Optima Battery Question

[Furu]

I used to believe that the Optima batteries both Red and Yellow top were really good batteries and last a long time. Today I had a battery dealer tell me to NOT get a red top Optima as they have had nothing but problems as of late. Actually he said that every Optima they have sold in the past two years has come back for failure reasons.

I did read something about a year ago about problems but nothing since. So I turn to the mass of people on TBN.

What has been your experience with the Optima Brand red top batteries in the last couple of years? Would you still recommend buying one over another good quality battery?
Chime in
Thanks

 

[LittleBill21]

read they sucked, they moved the production and every since then, they have gone down hill.

 

[ROUSTABOUT]

I still use one that expired on Sep 2008.

 

[RjCorazza]

Not red tops, but I had 2 Optima Yellow Tops fail suddenly at 3 years on my ZD326 And 331. The failures occurred within a week of each other.
I believe an internal connection failed. Upon starting, the engine was turning over fine as usual, then suddenly stopped - no dash lights, no nothing. The battery measured 12.8v immediately after which led me down the path of checking fuses, relays, cables, starter, etc to no avail. A load test on the battery revealed the failure.

 

[Reddogs]

This seems to be happening across the board to batteries as a whole, can't seem to find any 5year batteries either, all 3year or less.

 

[rScotty]

I sang the praises of Optimas and their round cell batteries for 20 years. It wasn't unusual at all to get ten or more years from an Optima. Used them in all of our machines and was real happy with the product. Red tops in cars, yellow tops in the commercial machines & some tractors, and blue tops on the boat & RV. .
Then the Optima company was sold and both the reliability and the amp*hr quality dropped.
Then sold again, and for the last 5 years or so the quality is very inconsistent. The last two red tops I bought were even worse. They lasted less than a year until they would not take or hold a charge. Both of those came direct from the Optima company (online). Optima deliberately makes warranty a challenge with special conditions and testing required.

Only a few years back I used to say that only the quality of newer Optima varied - and if you got a good one it was as good as ever. But I don't see that now. These last two were fine for 10 months and then complete failure.

I do have one old blue top out of the RV and a yellow top from something. Both are so old their records are lost. Both have to be well over a decade old. We use them as backups. None of the red tops have lasted so long.

I have a acquaintance whose business warehouses & distributes batteries over a multistate area. He says the same about the Optima. Used to be top quality; no longer.

BTW, Optima is well aware of my opinion on their product. I explained when the last two red tops failed and were not warranteed that I would be expressing my opinion freely and publically.
Thanks,
rScotty

 

[ruffdog]

I put one in a tractor in 1999 and it was still going in 2018. I also put one in the truck in about 2018 and it has been fine.

History of Optima battery:
OPTIMA® Batteries History

 

[WranglerX]

Replace the Optima with an Odyssey. Ever since Optima moved production to MEXICO it has been crap....

Odyssey Battery

Welcome to OdysseyBattery.com - the official manufacturer's website for the revolutionary ODYSSEY® battery. It has twice the power and triple the life of conventional lead acid batteries, and is ideal for car, truck and powersports vehicles, as well as marine and heavy duty applications.

www.odysseybattery.com

Have one in my Jeep, probably going on 7 years now, twice I though something killed it (dome light when door was not shut properly) when it was so low it would not even bring on dash lights .... Several times winching I have pulled it down to a point battery voltage was so low (yes with engine running and alternator producing) it shut down Jeep.... IT always comes back to life.... Always there even if Jeep sits for a month or so....

 

[ruffdog]

read they sucked, they moved the production and every since then, they have gone down hill.

This is what the company says:

OPTIMA Batteries Suck? The Truth

 

[rScotty]

I used to believe that the Optima batteries both Red and Yellow top were really good batteries and last a long time. Today I had a battery dealer tell me to NOT get a red top Optima as they have had nothing but problems as of late. Actually he said that every Optima they have sold in the past two years has come back for failure reasons.

I did read something about a year ago about problems but nothing since. So I turn to the mass of people on TBN.

What has been your experience with the Optima Brand red top batteries in the last couple of years? Would you still recommend buying one over another good quality battery?
Chime in
Thanks

I agree with your dealer. For more info see my message #6.
rScotty

 

[deserteagle71]

I bought my 2006 Jeep Wrangler in 2011, so 11 years ago this month. It had a red-top Optima in it when I bought it, and that same battery is still in the Jeep and working well today. So I really don't know how old it is but it's at least 11 years old.

