What's your battery preference and why?

[Comanche County]

I've become a fan of Optimas. Especially since working with a guy that was QA with the original company prior to Optima that designed them. He said he took a 12 year old battery back to the QA department to have it cut open and inspected, said it was just like new inside after all those years. But, I'm starting to have my doubts as to their recent QC, seems some people don't have good luck with them.

 

I still have Optimas...But I've had a few red tops crap out on me, so I traded those in on yellow tops. I've still got one red top now that has a hole in it that I patched with RTV and its still going strong, I've drained and recharged it countless times.

 

In all my rigs, I've got yellow tops, no problems with the YTs at all. Last year on a road trip my MJ's alternator crapped out and I drove 60 miles at night with the headlights on, it was raining, had the wipers on full blast and a stereo system with a 600w amp cranked up loud. No sweat, the yellow top didn't flinch, still had 11v when I made it to an auto parts store.

 

My fool brother swears by Interstates, :dunno:

 

Others bet the farm on Odyssey, or heavy equipment batteries.

 

Just wondering wondering what you guys run.

[Geonovast]

[Jeep Driver]

I've had optimas............never fully recharge after a full discharge........never again.

 

 

I have an Interstate now.

[cruiser54]

Listen to the fool.

[jeepdoggydogB]

Aren't Optima and Interstate made by the same company?

 

http://www.interstatebatteries.com/cs_e ... optima.asp

 

:dunno:

[HOrnbrod]

Aren't Optima and Interstate made by the same company?

 

http://www.interstatebatteries.com/cs_e ... optima.asp :dunno:

 

Yep. And they are both overpriced. I like the Duralast yellow tops. All my junk has them. Never had one crap out less than five years old.

[lostissues]

I got a yellow top 5 years ago for my car, 3 years later it started to loose its charge after a few nights. brought it back where I got it they said it was a bad cell and gave me another under warranty. new one didn't even last 2 years before giving me problems. starter would click but not turn over as if the starter was sticking. turn the key 3, 4, 5, 20 times and then it would start. cleaned the connections, replaced wires, cleaned ground, changed starter, "There is no way a yellow top would go bad after 2 years?" I thought. Had it tested, will not hold a charge. got a Diehard platinum early this winter and has worked flawlessly so far. I need to contact optima and see if they can do anything for me. and if they give me another one I think that will be the only way I will end up with another optima battery.

[Jeep Driver]

Aren't Optima and Interstate made by the same company?

 

http://www.interstatebatteries.com/cs_e ... optima.asp

 

:dunno:

 

Ford makes farm tractors and family sedans.............and you point is?

 

Apples to oranges.

 

The one thing nice about the gel batteries is you can mount them upside down..........if you were so inclined.

 

 

And they will work for a little while.........not matter what way you mount them.

[Jeep Driver]

But some of us smarter than the average bear.

 

I buy XJs.

 

I buy XJs with new Interstate batteries.

 

I swap older batteries from my keepers to sellers with new batteries.

 

Same with starters and whatnot.

 

But then I am a bit smarter

[87Warrior]

Sears Diehard Platinum! Not any other Sears battery.

 

- Rebadged Odyssey battery

- Top and side posts rated for full amps (great winch battery)

- I left my lights on one day for about 6 hours, Jeep did not hesitate to start

- Battery turns the 4.0 over in -20 temps the same as in 110 temps

- Minimal voltage drop when doing long winch pulls at idle

- Will let me listen to the Jeep radio all day while wrenching without any issues starting the rig

 

I am on the 5th year with my Platinum and continue to have no problems. Last weekend I parked the Jeep, turned it off and helped fell a massive hackberry tree with the winch. The Platinum continues to impress me everyday.

[dasbulliwagen]

Ive always heard good stuff about the Autozone batteries, and have one in my Hyundai Accent... its been in there for maybe 7-8 years now. I tested it recently and it it still tested good. It just keeps on keepin on. Ive also had good luck with Delco's and I recently put a new Napa top of the line battery in my Hyundai Tucson after doing some research on it. Being in the dealership, we see a lot of them come through and notice trends... batteries mounted in really hot environments like under the hood of a minivan, don't last much more than three years, no matter what make, then you have others that are isolated and actively cooled like in most mazdas, and they don't last, but mostly because they are junk Panasonic batteries. The wally world ones don't last well either. Oh and guess what other batteries are made by interstate? MOPAR batteries are black cased Interstates, and are even delivered by the interstate battery truck. FYI

[Comanche County]

Personally I think three years is a long time for any battery, AGM - wet cell or whatever. Any battery that lasts over three years is decent in my book. Only the elite batteries last longer.......and no battery I've ever owned has gone more than 5-6 years max.

