If I had the time and/or the money, this sounds like a golden opportunity for someone to make a little bit of money here. Why don't one of you people with a lot of time and money on your hands, market this the way Ducatiboy marketed his headlight flasher. Seems simple enough to come up with a fake double din cover that would slip over the entire AVIC-Z1 and look like and old ugly ass radio with manual knobs and all sticking out. This is better than just hanging a plastic cover over. Again, crooks are not smart always. In fact there are undoubtably some crooks on the forum reading these posts and coming up with ideas. Stealing is stealing. Whlie they want what they want when they want it, it is not the worst thing that happens to them if they get an AVIC-Z and it didn't have a drive in it. In the end, you, the person who rightfully owned the unit, is without the device and your insurance company is not going to keep giving you a replacement one unit and paying to have it installed. I was disappointed to see the two non-serious remarks made earlier in this thread.
If you add it up, the AVIC-Z1 can quickly become unattractive. Let's see:
1.) High retail cost ($2,249.99 US). Yes, you can find it for less, but you are rolling the dice with warranty issues if not bought from an authorized distributor for Pioneer.
2. Need for an extra auto insurance rider to cover the expensive unit
3. Can't use all of the features without buying a circuit bypass hack.
4. Can't trust storing your home address and any other really important information just in case the unit is stolen, you don't want all of that in the hands of a crook.
5. No PIN authentication mode for when you have your vehicle valet parked or drop it off at the garage to have it serviced. You now have to work out a deal with the garage manager to have him sign a paper that lists all of what is in/on the vehicle AND show it to him, so that when you get the car back, all of that stuff is still there. Pain in the ass to do that and doesn't inspire a lot of trust between you and your mechanic.
6. May need to tint your windows to help hide it.
7. Need to get creative in hiding/mounting your GPS antenna which gives away that you have a higher end unit.
8. May need a better car alarm to help prevent someone frmo easily getting in and taking it.
9. If you bolt it in too securely, the thief will get mad and take out the frustration on the rest of your car's dash, seats, windows and outside paint job. Sladh your tires, etc.
10. If enough get stolen, have to subsidize that cost to the insurance companies, by paying higher rates if you admit to owning an AVIC-Z1
Believe me I learned the hard way that it can happen. Fortunately, it wasn't an AVIC-Z1, but I had taken my Mazda in for service. They needed to keep it over night. I took my Kenwood removable faceplate off of my head unit and removed my 10-discs CD changer cartridge from the unit in the trunk. I came back the next evening to pick up my car and had been ripped of by the people who work there at the dealership. My rear speakers had been stolen. My cd changer was gone, my subwoofer was gone. My equalizer was gone. The left my hardwired cellphone box in the trunk, and they left the front car door speakers. You could see where there once used to be equipment. Wires were even still dangling. I had no recourse. It was my word against the dealership. They swore up and down that they hired only the utmost ethical people to work for them. When the keys to your car hang up on a pegboard and anyone there can just go after-hours and take their sweet time pulling stuff out ... well, it sucks. Just when I thought it could get no worse, I found out that my insurance company (Nationwide at the time) would not cover me. They would replace my factory stereo, but not any of the aftermarket stuff I had. Lesson learned. So, I was just screwed both ways. Now, I always makek a point to get extra insurance just for the aftermarket stuff, take photos of it in the car. Keep my receipts and am prepared to get reimbursed when/if it happens again.
In another situation, my Mazda itself was stolen. They used a crewdriver to pop the lock and crack open the steering column ignition to hotwire it. They took it for a joy ride, but left it abandoned about 6 miles from my house at the time. The funny thing here is they didn't steal any money (some loose change was still there). They didn't take any of the stereo equipment. They didn't take any books that were on the back seat. They took a white Hefty bag full of trash. I had just finished washing and cleaning my car. I had a bunch of rags and dirty paper towels, etc in this garbage bag and I left it in the trunk of my car to be thrown out later. Well, of all of the things, THAT was what they stole, in addition to the car, which again was found a few days later. It even still had a 3/4 tank of gas.
So, I know all about getting robbed. I now have crazy alarms, pagers, LoJack, etc. All just to enjoy what I legally bought with my own hard earned money.