head unit and left it on the floor. I don't know if somebody came by and the thief panicked or what, but he left me a broken mess. He also took off with my CD wallet that contained a BUNCH of CD's and DVD-A's that I'm only now finding replacements for. My insurance company (Allstate) wouldn't do a damn thing because (I assume) the thief didn't actually STEAL the unit!! I tried to explain the damages to the rep but they wouldn't do anything to help me.

I have not been able to afford to get the thing fixed yet and I've been reading this site because the thought of an in-dash unit that looks more like a factory radio intrigues me. However, seeing a posting like this one is discouraging. Have any of you tried getting an old, non-functional factory radio and removing the faceplate and using that as a removeable faceplate "cover" for the Pioneer? If I get a Z1, I'm thinking that this will be one of my first projects.

Finally, and this is a dumb question, but is the opening on my 2003 Ford Explorer considered a double-DIN size? Thanks for reading this and a BIG thanks to Ducatiboy for all his work.....and I don't even OWN a Z1....yet!

[silveradojeff]

several people have already made faceplate covers for their z1's. I am making one now as a matter of fact. Its kinda time consuming but they look so stock that unless you try to turn it on you would probobly never know its not real. and most thives dont want to steal your stock ford cassette player anyway

[thxdave]

[quote name="silveradojeff"]several people have already made faceplate covers for their z1's. I am making one now as a matter of fact. Its kinda time consuming but they look so stock that unless you try to turn it on you would probobly never know its not real. and most thives dont want to steal your stock ford cassette player anyway[/quote]

That's my hope. I'd love to make a "plain Jane" factory radio cover for a Z1 whenever I finally get one.

[hasher13]

Way ahead of ya, and did not matter!! I had the unit in a ford and I used another old ford radio that I had as a decoy. I removed the face plate with keys and display from the old radio and placed it over the Z1 unit. Like most, it looked like a sloopy install of a factory radio, but if someone just walked by it would not make them look twice. I believe it had alot to do with the the gps and the xm antenni. They were on my dash inside the car. The person that took the unit, knew what they were doing and what they were coming from. Like I said in my original post, they just took the unit and the xm/nav adapter. Left other valuable and small things inside. The police said it was a strange thing, because they have never seen just the unit being taken, they usually take the small stuff aswell and the airbags. After explaining this was not "just an unit" they understood. So thinking more and more about it. I also beleive that thieves are getting more aware of the unit and lack of internal security. This make a very easy target, once they get in the car or truck. So something in this nature has to be resolved. The unit has to become dead when removed, simple as that.
When I do get another unit installed, I am going to have the antenni installed on the roof and in the middle with no signs of them what so ever.
Owning a truck, and a tall one, one is not able to see the roof and be curious what is inside.

I hope this gives some people some thought!

[thxdave]

Thanks for that info. It's all a bit discouraging, isn't it? My Explorer sits outside my apartment and is completely exposed. Your idea about putting the GPS antenna up high is sorta like what I have now, but I have considered trying to make it even MORE obscure by mounting the little antenna "puck" somewhere on the luggage rails and disguise the wire inside the rail body, if possible. BTW, with the Z1, are the XM and GPS antennas separate modules or do they combine the antennas in one little puck?

[cntrylvr79]

[quote name="thxdave"]Thanks for that info. It's all a bit discouraging, isn't it? My Explorer sits outside my apartment and is completely exposed. Your idea about putting the GPS antenna up high is sorta like what I have now, but I have considered trying to make it even MORE obscure by mounting the little antenna "puck" somewhere on the luggage rails and disguise the wire inside the rail body, if possible. BTW, with the Z1, are the XM and GPS antennas separate modules or do they combine the antennas in one little puck?[/quote]

The antennas are separate pieces. What you can do since ther're about the same size nad shape is put on each side next to the luggage rails. I do this wuite often. Makes it pretty damn hard to even tell that the antennas are even there.

[thxdave]

[quote name="cntrylvr79"] [quote name="thxdave"]Thanks for that info. It's all a bit discouraging, isn't it? My Explorer sits outside my apartment and is completely exposed. Your idea about putting the GPS antenna up high is sorta like what I have now, but I have considered trying to make it even MORE obscure by mounting the little antenna "puck" somewhere on the luggage rails and disguise the wire inside the rail body, if possible. BTW, with the Z1, are the XM and GPS antennas separate modules or do they combine the antennas in one little puck?[/quote]

The antennas are separate pieces. What you can do since ther're about the same size nad shape is put on each side next to the luggage rails. I do this wuite often. Makes it pretty damn hard to even tell that the antennas are even there.[/quote]

Hey cntry,
When you do one of these installs, where do you feed the antenna wire when you are coming from the rooftop? In this case, I'm talking about a rooftop that has luggage/cargo rails on it. On my Explorer, I put the antenna near the rear hatch so that I had only a couple inches of exposed wire. I punched a tiny hole through the rear windshield washer fluid tube rubber boot and fed the wire into the interior that way. I thought about dismantling the roof rack rail support posts to see if there was a way to feed the wire through there but I chickened out. Ideas?

