3rd_Vette

I have totally lost faith in Optima... Yes, once they were a great battery. Now.... I really have my doubts! I had a "Red Top" in the 98 and it has problems. (Bought at Sam's Club). Now, 350 miles away and NO Sams club. Took the Red Top to a "local" Optima retailer (with my receipt) and the Red Top was confirmed to be defective. Now for the fun part.. I asked if I could upgrade to a Yellow Top and he said sure, just pay the difference. I did that LAST WEEK. Today, I get the phone call stating they want their battery back!!.
So, I ask why? The reply was, you bought it at Sams Club and it has to go back there, OR.... You can take it 150 miles to an actual Optima dealer (the closest one to me) and let them test it for a few days. Whats with that? What happened to the word warranty? I have the Yellow Top in my car and it is working just as expected, and now they want me to put my defective Red Top BACK IN THE CAR, drive 150 miles, leave the car and battery for a few days and then see if THEY feel I have a problem. Well. Not going to happen. I guess once they actually get my defective battery back from where ever they sent it, Ill just buy a AC DELCO performance 78-6yr for $110 and have a BETTER battery with a BETTER warranty good at ANY GM Dealer or parts house! I called Sams Club and they said they would take it back, no problem, but I won't be near one for 2 months.. Either way, Optima will be eating the Red Top, but I guess they want me to have to jump through hoops to get my satisfaction. (Thinking of filing something with the BBB)
As for Optima Batteries, SHAME ON YOU! Your warranty isn't worth the paper its written on! This has been a total pain in my fanny!
My advice to anyone who is even thinking of a new battery.. Just buy the Delco and be done with it. Take the extra $100 you saved over the way over priced Optima and take the wife out... Im just glad I found this out now, before a trip Im planning to take. I would not be too happy to have a battery failure only to discover the Optima fine print NO warranty policy!

hotwheels57

Why don't you contact JOHNSON CONTROLS (OPTIMA) directly and explain the situation to them. This issue could be more of a policy of the "local Optima dealer".

In the mean time...

http://www.optimabatteries.com/_medi...a_Warranty.pdf

MawneeC5

Sounds like a store issue, not the optima brand itself.

3rd_Vette

I did that right after I received the call to return the Yellow Top. As expected, I got the run around from Optima and they also told me to take the battery to the place, 150 miles away for further testing. That isn't going to happen. A 300 mile round trip x 2 and most likely, Ill still be stuck with a defective Red Top that Ill still have to take back to Sams Club in November. Optimas attitude was less than par in this situation as I see it. This just proves that if I was on a trip, I would be buying another battery along with having a dead Optima in the back of my car until I returned home. If the Optima guy on the site feels the need to chime in, feel free. As for now, Im waiting for my missing Red Top to return to the shop so I can go buy the AC DELCO and be done with it.
Guess I should have done that in the first place!

TN Vette

How long was the battery in your car?
How often do you drive the car?
Do you put a battery tender on the car if it sits for 2 weeks or more?

c5BlackBeauty

I drank the Optima Kool-Aid and after ongoing problems said "bye bye" and moved to the Sear's Platinum. Nuff said

8VETTE7

Gotta love it. A $200 battery and you need to have it on a battery tender if it the car isn't driven for 2 weeks. I'll stick to my far less expensive conventional battery that has sat for more than a month and fires the car with no problems when I turn the key.

TN Vette

It is cheap insurance as over time the 20ma+ draw will wear any battery down. I looked at an 08 Z06 in the Chevy dealership that hadn't been started in 30 days and the battery was dead. That was NEW on the showroom floor. I would use a battery tender on a lead acid battery if I had one in the car too.

I haven't had any issues with mine, but put it on the tender to prevent issues. =)

0331MARINE

I'm pretty sure you dont have to take it back. You already paid for it and it was their mess up not yours. I wouldnt take it back....Tell them to deal with it.

burbleflyer

I have a Duralst and I killed it after two years in the car by leaving the radio on overnight.:o

Autozone replaced it for free.

3rd_Vette

Normally, I would, but the guy in the independent shop is a "middle man" between his shop and the supplier several miles away. THEY were the ones that made the decision not to honor the warranty. (The guy in the shop even says the battery is DEFECTIVE!) If I was to say tough luck, the little guy would be eating the cost of the Yellow Top. That being said, I just couldn't do it to the guy. BUT, if the distributer was the one eating the mistake, so be it! Im now waiting to hear the outcome. They ALL know its defective.. Now its just a matter if, they want to be upstanding and honor the warranty or make my life hell and make me transport it back to Sams Club, 350 miles away that I won't be near for 2 months! As far as the Optima warranty, its a JOKE. What if I was on vacation? Total
Like I said before.... Buy the AC Delco at 50% less and get a BETTER Battery and an actual Warranty that is honored at ANY GM Dealership, no questions asked!
I can see Optima out of business soon with their lousy customer Unservice! So be it!

