Is Soft Top Lack of Security a Farce?

[Yngwie]

With the discussions about security and the soft top in other threads, please indicate whether you have first hand experience with lack of security of the soft top.

For example, people cite security as a reason for getting a hard top, but people may be curious as to whether there actually is a security issue with the soft top.

Note that answers to this poll and opinions will still not conclusively decide the issue. For example, people who use the hard top may have indeed prevented a loss that would have otherwise occurred if they had a soft top, but we will never know in most instances. Also, people who have had things stolen from a soft top by compromising the soft top still may have had things stolen even if they used the hard top by breaking a window or otherwise breaking into the Wrangler, as other non-convertible cars get broken into despite not having a soft top.

Personally, over 25 years, I have had two minor thefts from my Wranglers when the soft top was on, but not due to the soft top being on. In both instances, I left the doors unlocked, so it is unknown whether the hard top would have prevented the thefts. In one instance, an iPod was locked in the stock glove box and someone broke into it and stole the iPod. In another instance, a Kenwood stereo was in an aftermarket locking metal center console, and the thief really went to town destroying console to get the stereo.

Both instances are inconclusive regarding the soft top, but the second one illustrates that even aftermarket security options will not stop a determined thief.

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[sf5211]

I've been lucky considering I live in NYC. I was advised by a Jeeper when my first JK was on order to leave it unlocked when I get it. ( 6 months with the soft top) I even used to leave a couple rolls of quarters in the console thinking if they got enough for a fix or a bottle maybe they'd leave without trashing my Jeep. Amazingly I lucked out and never even lost the quarters. I have Sky One now which you can't climb through so I now lock it when out.

 

[vavaroutsos]

I haven't had anything stolen when running a soft top, but I make a habit of not leaving anything visible inside to tempt anyone.

 

[Rico1111]

This is my 6th wrangler ...have always gone from convertible sports car to Wrangler then back to sport scar....trade after trade! have always had dual tops except on my present one because I live in New England and winters can be pretty bad. Having said that...I have never had anyone break into any of my soft tops but then again I have never parked in any dicey areas either. I'm not saying it doesn't happen! You just have to try and be mindful of your surroundings and at all times never leave anything in plain sight to entice someone looking for a smash and grab. Sometimes the law of averages are against you, that is what insurance is for! As I stated I don't have a soft top yet for my JL but summer is on it's way so I am ordering one...I live in a fairly small city and I won't be worrying about the fact it has a soft top after I do install it. Enjoy your ride!!!! these little gems are so much fun with a soft top....don't worry....Life is short!!!

 

[JeepDave]

I asked the same thing in a slightly different way a while ago...

https://www.jlwranglerforums.com/fo...-break-ins-or-vandlism.23934/poll/all-results

 

[jakebrake]

Not our wrangler...hard topped.

My old chevell convertible. Top cut open. Knocked out ignition switch. Tried to steal stereo.

Would have rather they took the car.

 

[Rufus]

I think it largely depends on your parking situation.

 

[OldGuyNewJeep]

people cite security as a reason for getting a hard top, but people may be curious as to whether there actually is a security issue with the soft top.

It’s very simple. Don’t keep anything in your Jeep and don’t lock it. If you do (and are in a city) you can bet that it’s going to get broken into. Hard top is hardly a deterrent. Smash ‘n grab, baby: Jeep broken into and valuables stolen

I mean, when it’s warm I’m just as likely as not to have the top down and doors off. I keep nothing of value in the Jeep, and so I have no worries. (I worry more about a stray cat pissing in it, to be honest.)

Get the top you prefer, I say. Dumb to choose one over the other thinking security is a real difference.

 

[OldJupiter]

First Jeep - I have had it near NYC for over year. I am mindful of where I park - top off - doors off - top down, all of it. I try to be mindful keep an eye on it when I can if I leave it parked for a while. I don't go to malls with the doors off top off/down (even though I did it once - less than 20 minutes in and out). I'm not that old, but I would more be worried about someone (Gen Y) trashing the Jeep for the sake of trashing it on social media. It doesn't take long for someone to dump a latte, or take a wee on your seats. In my opinion if you catch the perp or not the damage has been done. He/She might pay a fine or get booked, but Im gonna be the one cleaning piss outta my seats. You cannot be too careful. All you need is some viral video of some kid licking the inside of an ice cream pint to set it all on fire.

