I only ask because last night someone got the rear, driver's side door open and stole all my quarters from the ash tray. I am lucky that is all they took and didn't do any damage. They could have stolen my tools in the back or worse yet, stolen my Jeep (I get palpitations just thinking about it).

It was parked on the street and first thing I noticed this morning was the rear door sticking out a little bit, like when you don't get the lock totally engaged. I checked the window glass and paint around the door for scratches or dust marks for evidence of forced entry but found none, just a paint chip at the edge of the door that doesn't look new.

My locks are manual, so there is a chance I left that door unlocked, but I usually check my doors when I leave it on the street overnight. The fact they didn't take anything more than the quarters makes me believe it was some person just randomly pulling on doors to see which one was unlocked.

Or they could have unlocked it somehow.

 

Ever see someone use a slim jim? It's stupid easy. C'est la vie

 

I could break into any XJ with a lock-out kit, slim-jim, or coat hanger extremely easily. Someone who doesn't care about the vehicle can do it even easier with glass-breaking object.

XJ's are also pretty darned easy to steal. Do not rely on an XJ to keep your stuff or itself safe from theft.

 

Best trick is to remove the antenna form the XJ it self then pull the window weather strip out and pop the lock with it. I looked my keys in mine once, took me 5 min to figure it out.


But,yeah they're probably one of the most easy cars to break into.

 

I was afraid it would be easy.

Thanks for the input, guys.

 

I'm glad you still got your tools/jeep! I've had bad luck with crap like that. Tools stolen from a truck(like 5,000 bucks worth and the tools weren't even visible), two dirt bikes stolen, baseball equipment snagged while I was just grabbing a big gulp and once we had a Camry they took the rear sway bar and while waiting for the new part they came back and took the whole car... Oh ya and my baja bug back in the days(it must have had a sign on it i didn't see "what part you want") some part would come up missing all the time.

 

Had a couple knuckle ****ers trying to take my XJ last fall. I had to leave it with the battery disco'd for a while! I think they finally got spooked by the police as my neighbor had camera footage of them.

 

I learned a long time ago not to leave anything of value in my vehicle. I don't even lock mine, why risk some jackass busting my window? I once had someone steal the ash try out of my car because it was full of change. Couldn't ****** the change and leave the ash try, had to take the ash tray. You know how hard it is to find a brown ash tray for an 85 Camry?!

 

Had something similar happen to one of our shop trucks a while back. Came in and noticed the windshield was busted, went to check on the truck , it was covered in blood and the only thing missing was about $2 worth of "truck community chest change" . People are ****ing idiots.

 

So true.

 

Mine gets broken into constantly (like once a year)

First time they took a screwdriver, smashed the passenger side door lock and just turned it to unlock the door. Took my stereo (head unit, subwoofer and amp), work bag full of tools, my favorite jacket, and a ton of random **** including my maintenance logbook and receipts for parts

Second time, they smashed the rear quarter window (in the rear door), and unlocked the car. Didn't steal anything - they were looking for audio gear (my headunit face plate was locked in the glove box, and my 4-channel amp is well hidden - no subwoofer for now).

They are ridiculously easy to get in. Once I get my power locks working I am installing a 2-way alarm

EDIT:
If you are worried about someone stealing it, wire up an ignition kill switch somewhere. Really easy to do

If you know that someone is trying to steal it and you want to set a trap, switch your distributor wires around and the car will backfire loudly if someone tries to start it

 

Slim jim or the locks on the doors are simple not too hard to pick.Or you could have left one door unlocked and they got lucky and probably a kid just looking for easy money.What works for me having a big dog and cleaning all guns on the front porch monthly most know better after seeing that.Plus kentucky is a castle law state and i park in my driveway

 

I once had them break into my truck to steal the inspection sticker. The day after I got it inspected. Had to have it reinspected. Learned then to make several slices to the sticker large enough to be seen while walking by. Stops them from stealing the sticker.

Had them steal the radio out of my dash twice. Learned to leave a factory radio in the dash. In the XJ I have a stock radio in the dash and a compact marine radio installed in the center console.

I work in the ship yards by the way. Hood rats treat the parking lot like a shopping mall. In broad daylight.

 

Since they didn't steal the tools or the Jeep, i'll bet they were kids.

I always cover the coins i keep in my console cup holder from prying eyes.

Out of sight, out of mind!

 

When I had my 96, I was planning on allowing it to be easily stolen. My plan was to rig the door/light/seatbelt buzzer to sound continuously unless a secret switch was flipped. I figured that if it was easily stolen, they wouldn't do as much damage to it, but if they had to endure that buzzer (you 84-96 guys know), eventually they'd just leave it somewhere.

I also figured that even if it was never stolen, that switch would give me all sorts of entertainment if I ever decided to let a friend drive but didn't tell them about the switch at first.