Optima Battery Opinions

[Tonner Matt]

Long story short:
I'm considering buying an Optima 35 Redtop to put in my VZ 1 Tonner

Just looking for opinions from the people that have actually used them in their cars
# Not concerned with price, but do you think they're worth the extra cost...Compared to say a Century or Exide battery
# How long did it last in your daily driver
# How long did it last in your weekend toy
# Any good/bad experiences with them in general
# Anything else you might want to mention is welcome

Also:
I don't have a monster stereo or anything else that will be running to drain the battery when the cars not going, so I don't need the deep cycling ability of the Yellowtop battery

 

[EYY]

Apparently they used to be good with a minimum 7 year service life - sometimes up to 12 years. A few years ago- probably around 2010 but not totally sure, they changed where they were manufactured and the new ones don’t last anywhere near as long. I’ve heard of them lasting 2-6 years now, which isn’t really any better than a standard battery. Especially considering they’re at least double the price.

I don’t have first hand experience, but did lots of research a little while ago because I considered buying one. Ended up just buying a supercharge. Fitted it in 2013 and it’s still fine and was only $120 or so.

 

[the_boozer]

my mate had one in his patrol he managed to brake the termal post off it , he claims he did nothing out of the ordinary to it but hes known to do dodgy things and not admit it. He got about a year and a half out of it about the same time I brought a century I still have it. I wouldn't bother spending twice as much as I needed to on a fancy battery for no reason.
I have noticed the last 2 cars I've seen with optima batteries the terminals didn't fit well on any of them do optima batteries require a different terminal ?

 

[someguy360]

# Not concerned with price, but do you think they're worth the extra cost...Compared to say a Century or Exide battery - Absolutely, they look better, they are sealed meaning no chance of acid leak etc, and being a coil design they are shock proof too.

# How long did it last in your daily driver - 5 years
# How long did it last in your weekend toy - 7 years
# Any good/bad experiences with them in general - Don't let them go completely flat, being a deep cycle battery this will hurt them, keep them on a trickle charge if you aren't using the car for months.

 

[Tonner Matt]

Thanks for the replies guys

 

[Tonner Matt]

A few years ago- probably around 2010 but not totally sure, they changed where they were manufactured and the new ones don’t last anywhere near as long

Thanks for the heads up on this
I'd say you're bang on there with the change in manufacturing
I read the company was sold, and then the new owner had moved manufacturing to Mexico and this coincided with a drop in the overall quality of the batteries

I did a few hours research on the US forums and the results weren't good
From around 2011 and onwards, there was a ridiculous amount of comments on the drop in quality of these batteries
A couple of people also mentioned having 2 or 3 failures within 12 months or less......Although those batteries were replaced under warranty, they got sick of the failures and ended up buying another brand

I'll just stick with my favourite, the trusty old Century battery

 

[EYY]

I advise against century batteries personally. Pm for more info if you like.

Bond, delkor, supercharge, acdelco are the ones I like personally - they seem to have a very good name and great reliability. I’ve used all of these with great success.

 

[Deuce]

2 batteries ago I considered an optima, but backed out on price and got a cheapie.
Recently cheapie would only start the v8 from cold, so swaped out for gen acdelco from dealership. I trust them as a brand and tgey were the cheapest too

 

[Drewie]

I have had my VX SS from new, the original battery which may have been an AC Delco I changed at around 5 years nothing wrong with it but thought I would change just to avoid getting caught out at the wrong time, second one was an Exide which was still working at 7 years, once again thought safer to change than get caught out, currently have a Century it is a semi sealed battery was their top of the range when I got it, the magic eye which gives an indication of charge condition has given lots of false readings, it only works on one cell, but when checking frequently says add water or needs charging, after opening up and checking water levels are fine. I like the old batteries that had the removable caps that you could check every now and then. The Century is getting close to 6 years old. I may go for another Exide next time round.

EYY do you know who carries the AC Delco batteries?

 

[stick3]

both cars have century ultra duty 3 years warranty from supercheap the oldest one in the ute is over 5 years old and you add water when the eye changes colour
the new one in the vz was purchased june last year is fully sealed can t add water and supercheap said if you have a problem under the warranty period they will exchange it payed aound 170 odd on special i do put them on a trickle charge if parked for a extended period