 

[not2old]

My 1990 f250 with 460 is on it's third Optima. The first lasted more than a dozen years and I replaced the second one two years ago when it became about the same age because a dead battery is very inconvenient after a day of sledding. That second battery seemed very weak so was just sitting. I had recently purchased a Noco reconditioning charger and put it on the Optima just as a curiosity. It did seem to bring it back and has been in daily use in a Volvo 960 since. My truck does not see a lot of use and the new battery was found to be dead once. I didn't find anything wrong and has worked fine after that one charging. I put a small yellow top in my GC and it works very well for the third winter now.

 

[ljjhouser]

The battery I use on my trailer winch is a yellow top. It was worked for about 4 years, but not used often (which may be harder on it than daily use). It is kept on a maintenainer. Only one comment - I do feel like a battery which costs between $300-$400 should have a longer warrantee than 2/3 years. Mine still works. And as most of us knows, winches under load draw a lot of current and if we have a newer truck, are reluctant to use the truck battery.

Many years ago, I bought a new 1995 Bronco Eddie Baur. Nice vehicle. One day (about a year old) the mirror (which was stuck to the windshield) fell off and was hanging by it's cord. I didn't want it to dangle by the cord (which was like a light-weight phone cord and connector). So being a smart and somewhat intelligent person (yes, my opinion) I unpuged the mirror and placed it into the passenger seat. Then pulled back onto the highway..

With that mirror unhooked, now the transmission would not shift out of low gear.

That is how integrated electrical and electronics have become in later vehicles. (that was 1995). I refused to operate a winch off my 2021 truck. I know people do it all the time. But I also you cannot get a brake controller added to the truck without having the dealer reprogram the computer. That is why I buy with tow package. Anyway, I will never forget that experience. Sorry for the long post.

 

[5030]

When Johnson Controls moved the Optima production from Waterville, Ohio to Mexico, everything went down the crapper.

 

[Midniteoyl]

This is what the company says:

OPTIMA Batteries Suck? The Truth

So, company that makes batteries says theirs are the best and critics are wrong?

 

[5030]

I'm sure most of you realize the picture captioned on their website is a picture taken in the Mexico facility... Not Waterville, Ohio. Over the years I've had a couple and from my experience, they aren't heads and shoulders above the pack except in price. I'll take a flooded cell Interstate over an Optima anyday.

 

[jpolcyn]

I have had good luck with them. Still have 3 red tops in operation and all of them are over 10years old. I can not speak to the new ones but i would not be surprised by them going down the crapper after Johnson controls bought them.

 

[5030]

I have had good luck with them. Still have 3 red tops in operation and all of them are over 10years old. I can not speak to the new ones but i would not be surprised by them going down the crapper after Johnson controls bought them.

Actually, Johnson Controls has always owned the brand but they were made here. When they moved production to Mexico, the quality took a dump. In reality there are only a few outfits that make ALL domestic batteries. Not unexpected in my opinion. Quality and pride in manufacturing goes south when you pay a worker maybe 10 bucks a day versus 25 bucks an hour here. It's all about maximum profit and minimum investment in employee wages.

 

[crashz]

I replaced the stock battery in my 2012 Silverado as a maintenance item, about 3 years ago. I keep the truck in the garage and avoid driving it in the winter to keep it from rusting as much as possible. But each year I seem to forget to charge the battery and it will go dead in a couple of months.

I replaced the stock battery with an Optima redtop and I haven't had any major issues, but it does seem to discharge a bit faster. I keep it on a trickle charger now and if I take it off for a week, it will be 50% or so. In a month off of the charger, it will not have enough juice to start the truck.

 

[5030]

Keep in mind that any vehicle that is computer (ECM) controlled, the brain box will continuously draw a tiny amount of juice to keep the memory alive. SOP for me is a tender on my vehicles when parked for more than a week anyway. Most ECM's will operate down to 11 volts. After that, they become DOA.

My mom had a Chrysler Sebring that would eat a battery in a week no issue. I finally installed a tender under the hood with the plug where she could reach it with an extension cord as I got tired of driving over there to jump start her car.