Sort of O/T - Optima Batteries NOT made in USA!!!

I realize a lot of guys are running Optima's in their rides, and I myself have used 3 of them in the past with very good luck. So I thought this would be good info to pass along...

I buy American made products whenever possible, and will even spend a few extra $$$ if I have to. I needed a new battery for my latest project, a '55 155W Brockway truck. Summit had $30 coupon so I decided to buy it from them.

When I opened the box from Summit, I was happy to see MADE IN USA printed boldly on the box. After I opened the box, I could not believe the dime sized sticker that read "Made in Mexico." I went and compared it to my other Optima's and they even changed the casing by removing the "Made in Aurora Indiana" raised letters.

I immediately emailed the company and told them the following:

"Words cannot describe how disappointed I am that Optima has decided to move their manufacturing across the border. Unfortunately this will be the last Optima I purchase, and I am half tempted to return the one to Summit and go find and regular battery that is American made."

This was last Friday and I never received a response. So today I going to call both Optima and Summit.

Tom

 

That is sad.

 

Maybe that explains why I've had to return 3 different ones in the last couple of years. I'm going to start looking at Interstate Batteries.

 

I hear ya. I stopped in Summit Tuesday, picked up a pair Torque Thrust Originals. Made in China...made my heart sink. Then later got mad at myself for still buying them.

 

The plant in aurora colorado is still making batteries. Interstate is also owned by the same parent company, so your money is still going into the same corporate pockets.

 

I have had no good luck with Optima batteries..Now I know why, thanks for bringing this to light. I have been only buying batteries from my local parts supplier. after trashing 2 Optimas with out them backing them up for lame reasons, I decided they were not a company i was willing to deal with. if they cant stand behind their product they deserve to have it thrown thru their shop window

 

You might check with Exide, they make the "Orbital" battery, same benefits of the Optima. I have 2 of them and have had good luck, have not seen a sticker on them to see where they are made though. Just a thought.

 

Too bad there is not a list for car parts showing where they are made. " American " Torq thrusts now made in F'n China. I think Cragers are made in Mexico also. Lets just stop buying them

 

ive had pretty good luck with optima batteries , but i have had them a couple of years and have needed no replacements , i "was" under the assumption they were made in the good old USA and if they are not im finding another battery company .. i bought a set of torque thrust twos for my 68 a few years ago and keeping a shine on them has been a real bitch from the get go .. made in china? things are starting to make sense now as i dont remember torque thrust being this hard to stay polished..

 

Yes, let them know. It does no good to piss and moan alone in a corner when this stuff happens.

I speak to sales clerks and store managers frequently, explaining simply and friendly why I am not buying the Chinese stuff they stock. I usually get a sympathetic response, something about their suppliers, blah, blah, blah. Nevertheless, I ask them to pass on my complaint to their bosses.

If more people did this, and if more people stopped buying this foreign stuff, we'd see more cottage industry spring up right here.

 

Try a Kinetic gel battery I have had great luck with them, I have used 3, I have never had luck with the Optima!

John

 

Even my Optima rep tells me the quality has dropped in the last few years. Now I know why.
I've had good luck with them for the most part, and spotty results in the fleet police cars at work. (Crown Vics).

 

In this day, it surprises you WHY?

After I've been told many times - "A company's in business to make money, if that's what it takes to make more, then that is what has to be done....." Hell they can go down there, subjugate the labor, pollute the environment and use cheaper, crappier materials and charge the same price driving up their profit. Hell you should be applauding them for being such good business men. What's economic decency and ethics obligation have anything to do with it.

 

From what i was told , If they are used in an environment (application) where they are constanly used. (radio amp power, or every day cars)..they will live their best life.
As for storage or use in non daily drivers their perfomance and life is quickly depleated. you cannot charge them like a normal lead acid battery, some shit about a special battery charger (that i dont own and it sounded like bullshit to me because my alternator isnt any special battery charger) these were excuses that Optima was spewing to me when i told them they could shove their product up their Ass! I had 2 Optima battries in Non daily Modified Cars. They Both took a complete shit. 2 weeks after their replacement warrenty was up..(almost like it was planned)
Oh and BTW they dont like being in cold storrage..(like here in Michigan) and not used durring the cold months and having that "special" charger doing its "special" job...what a PITA if all what he said is true, why would any one want something so dam finiky in their Hot Rod?

 

Wow, this is like a smart person's conversation. If you want to really make a difference why don't you only buy gas refined from crude pumped out of the ground in America.

 

what's wrong with a traditional lead-acid battery?
DECKA is still made in PA right.? I got two that are over ten years old and still going strong.
Only if you are mounting in the pass cpmpt would I consider the gel cell.

Frank

 

Johnson Controls molds the cases for Optima, Interstate, and other knock-off brand batteries. They have several facilities in the US that mold batteries including Cincinnati, South Carolina, and Denver, where the Optima Battery is molded. Shipments to the Denver facility have dropped substantially so apparently the tooling for Optima Batteries has been moved.

Based on the post above, it appears that the cases are now molded in Mexico, but I believe that the assembly still occurs in in the US. I'll get out Tech Service guy to check and post later with more info.

 

Have you noticed that a PREMIUM is charged for the Optima batteries? I have. I'm willing to pay more to get better products, which in many cases means MADE IN USA. It would seem that the bean counters @ Optima have chosen to ignore this. That's why it's surprising

 

Spitfire is exactly right. The only thing that most companies/corporations (especially publicy traded ones) care about is the bottom line and increasing profits by as much as possible no matter what. It shouldn't be surprising. But. Like what has been said- the best thing you can do as a consumer is to educate yourself, and support the brands and companies whose policies you best agree with.