[silveradojeff]

i mounted my gps antenna inside the vehicle. its way up front hear the front of the dash and i get great satalite signal. ive never had all 8 lock in at the same time but i nearly always have seven. occasionaly i have had only 6 but thats been on bad weather days and in the woods. My guidance is spot on. it never shows me on wrong roads and its very very accurate. anyway thats just another option for ya

[cntrylvr79]

[quote name="thxdave"] [quote name="cntrylvr79"] [quote name="thxdave"]Thanks for that info. It's all a bit discouraging, isn't it? My Explorer sits outside my apartment and is completely exposed. Your idea about putting the GPS antenna up high is sorta like what I have now, but I have considered trying to make it even MORE obscure by mounting the little antenna "puck" somewhere on the luggage rails and disguise the wire inside the rail body, if possible. BTW, with the Z1, are the XM and GPS antennas separate modules or do they combine the antennas in one little puck?[/quote]

The antennas are separate pieces. What you can do since ther're about the same size nad shape is put on each side next to the luggage rails. I do this wuite often. Makes it pretty damn hard to even tell that the antennas are even there.[/quote]


Hey cntry,
When you do one of these installs, where do you feed the antenna wire when you are coming from the rooftop? In this case, I'm talking about a rooftop that has luggage/cargo rails on it. On my Explorer, I put the antenna near the rear hatch so that I had only a couple inches of exposed wire. I punched a tiny hole through the rear windshield washer fluid tube rubber boot and fed the wire into the interior that way. I thought about dismantling the roof rack rail support posts to see if there was a way to feed the wire through there but I chickened out. Ideas?[/quote]


Normally I'll do pretty much the same thing. Occasionally, I'll butt it up against the edge of the rear hatch and just pull up the weatherstripping and loop the antenna wires under it. If I do have to leave more than an inch of wire exposed, I have plenty of spare "tails" from portable sat radios that I'll use to help hold the wire.

[niteone]

[quote name="thxdave"]I feel your pain too, but in a different way. I had my AVH-P7500 destroyed (partially) by some jacka** who tried (and failed) to rip the head unit out of the dash. He managed to rip the screen module out of the head unit and left it on the floor. I don't know if somebody came by and the thief panicked or what, but he left me a broken mess. He also took off with my CD wallet that contained a BUNCH of CD's and DVD-A's that I'm only now finding replacements for. My insurance company (Allstate) wouldn't do a damn thing because (I assume) the thief didn't actually STEAL the unit!! I tried to explain the damages to the rep but they wouldn't do anything to help me.

I have not been able to afford to get the thing fixed yet and I've been reading this site because the thought of an in-dash unit that looks more like a factory radio intrigues me. However, seeing a posting like this one is discouraging. Have any of you tried getting an old, non-functional factory radio and removing the faceplate and using that as a removeable faceplate "cover" for the Pioneer? If I get a Z1, I'm thinking that this will be one of my first projects.

Finally, and this is a dumb question, but is the opening on my 2003 Ford Explorer considered a double-DIN size? Thanks for reading this and a BIG thanks to Ducatiboy for all his work.....and I don't even OWN a Z1....yet![/quote]

yes it is a double din....I also have a 2003 Explorer with the Z1 in it.

[hasher13]

Does anyone know the length of the antena wires for the xm/nav, HU and possibly the tv tuner. I have an expedition and runnung the wires from the middle of the roof, to the back via rain guard/roof rack, then all the way back to the front is quit lengthy. Will there be enough wires?

[cntrylvr79]

The gps ant is about 17 ft long. THe xm is 20-22. The tv I don't remember, been a while since I put one in.

[Genius - est. 82]

people.. please, please, please get alarms installed in your vehicle's when you know you have thousands of dollars of equipment inside.. i mean, if you don't, you might as well just leave your new in-dash on top of your hood, still in box. :roll:

[blybly]

Sorry to hear about your recent loss, but I can relate. I got a stelo deal on my Z1 in Orange County at a place called Bow Down Auto Sound. I should have known this was a hose job from the start, but the deal was too good to pass up. After requiring three days for install, i finally got my car back. These guys didn't know what they were doing!!! I went out of town for the weekend and returned Sunday night. I went to work on Monday and finally got to play with the thing for the first time. Walked to the parking structure at 5pm and my window was busted, dash in pieces, ipod stolen, z1 gone! I think those shady a-holes snagged one of my cards durring the install. I later found about 20 compaints about Bow Down Auto Sound on the internet. Police called, finger prints, etc...