First Optima Red Top Life Cycle Experience

[HoosierBuddy]

So,

I've got an old Mustang that gets about 1500 miles a year put on it. I opted for an Optima red-top battery last time I changed it out.

A couple of weeks ago I noticed it was having a hard time starting the engine and the voltage was down a bit, so even though it was still working I decided to change it out before it became a real problem.

It was right at 11 years old.

Needless to say, I bought another Optima Red Top. Yes they are expensive, but it lasted almost twice as long as a standard battery.

Your mileage may vary.

Phil

 

[slow]

Glad it worked great for you. My experience has been the opposite, replacing them every 2 years. (to be fair, that is the average life I have seen across all of my vehicles in the last 16 years as well here in the FL heat, so the premium for Optima is hard to justify)

 

[GTO]

In before "the they are not as good as they once were" crowd.
Mine is from 2010,still going strong..

 

[Big Dad]

built this in 2004

Has had same battery since then , Optima red top

 

[LX-Markham]

I've had a few in a couple different vehicles. They were good, but I've since gone back to a standard, quality lead/acid battery. Good, but not twice the price good.

 

[LX-Markham]

built this in 2004

That's yours?
That truck has come up in Google searches I've done, and I've re-posted the pic on my Mustang forum "thread of awesome". Absolutely gorgeous truck!

 

[MetalSlug]

I've had mine for 8 years now and it's starting to **** out. It has, however, been sitting for months at a time for the last couple years.

 

[Falcon67]

Yea, I had two of those red tops, bought long ago. One went 11 years, the other 9 years. The new one is **** after 2 years and has to sit on a maintainer to be reliable. I now buy AGM batteries at Sams because they have a good return policy if you save the receipt. Don't give a #### who's name is on the case. Dragster runs a Sams AGM, no issues. And way, way cheaper than Optima.

 

[James E]

My '67 Mustang has a red-top. It has to be at least 15 years old. I have to put it on a maintainer every couple of months because the clock in the car will run the battery down, but when I'm driving the car, the battery does just fine.

 

[Big Dad]

That's yours?
That truck has come up in Google searches I've done, and I've re-posted the pic on my Mustang forum "thread of awesome". Absolutely gorgeous truck!

Yep .. Mine, thanks

 

[rattle_snake]

Long ago, the red top was a great battery.... Now they are overpriced without any advantage.

 

[kwschumm]

I had a red top on a generator, kept on a maintainer. It was still strong after 15 years when I sold the house.

That said, the battery that REALLY impresses me is the MK AGM on my JD tractor. I don't use the tractor much, if at all, in the winter so it often sits 4-5 months outdoors in the cold. They may not make high CCA batteries for cars but for smaller CCW needs it's the best. After 17 years, every single time I start that tractor it starts immediately. Knock on wood, winter is coming.

 

[rk_tek]

I put a Red Top in my first RX-7 when they were ~$120, when i sold it, moved it to my new RX-7. That one sat for a while and quit taking a charge, so Autozone prorated it for $20 or so. When that one started to go out I was a bit short on $$. Went back to Autozone and told them i needed the cheapest battery I could get. Walked out with a brand new Red Top. The date on my old one had never had the dots punched so he put it in as 1 year old and Optima was running an instant rebate, so for $30-40 I got it. That one is now dead as my car sat for almost 2 years and only got put on the charger a few times. I bought the Optima charger because they are supposed to be able to recover the AGM batteries, but i got the smaller charger ($ again) and it doesn't work as well as the big one. I've tried numerous times to get it to charge, but it's done for. it's in the corner of the storage building collecting dust. I run a Yellow Top in my truck that I got with a rebate or on sale. It's going on 4 years but i won't pay $270 for a replacement.

tl:dr I got 3 Red Top batteries over 10 years for $170

 

[theoldwizard1]

Word on the street is the current Optima batteries are not as good as the old ones.