 

Gel batteries-Optima have to be charged differently. The charge has to "taper off" as they reach a full charge, because the water/acid in them is suspended in the gel, not in the normal cells where the excess heat and gas can "boil" out. Sorry this isn't betteer, but they really do require a charger that can read how charged they are.

 

yes..gas pumper, deka batteries are made by east penn mfg. in lyons station, pa sort of between allentown and reading.

 

Sarcasm my friend. Sarcasm. A form of often humorous intonation. As well with my further comment.

Hell its gotten to apoint where I'll buy somehting as long as it wasn't made in China. I prefer the US, but there is so much corporate double-speak, you never know. Could come from India, Thailiand, etal as long as not China. And even at that its damn near impossible. I have seen American flags made in China.

 

Welcome to Global Economics. Foreign sources are still trying to deliver the same level of quality we can build ourselves. Problem is even in foreign markets, you get what you pay for. There was a time when "Made In Japan" = complete junk. Now some of the highest quality products come from Japan.

Like it or not this is the way the econimic model is going. you can all piss and moan about it as much as you like. It's not going to change anything. What you can change is the expectation of quality. If the product is sub-standard quality and you express that to the manufacturer they should take note quickly when the sales decline. I try to buy stuff made here at home, but if a quality item is cheaper, regardless of it's Country of origin, I will buy it.

You can fight it and fall behind, or you can work within the way things are.

 

Not surprising. American manufacturers CANNOT compete with Mexico, China, India etc. Not without tarrifs. All these countries apply tarrifs to goods going into their countries, but not us. Get used to it, unless there is a major shift in our leadership...

 

Actually we do have tariffs. Problem is these are companies whose management is in the US, and practiced as US companies, but manufacturer outside the US at facilities they own. Thus they are immune to tariffing.

And its true it is a global economy, and this is the changing face of things. But just accepting the direction that it is going accomplishes nothing. Personally I'm hoping that all this big-wig outsourcing will drive the upsurgence of smaller businesses starting and producing. It happened once in the late 19th and early 20th century, nothing saying it can't again.

 

Everything comes full circle.

People eventually will get tired of the "big Box" warehouse mentality and will crave the mom and pop atmosphere that once used to be standard in the United States.

 

I wouldn't hold my breath. Why would people who never experienced "mom & pop" shops crave them? For the most part M&P's have been gone for quite a while, and I'm sure that most people under the age of 30 or so haven't ever had the pleasure of doing business at one. More likely that "big box" will just get bigger.......

 

I have a friend that is using a Optima battery in his Model A. They would last it a year or less before they went bad. I think he is on his fourth one. I think part of the problem is he is running a generator, which probably never got it to a full charge, especially on short trips with low RPM driving, and then add the amount of time the car not being driven.

I've always used the least expensive lead acid batteries in my cars and have had very good luck doing so. The first one in my roadster lasted 7 years! I'd rather spend $30 for one of those instead of $120 for an Optima any day. I figured if they went bad I wasn't out much and would just buy another (besides lead/acid is "traditional"). Since a lot of my cars have 6 volt batteries (after I got tired of replacing them), I have put battery maintainer/chargers (cost: $20-$28) on all of them. No matter when I go to start them they spin right over and start. I have since added them to my 12 volt batteries too. That combination has kept me from having any battery problems.

This rational doesn't work. We must buy or export American made products by American workers or we won't be able to buy anything that's imported such as oil, minerals, produce, etc. We have to produce SOMETHING as a country to maintain our standard of living. Even if its Microsoft software, Hollywood movies, etc for export. No country can produce 100% of its raw materials it needs to survive. China and Japan sure don't and how are they doing? They are adding value to what they import by making something from them to export to us! We are the biggest consumer of all products in the world. If we don't start producing more products for our own consumption and export, we won't be buying much of anything from here or anywhere else for that matter.

 

TJM73...I appreciate your point of view.

Here is something to consider (and promotes TJM73's premise): I am using a Dell Computer to make...whatever observation I am making here. The entire computer (mouse, keyboard, and monitor) have Made in China labels on them.

Do you see the irony, and the reality? The irony is that I couldn't promote "Made in America" on this forum without using a device....NOT made here. So, who DOES have a computer Made In America? Anyone?

The reality, therefore, is that we consistently compromise our "values" for the purposes of expediency. Generally speaking (WITH exceptions), our clothes aren't made here, our steel is not made here, out furniture is not made here, our electronics are not made here...we are a consumer nation with a nearly $1 TRILLION trade deficit with Asia.

There is only ONE reason for that, folks. Our indigenous industries went to them for the cheap labor so that they could maximize their profits, and we (as consumers) are co-conspirators, because we wanted cheap goods. End of story.

There is a recent story in the news about the "rebirth" of American Steel. In short, three European companies are building steel mills in the US because the price of steel (which we sell to the Chinese every chance we get) has risen 300 percent in the last couple years, and because the weak US dollar makes...ready?.....it cost less to produce steel here because OUR LABOR IS CHEAPER.

And let's be brutally honest...if you are a fabricator, and have built anything from a bracket to a frame in the last several years? Your hot rod or custom has offshore steel in it. Yes, you CAN still get US made steel. If you can afford it.

Irony on top of irony. I would LOVE to buy ONLY Made in America goods. Problem with that is...I can't. I LOVE my Caterpillar brand steel toed work boots...that are made in China. And I wouldn't know where to look, nor could I afford, a computer Made In America.

My $.02