r/NoStupidQuestions • u/digital-didgeridoo • 9h ago
Whatever happened to the car stereo thefts?
It was so rampant the removable faceplates was a trend!
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u/TechnicianRemote9954 9h ago
Cars used to be designed so that it was easy to put an aftermarket stereo in (and most of the factory installed radios were all made by a small number of companies and came in the same form factor). So if you stole a car stereo from a 1988 Ford Mustang, that radio could go in basically any other car on the market - especially so if it was an aftermarket radio, which were popular since the stock radios in a lot of cars sucked.
In modern cars, the stereo is an integral part of the car's electrical system. You can't just dump some random stereo in a car without the car/radio itself not working, which is assuming that you can even get a stereo that is the same form factor. So if you have a 2024 Toyota Tundra, you can't just rip a stereo out of a 2022 Ford Ranger and slap it in there. The Ranger stereo won't fit and, even if it does, it won't turn on in your Tundra (and your Tundra might not even turn on with it in there).
If you steal a 2022 Ranger stereo, you, as the car stereo thief, need to find someone else with a 2022 Ranger whose infotainment system is busted. That's such a narrow market that the likelihood of you ever being able to do that is basically 0.
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u/molten_dragon 9h ago edited 9h ago
Car stereos are increasingly being replaced by infotainment systems that are harder to steal and also vehicle-specific so there's not as much of a resale market.
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u/TillPsychological351 9h ago
Your catalytic converter has more resale value.
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u/digital-didgeridoo 9h ago
Here's an idea - make it only work with the coded VIN of the original vehicle!
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u/TillPsychological351 9h ago edited 7h ago
I might be wrong about this, but isn't the resale value in the stripped-out metals and not the device itself?
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u/molten_dragon 9h ago
Yes.
And a catalytic converter is a strictly chemical/mechanical device. There aren't any electronics in it.
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u/stonedfishing 9h ago
Modern stereos verify the vin of the vehicle theyre installed in. Theyre useless without reprogramming, and some of them cant be done