 

[Bluedodge]

A series 65 Red Top looks to be around $235 on line.
A series 65 Exide is $84 at Menards.
Factoring in the cost of money, the RedTop needs to essentially triple the life span of an Exide to break even.

So if an Exide goes 6 years, the Red Top has to hit 18 years to match it financially.

I now feel better about pre-emptively switching out my batteries on a 66 month basis.

 

[LXCam]

Word on the street is the current Optima batteries are not as good as the old ones.

The last few years are so bad if a car comes into my shop with one, I charge extra if I have to deal with in. I got a build here right now that could have gone home two weeks ago but my customer has been getting the total run around from four wheel parts. Optima has already tested this two year old battery and said it won't charge past 70% and issued a RMA number for my guy to return it thru 4 wheel. 4 wheel told him it tests fine on their equipment and won't warranty it regardless of what the optima paper work states. This back and forth BS has been going on since the 6th. As of an hour ago i got word this **** is straightened out and a battery will be delivered tomorrow the last three builds have all had these POS's and I've busted my *** to get them to charge with every trick in the book and so far the only cure has been to replace it.

 

[Colin Len]

Same story with me as many others. I've been using Optimas exclusively for about 15yrs and had been getting 10yrs out of them. Replaced one 2yrs ago and now there's all sorts of corrosion. Gonna clean it up and hopefully it's just a one time issue and not a sign of issues to come but it worries me. My truck which I bought less than a year ago now looks to be in need of a battery. Was gonna get an Optima despite the rumors of quality slipping but I looked at the price and they're now well over $200! 2yrs ago I bought the same battery for $156. This really has me second guessing whether Optima is the way to go.

Anyone have any recommendations for other good sealed batteries that also look nice? (Yes, I care (somewhat) about what it looks like - if you can't understand that then I don't think it's worth me trying to explain.)

 

[Pluribus]

Last one I bought was at least 10 years ago, and I loved them. From what I've heard and read, I wouldn't buy another one. Too bad, as I have a rather spendy aluminum hold down bracket/top plate setup. Anyone drinking the current Optima Koolaid PR who wants it?

 

[2level]

I've got 2 old 'Red Tops' that have been the best batteries I've ever owned. One is apx. 15 years old, and is heat-stamped "blem" on the top. Paid about $85 for it. The other is ~12 years old. I think that it cost around $110. But, I won't pay $200 when I need another battery, unless it's lightweight and believed to be reliable for 10+years.

 

[redmondjp]

The solution here isn't a battery; it's a good-quality charger/maintainer.

Go buy any brand of decent battery (I use Costco which carries Interstate), and it will last 10+ years if you keep it properly charged. I have 1.5A to 3A charger/maintainers on most of my vehicles and keep them plugged in when not used on a regular basis. Same story for lawn and garden tractor batteries.

 

[2level]

The solution here isn't a battery; it's a good-quality charger/maintainer.

Go buy any brand of decent battery (I use Costco which carries Interstate), and it will last 10+ years if you keep it properly charged. I have 1.5A to 3A charger/maintainers on most of my vehicles and keep them plugged in when not used on a regular basis. Same story for lawn and garden tractor batteries.

No maintainers on my Optima's, my "solution" is a type of charger, it's called "an alternator".

 

[racer-john]

quote:Go buy any brand of decent battery (I use Costco which carries Interstate), quote
Not in Newmarket, ON all they have are the Kirkland brand.

 

[Motorman55]

Lets see....$250.00 divided by lets say 25 months equals $10.00 per month divided by 4 equals $2.50 per week.

So if you put $2.50 a week into your garage piggy bank, you'll have about $500.00 after 4 years, $750.00 after 6 years and about $1000.00 at the 8 year 4 month time frame.

I'd be happy with a premium battery that lasted 2 years let alone one that could go double that and more.

 

[redmondjp]

No maintainers on my Optima's, my "solution" is a type of charger, it's called "an alternator".

