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I'm done with Optima Batteries

Huh..... I can't believe Zimmerman hasn't responded yet.....:D


For me..... Walmart / Sam's / O'rileys...keep the receipts and mark the batteries.

buy the 72 month battery and flip them every 2 years...

I have to keep at least 7 - 8 batteries happy for all my stuff that sits and is not driven daily...
keeping fresh batteries in these vehicles just makes good sense.:waytogo:
 
The only and last time I ever bought new batteries were Exide's at K-mart--and they were crap from day one--had them exchange two of them,they both acted the same way...cranked your engine over lightning fast,but if it needed to be cranked more than say,10 seconds--they slowed down and died almost instantly..I had better luck with used batteries out of junkers from the boneyard,I went for Die-Hards or Interstates if possible..

My friends father bought a "lifetime warranteed" battery from "Auto-Palace"--a chain here that was bought out by Autozone back about 10+ years ago...when his battery went south after only 3 years,despite having all his recepits and paperwork,they refused to honor the warranty,saying "you didn't BUY it from us!"...eventually after making quite a scene in front of many customers,they relented,and allowed him to buy another compareable battery and "pro-rate" his old one against it--he ended up having to pay 59 bucks for a top of the line Duralast that usually sold for 110 bucks...

Pretty bad,when the parts store "expires" ,before the battery warranty did!..
 
I've had reasonably good success with Napa's batteries as well. Freeze them and all bets are off though haha
 
wasted wages said:
Huh..... I can't believe Zimmerman hasn't responded yet.....:D


For me..... Walmart / Sam's / O'rileys...keep the receipts and mark the batteries.

buy the 72 month battery and flip them every 2 years...

I have to keep at least 7 - 8 batteries happy for all my stuff that sits and is not driven daily...
keeping fresh batteries in these vehicles just makes good sense.:waytogo:
Click to expand...

just catching up Frank! I'll give my .02

my original optima (labeled as a Gates) was made in 89...I traded it to Optima (Johnson controls) in 2010 for my Yellowtop even up, they paid shipping and all to do with the trade...I thought that was a great deal. My story of the battery also landed me a trip to the SEMA show in 2011.
I now have a Redtop in my 99-2500 p/u, and the Yellowtop is in the Maiden...both are on battery tenders for the most part when not in use.
I have documented my experience with both batteries in my Optima battery thread.
I have no brand loyalty to Optima, although I think Jim McIlvane is a great guy to talk with, and he has given advice to those who seek it.
I know there is a lot of good and bad experiences with Optimas that is why I started posting my status of my two batteries about once/twice a year.
I own an Interstate in my Vette, it sits in a heated garage stall all winter, and is on a battery tender as well...that battery has at least 5 years on it, no issues.
I own two different WalMart batteries, haven't had good luck with either one...the one in my JD lawn tractor I have to keep a tender on it, it won't keep enough charge in it to start after sitting in the cold for a week. It is 3 years old.
My Jeepster I put Duralast in it from Autozone, when I got the Redtop 3-2010, that battery has been good, and its on a battery tender when not in use for the most part.

Also ran across this tidbit...

Costco and Interstate are made by Johnson controls...along with many other brands:


Major customers include WalMart, Sam’s Club, Advance Auto Parts, AutoZone, Costco, Sears, Interstate Battery System of America, Daimler, BMW, Ford, General Motors, Toyota, Volkswagen, Chery, SAIC


That said, I think its a crap shoot as well...although I do believe keeping anything that isn't used for more than a week on a maintenance charger is a good idea.
 
Stomis said:
Every time we discuss this someone runs in and makes excuses for optimas poor products. Whether its bad batches, improper charging, blah blah.
Click to expand...
My take is this: the proper charging procedure for a car battery is to spin your alternator. If you have to follow special charging procedures or keep it on the trickle charger, then the battery is worth far less. I expect to park a car in the cold for 6 months and have it crank right over whenever I feel like getting back to it.

I've never had an Optima though so I can't comment on them. Never saw any need for one, really.
 
I will say this for the interstate batteries in my Trazer: dual batteries mounted behind the cab, uncovered for an entire winter, disconnected, for awhile they were covered in snow/ice. Spring time rolls around, I connect the battery cables and the truck fires right up.

EDIT: and these batteries are 6 or 7 years old
 
try living your service life in a boat bilge... :eek1: :doah: :haha:

I sell a couple dozen interstates a yr to the bank repo's and such, we have no issues with it being a cr@pshoot... can't sayI've ever had one go bad prematurely that wasn't cooked, esploded, etc...

now ya want a badarse AGM that's better than an Optima, Odyssey, etc, is a Lifeline.. nice battery..
 
You've talked about the lifelines before Paul...one of these days I just might...like for the Cummins in the 76....one of those instead of tow conventional batts might make good sense!
 
Have a buddy with a shop that stopped carrying Optima becuase he was handling too many warranty issues with them. But he did say that, and this was probably 5ish years ago now, the manufacturing went to Mexico. After that the quality went to the crapper. He does all Odyssey now.

For me, I just hit Costco and grab the Kirklands. The quality is ok but with cold weather and my old 6.2 and occasional winching, those batteries get the tar beat out of them. Every January I swap them for a new set. Last year the price dropped so I actually got a few bucks back with my new batteries! :waytogo:
 
optima

I have had nothing but piss poor luck with optima batteries! I would never buy one! I bought a boat that had 3 brand new optimas in it, stereo & fridge would kill the 2 house batteries in 2-3 hours. I replaced them with AC-Delco marine group 27's and I could go for a weekend on them. Same thing in my FJ40, Dual new optimas in it when I purchased, but you never knew if the thing was going to start or not. Replaced both with AC-Delco (I am a GM parts manager) and have had great luck for 6 years now! I personally do not put any kind of charger on my batteries ever, except for my larger boat when I am docked where there is shore power! I have Delcos in both my boats (5 total), motorhome (3), Duramax (2), FJ40 (2), Blazer (2), 87 GMC V30-with mega stereo (2), and 1 in my golf cart! Just my personal experiences, but I have been with a GM dealer for 25 years, and have run Delcos in my and all my family's rigs and have had great luck with them! On that note, I used to sell Interstates here also, and seemed to have similar results with them!
 
I was going to mention that my car has an ac delco and I know it's pretty old. It's been hovering around 0* f here lately and she still starts right up. (Knock on wood)


I don't even know where to get ac delco batteries though. Gm dealership?
 
I had an optima in my camaro about 8 years ago now. That thing was always at like 11 volts. I had to park on hills until I got a die hard. I have an auto zone battery now. I have had to replace it annually for about 4 years. My car is in a heated garage too :doah: I keep getting a pro-rated price, but I don't think its worth it as this will be the fourth replacement. It already died again. I don't really get it. The car sat for almost two months this summer and started fine. By the end of November it wasn't starting again.
 
Lifelines are made by Concorde, who does ton's of aircraft batteries.....
 
I've had good luck with Deka...Made by East Penn...Who I'm pretty sure still makes NAPA batteries.
 
Deka does pretty well in the boat biz still.. I still see a fair amount, tho we don't sell them.. I ran a single Deka 8D in the trunk of my Chevelle.. :pimp:
 
I know for the longest time they only sold in the Northeast when they a smaller company. But I think with the NAPA deal their national now.
 
the other big one we have in this area is Lee... not particularly crazy about them...


Ryoken - had 2 dozen bats in marina storage nuke themselves in/under Sandy last yr.. :popcorn: :haha:
 
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