Battery Recommendations?
- Thread starter gamefreakgc
- Start date
LittleCaesar
New member
Optima ten years ago and made in the USA, great battery. Maybe the best on the market.
Today and made in Mexico, not so much.
Never had a problem with Duralast batteries, in fact I am running their AGM battery per recommendation of fellow member Kball. Very nice battery. If you go for one from Advanced Auto, use the coupons first.
Napa I believe is still made by Deka and is quite good as well.
Today and made in Mexico, not so much.
Never had a problem with Duralast batteries, in fact I am running their AGM battery per recommendation of fellow member Kball. Very nice battery. If you go for one from Advanced Auto, use the coupons first.
Napa I believe is still made by Deka and is quite good as well.
98OzarksRunner
New member
I had one in my 65 Mustang (2009-2012) and it was great. I've read that since then they moved manufacturing overseas and quality has gone down. Odyssey is the top brand now I think (Sears Die Hard Platinum).
Konkordmusk
New member
Can you elaborate?
I spent many hours trying to find accurate, factual evidence that the optimas that are now made in mexico are any different, before I decided to go with my Yellow-top.
OptimaJim posts on many forums, most notably ExpeditionPortal providing answers and reasons that current Optimas are in fact, even more closely scrutinized than at the old factory. As a matter of fact, I read that only the cases are molded in the Mexican factory. Assembly still occurs in the USA. I believe the reason more Optimas lately are going bad is because of the time from charge to being in the customers hands. Batteries do self-discharge, and given enough time, can cause ANY battery problems.
Most people are very, very quick to assume they have a bad Optima when all they need to do is set it on a low amperage trickle charge and it would come right back to life.
I am not arguing that Optima is the best all around battery, but it is certainly still a very viable option.
Yep, Johnson Controls owns most of the Market. DieHard (except for the Platinum), Interstate, Duralast, Costco, WalMart's batteries and more are all Johnson Controls and pretty much the same when you compare CCAs and warranty.
Deka is the other big player and they don't have a fraction of what JC has.
Deka is the other big player and they don't have a fraction of what JC has.
Advance auto parts has good deals on batteries if you use the coupon.
Awhile back, I picked up their store brand Silver battery with 2 year warranty for around $70 and it broke so within the last week of the warranty. They gave me a brand new one. However, the next time I get one, I will get the one with the 3 year warranty for about $10-$$20 more.
Awhile back, I picked up their store brand Silver battery with 2 year warranty for around $70 and it broke so within the last week of the warranty. They gave me a brand new one. However, the next time I get one, I will get the one with the 3 year warranty for about $10-$$20 more.
gamefreakgc
Elite Member
My current Costco battery only lasted 4 years (stamped 9/2011). I'm not too impressed. It would be covered by 60% warranty if I had a Costco membership though.
Dinabox
New member
My first Optima red top was purchased in 1998 and put in my old 87 Toyota truck, when I bought my 4runner in 2001 I swapped it in, it finally died in 2012. I have always had an aftermarket stereo with at least 500 watts in amps and a sub. I would play my stereo camping back in the day for 2+ hours at almost full volume and it would start back up every time. So I purchased another red top and it's going strong so far, I sometimes forget to close my door all the way in the garage and the dome light stays on all night, starts right up everytime.
LittleCaesar
New member
I had an Optima from 1998, it lasted until 2007. Great red top battery and made in the USA. Got another Optima RT to replace it, lasted only 16 months. The shop I got it from said his distributor was taking in many failing Optimas so they were not carrying them anymore and switching to Dekas.
My friend runs a farm and fishing business in Vermont. They used Optimas in all their autos since they first came out. They started to see early failures of Mexican made Optimas within a year of buying them. Their distributor ultimately dropped Optima in favor of Interstate. He told me every one in three to four failed early for them.
Not throwing Optima under the bus, or at least way under, but the product today IMHO is not as good as days gone by.
Konkordmusk
New member
My thoughts on recent failures are this: again, due to the increased time between when the battery (as an energy storage device) is provided with the initial charge, and when it reaches the customers hands, the battery has self discharged more than usual. An alternator is NOT a charger; I know you know this. It is a maintainer. If the battery is discharged below like, 80%, it will continue to discharge unless it is properly charged according to the right process which would be a sub-5ah trickle charge, simply because automotive alternators cannot regulate amperage.
My red top is going on 8 years, it was made in Mexico.
When I bought my yellow top, I put it on a trickle charge. I have since discharged it nearly fully 4-5 times and have had no issues with it coming back to full operation.
The charger I use only cost me 50$. Its a Noco Genius g3500 and has a 6v option. It has paid for itself 20 times over by now by saving friends batteries (not all optimas).
I have also brought "dead" optimas back to life using a regular 200amp charger by linking the optima with a known good lead acid battery in parallel and letting the charger sit for a few hours. Optima describes this process on their website.
Sure, you used to not need to go through all of this. But I'm confident that there is essentially no difference in quality other than the initial discharge.
LittleCaesar
New member
Could the supposed increased failure rate of Optimas be attributed to the increased length from construction to installation? Sure, and I suppose it does along with how they may be stored or packaged from said manufacturing site. But there is no hard evidence or info, to support or refute such claims, available to the public.
kball
New member
Optima's had a problem when they first moved production to Mexico. They supposedly, weren't making them to the right specs and that cause a lot of problems for a year or two and basically put a big black mark on their name. Now, they are again, supposedly, making them to the right specs and should be as good as when made in Colorado. I had an original , bought in 2000, that lasted around 10 years. I bought a Mexican one for my wife's car that lasted around 3 years thanks to my wife killing it by leaving a map light on in her Mazda 3. Yes, a map light. 3 times was all it took and that battery would no longer hold a charge over 12 volts. Maybe a smart charger like a Noco ( I have one now ) would have saved it but I switched to Duralast Platinum and have them in all 3 of my vehicles and have had no issues for almost 4 years now.
As a disclaimer I will say, my wife has not left her map lights on since I switched so...?
As a disclaimer I will say, my wife has not left her map lights on since I switched so...?
StreetCreeper
New member
AntleredRuin
New member
+1 for Interstate. I've bought 1 for 2 different vehicles each over the past couple years and they work great. Priced around $130 from Firestone.
BrianSD_42
New member
This is exactly the battery I posted about. Interstate Megatron II.
gamefreakgc
Elite Member
Haven't got one yet. Talking with a member on here on what other options he has besides the Optima. To be honest though, I might go with the red top Optima unless he can get another AGM battery at a cheaper price. $150 is a great price for what you get, even if it doesn't last 10+ years like in the past.
97Run-Man
New member
[MENTION=100687]Konkordmusk[/MENTION] Do you have a write up or anything on your dual battery set up? I am looking to put a yellow top right there and would love some input/advice/guidance if you have any.
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