Yes, BUT you fail to understand that your alternator is set at a fixed voltage and is really only good at bulk-charging your battery (getting it up to 80% full) unless you drive your car for long periods of time. High-quality battery chargers have two or three different charge modes that will get your battery to 100% full.

What kills lead-acid batteries is when they are kept at less than full charge for any length of time. And even with a volt or amp meter on your dash, you don't know what the state of charge your battery is at.

This is why a maintainer is the solution to a battery's long life - it keeps your battery at 100% charge. If you have any modern vehicle and do mostly short trips in it, I can guarantee you that the battery will be lucky to last 5 years. Now, take that same vehicle, battery, and driving cycle, and add a charger/maintainer, even if used overnight once a week. The battery life will be doubled. I get 10-15 years out of most of my vehicle batteries because of this.

 

[2level]

Yes, BUT you fail to understand that your alternator is set at a fixed voltage and is really only good at bulk-charging your battery (getting it up to 80% full) unless you drive your car for long periods of time. High-quality battery chargers have two or three different charge modes that will get your battery to 100% full.

What kills lead-acid batteries is when they are kept at less than full charge for any length of time. And even with a volt or amp meter on your dash, you don't know what the state of charge your battery is at.

This is why a maintainer is the solution to a battery's long life - it keeps your battery at 100% charge. If you have any modern vehicle and do mostly short trips in it, I can guarantee you that the battery will be lucky to last 5 years. Now, take that same vehicle, battery, and driving cycle, and add a charger/maintainer, even if used overnight once a week. The battery life will be doubled. I get 10-15 years out of most of my vehicle batteries because of this.

How are you defining "long periods of time"?

I fail to understand that my alternator is set at a fixed voltage?? Why do you say that?
That's news to me, SpeciaL PowErs. , cause I thought I knew that!

Like I wrote earlier, so far I've gotten 12 and 15 years on two Optima Red Tops. 99% of the charging has been done by alternators. These 2 batteries have mainly been in pre-computer/low parasitic draw vehicles.

 

[isb cornbinder]

I had three red-top Optima batteries fail in five years. The battery seller said they do not sell the Optima batteries because of a 60-70% failure rate since Optima moved their factory south of the Rio Grande. These Red Top are vey expensive and I have spent over $600. I did not buy another Red-Top this time.
I used the OPTMAMATE battery charger/maintainer on all of these batteries and all three failed under the best of PM.

 

[rattle_snake]

The solution here isn't a battery; it's a good-quality charger/maintainer.

Go buy any brand of decent battery (I use Costco which carries Interstate), and it will last 10+ years if you keep it properly charged. I have 1.5A to 3A charger/maintainers on most of my vehicles and keep them plugged in when not used on a regular basis. Same story for lawn and garden tractor batteries.

My experience is quite different. I agree a maintainer is a good thing but not going to extend life from 2-3 years to 10. Climate and usage (heat cycle) affect life as well.

 

[redmondjp]

My experience is quite different. I agree a maintainer is a good thing but not going to extend life from 2-3 years to 10. Climate and usage (heat cycle) affect life as well.

You are correct. I live in the PNW which has a pretty mild climate. Down where you are with the heat, you are going to have shorter battery life from that.

But I have daily drivers now that have 10+ year old batteries in them and they still have enough capacity to start. I got almost 20 years out of a Group 31 lead-calcium heavy-truck battery in my old pickup.

I have also put charger/maintainers on several of my neighbors' vehicles and lawn tractors. It's an investment that easily pays for itself. Costco carries the 3A Battery Tenders now for $40, with occasional sales at $30.

 

[James E]

If you're going to go to the trouble of putting your battery on a maintainer to extend its life, then the maintainer should also extend the life of a much cheaper lead-acid battery--making that option even more cost-effective.

