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Jeep Theft

2K views 18 replies 14 participants last post by  sirjamesw 
#1 ·
Hey guys, my jeep was broken into saturday night, and the police officer said it was the 3rd one he had reported in my area so it sounds like something could be up with the holidays approaching. Figured I'd share some of the knowledge I gained with y'all.

Despite having a soft top, the officer said locking your doors is still generally enough to keep people from breaking in. I never figured that would do it since they can just slice through the window, but the officer said all the ones he's looked into had unlocked doors and he rarely sees windows slashed.

Don't keep cash or credit cards in your jeep. I have an aftermarket radio in my car and it went untouched. I keep my briefcase in the backseat and that was gone through, but thankfully nothing taken. It appears they were just looking for a cash and grab type thing.

Arlington County VA PD was great (took them 40 min to show up though) and dusted the jeep for fingerprints, so I highly recommend reporting the incident if it happens to you, and not touching anything as soon as you realized it happened.
 
#2 ·
I agree...... take the chance and LOCK the Jeep. I left mine open for what i thought was obvious reasons too. They stole my upper windows.... and GPS. Had i locked i dont believe they would have thought about taking the windows. So i lock it now........ i mean dang i had to replace the upper either way.... but locked like was said they have to think about it.
 
#3 ·
Wow, can't believe the dusted for prints. HPD (Houston) couldn't care less. They take a report but do nothing with it.

I also do not lock my doors. I have really nothing inside it and my girlfriend is always getting on me about locking them but I see no point. I keep saying, you realize they could just unzip the window right? Or slice it.

I guess maybe I will lock them. I have full doors and a tuffy center console but I keep nothing of any real value in it. I guess I would miss my TrekArmor seat covers if they were that desperate.
 
#5 ·
I lock my doors. I disabled the interior lock so only the key works. Even when i have no top someone can't steal my half doors if they're locked. If they slice away then I'll need some new canvas but not new frames and they'll have a lot of trouble getting in.
 
#7 ·
That sucks that that happened to you. I keep my front doors unlocked, but I have a box in the rear that you can't get into with the rear door closed, so I lock that. I mean, someone could get in if they had a decent sized crowbar handy, but I'm not overly worried about that.

That's why I keep absolutely nothing in it when I leave it.
 
#19 ·
Same, all my valuable stuff goes in the metal box bolted down in the back. That was the first thing I bought once I got a jeep.
 
#8 ·
I think you all would be amazed how many folks don't know that the windows in a soft top wrangler zip open. I get weird looks from folks at the store when I walk up to my jeep in the parking lot, unzip the side window, and start stuffing groceries in the back seat.

Apparently zippers and locks deter "honest thieves."
 
#10 ·
After having two soft tops slashed including one on my old beloved Triumph TR-6, I'm a strong supporter of leaving the doors unlocked and nothing of value inside. Both cops agreed on not locking the doors/leaving nothing of value inside when you have a soft top.
 
#13 ·
All summer i run my jeep no doors and no top unless its raining and i just don' leave anything valuable in it. My old jeep before it got totaled had the locking trunk box which is where i would put my sisters purses, or any backpacks i was leaving in the jeep.
 
#14 ·
After having my previous car stolen, I keep a very paranoid eye on my Jeep. I lock mine now even with the soft top. If they do cut through it (like idiots) the cargo net is a surprisingly good deterrent. Yeah, you can cut through that too but it's a bi*ch to do so. I'm between houses for the most part so I have a lot of clothing shoved in the back, but I keep everything else out of the way. That's a good idea on the razor blades in the cup holder; I really don't have much sympathy for thieves now so that's on them if they stick their grubby mitts into my stuff.
 
#15 ·
I leave mine unlocked with nothing in it most of the time. As for the jeep itself I have been thinking about installing a hidden switch under the dash somewhere to break the circuit on the ignition. I was thinking something like drag racers have on their cars for safety. That way the jeep would be dead even if you jumped the ignition.
 
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