I never really worried about my truck being broken into much prior to the Z1. Now, I'm worried whenever I leave it at the mall or whatever.

I was going to take the truck to a local suspension shop for some work, and they mentioned keeping it overnight. My first thought was, hell no, that just setting me up to get the Z1 snagged. Most shops have some policy or another that they are not responsible for lost or stolen items.

Damm, I didn't consider this when putting it in. Where are you guys on the 'nervous' scale. 1-10, I'd say I'm at a 8+.

Ask them if they lock the truck in the shop over night or not. By the way, though a lot of places may say they're not resposible for lost/stolen items, if the vehicle's locked up in the shop or in a fenced in area they are responsible all it takes is a good lawyer.

Well these days you can't have nice things without the possibility that some loser will come and steal it. Best thing to do is check with your insurance company and see if they will cover this unit installed in your truck. I have state farm and they will with no extra payment made as long as it's installed, not just sitting on the seat. If they will cover it, just know you are insured and live life. I know it sucks when some punk takes something they don't deserve, but other than going out and shooting these losers you just have to hope it doesn't happen to you and know you are covered if it does.

Personally I like the Lincoln dashes cause they come with a privacy screen for the radio for just this purpose.

Yup I spent 350 on getting a two way alarm system so that i am notified if anyone breaks my window. I also got a steering wheel lock so that it would partial restrain the z1 with a metal bar.

When I am in a unknown/ghetto neighborhood, I make sure to have something covering the z1, like a towel.

I think all of this was pointless though because all my windows are tinted, so unless you stare directly into my car, you would never notice it there.

Like Ducati, I got mine insured (Geico). Yeah, it's a little more change per month - but I feel a hell of a lot better knowing I'm covered in case someone rips me off.

Heh...I also have a background I load in when I leave my car for long periods that says "This Z1 unit has been removed. Pioneer lojack activated. Police notification in process.."

Well, normally I would say as long as its insured, no worries...but, since I just installed a unit in my Sienna (sounds great with my JBL system and aftermarket amp) BECAUSE the original Toyota unit had been stolen, along with the overhead DVD, I would say do whatever you can. It seems that there are so many alterations and customizations that need to be made on the unit, its taken me a week to learn and appy them, and I'm just beginning. Not to mention all the phone numbers downloaded from my bluetooth. that would suck too.

didn't you already say that you had installed an additional alarm or something like that?

other than insurance, what more can you do?

regards,

Desk

Well, normally I would say as long as its insured, no worries...but, since I just installed a unit in my Sienna (sounds great with my JBL system and aftermarket amp) BECAUSE the original Toyota unit had been stolen, along with the overhead DVD, I would say do whatever you can. It seems that there are so many alterations and customizations that need to be made on the unit, its taken me a week to learn and appy them, and I'm just beginning. Not to mention all the phone numbers downloaded from my bluetooth. that would suck too.

 

didn't you already say that you had installed an additional alarm or something like that?

 

other than insurance, what more can you do?

 

regards,

 

Desk

No, no new alarm yet (just the stock Ford setup), but I have been thinking about one of those two way deals with all the bells and whistles.

I have been the victim of two stereo thefts quite a few years ago when I lived in a condo. I used to see car loads of teens cruising the parking structure (unsecured) just looking for stuff to steal.

I am normally a "just live your life" kinda guy, but I love my truck, and have put a bunch of time and money into it and just hate thinking some dickhead might do a smash and grab.

Thanks for all the advice, I'm going to call Mercury Insurance tomorrow and see how much extra they charge for the Z1 coverage. I think it would be worth the peace of mind, knowing they will replace it if stolen.

Larry

having insurance cover the Z1 is a joke. My friend's Z1 got stolen last week, and they gave him a bunch of excuses and only paid less than half what he paid for the unit since they said its a discontinued model (with Z2 coming out and everyone out of stock). They gave him a wimpy 700$. He ended up getting a cruddy used D2, and canceled his insurance.

aznsmartass24, what insurance company was this? I want to know to stay away from them. Mine is State Farm and they have been excellent over the years. From letting a friend of mine borrow my mustang GT who then let his dad borrow it and get into an accident with a parked car, they paid out for the fix and didn't raise my rates or anything. They said "It wasn't you, nobody got hurt, no chance of getting sued for millions of $'s... yah, don't worry about it, we will just pay it. I guess you know not to lend your car out huh?"

I called about the Z1 and they said as long as it is installed in the car and I have pictures of it and/or receipts they would pay whatever it cost me to buy the equipment if it got stolen. Either that or if it was discontinued, they would cover what it would cost to buy a comparable new unit. No extra charge.

They also don't charge extra for sport bikes. In NJ, through Rider (the most common motorcycle insurance company) my Ducati would have been over $1000/year and State Farms charged me $375/year (for full coverage). I have found instead of saving a couple hundred bucks on a cheapo insurance company, find a good one and stick with them.

It was Geico. Comparable units to them are units not necessarily from the same brand, but some functionality. The Z1 was a GPS system, so any ol' in dash GPS system with about the same size screen was an acceptable replacement according to the insurance company.

I had the Pioneer AVH-6500DVD and an AVIC-80 mounted in the double DIN in my Subaru WRX. I bought it back in 2003 and it was still working great. On Superbowl night it was stolen from right in front of my house. I was shocked. They busted the rear window and ripped out half the dash. No-one heard a thing. Allstate asked me what an equivalent would be and I told them the Z1. They wrote me a check for $2500 for a new Z1 and a check for dash repairs. I thought it would be a major hassle but as you might guess I'm pretty happy considering the circumstances. According to Allstate if it's in the dash it's covered. Anything else like amps, and subwoofers requires extra stereo insurance. For some reason the thiefs didn't take the amps, XM, or the subwoofer even though they had popped the trunk...

I'll be installing a Z2 as soon as it comes out. I'll also be installing an alarm with a pager. I'm not sure if it will help but I'll feel better about it.

Don

well.. heck, i'm not the only one hwo feels that way... i'm going to re do my mounting in my tC, so the cover would be closing all the way...