[jeepdoggydogB]

Aren't Optima and Interstate made by the same company?

 

http://www.interstatebatteries.com/cs_e ... optima.asp

 

:dunno:

 

Ford makes farm tractors and family sedans.............and you point is?

 

Apples to oranges.

 

The one thing nice about the gel batteries is you can mount them upside down..........if you were so inclined.

 

 

And they will work for a little while.........not matter what way you mount them.

The Original poster brought up the Interstate, Optima opinions (apples to oranges) I only commented that they were made by the same company. Nothing other than that was my point (no black helicoptors or conspiracy theories involved).

 

I agree with most here, Optimas and Intersates are costly batteries, I have owned both, great experience with Interstate, bad experience with an optima Yellow top that didn't last two and half years. I currently use cheap batteries from Autozone or Napa, the Autozone lasted me four years and is still providing strong starts a great battery for $50!

[Alexia]

Diehard Platinum for when you need a serious battery.

 

Walmart for a generic battery made by a good company, Johnson Controls. Their warranty process is simple enough to be just take it in each year and replace it just because you can.

[mvusse]

The wally world ones don't last well either. Oh and guess what other batteries are made by interstate? MOPAR batteries are black cased Interstates, and are even delivered by the interstate battery truck. FYI

 

Walmart for a generic battery made by a good company, Johnson Controls. Their warranty process is simple enough to be just take it in each year and replace it just because you can.

 

Interstate doesn't make batteries, they just sell them. Interstate, MOPAR, Optime and twenty or so other brands are all made by Johnson Controls including Varta, LTH and Heliar.

 

Which reminds me, I need to exchange Wilbur's battery. Winching out of a river ran it pretty much completely dry (to the point where the AW4 started slipping) 4 times where I had to pause and let the alternator recharge it. Still tests good, but not nearly as good as new anymore. Almost three years old including spending a year in a trailer to run lights and water pump (it was just a spare battery sitting around at the time).

 

I've never used Optima, and heard their quality has gone down in recent years. Heard good things about Interstate, but some people think they are overpriced. I have bought batteries from Walmart, the more expensive/longer warranty one (once because it was relatively cheap, once because I needed a battery to get home when stuck with a bad alternator and bad battery 3 hours from home late Sunday night; they were the only place that was open), mid line from Advance and a Duralast Gold. Can't remember what's in my camper, just that both the cranking battery and deep cycle are both the same brand, both replaced at the same time by my parents last summer. I also have an Autocraft Platinum in Sparkles and an Autocraft Silver in the Purple People Eater, both 5 years old, both installed two owners ago, both still doing fine.

 

The Walmart and Advance ones were about equal in performance and longevity. The Duralast Gold impressed me most.

[Harley]

Odyssey was the only battery I could find that held up to the shock and vibration on a hardtail chopper I built a few years back. Everything else would last a couple weeks if I was lucky. Almost 4 years and its still going strong.

 

Optima is the only one that holds up to the heat here in the desert. Most batteries last a year or two down here and that is it. I have seen the optima last 5+ years.

 

Just my two cents worth.

[terrawombat]

I have an Interstate battery in all three of my DD's. The one in my '01XJ is dated 6/2006 - which likely replaced the original battery that came with the truck when it was bought new. This past weekend, I drove back to NJ to swap vehicles (MJ with two dogs in the cab isn't working out so well). The XJ has been sitting for about 5 months and the battery is nearly 6 years old so I expected it to be dead. Nope - cranked the engine over and fired right up.

 

Optima's went to crap when they moved the manufacturing plant to Mexico. I used their Redtop battery when I was cruising around in my 3000GT back in the day. I had warranty replacements on three of them because they would completely die and were not able to be recharged. Tried all of the tricks I found floating on the internet and nothing worked. Saw LOTS of complaints from other Optima owners that were having the same problems. I have never had a battery, besides the Optima, where I couldn't get ANYTHING out of it. It wouldn't even turn the interior lights on in the vehicle.

 

Optima. Never again. I'll stick with Interstate and Diehard Platinums. I have also heard a lot of good stories about certain Duralast and Napa Gold batteries.