anyone running optima battery? worth the money and red top or yellow top. It will go on an stock 8BA with typical stuff of radio, soon to be A/C. No bags, power locks or windows. Thanks guys.
As a battery distributor who sees thousands of waste batteries a month, I dislike Optima's quality and have for the past two years. The master distributor for Optima stated to me that he was having major issues as well. Go Odyssey and you end up with better quality and a smaller footprint.
I run an auto parts business and I dont think their worth the expense unless you need it mounted in an unusual place,as previously stated.
I have an Optima Yellow top. It's mounted upside down under the back of my truck, doesn't get used much, but I've never had to charge it either. The reason i went with Optima was that it will be hanging right out in the open under there and I needed to put my battery upside down. I'm very happy with it, it's about four years old.
i'm looking at the odyssey myself,i have a thread somewhere. heres a link to some good info. they even have an approved aircraft one now,that says a lot. tough to get a battery certified for aircraft use today. http://www.odysseybatteries.com/index.htm
i have a couple of them and like them , kinda pricey , ones going on ten years old probbably should replace it but still working fine, no corosion buildup, sealed, just my 2 cents !
I've had and sold several and the only problem I've seen with them is if put in a car that is in storage alot be sure put a cable disconnest on them. If you have any drain and it runs the battery dead sometimes it totally kills the battery and will not be able to take a charge again. I'm a dealer and don't seem to experiance any problems with cars that are driven daily. Most of our problems are in show cars that sit alot. TomCat 1
I have two Optimas, one in my late model and one in my '53 Ford, both purchased at the same time. The one in the late model finally died after 6 years of service, and I took the one out of the truck (that had been sitting for over a year) to replace it. That battery is still going strong in the late model and I just purchased another one to put back in the truck which should be running again soon. Also I live in Phoenix and when I first moved here people told me they have to replace batteries on average every two years or sooner. So I'm happy with the performance of my Optimas.
I can only say I will never buy another one..for the ammount of money, and the fact they didnt stand behind mine when it failed..(2 days before the warrenty, because they jacked me around for 2 weeks) Not to mention the quality..they also dont like living in a car that isnt used daily..like my 53, or my roadmaster.. for a hot rod that is a seasonal car or used only on weekends and occational evening..they dont seem to last long enough for the cash outlay. lead acid batteries work great and are cheap. now if you have to mount one upside down or laying on its side..than i guess you have little choice.. I plan on finding a way to mount my batteries in the normal way
I probably won't buy another one...they aren't happy in something that's not a daily driver...recently I started buying my batteries at costco (the Kirkland ones) and have been very happy with them and at a great price...not cool to look at it but they do the job
The thing I though was great about them was that they don't emit any fumes so you can mount them anywhere. Are there any other brands like that?
I noticed that there is no corrosion at the post's.4 yr old red top I will use another when the time comes. Rob
I have a optima running my 8ba, and I love it! No radio, No A/C or Power locks though. I bought the $200 battery when I had $$...but now I have no $$. It's a great battery
Obviously two sides to every story! Thanks for all the input. Ill check out the others referred here then might have to call out the head /tails coin god?
I have bought Optima red top's for all of my cars and never had an issue. I had a buddy who had one in his daily driver and the thing lasted for almost 13 years untill it finally failed. And on the show car/non daily driver note, any battery in that type of car should be hooked up to a battery tender while parked. Keeping a battery tender on it will keep the battery at 12 volts and ready to roll. Any battery left in a parked car long enough (without some kinda trickle/tender on it) will fail..
Optima was purchased recently and the quality has dipped. Still nice batteries but there are other quality options now. I run a red top in my daily driver but the caddy doesn't really need it. When I put bags in I might get a dry cell but probably not an optima unless I can get another hook up.
Only problem with that is when the battery does decide to go to battery heaven, you're stuck with replacing it with another Odyssey, which may or may not be available same-day at a brick and mortar store. A bit of a PITA when you need one NOW. Regardless of what brand you choose, use a standard size that's readily available. I used to like the Optimas, but haven't had much luck with newer ones.
What a Drag... had my first one ( a $70 blem ) made better than 8 years and I beat that poor thing .. Of the other three I have now, one is on a year the next is on 3+ and the last is sitting around 5-6 years ...
i use em, disturbing to hear so many un-happy when leaving them sitting, i better go out and crank em over. i did hear when they go down, trickle charge them or it ruins them.
I rememeber reading a thread on here that stated that the Optimas were now being manufactured in Mexico. If it's true, that would explain the drop in quality over that last couple of years.
I have a red top Optima in my 32 3W ( see it under the seat ) I bought it almost three years ago. Last week it died. AutoZone replaced FREE ... no questions asked. But the warranty was almost out. They have a 3 year free replacement policy and I just got in under the wire by about 3 weeks. After reading the previous reponses ... the battery in my 3W has not seen regular use or maintenance. That may be the fault. This is the first Optima I have bought. I have always had great luck with a Interstate Megatron. The one in my 32 roadster is 10 years old and it ... like the 3W ... does not see regular useage or maintenance. The warranty will be invalid on my red top Optima in less than 2 weeks. I think I will BUY another Interstate Megatron to replace it with ... if the redtop fails again.
Maybe the question should be asked... "Who here has had problems with batteries that are NOT Optima batteries?" All batteries can be problematic depending on how you have them mounted, where you have them mounted, how you take care of them and how much power you are actually using. Vibration, excessive heat, fully draining a battery beyond it's rated "point of no return" are all grounds for problems. Not to say that a person couldn't follow all the safe guards and still have problems, but I don't think there is a brand on the market that a person couldn't ask about and hear the same types of things. Anyone here had problems with a Die Hard? How about Interstate? Odyssey? Exide? Autolite? You get the idea... Not taking sides one way or the other, or defending any one brand either. Just throwing that out there because I've had good and bad luck with allll kinds of batteries. I'm up to try a red cap and I think I'm going to give it a go, this time around. It will be a standard size in case something happens on the road and I need to replace it. I think with any battery, buy what you need for your power requirements, enviornmental concerns (CCA's, etc), and just be smart about how you mount it. I've had $35 car batteries in blistering hot weather and mounted in a really embarrassing manner last way past their life span and I've had good expensive $200 batteries crap out after 4-months when mounted exactly as they should be.
I'm using an Optima red top in an off topic street rod. The first one died after being installed for 18 months and not being driven much at all. It wouldn’t take a charge after being ran down to zero. It had sat in a less that fully charged state, that’s a good way to kill a battery. Sears replaced it at no cost. This second one is either driven or placed on a maintenance charger and is still going strong after three years. I accidently left my lights on for over an hour last week and it started right up. I’m kind of stuck with this one because of the Bitchin battery box built into the firewall. Are they worth the money? I don’t know. I have cheaper batteries that seem to be up the assigned task.
the napa colored top batteries are the best ive found............ http://www.napaonline.com/MasterPag...scription=Battery+-+SELECT+Orbital+Deep+Cycle it seems to me the optima's were just a ''cool guy'' craze
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