Attempted stereo theft

[Rakesh Brennig]

Hello List, I am seeking repair advice. Last night, two guys smashed the
driver's window of my pearl sedan and attempted to pull out the Alpine deck.
A neighbor (it was 7:30pm in a town home complex!) saw the activity,
shouted, and the startled thieves took flight. The driver's seat has deep
scratches (bottom, back, and head rest) and a few piercings from the
shattered glass. The CD unit has been clawed open. Remarkably most of the
window shards were held together by the plastic tint. The police have filed
a report and I will contact my insurance company tomorrow. The alarm did not
sound because the remote entry does not activate it (only the key does
that). The officer said Boulder attracts such theft because of all the
students come to college with expensive cars and upgraded stereo systems.

I am most concerned about the damage to the seat (platinum, sport) - should
I get new leather sewn in? I bet it is hard to find the stiff leather used
on these cars. Any one have experience with head rests? The seat was in
excellent condition except I have never repaired the bottom heater element. 

Any btdt with window replacement - is it straight forward on these cars? OEM
or generic?

The car came with both the Alpine CD deck and the Bose tape deck that the
prior owner would swap back and forth. After the Bose on/off switch quit
working I had the Alpine deck professionally installed using a device that
attenuates the line output to the amplified speakers. Not a great set-up but
it seemed to make more sense than a $150 to repair the Bose and still not
have an efficient way to listen to discs. Should I keep my current setup and
just replace the Alpine unit or is there a better approach within a similar
cost i.e.. keep the amp'ed speakers. 

Regards,

Rakesh Brennig
Boulder, CO
200q20v sedan, 104k