I put a red-top in my '67 Mustang years ago because I read that the AGM batteries could survive being run down and recharged many more times than a lead-acid battery. I knew I would drive the car infrequently and that I would sometimes forget to disconnect the battery and it would be dead a couple months later when I came back to the car. It was worth the extra cost to me, and that decision has worked out well.

I have only put the battery on a maintainer on a regular basis since my shop was completed five or six years ago. The first ten years of that battery's life consisted of it being run down, jumped, driven and parked for a couple of months several times with no apparent degradation in performance of the battery.

Based on anecdotal evidence now, I'm not so sure a new Optima would survive a life like that.

 

[DatsunLover]

I think its luck of the draw, we have several Optima's in vehicles at our shops and they lasted 10+ years and some are still going!! Although my coworker cant keep an Optima for longer than 2years. Make sure you to Do Not Completely kill it!!! Instant Death for optima. Not sure I can afford a New Optima as the Price continues to Sky Rocket!!!

 

[ishiboo]

The Optima's in my boat crapped out after 2 years, and they were on built-in chargers 99% of the time. Replaced with cheap Sams batteries that lasted 6 before I sold it. The cheap factory batteries in my 2005 lasted until 2013. My car (2006 with 15k miles) is on its original battery.

While some individuals have great experiences, many others have very poor with Optima's. Pretty much the same for other batteries that don't have the Optima name or pricetag. Given everything I've seen over the years, I'll always choose a cheap FLA battery over spending 2-3X as much on an Optima.

 

[rattle_snake]

Long, long ago I found a place that sold used 2yr old red tops that came out of hospital beds for $45. Had pallets of them. I put a pair of them in everything I owned, car, truck, boat. I ended up selling the vehicles with those batteries still in them.

 

[teal95]

I have a Mustang problem (at least that's how my wife puts it) and a company truck that I drive every day so the Mustangs don't get driven much. I've had the cheapy HF trickel chargers on them for years with very few issues. (6 cars for 9 years...)

 

[Falcon67]

I'll put it this way LOL - the Red Tops that I got good service from cost $110. Almost never kept on a maintainer. Those two would sit for 2 months and light the race cars right off. The one in the Falcon that is three years old and has to stay on a maintainer - that one was $230.

 

[firebirdparts]

I have a fairly new one on a car that gives driven probably 200 mile a year. The clock works, so I have to keep a maintainer on it.

 

[bushmechanic]

Optima: The AGM Lottery

They do make fine doorstops, though.

 

[Angelfire]

I've moved over to Odyssey after having the Optima's **** out on me after only a few years. I suppose they were good at one time but whatever they've changed, has lowered their useful life.
Cheers.

 

[bushmechanic]

I've moved over to Odyssey after having the Optima's **** out on me after only a few years. I suppose they were good at one time but whatever they've changed, has lowered their useful life.
Cheers.

Odyssey or Northstar. Those are the high-end options. Optima is long past it's prime. Spiral cells aren't a particularly good idea, anyway; unless you're going to make them in a production environment conducive to perfection.

When they first started, they were halfway decent. Nowhere near as good as Odyssey. Northstar cranked up production later, but smoked everyone else right out of the park.

I've had stacks of dead Optimas laying around in the past, and they won't recover. They have a very nasty habit of dropping cells. That's what kills them; quality of manufacture.

They're ****. I'd rather have a Walmart flooded cell in the middle of the Amazon than an Optima in a damned parking lot.

 

[2level]

@bushmechanic -- What's needed in the production environment? Do you know of any affordable/competitive quality spiral cell type batteries being produced today?

 

[A**holes Garage]

I purchased one a couple years ago for my F150. No problems, just fine and I run on board Viair compressor off of it and aftermarket LED lights.

Had one in my vette that lasted 8 years and it was still good when I replaced it. On the shelf as a back up for two years. Put it in my 1970 Bronco and sold it.

Had dual Reds in my Powerstoke about 8 years.

All these in AZ where it's pretty tough on batteries.