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