ROBBED!

[Dawnie]

Well .. not even one payment in on the Jeep and she was robbed .. They crawled through the rear side window and stole .. well tried to steal my radio - but apparently couldn't get it out of the dash .. so they busted open the center thing and stole the faceplate .. :idea: .. so now I have a crooked azz stereo and no faceplate - O and they tore up my dash trying to get it out and poked a mini hole in the passenger side window -
Reason for telling U all this .. does ANYONE have an alarm on their Jeep and does it do ANYTHING ? or am I doomed to being robbed repeatedly? someone told me - leave the doors unlocked so they won't have to cut your windows it'll save you some money as if it is hopeless..My dad has a alarm called bulldog or something and if you even walk too close to it it tells you back off .. i was thinking of getting that it's very cheap only 50 bucks .. and Now I have to replace the radio which I don't have the money for so I will be radio less for a LONG time .. I was going to try and just buy a faceplate but the whole radio is cocked to the side so I don't even know if it will work and I can't afford to loose the money finding out ... I was SOOOOOOO mad and just .. disgusted the poor cop thought I was a luntaic crying over a radio -- but it was the whole situation I waited 4 ever to get that jeep and now she is violated .. anyway any suggestions would help Thanks

 

[Dawnie]

Also what I wanted to know is what is the techinical term for that middle thing with the lock on it - so I can shop around for a new one or even better the top piece only if I can find it...

 

[PhattyX]

Yeah, I've got an alarm on my Jeep, but only because it came with it. It's got a motion sensor that trips the alarm. I'll trip when some crosses the vehicle perimeter... of course, with the top off, it'll trip when anything crosses the perimeter. I wouldn't waste the time. Save yourself the money and just get the blinking warning light as if there were an alarm in it. Get one of the EXTRA bright ones found at local stereo shops... seems to make people think there's some sort of super-alarm in it. Funny thing, that's all I had in my TJ. For three years, there was a DVD player and monitor in it. I left it open all the time without a theft.

The middle thingy is a center console.

Try Ebay for a faceplate if you remember the brand and model. Get a cheap $100 (if) radio / CD player with a removeable face and ALWAYS take the plate with you. That's really your best bet for not having people try to steal it. The radio body itself it pretty rugged. If they didn't get away with it, chances are it'll still work with a new plate. I really hate to say it, but I learned a long time ago not to leave anything you're gonna miss in a convertible. I always left my doors unlocked (half doors) and my glove compartment & center console open... so would be theives knew there wasn't anything in there. I only started locking them when I put the good stereo in it... but I always knew if it got stolen it was half my fault for putting it in.

Keep your head up. You still have a Jeep.

-X

 

[Dawnie]

Thats funny my father suggested leaving everything open so people could see I didn't have anything in it .. Hmmmm I will try that Thanks for the advice I am going to see if I can find the most expensive parts to see if i can ge the estimate over 500 lol so maybe I can get some money back and then I will just get parts at a junk yard or just leave it that way.. until I find a replacement well Thanks again the light sounds like a good idea I am going to try that too ...

 

[LadyJeepFreak]

Camp Jeep..Poconos PA

Dawnie I am so sorry babe. I know how it feels. Someone messed with me twice so far and my locks on the dashbox and center console don't lock right anymore. That was awhile back. I caught the second set of burglers, KIDS. Under 16, three of them. I called the cops on them and chased them around three blocks.

The only advice I have and have learned is that this jeep is not a luxury vehicle nor does it even compare to the average car. To have it and use it every day, you have to make alot of changes in your life. It is not intended to be anything like a car even in the smallest of ways.

I never, ever keep anything in my jeep. Not CD's, sunglasses, papers, pens, keys, anything. The only time things are in my jeep is when I am in my jeep.

I have bags of things like those above that I carry in and out of everywhere I am, such as home and work. When I go to do errands, I plan to carry everything with me from the first place on or go somewhere in between to drop things off.

You can't trust anyone these days for anything, especially in a vehicle that is so easy to get into.

I know people who have had thiers broken into and 50 cents in change taken out of it. All that for keeping change in thier cupholder.

I don't lock mine either, except for the center console and it has very little in it.

Personally, this aspect is annoying to me. I hope to get a small economy vehicle in the next three years to use as a daily driver and park the jeep only for play. It's just not made for someone who drives zillions of miles a day and has more than one job, hobby, or committment which usually involves lots of things going back and forth in your vehicle.

