CWLONGSHOT Posted November 27, 2009 Share Posted November 27, 2009 I remember sometime back someone posting up something negative about these optima batteries. I just wanna put up my gripe here as well about them. I bought this one is Optima red top in 2001, June of 2001 to be exact. Its lived in my TJ until spring of 2005 when The TJ got a winch and a new yellow top optima to go along with it. I moved the optima to the "shelf" for a while. Spring of 2006, I bought a 1988 2DR 4.0 Cherokee and built it up mildly for my Pop. That optima went in it. Its been fine until last week. Pop bought himself a 2002 WJ a couple months back and the XJ has been sitting neglected. Last week we got some new tires for it and I pulled the battery for a charge. Yesterday I dropped the battery back in and started the XJ up... no dice. The optima has given its last crank. I jumped the XJ and finished the tire swap and oil change and put it back out behind the house. Today we go for a new battery for our ol'friend. SO, eight and a half years, from one battery. I would have thought it had 10 in it..... :doh: :doh: Will I buy another one? You can bank on it!! over. :D ;) CW Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pingpong Posted November 27, 2009 Share Posted November 27, 2009 Glad you have had luck with them. I have a blue top, and a yellow top that both have bad cells in them. Of course the blue top was in my trail only rig, but it gave up the ghost after 3yrs. The yellow top gave up after 5 yrs. of course can't find receipts, and advance has no records of selling them to me :huh???: :doh: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JeepcoMJ Posted November 27, 2009 Share Posted November 27, 2009 take it in to advance auto or carquest, somewhere that keeps them in stock. IIRC optima has a replacement warantee on them if they go bad (they're not supposed to). I got two optimas from the junkyard once, both were done for...one blue, one red. traded them in straight up at advance auto, and they didn't give me issues about reciepts etc. one of them got sold in an xj I had, the other one resides in my brother's '88 comanche. it's been there for 5 or 6 years, never had an issue. I run dual interstates in my truck...because they're 1000 cold cranking amps, and the main one was free out of my company van when they did their yearly replacement (gotta love the company throwing things away :D)...the other one was free when said van finally gave up the ghost 3 months after replacement. I'd prefer optima. the nice thing too is that now their blue tops are able to handle constant charge as well as traditional marine run-down then charge. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
whowey Posted November 27, 2009 Share Posted November 27, 2009 Man... I must have gotten screwed.... My red top only last seven years of being beaten, abused, drained, charged, and dropped..... :rotf: :rotf: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SuperWade2 Posted November 27, 2009 Share Posted November 27, 2009 Might have been me with the Optima Hating... Glad they've worked well for other folks here! :cheers: The Blue Top in my TJ stopped holding a charge at barely over 3 years...I won't buy another Optima...Only 1 bad experience, but that was enough for me. I replaced it with a DieHard Platinum which is actually made by Odyssey Batteries... 4 year full replacement, 100 month prorated is better than anything Optima was offering. **EDIT ** The 3 years that I had the optima saw maybr 5000 miles put on the Jeep, maybe half dozen days of COLDish (below freezing) days and maybe another half dozen of warm ones (>100 Degrees). Not extreme harsh use by any means... ** EDIT #2 ** The Warranty for my Optima (Blue Top purchased before Feb 2009) is ONLY 18 months free replacement, remaining 18 months prorated... So it poo'ed out not long after I was going to get zip for warranty anyhow... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pilotblake Posted November 27, 2009 Share Posted November 27, 2009 I have an abused red top that has taken a beating and came back for more. It has been used for eveything from common duties in my truck, to a back up for my saltwater tank when the power went out, to being used as a trolling motor battery. One day I wil buy another one, and leave this one in the truck or retire it. I have a good understanding of how batteries work and are designed, and this one has been put through the paces. :cheers: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JeepcoMJ Posted November 27, 2009 Share Posted November 27, 2009 Might have been me with the Optima Hating... Glad they've worked well for other folks here! :cheers: The Blue Top in my TJ stopped holding a charge at barely over 3 years...I won't buy another Optima...Only 1 bad experience, but that was enough for me. I replaced it with a DieHard Platinum which is actually made by Odyssey Batteries... 4 year full replacement, 100 month prorated is better than anything Optima was offering. **EDIT ** The 3 years that I had the optima saw maybr 5000 miles put on the Jeep, maybe half dozen days of COLDish (below freezing) days and maybe another half dozen of warm ones (>100 Degrees). Not extreme harsh use by any means... ** EDIT #2 ** The Warranty for my Optima (Blue Top purchased before Feb 2009) is ONLY 18 months free replacement, remaining 18 months prorated... So it poo'ed out not long after I was going to get zip for warranty anyhow... was that before or after they redesigned the blue top? sounds like you had a marine-only blue top, which is meant to drain to zip then be fully charged again, rather than constantly charged. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CWLONGSHOT Posted November 27, 2009 Author Share Posted November 27, 2009 take it in to advance auto or carquest, somewhere that keeps them in stock. IIRC optima has a replacement warantee on them if they go bad (they're not supposed to). I got two optimas from the junkyard once, both were done for...one blue, one red. traded them in straight up at advance auto, and they didn't give me issues about reciepts etc. one of them got sold in an xj I had, the other one resides in my brother's '88 comanche. it's been there for 5 or 6 years, never had an issue. I run dual interstates in my truck...because they're 1000 cold cranking amps, and the main one was free out of my company van when they did their yearly replacement (gotta love the company throwing things away :D)...the other one was free when said van finally gave up the ghost 3 months after replacement. I'd prefer optima. the nice thing too is that now their blue tops are able to handle constant charge as well as traditional marine run-down then charge. I have zero complaints for 8 years of service!! have a Advance here, I'll bring it in and see what they say... :thumbsup: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
comanchekidwa Posted November 28, 2009 Share Posted November 28, 2009 Optima's were never designed for what we in the offroad world use them for.... Ever since Optima moved there plants over seas the quality has gone down hill.... There are 4 levels of Optima batteries. Don't ever buy one from Costco they get the bottom of the list. the good ones go to the top battery company's... If you want a battery that you don't have to worry about buy a Odyssey battery Yes they are a little expensive but they come with a 3 or 4 year warranty depending on battery, they have a 2 year shelve life before needing charged. They can take being drained and recharged several times without hurting the battery. I don't want to write out all the specs you can go to their website or here is the spec sheet http://www.odysseybattery.com/batteries.html Jason Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
johnnyc Posted November 28, 2009 Share Posted November 28, 2009 I've had a Red Top (leaked) and a Yellow Top (bad cell). That's not to say that I wouldn't buy another Optima. I would if the price was right. I now have an Odyssey 1200, whose smaller size works better for my application. Plus, I got it brand new for $50 (special deal). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
project88mj Posted November 28, 2009 Share Posted November 28, 2009 i got an optima and had it for a few months it is 1000ca and has top and side conections. I use the side connections to run the truck and the top posts to run my car audio amp. the amp is a kicker ZX1000.1 and the it has about 120amps of pull off the battery during the heavy bass sections. i love the battery so much. i can listen to music with the truck off for a 4-5 hours turned up about 75% and still start the truck just fine. i have put this battery through the ringer cause i don't have a capasitor on the system just a sweet battery. i am looking at getting a high out put alternator some where in the 160-200amp range and then after that maybe one more 1000ca optima. :clapping: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CWLONGSHOT Posted November 28, 2009 Author Share Posted November 28, 2009 Well, we went to Advance today. I didn't expect much and thats exactly what I got. :shake: $179.99 and its got another Optima red top!! :banana: :banana: :banana: :banana: :banana: CW Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
navigator Posted November 29, 2009 Share Posted November 29, 2009 ok, say you get 8 years out of that battery, couldn't you get a similar battery from wally world for say $60? Mine from wally world usually last about 5yrs (for car batteries). So i can get 3 wally world batteries for the price of one optima 3X5 = 15 years of service vs 8 for the same money. I just don't understand the fascination with them and spending that much money. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pete M Posted November 29, 2009 Share Posted November 29, 2009 I've had a great success from 3 redtops, not-so much with the one yellowtop. :dunno: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jbhill Posted November 29, 2009 Share Posted November 29, 2009 my "bad" redtop(paid 25 bux for it :)) i got from advanced has ben tickin since december 07, was made in april 07, only let me down once when it randomly died last year. ben tickin ever since a recharge since. the redtop i had before that sat for almost a year and was un revivable. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JeepcoMJ Posted November 29, 2009 Share Posted November 29, 2009 ok, say you get 8 years out of that battery, couldn't you get a similar battery from wally world for say $60?Mine from wally world usually last about 5yrs (for car batteries). So i can get 3 wally world batteries for the price of one optima 3X5 = 15 years of service vs 8 for the same money. I just don't understand the fascination with them and spending that much money. that wally world battery won't cut it in the world of wheeling...can't run a winch with it (without spending a bunch of time worrying about it) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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