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Mechanic Blasts Popular Car For Having Battery Under Passenger Seat. Then He Learns There May Be A Good Reason For It

"They definitely have your best interests in mind..."

Mechanic calls out popular car for having the battery under

Photo by: @oldsnap85/Tiktok

Mustafa Gatollari

By: Mustafa Gatollari

Aug 31, at 6:00pm ET

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A mechanic rallied against the idea that automakers intentionally design cars to be difficult to repair.

The service tech, who posts online under the handle Old Snap (@oldsnap85), points to a 2020 Jeep Grand Cherokee in order to drive his point home.

“People like to act as if automotive engineers do not have the consumers’ best interest in mind while designing vehicles. I’m here to prove that wrong,” he says. “Twenty-twenty Jeep Grand Cherokee has a dead battery. All you gotta do is pop the hood, get a charger, a jump box, set of cables—it doesn’t matter. They give you so many options,” he tells his viewers.

Car Battery Under The Front Passenger Seat

Following this, he points out where the terminals are located, and they are, indeed, easy to access. But there are a few other steps one needs to take to complete a jump or replacement. He heads over to the right side of the car and pops open the front passenger door.

“Come back here to the passenger door. Pop that open. Slide your seat all the way forward, all the way up. You come back here,” he states, opening the rear passenger door. “Come back here. You just have this little plastic tray. Four clips, pops right out. Get to your auxiliary battery. Thirteen millimeter nut, 13mm nut. Boom, terminals are off. Tie down, 10mm. Boom, that’s off. Slide your battery right out. Underneath is a tray. Thirteen, 13,” he says, pointing out that they are the same size fasteners, cutting down on the amount of tools one needs. "Boom, that pops right out. That’s your tie-down for the main battery, too.”

“Then you just got a 10mm. Ten millimeter, two drains. Then your battery just slides right up and out. I don’t think they could design it any easier. They definitely have your best interests in mind,” he says.

Motor1 has reached out to story subjects. We will update this story if they respond.

Gallery: Armored Jeep Grand Cherokee Production Milestone

Armored Jeep Grand Cherokee Production Milestone Front Three Quarters

Armored Jeep Grand Cherokee Production Milestone Nose

Is He Being Sarcastic?

There’s an argument to be made that in terms of convenience, placing the battery under a seat is a real pain. It’s difficult to beat the ease of just cracking open the hood.

But is this the best design for a car? Why did auto manufacturers start putting batteries inside of the vehicle?

One reason is weight distribution and space efficiency. As Motor1 points out in this 2025 piece, relocating batteries to the inside of a vehicle assisted in freeing up space “for emissions control systems, turbochargers, or other engine-accessory packaging.”

Additionally, it allows “engineers [to] shift weight toward the center of the vehicle.” This can give a car greater balance and, subsequently, improve driving dynamics.

But unlike Old Snap’s video, the same piece indicates that there are “serious drawbacks for access and maintenance.” Ventilating these batteries in closed compartments can also add further complications. This is why many automakers are rigging their vehicles out with designated vent tubes.

Others Hate In-Car Battery Placement

Jalopnik also penned that trunk and under-seat battery placements are frustrating to access but conceded that they’re not particularly difficult once you figure out how to get to them. This does speak to Old Snap’s point, but are the extra steps worth it?

They could be. CTEK states that prolonged exposure to elevated temperatures can shorten a battery’s lifespan. So, keeping this battery away from engine heat could very well extend how long one’s battery operates.

It’s also worth considering the potential safety benefits of keeping battery packs away from car hoods. Front-end collisions could damage these large batteries, causing their corrosive acid to spill onto other components. Or, if it’s struck hard enough, it could culminate in a scary fire.

Update Sept. 3: Via email, Jake Kramer, who runs the Old Snap account, told Motor1, I would describe the video as informative sarcasm. I understand why they place batteries in the vehicle, however the placement can be extremely annoying sometimes. I would say that under the seat is second only to the Chrysler products that would place the battery in the wheel well, as far as inconvenience goes."

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"I have been a mechanic for 20 years now. I work in a small independent shop that my dad started in 1993. I started working for him when I was in high school." he added.

Kramer also said, "I want to make videos that state the vehicle, cause for the repair and a step by step of the repair without all of the extra fluff that is usually in videos. I also have a very dry sense of humor so I have videos like the Grand Cherokee battery that are sarcastically informative."

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