Hope this helps and isn't too depressing! Don't get me wrong, I love my jeep but like everything in life it has it's downsides and sometimes we learn the hard way. :?

Lady

 

[TwistedCU]

someone told me - leave the doors unlocked so they won't have to cut your windows it'll save you some money as if it is hopeless.

That someone is right. YOur best bet is to leave a Jeep unlocked uness you have a hardtop and full hard doors if you don't have a security system. Even though they've gotten a lot better in the last several years, I think alarms are a PITA.

 

[TwistedCU]

... or get a Tuffy security console, the one that relocates and locks your radio.

 

[Dawnie]

RE: Re: ROBBED!

... or get a Tuffy security console, the one that relocates and locks your radio.

I was actually just browsing around and I came across that I may just get that one .. eventually of course

 

[90Xjay]

Re: RE: Re: ROBBED!

Dawnie,
I feel bad for you. I know how it feels to have your rig violated. I am assuming that you live in an apartment, I had to live in one for a year and had 2 of my set of 31-10.50s ripped off and my truck left on two cinder blocks. :x Then I moved to a duplex and had two vehicle break ins and an attempted carport theft all in under 3 years. I was lucky and caught two of them once and held them at gunpoint till the cops got there. It was one week before Christmas and here this 14 and 17 year old were out at 4 am jacking cars. These peices of trash cruise apartments like a shopping center. People that do that are lower than pond scum.

 

[felix_santi]

Sorry to hear about the break in, unfort it happens a lot to fellow Jeepers, including my son on his 00 TJ (they broke his glass window to get in). So far I've been lucky here, but just like any motorcycle rider will tell you, I know my day will come.

I've been running either a half top or safari/duster combo on my TJ since 2000 (in Phx/AZ, Peoria/Illinois and El Paso/TX). I never lock my doors, center console (plastic, takes a second to break in) or keep anything of value inside. Half the time, the door halfs are off and it is wide open.

My stereo face plate gets removed if I park in the city or somewhere away from home. And of course, I have an alarm system with a REALLY loud siren and paging system. It has a bright blue light that lets them know it armed. Heck, you can see that thing blinking at night from a couple cars away.

Park it where there is plenty of light and easily seen by yourself. If you have a garage, the better. Tuffy consoles are great but a battery operated drill will get a bad guy in it in under a minute.

Alarms work great but only keep the amateurs away. Some can be deactivated with a Tazor shot.

Break ins from bad guys suck. Break in from fellow Jeepers is a killer.

 

[Dawnie]

RE: oil

Dawnie,
I feel bad for you. I know how it feels to have your rig violated. I am assuming that you live in an apartment, I had to live in one for a year and had 2 of my set of 31-10.50s ripped off and my truck left on two cinder blocks. :x Then I moved to a duplex and had two vehicle break ins and an attempted carport theft all in under 3 years. I was lucky and caught two of them once and held them at gunpoint till the cops got there. It was one week before Christmas and here this 14 and 17 year old were out at 4 am jacking cars. These peices of trash cruise apartments like a shopping center. People that do that are lower than pond scum.

I actually live in a townhouse and I had it parked across the street (cause I live in a alley) I had it in the rear of a funeral home parking lot lol .. then on days we aren't allowed to park there I have to park it 2blocks away. Well.. I think I am going to get the alarm it's 50 bucks and can't hurt .. I think alot of it is kids in the area. I used to have a jimmy a while ago and they went around breaking windows for sport I had a tint on it so all I seen was this itty bitty hole in the middle of the window - so me like a dork tryied to drive with it like that LOL .. on the hwy at like 60 miles a hour the whole window just sucked out and poof it was gone LOL I looked in my rear view and I seen it hit the floor and shatter I guess the tint was holding it on so .. not to good of a idea to go riding around like that .Next time I get myself a house it will DEFINATLY have a garage no 2 ways about that. I am going to get a new console and a alarm and then a new radio lol .. and the face will become a part of me I will NEVER leave it in the jeep again EVER and I am leaving the doors unlocked... sigh

 

[Sparky-Watts]

Don't waste your money on an alarm, seriously. Ever see anyone actually react to a car alarm that is constantly going off in a parking lot somewhere ( it's like crying wolf...the first couple of times, someone might take a look out the window, but after that, they just start cussing the SOB that has the alarm)? And, as was mentioned before, alarms are waaaay too easy to disable. Most theives are fast enough that even if someone did respond to the alarm, they would be long gone before anyone got there. For a few bucks you can go to Radio Shack and buy the parts to install the little red blinking light on the dash. A couple of cop friends of mine say those are a much better deterrent than anything else.

