Consumer Reports' latest battery recommendation

[Kyanche]

The same issue of CR rates the Wrangler as:

our lowest-rated vehicle-makes our Naughty List once again. CR's experts found the ride stiff, access awkward, wind noise high, and fuel efficiency lacking. Predicted reliability is low, too.

CR also put out an article pondering why people would buy a Jeep Wrangler when they could buy a Toyota Rav4.

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[Heimkehr]

I've been driving for over 50 years. I've never owned a car battery that lasted more than about 3 years.

As I said before it depends on your climate, if you drive the car frequently, and if the car is in the engine bay where it is exposed to engine heat. Batteries in my wife's car last a lot longer than mine, she doesn't drive very many miles and her car is in a compartment under the floor. Her first 2 batteries lasted 5 years each.

35 year driver here. My experience-based personal standard for any 12V battery is 60 months. Most last at least six years. The original Yuasa battery in my 2015 Suzuki still reliably cranks the engine. It is 10 years old this month.

The JLU's OEM H6 AGM battery was the first such battery that didn't provide a 5 year service life. It died at four years, almost to the day and without any warning. It reliably spun the engine the evening prior. The next morning? Dead as a doornail. The H6 was replaced with an Interstate H7 AGM.

My JLU is garage-kept and daily driven.

CR also put out an article pondering why people would buy a Jeep Wrangler when they could buy a Toyota Rav4.

I own a Jeep. My wife owns a Honda CR-V, the direct competitor to and functional equivalent of the RAV4.

That CR would wonder why consumers would prefer one to the other really doesn't reflect well on the publication's ability to perceive the material differences between those vehicles.

 

[txj2go]

35 year driver here. My experience-based personal standard for any 12V battery is 60 months. Most last at least six years. The original Yuasa battery in my 2015 Suzuki still reliably cranks the engine. It is 10 years old this month.

The JLU's OEM H6 AGM battery was the first such battery that didn't provide a 5 year service life. It died at four years, almost to the day and without any warning. It reliably spun the engine the evening prior. The next morning? Dead as a doornail. The H6 was replaced with an Interstate H7 AGM.

I've tried to use reasoning and my experience to figure this out. There are a lot of variables, individual batteries can vary, quality of manufacturers can vary, and of course ymmv. Your profile shows Penn and weather makes a big difference. Also how long and how often you drive, where the battery is, is the car kept in a garage. Hence the difficulty in pinning this down accurately. My 36 month limit is based on my situation being the worst- hot climate, 25 mile commute 5 days a week, battery under the hood, car lives outside.

The no warning thing is particularly frustrating, what if you were somewhere off the grid? I'm going to try a battery tester and see if it gives any hints of battery problems before the battery quits completely.

 

[rickinAZ]

CR also put out an article pondering why people would buy a Jeep Wrangler when they could buy a Toyota Rav4.

Well...practically speaking they're pretty much correct. As I mentioned, the Jeep Head of Design estimates that as little as 10% of Wrangler buyers use them offroad. For the other 90%, again practically speaking, the Rav4 absolutely blows the Wrangler out of water: price, fit/finish, fuel efficiency, handling, reliability, resale value, safety, etc, etc, etc. For the 90%, other than making a "lifestyle statement", the Rav4 is head and shoulders better.

And...I'm a Wrangler owner for over 20 years, but I'm not blind to its deficiencies .

 

[James Westfall]

Been driving for just over 30 years, and I can clearly remember when batteries were expected to last 5-8 years...most standard battery warranties were 60 months and the "premium" ones were 72-84 months. It's not imagined or romanticized, it's been quantified and written about extensively - batteries on the whole used to be a lot better than they are now, and we know why that is.

It wasn't until about 2012 that I noticed the difference...when I first had a battery crap out around the 3-year mark. I sold an 11-year old car in 2010, and replaced the ORIGINAL battery for the sale...now that 11-year old car was a garage queen with only 55k miles...but my current garage queen 2021 Raptor with under 30k miles is already on her second battery.

 

[F4Flyer]

The original (I think it was Panasonic) battery on my 4Runner lasted 12 years! I have no idea how. Now the 4Runner is 20 years old and has gone through 2 in the last 8 years. Not terrible. Since it seems the Odessey H7 94R fits, that will be my choice when the time comes. I am still under warranty or I'd probably do the 2-battery setup and get rid of the Aux unless it happens close to that warranty expiration point.

 

[Skeethree]

The problem is that the CR evaluator gets out of his Lincoln Super Giant Town Car (or worse yet an Escalade) and then evaluates a Jeep under the same conditions. We all know better, but anyone who reads the reviews will end up buying some boring American or Foreign made iron and never know what they're missing.

 

[grimmjeeper]

The problem is that the CR evaluator gets out of his Lincoln Super Giant Town Car (or worse yet an Escalade) and then evaluates a Jeep under the same conditions. We all know better, but anyone who reads the reviews will end up buying some boring American or Foreign made iron and never know what they're missing.

Not a chance that happens.

You know darn well they wouldn't drive anything besides a Prius...

 

[F4Flyer]

CR is pretty good and really useful. Anyone know if the Odyssey Extreme (it is taller) battery fits in the JL?

 

[stretch-bsn]

I’ve never cared about batteries…but then again I’ve never LOVED a car (except my old 1983 caprice estate wagon). So as I get older I’m trying to do the whole buy once cry once…so I bought the Odyssey H7 after reading a bunch of reviews on here and other wrangler forums. Definitely hurt my pocket but it will be nice to not have to worry about zapping my battery so bad running lights, winch, ect. We shall see.

 

[grimmjeeper]

I’ve never cared about batteries…but then again I’ve never LOVED a car (except my old 1983 caprice estate wagon). So as I get older I’m trying to do the whole buy once cry once…so I bought the Odyssey H7 after reading a bunch of reviews on here and other wrangler forums. Definitely hurt my pocket but it will be nice to not have to worry about zapping my battery so bad running lights, winch, ect. We shall see.

Nice wagon. I drove a 1977 model in high school and part of college.

 

[2nd 392]

CR is pretty good and really useful. Anyone know if the Odyssey Extreme (it is taller) battery fits in the JL?

posted page 1, yes, someone reported putting them in both their JL & JT.

 

[stretch-bsn]

Nice wagon. I drove a 1977 model in high school and part of college.

I loved my wagon man! I don’t have a garage and it was getting to the point where I felt like I was abusing it…it was either get a garage so I can start doing some real work on it or sell it so someone could tray her right.

 

[txj2go]

I loved my wagon man!

Years ago someone asked one of the Road and Track writers what car they would pick for a cross country trip if they could pick anything. They expected something fast and exotic. The writer said an American station wagon.

 

[grimmjeeper]

Years ago someone asked one of the Road and Track writers what car they would pick for a cross country trip if they could pick anything. They expected something fast and exotic. The writer said an American station wagon.

Hell yeah. The family did a bunch of road trips all over the country in ours. I've given some thought to finding one and fixing it up. But I already have too many projects as it is.

My daily driver is a newer Subaru Outback. It's a great all around vehicle that is extremely versatile. Hell, it handles truck duty better than a Cybertruck.

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