# Got a Jeep Cherokee or Wrangler? Read this! **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [July 6, 2016, 4:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/got-a-jeep-cherokee-or-wrangler-read-this/759236 "2016-07-06T16:57:06Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 11\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Quartz](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/quartz/32/267_2.png) [@Quartz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Quartz)\ **Post date:** [July 6, 2016, 4:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/got-a-jeep-cherokee-or-wrangler-read-this/759236/1 "2016-07-06T16:57:06Z")
Thieves are [using laptops](http://www.wsj.com/articles/thieves-go-high-tech-to-steal-cars-1467744606) to hack and steal Jeeps. > [@](#): > > Police and car insurers say thieves are using laptop computers to hack into late-model cars’ electronic ignitions to steal the vehicles, raising alarms about the auto industry’s greater use of computer controls. > > The discovery follows a recent incident in Houston in which a pair of car thieves were caught on camera using a laptop to start a 2010 Jeep Wrangler and steal it from the owner’s driveway. Police say the same method may have been used in the theft of four other late-model Wranglers and Cherokees in the city. ---
**Author:** ![Bullitt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bullitt/32/5725_2.png) [@Bullitt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bullitt)\ **Post date:** [July 6, 2016, 5:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/got-a-jeep-cherokee-or-wrangler-read-this/759236/2 "2016-07-06T17:02:05Z")
Yes. Jeep has upgraded their software to close (or greatly reduce) the breach. Owners can get their systems upgraded with a SW patch. ---
**Author:** ![Johnny\_L.A](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnny_l.a/32/1084_2.png) [@Johnny\_L.A](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_L.A)\ **Post date:** [July 6, 2016, 5:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/got-a-jeep-cherokee-or-wrangler-read-this/759236/3 "2016-07-06T17:10:29Z")
Of course they stopped building the Cherokee in 2001. 😛 ---
**Author:** ![Bullitt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bullitt/32/5725_2.png) [@Bullitt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bullitt)\ **Post date:** [July 6, 2016, 5:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/got-a-jeep-cherokee-or-wrangler-read-this/759236/4 "2016-07-06T17:38:43Z")
It came back! ---
**Author:** ![leftfield6](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/leftfield6/32/18780_2.png) [@leftfield6](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/leftfield6)\ **Post date:** [July 6, 2016, 5:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/got-a-jeep-cherokee-or-wrangler-read-this/759236/5 "2016-07-06T17:40:29Z")
> [@Johnny\_L.A](#): > > Of course they stopped building the Cherokee in 2001. 😛 LMFTFY. They stopped building the REAL Cherokee (the XJ) in 2001. 😛 ---
**Author:** ![Bullitt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bullitt/32/5725_2.png) [@Bullitt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bullitt)\ **Post date:** [July 6, 2016, 5:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/got-a-jeep-cherokee-or-wrangler-read-this/759236/6 "2016-07-06T17:46:20Z")
Missed the edit window. The Jeep Cherokee XJ was built from 1984-2001. Then in 2014 they came out with the Jeep Cherokee KL. XJ and KL were never used in the name, they are the model types. Images, Jeep Cherokee XJ: [https://www.google.com/search?q=Jeep+Cherokee+XJ&client=safari&hl=en-us&prmd=isnv&source=lnms&tbm=isch&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwi5pbX5sd\_NAhWGQCYKHXTQB88Q\_AUIBygB&biw=1024&bih=672](https://www.google.com/search?q=Jeep+Cherokee+XJ&client=safari&hl=en-us&prmd=isnv&source=lnms&tbm=isch&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwi5pbX5sd_NAhWGQCYKHXTQB88Q_AUIBygB&biw=1024&bih=672) Images, new Jeep Cherokee KL: [https://www.google.com/search?q=Jeep+Cherokee+XJ&client=safari&hl=en-us&prmd=isnv&source=lnms&tbm=isch&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwi5pbX5sd\_NAhWGQCYKHXTQB88Q\_AUIBygB&biw=1024&bih=672#hl=en-us&tbm=isch&q=Jeep+Cherokee+KL](https://www.google.com/search?q=Jeep+Cherokee+XJ&client=safari&hl=en-us&prmd=isnv&source=lnms&tbm=isch&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwi5pbX5sd_NAhWGQCYKHXTQB88Q_AUIBygB&biw=1024&bih=672#hl=en-us&tbm=isch&q=Jeep+Cherokee+KL) ---
**Author:** ![Pai325](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/c68b51/32.png) [@Pai325](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Pai325)\ **Post date:** [July 6, 2016, 6:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/got-a-jeep-cherokee-or-wrangler-read-this/759236/7 "2016-07-06T18:50:55Z")
My daughter already got a patch for this last year. Are hackers doing it again in a new way? ---
**Author:** ![Gatopescado](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gatopescado/32/5711_2.png) [@Gatopescado](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gatopescado)\ **Post date:** [July 6, 2016, 7:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/got-a-jeep-cherokee-or-wrangler-read-this/759236/8 "2016-07-06T19:53:26Z")
Anybody who steals a Jeep deserves what he gets. ---
**Author:** ![Bullitt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bullitt/32/5725_2.png) [@Bullitt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bullitt)\ **Post date:** [July 6, 2016, 10:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/got-a-jeep-cherokee-or-wrangler-read-this/759236/9 "2016-07-06T22:46:14Z")
> [@Pai325](#): > > My daughter already got a patch for this last year. Are hackers doing it again in a new way? I’m a Jeep owner, and don’t believe this is new - I believe your daughter should be good with the patch we got last year. Which is weird because the OP links to a recent WSJ article. I have not heard of any new security vulnerabilities. I’m going to the dealership tomorrow morning for skid plates, I’ll try to remember to ask, but I think we are okay. ---
**Author:** ![Pai325](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/c68b51/32.png) [@Pai325](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Pai325)\ **Post date:** [July 6, 2016, 10:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/got-a-jeep-cherokee-or-wrangler-read-this/759236/10 "2016-07-06T22:50:52Z")
> [@Bullitt](#): > > I’m a Jeep owner, and don’t believe this is new - I believe your daughter should be good with the patch we got last year. Which is weird because the OP links to a recent WSJ article. I have not heard of any new security vulnerabilities. > > I’m going to the dealership tomorrow morning for skid plates, I’ll try to remember to ask, but I think we are okay. Thank you! ---
**Author:** ![Bullitt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bullitt/32/5725_2.png) [@Bullitt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bullitt)\ **Post date:** [July 8, 2016, 3:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/got-a-jeep-cherokee-or-wrangler-read-this/759236/11 "2016-07-08T15:35:07Z")
I checked and they said no new hacking vulnerabilities, not since a year ago. So we should be good.