Keep it unlocked, don't spend much money on a stereo, afterall, they all sound pretty much the same anymore. I just bought a 200 watt amp for the YJ for about $40. If it gets stolen, so what? I'll just buy another, and won't be out several hundred bucks for a system that sounds the same as the one I've got for under $150 (speakers, stereo, and amp combined).

And as far as keeping the face plate with you, don't bother with that, either. If you can buy a replacement faceplate, so can the thief that steals your faceless stereo.

I know, it's rough, and I sound like a real kill-joy, but that's the facts. The only place I worry about my Jeep is when I'm at work, and it's parked across the street from the office. Had someone try to steal my wheels there a couple of weeks ago, in broad daylight. At home, it's always in the garage. Of course, I live in a small town where most people leave their houses unlocked and the keys in the ignition. Only real crime we have here is the occasional stray dog.......

 

[antsinmypants]

you actually arnt able to replace faceplates anymore. (at least here you cant) its part of the prevention to help stop people from stealing the deck. because lets face it what good is a deck without a faceplate. (this is all what i heard from my bud) but if it is true, its an awsome idea, sure it screws some honest people over but its going to stop a lot of others from stealing the deck since no one wants to buy just a deck anymore

 

[dingus]

RE: 90 wrangler yj horsepower

could try getting a faceplate off ebay...

 

[mingez]

I'm sorry Dawnie!! I hate "pond scum" as 90 put it!!

My buddy Chris has a deck in his center console, and hidden but with a factory "Dummy deck" in the Dash. That way, thieves only see the factory stereo and figure "why bother." Just a thought. His has never been stolen and he lives in a questionable part of Denver. Of course, Denver is like Canada in terms of crime.

 

[TwistedCU]

you actually arnt able to replace faceplates anymore. (at least here you cant) its part of the prevention to help stop people from stealing the deck.

You can if you have proof of purchase of the radio. Go to the place you bought it, you may even be in their computer. They should be able to order it. If it was in the Jeep when you bought it you're probably SOL.

 

[Special_K]

RE: Re: RE: I

... or get a Tuffy security console, the one that relocates and locks your radio.

I was actually just browsing around and I came across that I may just get that one .. eventually of course

Some one stole my radio a little over a year ago and I ended up getting the Tuffy stereo security console shortly thereafter.

I also keep my Jeep unlocked. Right now it has no top and no doors so locking is not even an option. I also have the proximity alarm too, but I haven't turned mine on a many, many moons. I just leave it unlocked and put anything of value in the Tuffy console.

 

[Dawnie]

Gear Oil for '85 CJ7

I may just go with the light .. is that hard to install? does it have a wire? I imagine it would somehow .. see Where I park my jeep is right across the alley and my bedroom is in the front room of my house so all I have to do is get up and look and it is right there, so if my alarm went off I would be up pretty quick to see it I would LOVE to catch someone .. I was thinking of letting my rott sleep out in the jeep for an added surprise .. lets see them sstick their leg in there with him in there lol .. I was looking on ebay for a faceplate but I am hoping the radio works I would be so mad if i go get a faceplate and spend 60 bucks and then the stupid radio that is jammed into my dash won't work. I can't even figure out how to straighten it out again . I called circut city where I got it and they said it would be too expensive to replace the face that I should check online. Someone should invent seats that when u engage the alarm all these knives stick out so if someone trys to plop their theiving ass in on my seat they get a fancy little surprise - however I suppose you always would risk it going off accidentally as you drive LOL
Hmmm I like the idea of the dummy in the dash that sounds interesting I still have the factory radio too - I guess I will wait til I have the $$ to get the console and go from there.
I am going to have to go back to circuit city and see if they can straighten out that mess i have in there now .. maybethey can test it to see if it will work then I can go get a replacement face ..

 

[mud4feet]

.. I was thinking of letting my rott sleep out in the jeep for an added surprise ..

I think you've come upon the solution! :lol:

 

[jeepless20]

the faceplate idea isnt going to work. removable faceplates have a "fingerprint" and will only work on the sterio that it came on. you can not use a different face from an exact unit on the unit you have now. you may want to try going and talking to the store you purchased it from and thay can contact the manufacurer and see what happens, its deffinately worth a try. so the azz who stole you faceplate is screwed also becouse he cant use it either, heh most pawn shops wont buy them either. i feel for ya, about 4-5 months ago someone stole our $300 sterio and $300 galaxy CB.