Optima Batteries

[emiller]

I bought a Optima a year ago for a vehicle here at work and it went bad and was wondering if this was just a bad battery or should I look somewhere else.
Someone said that the Optima batteries where not as good as they where 2 years ago because there material for making them has changed. Anyone have experience with that. I found this on another forum and wonder if this is why.

Its official now. I have worked at Optima Batteries for 11 years. In 2000, Johnson controls bought Optima and immediately began construction of a plant in Mexico. We were told that our U.S. plant could not produce enough product so the plant in Mexico would be to supply Europe. Slowly but surely, our product lines began being transferred to Mexico. Then the week before Thanksgiving, we were told that the U.S. plant will be closed Jan.24 2009. Just thought you all would like to know.

[Shadow Catcher]

It should still be under warranty according to their web site. one indicator is that the warranty for those purchased after 2/1/09 is longer then for those purchased prior to that date. This would imply that there is a difference. I cannot find a country of origin.

[emiller]

They warrantied it but prorated it so they give you another and charge you a fee also.

[bobhenry]

Maybe you can get an EX employee discount !

[asianflava]

I've never heard that, but it is good to know. The Optima battery in the tear is probably 5yrs old so I must have a "good" one.

[KenC]

Optima quality has been getiing a bad rap for the last couple years and most Overland groups I know stay away from them because of the failures. Other choices you may want to consider are Odyssy, Deka, Sears Platinum Marine and Exide Orbital. Deka being the least exspensive. I have a Odyssy in my truck (dual battery) which I will use in my tear drop once I'm done with the build. The Sears Platinum and Odyssy are the same batteries so I've been told and just rebadged. All of the above batteries are AGM and are a little more expensive.

[cracker39]

From what I've read recently, I don't think an Optima is worth the extra cost. There are other batteries of that type, but in a tongue box, the battery won't take a beating and no fumes get inside the cabin, so a good lead acid battery is all I need. The Duralast batteries sold at Autozone have a good review rating. I just put one in my truck and will buy their deep cycle Duralast for my PT. The Optima costs about 2.3 times the cost of the Duralast deep cycle battery.

[Shadow Catcher]

When the car battery dies I will be going for a Concord/Lifeline AGM. Left plugged in it will be maintained by the Progressive Dynamics charger and can contribute to battery capacity. There is an automatic cut out when voltage drops too low to start the engine. Having looked at this in some depth and uncertainty as to where Optima's are built, there are a number of countries listed... All of the Concord /Lifeline are manufactured in the US!

[alffink]

A friend from our church works for an Interstate Battery Mfg in Riverside,CA A year ago they shipped the manufacture of one line to Mexico, supposedly turn key no problem, well a year later they still can't get a battery to pass thier quality standard

Problem is the lead that is used for the plates in Mexico, basically it is crap,
no where near pure, they use reclaimed lead, but it seems to be contaminated, with more than just old lead.