Put in a nice $300 Alpine stereo last week and was continually warning my son to lock the doors and hatch, lower the antenna, and detach the stereo face every time he left the car. So night before last at about 11:00 pm I went to Walmart and even took the faceplate in with me. I put it in the basket I was carrying and got my stuff and checked out at the self check-out register. Went out to the car when I realised I had left the faceplate in the basket in the store. Ran back(gone approximately one to two minutes), but basket had been put away and nobody had seen the faceplate. Amazingly, my son was not very amused when I related the story(since he bought the stereo). Looks like the worst security risk is the senile old man. Oh well, it's only a $300(choke, choke) brain fart. I'm still wondering though, what good will just the faceplate do anyone without the rest of the stereo? Cracking walnuts? Stirring paint? If the thief would just tell me where he buys the rest of the stereo, I could buy the left over faceplate. Victor.

Tanny, could it have fallen out of the basket on your way through the store or to the car? Perhaps they found it in the store when cleaning the floor. Did you ask Alpine for an replacement? Good luck!

Rolf

I spoke with just about everyone in the store and have been periodically calling to see if anything turned up. I'll give it a couple more days, then order a new faceplate. Thanks, Victor

My Brother just bought an old celica that has a cd player with a detachable face plate, and was on the phone with the insurance company about insureing the car.

This is their position about detachable faces:

Brother: I have a stereo with a detachable face plate.

Insurance co: You should leave the faceplate in the car, in the glovebox or under the seat.

brother: wouldnt it make more sense to take it with me ?

Insurance Co: If your stereo is stolen but you still have the face plate we wont pay for the stereo.

Brother: Why?

Insurance Co: Because all of the stereo hasnt been stolen, since you still have the face plate, we cant pay out on the stereo.

Crazy huh.

So if someone steals your tv (and you have house insurance), but leaves the remote controll behind, will they pay for the TV?

Originally posted by Mr Camouflage

Insurance Co: Because all of the stereo hasnt been stolen, since you still have the face plate, we cant pay out on the stereo.

Crazy huh.

...but typical

Yes, their sole mission as a business is to charge you as much as possible and give you back as little as possible. That's why they use the tin foil aftermarket body panels and used parts when they fix your car after a crash. To be helpful and honest, they really need to issue an elephant dildo and vaseline with every insurance policy. Oops. Victor.

I hate to add salt to the wound but,I think those faces are keyed to the unit.That way you can't interchange them.My thoughts are the factory will send you a complete refurbished/factory repaired complete unit in exchange for your less than --plus some cash.They roll off a line all day long.Its cheaper, easier and faster to swap than worry about your individual unit for repair.

Originally posted by tanny

Oops. Victor.

Don't Apologize! I think your statment sized up the insurance industry Perfectly!

1st post, Yeah me!

I'm restoring my 240 and bought about four hundred in stereo equipment, including a 400 watt amp that lights up. I got ready to put everything in really conspicious places (ie. the amp in the middle of the cargo bay). Then I realized that even a chimp could break into my car. So now its time to start hiding stuff. Luckily the space behind the seats is a perfect place for an amp and the tail cover hides speakers quite nicely.

I put my 6x9 speakers into a couple of speaker boxes I bought at walmart($14.00 each). Used vinyl and carpet paint to paint the carpet on the boxes black to match interior. The boxes have handles so are very easy to move around in the back of the car and easy to pull out if I need space. A little funky, but practical. I finished fabricating the "Immobilizer" and it seems to work really well, but the tach has coincidentally(or not) started reading high, so I'm wondering if the heavy duty auto relay in the ignition circuit has changed the circuit resistance and affected the tach. Oh well, always something. Victor.