Is Soft Top Lack of Security a Farce?

[Will]

About 10 years back my TJ was parked overnight in the driveway at my in-laws house. They slashed the soft top window behind the driver’s door and reached in to unlock it. They stole the doors and tried to steal my high-lift jack that was mounted on the tire carrier. The jack was hard to get off cause I had flopped the TJ a couple weeks before and the jack took all the impact, bending the mount slightly. I was actually proud of that when I found the nuts on the ground the next morning. I was like, “Sweet, glad I flopped the Jeep so they couldn’t steal that.”
My doors however.... I was beyond pissed off. I was fuming.

Long story short: found them on Craigslist, got the cops involved, they did an amazing job, got my doors back, filed an insurance claim for a new soft top, about 9 months later I got a letter from the justice center that included a check from the perp to reimburse my insurance company for the new top as well as my increased premium.
I was blown away. I could not believe what a great job the justice system did. Apparently the guy got some heavy indictments for the amount of Jeep parts that he was stealing.

I am very thankful to now have a garage that the Jeep is parked in every night. If someone comes in my house trying to steal something, it’s a whole new ballgame.

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[TravisRogers]

Although this is true, I still believe it’s much less likely in a hard top. Breaking a window is not that easy and usually very noisy compared to silently cutting a soft top or soft window.

I was on a committee in Baltimore City that did a deep dive on the statistics of smash and grabs. Bait cars, hidden footage and all.

Smash and grabs are most often done by drug addicts without weapons (including knives). Skinny, jittery white people with meth mouth. They almost always run when confronted and they look for easy grabs. First they do a pass checking for unlocked cars. Then they look for visible things worth the work of breaking in.

It took less than two seconds to break a window with a flathead screwdriver by pivoting and applying pressure to the lower rear corner. People on the other side of the street walked by (midday) and never heard the glass breaking because it’s really not that loud.

95% of those breaking into a car lived within a mile (in the city) and were repeat offenders. Car thefts are way down because of how hard it is to steal cars now. That’s why armed car jackings are way up. But that’s a different thing altogether.

When arresting someone for B&E, the BCPD interviewed them, asking how they chose their targets. They almost always said they avoided high-end cars (too hard to access) and exclusively targeted unlocked cars and cars that had something visible (blankets, change, tools). Wranglers were never on any list of high targets. It was usually minivans, trucks, and Hondas/Toyotas.

Now, if someone wants to be a dick and slash your cloth top, that’s, again, a completely different issue.

 

[ToddEichel]

Back in the mid-90's I did a short stint selling cars (which cured me from ever wanting to sell anything ever again), and it happened to be at a Jeep/Eagle dealership in St. Petersburg, FL. We never locked the soft-top Wranglers on the lot because the perspective was that it was just one more thing we'd have to pay to replace if someone broke in/stole one, given how easy it would have been to just slash the plastic windows. But yeah, if you leave something out and visible that someone wants, I don't think there's any difference between a hard-top and a soft-top, they're going to take it anyway.

 

[TPadden]

... I don't think there's any difference between a hard-top and a soft-top, they're going to take it anyway.

The counter argument is thieves are stupid, lazy, usually in a hurry, and seldom even look in a vehicle before breaking in. My experience as a southern California cop was they will walk right by a hard top in favor of a soft top.

Tom

 

[OHJeeper]

One of the best ways to prevent theft is to not give thieves anything worthwhile to steal, or to cover/hide any items of value. This goes for a convertible, SUV, sedan, hard top or soft top. If someone sees a laptop or purse sitting in the vehicle, they are going to smash a window almost as fast, or faster, than slashing a soft top.

If a thief doesn't clearly see a target, they'll likely pass on to another vehicle.

I bought a rear cargo cover for my JL (soft top only) from GPCA. It's not a "secure" option, but it allows me to keep things in the back without someone seeing them. No temptation...

 

[viper88]

The counter argument is thieves are stupid, lazy, usually in a hurry, and seldom even look in a vehicle before breaking in. My experience as a southern California cop was they will walk right by a hard top in favor of a soft top.

Tom

Totally agree. Hypes and thieves are creatures of opportunity and convenience. Two identcal Wranglers in a lot. One with a hard top and the other with a soft top. The soft top will always be the preferred target because it's a easier score. Too tempting to pass up.