3rd_Vette

Quote:
Originally Posted by OptimaJim
crease-guard raises a valid concern about proper battery maintenance. When batteries are discharged below 12.4 volts and allowed to sit in that state, sulfation begins to diminish both performance and lifespan. In vehicles with high parasitic draws (like many newer Corvettes), this can occur within a matter of weeks and the effect over time can be cumulative. A quality battery tender or maintainer is a wise investment for any owner of a newer Corvette, especially because some battery companies will void their warranties if their batteries are discharged below 10 volts. We don’t do that with our warranty, but we do encourage folks to always maintain at least 12.4 volts in their batteries. (You can read our warranty information here- http://optimabatteries.com/optima_pr...ty/postFeb.php)

The voltage of a battery at idle is the output of the alternator and should be approximately 13.7-14.7 volts. If anyone has any questions about our batteries, I’ll do my best to answer them.

Jim McIlvaine
eCare Manager, OPTIMA Batteries, Inc.
www.powerpacknation.com

Here is my reply last week to the Optima guy on the Forum when I actually thought Optima served me well by actually standing behind their warranty and letting me throw more money at them and upgrading to the Yellow Top.... Still no comment from him!
I just upgraded my battery to a Yellow Top for the 750CCA 120RA rating.. So far, so good. Did I do the right thing? My Red Top looked really nice in my Torch Red C5, but looking good isn't going to provide the correct 12.6 volts to make my computer happy and not give me the pull the key and wait PITA.. Should I have bought the AC Delco Performance Battery? So far, no pull the key messages...

Jewjenk

You brought the battery and paid for it, hopefully you got a receipt stating exchange and paid in full or something close to that fact.

Tell the merchant to take a hike!!!!!!!!! Why is this even an issue?

Dope

They definitely suck badly. I drank the koolaid too. My first red top lasted 2 years before it wouldn't hold a charge more than a day or so. I bought another one, still on the koolaid, and that one lasted 2 years too. Bought an Autozone battery instead 5 years ago, still going strong. For half the price. What a waste of money to buy an Optima.

Dope

3rd_Vette

I just got a call from my son that just docked in San Diego (Naval Air Rescue Swimmer). He has one of my Chevy Z-71 Pick-ups which he has had in a locked storage lot on the Navy Base in Coronado Ca for the past 8 months! DID you hear that? 8 MONTHS! He said the truck started right up! No doubt, because I put an AC DELCO in it 3 1/2 years ago! He said it wasn't even a slow crank! It turned over like it had just been run within the past day or so.. So glad I didn't go the Optima route with my trucks! Battery tender my fanny! * months of ocean weather including the heat of summer!
Actually, Im just happy to see he is home safe!

Mr.Bill

I can't believe a shop would call you and ask for the battery back.
They made the deal, You paid end of story...

baddboyz03

this wouldnt be an issue if you bought the battery CLOSE to your home!

FrankTank

Just plain stupid. I've had people that left the car for less than 2 weeks wtih a Craptima, and it died without a tender.

I've said it 1000 times when I had my C5, and same thing now with the C6.. OPTIMAS are GARBAGE. I personally know of 4 different people 2 with vettes and 2 with different cars ALL of them had problems wih..t the Optimas..not to mention problem after problem being posted on various forums

3rd_Vette

True but..... Had I bought it here, it would have most likely been at Costco. Only problem is, Costco has QUIT stocking Optimas. Reason? TOO MANY PROBLEMS! They said lately, they were getting almost 50% of them back within the first 12 months because they failed!.. I found this out AFTER I already owned one. (I mentioned this to the woman at Optima I spoke with today and she claimed the people that bring them back to the warehouse stores, mostly have problems with their cars! Such a lame excuse! The ONLY reason I went Optima was the risk of acid leakage on the computer. Right now, I actually hope to get the Red Top back just so I CAN return it to Sams Club in November! Then I will have a REAL battery for $100 or less and be worry free!

warpster

Why didn't you buy a battery locallty in the first place? Optima's warranty is just like every other warranty out there, you need to take the item (whatever it is) to an authorized dealer that is able to honor the warranty. If you bought a sears wrench do you expect the local NAPA to replace it?

You are upset but the fault lies with your expectations. As far as comparing the truck to the Vette that is apples to oranges. The Vette is known to draw a slight current even when the vehicle is off, not the same as a simple truck! The reason people stress the battery tender on the red top is because of that constant current draw of a Vette and the tendancy of a red top to start failing if not kept charged...if you didn't intend to maintain your battery you should have bought the yellow top in the first place.

It is unfortunate that the dealer you decided to take it to doesn't have the authority to make warranty exchanges, better planning on your behalf would have been prudent.

Sorry but I get upset when people condemn a product that they fail to maintain. That is not the manufacturers fault. Good luck with the GM battery.