Aarrrgh! Add a data point. Change the equation.

Some &^%&^% stole our humble CD player last night. Smashed glass, torn console... I had thought it too much work to remove the CD player's faceplate each night. (We park on the street.) And that this was a good neighborhood. Wrong on both counts.

I could remove and store that thing (and drop it many times, too) about 20,000 times (60 years?) for the amount of tme it will take to clean up, find and replace driver's glass, patch console... and live without a CD player... and public radio. :-)

Since you're going to a lot of trouble to ix up the damage, why not install a new radio? Get an AM/FM/Cassette/CD player for under $100, and this time hide the thing. Put it in the console and cover the faceplate with a flap or door or something. Or put it in the glove box.

I have a JVC AM/FM/Cassette/12-CD changer plus XM satellite radio in my PV544, and the only telltales are the stock antenna and the rear speakers. Because everything works via wireless remote, I put the receivers/players far back under the dash where they are out of sight.

To complete my disguise, I'm shopping eBay for an old stock AM-only Volvo radio to put in the dash. One that no one would want to steal. :-)

As an aside, don't feel too bad about getting ripped off. No matter what you do, if someone wants your stuff badly enough, it's gone. My nephew had his whole brand-new car taken from his locked garage. The garage was alarmed as well as the car. Go figure!

Another nephew spent a fortune geting a really good stereo installed, and it was gone from his car the next day. The police found fingerprints of the installer on top of my newphew's fingerprints and got the guy to confess. He was installing stereos, then taking them back out at night. He thought that he could get away with no gloves because he had a reason for his fingerprints to be there. Moral: Give a phony address when you let a shop install your stereo!

Thanks for your response, and for your ideas about getting the radio/CD unit OUT OF SIGHT. My daughter, Maddy, and I are working on it. (She suggests, I implement, as usual!)

Maybe in the glovebox.
Maybe deeper in the dash.
Maybe with a false cover. (We were thinking of sacrificing the steering wheel's padded center filler, with its little "Volvo" logo, but I guess we need to find a way to stretch it, for its kinda small.)
Or add a remote control, and move to the rear...

Those little twerps of theives can, with very little effort, cause a lot of effort to be expended. Wheeeew.

Thanks again!