 

[viper88]

One of the best ways to prevent theft is to not give thieves anything worthwhile to steal, or to cover/hide any items of value. This goes for a convertible, SUV, sedan, hard top or soft top. If someone sees a laptop or purse sitting in the vehicle, they are going to smash a window almost as fast, or faster, than slashing a soft top.

If a thief doesn't clearly see a target, they'll likely pass on to another vehicle.

I bought a rear cargo cover for my JL (soft top only) from GPCA. It's not a "secure" option, but it allows me to keep things in the back without someone seeing them. No temptation...

Totally agree everything out of sight is the best advice. Problem with soft tops, they are too tempting and inviting.

 

[Leisure Freak]

Although my Jeep JL is a hardtop w/Bestop Sunrider I have owned at least one convertible and/or T-Top autos for over 30 years straight. I always lock the door even when the top is down just so they trigger the alarm if they unlock and open. I lock my non alarmed convert too just to be a PITA. Top up once and someone use hanger or something to unlock old plunger style door lock on my vintage ride and roll it out of my driveway (manual trans/no pre-steering lock ignition) in the middle of the night and abandon it down the street, punks must have been scared off. Luckily no damage other than to my piece of mind and had to club the steering wheel after that. I've come out twice more when someone tossed their garbage in my car in a retail parking lot when the top was down. So in 30+ years that's it, between living in Utah and Colorado with vacationing out of state too. I do avoid parking my converts in long term parking areas like mass transit, airport, etc. lots. If Jack-Holes want to mess with you they will mess with you. I've been living and vacationing in smaller western states so results may vary depending on city and economic conditions.

 

[sf5211]

The counter argument is thieves are stupid, lazy, usually in a hurry, and seldom even look in a vehicle before breaking in. My experience as a southern California cop was they will walk right by a hard top in favor of a soft top.

Tom

I agree Tom, back in the 80’s I knew a low life that was part of a crime crew. They would steal a car at night and back right through a store front, jump out, load up on goods and be out in a few minutes. I asked him about anti theft devices. He said if a car has a club or brake to steering wheel lock they would just go to another car.
My Jeep’s garage kept but to this day I still use a club on my plumbing truck that’s in my driveway.

 

[multicam]

Contrary to all Jeep forum knowledge, my doors being locked and having my soft top on actually prevented a break-in. I saw it all on my home security camera.

A couple of thieves were going through my neighborhood one morning at about 0300. They walked into my camera’s view, tried both jeep doors, and quickly moved on to my wife’s 4Runner. It was unlocked so they rifled through it but ended up taking nothing (even though there was a nice DeWalt cordless drill set in there).

Conventional wisdom says to leave the jeep unlocked... it all depends on the thieves’ MO on that particular night. I constantly have to remind my wife to lock her 4Runner even after that incident.

 

[JimLee]

Hard top owners with nothing to contribute pulling off a respectable second place! So proud!

 

[cptchunk]

Had someone steal change from my center console in the two door hard top because I left the doors unlocked, but no incidents with my JLUR with soft top. I’ve always heard that I should be afraid of my top being slashed, but fingers crossed it remains a non-issue.

 

[JeepinJason33]

Don't leave valuables in the rig if you don't have a garage to park it in. Don't buy a Jeep with a soft top for your daily driver if you are worried about the security of it. Or, drive your minivan to the mall, problems solved.

 

[Heimkehr]

I DID HAVE A FOOL TRY AND JUMP IN MY JEEP AT A STOP LIGHT! How crazy is that?

While stopped at a small intersection, a pedestrian walked over and made clear motions to get into the Ural's sidecar. I had a red light and could not safely proceed.

Ugh. The one time I decide to ride it with the tonneau cover removed.

After a very brief moment of cognitive dissonance ("Really?") my right hand reflexively moved from the front brake lever to the pocket on my jacket. His decision to stop moving forward, and begin moving backward, was the best outcome for both of us.

Had I been in the parking lot at Ace Hardware and was respectfully asked if sitting in the hack* was allowed, I'd likely have offered the inquirer a ride around the lot. In the preceding scenario, though, I had to respond differently.

*Shorthand for the actual sidecar.

I still blame the original Back to the Future movie for encouraging folks to take too many liberties with moving Jeeps, lol.

 

[COBill]

When it comes to parking with the top down, I've always thought of Caddyshack and the sunroof.

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