Wrangler Break-Ins

[nU7OuxIx]

I parked my jeep out in the drive the other night. I noticed on my security cameras that a SUV with the lights off drove around, somebody got out, went to the neighbors and ran back in. Then they stopped in front of my house, two people got out, went to the driver side of the jeep and ran back into their car and drove away. My camera did not capture what they did on that side of the jeep. They were there for about 15 to 20 seconds. A few things popped into my head, they were either checking for unlocked cars or did something to come back later. Mind you, I have a ~8 year old subaru parked in the driveway too and they ignored that. My neighbor doesn't have any jeeps or fiat products, but they do have a newer hyundai suv.

Is there anything that I should be looking for to make sure nothing was skimmed? I know a TSB was issued about this exact issue, is there a way to see if it was applied? Anything else I should be doing to prevent exploitation?

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[Nokones]

You better install a hood lock and a anti-theft starting system. Also, put the transfer case in 4WD Hi and get a steering wheel lock.

 

[JeepsR4Me19]

They were looking for easy finds. Like the door being open which allows them time inside your vehicle to hunt. But absent that they are looking for a purse on the front seat, or gun in plain view or the damn keys in it. They will bust your window if any of those there, as its worth the slight risk of you hearing that noise. They dont like noise unless it pays off. The more volume of cars they can hit in a night depends on people getting complacent. They will go for the big hits but must then run risk of getting called in to the police or being spotted and gunned down.

 

[nU7OuxIx]

They were looking for easy finds. Like the door being open which allows them time inside your vehicle to hunt. But absent that they are looking for a purse on the front seat, or gun in plain view or the damn keys in it. They will bust your window if any of those there, as its worth the slight risk of you hearing that noise. They dont like noise unless it pays off. The more volume of cars they can hit in a night depends on people getting complacent. They will go for the big hits but must then run risk of getting called in to the police or being spotted and gunned down.

I tend to agree. Believe it or not, a lot of neighbors leave their doors unlocked and the keys in the car. Thinking back, I think everything was out of sight in my jeep. I also normally park it in the garage.

I just have no idea how key skimming works, and how long it takes for somebody to be out there doing something. And if they need access to the hood or what.

 

[X35]

Not sure of your year and if it’s available for your specific Jeep but I had the below TSB update done to prevent unauthorized key duplication:

 

[Poseidon20]

You better install a hood lock and a anti-theft starting system. Also, put the transfer case in 4WD Hi and get a steering wheel lock.

What's under the hood they could take or mess with that has value?

 

[nU7OuxIx]

Not sure of your year and if it’s available for your specific Jeep but I had the below TSB update done to prevent unauthorized key duplication:

Yup, I've seen this. Does anybody know if I can tell if it was applied? I bought mine shortly after this TSB came out.

Also, how long did it take for the dealer to do this update? It says less than an hour, I just don't know if it's a whole day thing. I also got an email from jeep saying a warning light went off (it did), so I'm guessing they'll want to do a look over which could just be one thing after the other...

 

[Pain Killer]

Not sure of your year and if it’s available for your specific Jeep but I had the below TSB update done to prevent unauthorized key duplication:

I bought two Faraday bags on amazon. they look like envelopes. when I am home I place the key fob inside. Sitting in the drivers seat the jeep does not detect the key fob inside the faraday bag. Two bags for $12.00. I can only hope it works

 

[X35]

Yup, I've seen this. Does anybody know if I can tell if it was applied? I bought mine shortly after this TSB came out.

Also, how long did it take for the dealer to do this update? It says less than an hour, I just don't know if it's a whole day thing. I also got an email from jeep saying a warning light went off (it did), so I'm guessing they'll want to do a look over which could just be one thing after the other...

I was in and out in under 45 minutes.

 

[Nokones]

What's under the hood they could take or mess with that has value?

Nothing of value. Just cut power so they can't disable any alarms or tracking systems.

 

[Jeep Wick]

What's under the hood they could take or mess with that has value?

They can disconnect your horn and break in. If they're really savvy they can hack the CAN wires and do whatever they want including make a new key and drive away.

 

[AZpueblo]

The TSB that Jeep came out with locks the RFHM (where the key's unique digital ID code is decoded) so a new key cannot be made, meaning that using the VIN to make a new key is not possible (so if you lose your keys, you'll need to replace the RFHM before they can make new keys for your Jeep). A similar TSB came out for my Hellcat about 3 years ago. Same software update, locks the hub so stealing the car is reduced to basically towing it away.

 

[Flip]

I'm debating hood locks. Probably a dumb question but I don't know anything about stealing vehicles. If the thief doesn't have access under the hood, how much more difficult is it to steal the vehicle?

 

[SadRobot]

I think if they were skimming the key with a relay your Jeep would already be gone.

Thankfully it seems like they were just checking for unlocked doors and easy targets. Still sucks though. My Jeep has been broken into and they took something like a screwdriver and jammed it into the lock which broke it and then opened the door. Then did the same thing to the lock inside on the glove box. I never bothered replacing the glove box but I did replace the door lock and bought a spare lock for when it happens again.

 

[Nokones]

I think if they were skimming the key with a relay your Jeep would already be gone.

Thankfully it seems like they were just checking for unlocked doors and easy targets. Still sucks though. My Jeep has been broken into and they took something like a screwdriver and jammed it into the lock which broke it and then opened the door. Then did the same thing to the lock inside on the glove box. I never bothered replacing the glove box but I did replace the door lock and bought a spare lock for when it happens again.

Since, you now have a spare, it'll probably never happen again, but since Property Crimes are no longer a crime in California, I'm not going to bet on that philosophy.

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