OPTIMA BATTERIES SUCK MAJOR NUT HOLES

[xtimmax]

my red top let me down the other day also.. kinda weird situation, i wake up in the morning to go to school, and its completely dead, so i try to jump it, let it charge for a while, still nothing at all, so i take the battery out of the car that i tried to jump it with and put it in my jeep, drove to school and after school i got the optima checked, and it read 11.8v without him putting a load on it.. so i took it home and put it in, and it was like nothing ever happened. still works good so far.

I told you it was the battery.


I love my orbital.

 

[JohnX]

I'm in for the group buy, I want three and have cores ready.

 

[jeeperjohn]

I'm sorry you had a bad experience with an Optima. I personally have had nothing but good luck with them. Even after running one dead numerous times because I was too lazy to disconnect the battery while working on my rig, I have always been able to charge it right back up and keep on rolling. The only other battery I would buy is the exide orbital. Basically the same battery from a different manufacturer.

 

[FireFly]

Well lets see, email me the m/m/y series number on the current battery or one you would want, and the cold crank amps. [email protected] we will go from there. we can also do the trade off prolly at the next meet and greet if you guys give me the info by monday.

 

[Xtreme XJ]

when i gave it back to them they put it against the other ones, its half the weight and the weight is from the gel. so i figure half gel. nope im gettin Exide Orbitals. Family works for them and i can get one for 30 bucks or so.

I've got to ask... Just what is a "nut hole" ?
So you got a refund ?
I've had good luck with them... both in my XJ & an F-1

I can also say the exact opposite for Exide's Orbital spiral wound technology CRAP. I'm willing to give anyone a chance at first, sometimes shit is bad from the get go. They had their chance(s)...
I would buy $200 Optima batteries ALLLL day over a truckload of free Exide P.! O.! S.! batteries... I can't bad mouth them bad enough... shitty customer service... as was their batteries performance.
I lost 3 in less then 1.5 yrs. The last time I was about 25 miles from pavement out in Capital Reef with my family (2 young kids) had to spend the night block the main dirt road and leave a note to get help... obviously things worked out.

Everyone has issues with various batteries or parts or manuf., but after that night and their lack of customer service I swore I'd bad mouth both them AND their product at every opportunity.

I spoke with a battery guy at the SEMA show and nodded his head throughout the telling of my tale... I wish I could remember the battery he felt was the best for our app., but I haven't needed one since the Optima conversion. Should of got the guys card.

Check with Grant or possibly another vendor is my suggestion. I could go ON with the way I feel, but for y'alls sake I'll shut up...

Good Luck with whatever you all choose...

Curt

 

[scottmcneal]

group buy, i'm in..Have a core waiting

 

[pcbearden]

red tops have a three year warranty... thats the good thing about them... ruin them and take them back...

 

[Gerr]

just like every other part on a jeep your gona run into a bad one here and there. Ive ran both optimas and orbitals and liked them both. I got to say that the orbital deep cycles are bad ass I had 2 in my YJ and never had any issues with draining them both dead and bringing them back probably 50 times over 3 years.....and they are still in the yj at year 4 working good for the new owner

 

[NW-ZJ-SCOTT]

i personally wont run Optima. Wouldnt mind trying the orbital tho!

 

[IslanderOffRoad]

Ever since I grenaded the die-hard that came with my Jeep in a rock pit up at Gorman, I've run a red top. Its been great, takes the shock of beating the hell out of it, starts every time. I used the Jeep running an inverter off the red-top last weekend on a camping trip for a few hours and still started just fine.

 

[4xSanta]

I have been running Optimas for a long time with one failure after it sat for 3 months but if I could get Orbitals for 30.00 I would switch in a heart beat......SANTA

 

[JohnX]

I used the Jeep running an inverter off the red-top last weekend on a camping trip for a few hours and still started just fine.

That reminds me....I ran a crock pot off my inverter for 6 hours at pismo. Food was hot, optima kicked arse.

 

[Blazair]

Optima be good. I be runnin 'em.

 

[Darky]

I've got a Sears branded Odyssey in mine.

 

[FireFly]

ok i get only get 4 more. and if you want selerap is a buddy of mine who sells them too....not as cheap, but at a pretty damn good price

 

[5-90]

Y'know, I was just kicking this around here...

I'm not discounting your negative experience with Optima, but you're basing this off of one defective unit, which makes for a small statistical sample.

So the key question now becomes: "Did they work with you to make it right afterwards?" After all, the idea of a defect or an error in an order is an opportunity for a manufacturer or supplier to really shine - it's all in how it's handled after the sale, and in the support you get.

I've been running Optima batteries for years without any trouble, and I'd buy one again in a heartbeat. Many others here have been running Optimas with similar results.

I'm not going to say that a defective battery (low fill, like yours, perhaps) is "impossible" - statistically speaking, it's more of a certainty. You just happened to get it this go-round. Considering modern manufacturing has pushed error rates down to parts per million or less, that's good odds that you won't get a defective product (and makes one hitting the market that much more obvious.)

So, here's my question - how did they handle the after-sale support? I don't recall having read a lot of this. You got a one-in-a-million bad battery, so what did they (Optima or the seller) do to fix the situation afterwards?

Just wonderin'...

 

[saki669]

Optima be good. I be runnin 'em.

Can you really say you "run" anything except for the cavalier? Everything you have sits in the driveway,. or on the grass....

Bleh...
I killed 3 optimas in 4 years. The yellow tops only have a 1 year warrany. After two of those I went to a red top that lasted two years. Autozone pro-rated it and gave me $18 towards a new $165 optima. I went with the Duralast Gold a year ago and have had zero problems. Even winched off of the sideposts (gasp!) with no issues.

 

[FireFly]

after the battery was out i took it back to the shop and they gave me a choice of a new red top or refund. i went with the refund. no problem what so ever very helpful.

 

[5-90]

after the battery was out i took it back to the shop and they gave me a choice of a new red top or refund. i went with the refund. no problem what so ever very helpful.

OK - so the story hasn't come out bad so far. They were still willing to make the situation right, and even gave you a choice of how that was to happen!

Sounds to me like something went awry, but they worked with you to make you as happy as possible. A one-in-a-million defect that was handled well by the seller. Sounds like you've done well to me!

 

[SeansXJ]

i run Napa's blue top, love it! no problems yet after 3 years. sorry to hear you are having problems man.