 

[Notorious]

https://dallaspolice.net/communitys/lock

The stats are outdated but scroll down towards the bottom half of the page and the rest of the information is good.

 

[GtX]

First Jeep - I have had it near NYC for over year. I am mindful of where I park - top off - doors off - top down, all of it. I try to be mindful keep an eye on it when I can if I leave it parked for a while. I don't go to malls with the doors off top off/down (even though I did it once - less than 20 minutes in and out). I'm not that old, but I would more be worried about someone (Gen Y) trashing the Jeep for the sake of trashing it on social media. It doesn't take long for someone to dump a latte, or take a wee on your seats. In my opinion if you catch the perp or not the damage has been done. He/She might pay a fine or get booked, but Im gonna be the one cleaning piss outta my seats. You cannot be too careful. All you need is some viral video of some kid licking the inside of an ice cream pint to set it all on fire.

I think you have a better chance of dying on the way to the mall in a traffic accident.

 

[OldJupiter]

I think you have a better chance of dying on the way to the mall in a traffic accident.

Last summer I went on a hike at a state park, 40 min round trip. I parked up front next to the booth - doors off/top off (naked)...as I was walking back to the Jeep I got a whiff of piss near my driver side door. Parking lot was haf packed...I panicked for a second. I lean into my driver side door and it wreaked of piss. I take a step back...lo and behold someone had apparently sat inside my driver seat and proceeded to piss on the tire of the car next to me. I don't blame them...it was good cover especially with a lookout. That cars tire smelled like a urinal, nothing a rain shower couldn't fix, but come on. I could just imagine how messed up it would have been if the stream turned inside the car 0 drain plugs and all.

Side note....I have never experienced this wretched smell before, and I grew up in one of the poorest municipalities in the U.S. - to the point where you could expect to come and see a homeless man sleeping in your moms back seat on a regular basis - the seat you had to sit in to go to grammar school.

 

[TravisRogers]

Couple of thoughts:

1. The tools of choice for smash-and-grabs are a window punch or a screwdriver. If someone wanted that stack of 100s on your dash, they’d break in through the front doors (rather than going home to get a knife, returning and cutting their way through the back). Smash-and-grabs are also crimes of opportunity. Maybe put your sack of diamonds in the glove box instead of leaving them visible.

2. Lack of security is an endearing part of the Jeep experience. Not the way spending 60% of your ownership in the shop is but more the way being assaulted by the wind when driving on the highway without doors is.

3. If someone wants in your car, they’ll get in. Soft or hard, they’ll get in. Ew. That was kind of gross.

 

[Notorious]

Last summer.. I got a whiff of piss...I panicked for a second. I lean into... piss... someone had apparently sat inside my driver seat and proceeded to piss on the tire of the car next to me. I don't blame them...it was good cover especially with a lookout...

In one of the apartment complexes that I lived in, I caught my neighbor urinating on one of my neighbor’s brand new vehicle. he then decided, “to hell with it” and made the decision to urinate on my other neighbor’s new vehicle and then on mine... he zipped up as he realized that I was in it.

This was a man in his early fifties with HS children living in his home. Needless to say, he knew better but made a poor mental decision and then chose to act on it.

Mind you, I had Just ended a shift, was still in uniform, kept calm, played it by the book and when I was finished, he literally shit himself.

My neighbors came home a bit later and I explained to them what had happened, what I had witnessed and the action I had taken against him. My lease was almost up as was theirs and I didn’t stay long at that complex much longer after that incident. Sometimes people are horrible beings.

 

[Notorious]

I had a soft top slashed on a TJ.

That sucks. In general, it amazes me how many victims think that the people who smash and grab aren’t dangerous enough or serious enough to be willing to harm them. These people are brazen enough to destroy property that is not theirs. Think they wouldn’t hesitate to kidnap, abduct or cause you serious bodily harm if caught? Don’t give them a pass or even an opportunity to rob you. If they do and you’re okay, remember that as much as it sucks, whatever merchandise they took is replaceable.

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