Optima Batteries

[ken1mod]

Gentlemen,

 

I have been curious about the new battery designs. I know lots of you have had great experiences with the optima. I have been asking all the battery suppliers that I meet about their reliability as far as warranty returns go.

 

The answer I usually get is that they get more optimas back defective than regular wet batteries. They do say that they are exceptional for rough uses in dune buggies, boats, etc where they are tossed and turned but some sales people are starting to not recommend them for normal duty. I have never used one but am thinking of switching.

 

What do you guys think?

 

Ken

[BlownL67]

I've had my Optima Yellow Top since late 1998 and she is still kickin hard! The battery started its life in my 1991 Lumina Z34 til it got totalled and I yanked it out. Soon after that I purchased my Grand Prix GTP I threw it in and canned my crappy Delco battery. I'm about to trade in my GTP so I demodded the car and stuck an Autozone battery in there and loaned out my Yellow Top to a friend who ran into some battery issues with his GMC Sierra winter beater. All in all, for the price you pay, I say you get your money out of them! I also have a Red Top in my 1990 Mustang GT 5.0 which had some serious battery drainage issues. The battery has been killed several times, but I just take it to work and charge it up for a day or 2 and she is all set to go again!

 

I also forgot to mention we use nothing but Optima Red Top batteries at my base. Being an F-15 mechanic on the flightline we use and abuse the Aircraft Ground Power Equipment HEAVILY day in and day out and there are very rarely an issues starting up these machines, even in the worse climate. Majority of the equipment is kept outside in all sorts of conditions so you can really see how tough these batteries are!

 

Do you think I should be a spokesperson ? haha

[Bukmaster]

I have a Red Top in both of my Silverados and have been pretty happy them. The only problem I had was with the one in my '99. After more than 2 years it lost a cell. Autozone replaced it free of charge so i am still happy. To be fair the battery take some abuse in that truck do to the fact that I have a fairly powerful sound system with no capacitor. Could have been the cause of the dead cell, I don't know. They do have a real good warranty so I give them a thumbs up. I have also noticed that they last looooong time with the doors open and the music cranked. Haven't had a dead battery yet!

[Dyabolical]

Optima is a great battery brand, but there are other battery makers that provide the same if not better quality for a better price.

[alaska511]

Optimas are great, and I have owned many...Extreme cold weather, winching, etc...BUT

I have now settled on Interstate batteries, the group 24 w/ 900 CCA is great, they are less expensive and NEVER let me down.

Another great one I had was an Autolite Platinum with a lifetime replacement from Schuck's, I bought it out of necessity one night, and used in my camper, then transfered it to my truck and one morning at -30* my lights had been left on for 6 hours and it still started, was a great battery.

[ken1mod]

Gentlemen,

 

I have also had great results with Interstate. They would last until the truck was wrecked. I do not think I ever had one fail by itself.

 

Ken

[Bish]

I put an optima Red Top in my 01 Tahoe after 1 year. I had the leaking side post problem on the oem battery. Anyhow, I just traded the truck in at 206K miles and 7 years later it still cranked as good as when new. I also had 2 amps (5 channels) draining power. We also had many days this winter well below zero (-18F one day). A little pricey but can't complain abut the performance.

 

Also, I ran the Optima to pretty much dead on at least 5 occasions at outdoor parties with no lasting effects. Charged it up and it seemed back to original condition.

[ws6_guy]

I had a yellowtop in my '01 F150, never changed the bat in my Silverado, still as the ACDelco in it, & its never drained once, I often run the accessories for a half hour with the radio on when I clean inside and it never drains.

[ATMINF]

The Optimas are having some QA/QC problems from what I am hearing. I had one in my 1995 Camaro and it worked great, but that was several years ago. The bottom line is that if you get a "good" one it is great, but if your is one that has problems, the return warrenty sucks and you are out some cash. I have read other posts and was suprised to see that the quality was so hit or miss. They may have changed how they are doing their QA/QC and that has effected the number of crappy batteries getting out to the public.

So I would say if you get one, see how long the warrenty is, and see if it is worth it for you. For me after reading the issues with them I went out to Sams club and got a replacement Energizer battery for the wifes Mini-van and it cost only $70 bucks and is covered for full replacment for 3 years and prorated for 8 years, and it is covered at all Sams, or Wally worlds.

[ken1mod]

Gentlemen,

 

I do think the 100% free replacement period is the most important point. I will only buy the three year free replacement batteries.

 

Ken

[Nick The Great]

Sorry to bump an old thread. I've been feverishly researching batteries this morning. Seems like the Optima's can be good batteries. I'm still looking around, pricing and such.

 

Does anyone know why the Optima website doesn't list our trucks on it? I've found a lot of site aren't showing our vehicles. For example, even Carquest didn't show an option for >2006 Silvy's. Maybe this is a better question for the local dealer, but I know a lot of guys on here have them.

 

Thanks a bunch.

[Ryan00TJ]

I've had no problems with the yellow top in my Jeep TJ. It's been in there since 03 and has seen alot of winching use and rundown. No problems.

[svensk]

My red top is a monster. When my Delco stock battery froze last winter in -35 weather I went to batteries plus and the guy sold me on the red top. Cranks right up every time, doesn't matter what temp.

[silvy2k]

A yellow top was the first mod. i made on my truck when i bought it almost 2 years ago. I've had the system blastin for numerous straight hours and has yet not wanted to start. Now that I think of it all of my vehicles have yellow tops and the only issues I had was that one of the cars sat for like 4 months without starting it and i put the charger on it overnight and the next morning fired right up and has been fine ever since.

[ATMINF]

Like I stated several months ago, check out some of the current issues with those batteries. I am not saying they are all bad, but the QA/QC issues and the return/replacement policy kinda sucks on them. Do a search on different sites and see what comes up. I think the ones that were made a couple of years ago were good, but now its 50-50. The three year full replacement and 8 year prorated policy for the Energizer battery that I got at Sams club along with the $70 dollar price tag sold me on the one I got. Good luck!