Are $200 Optima batteries worth the price for a daily driver? Yeah it has 800 cold-cranking amps (OEM battery is 650 CCA) and is highly vibration resistant but is it overkill? The battery in my wife's SRX went out over the weekend and needs replacing.
The batteries from Autozone and Advance Auto Parts are both about $180 for the proper 101 group size replacement. I found that a 78 group size should also work and a lot of people switch to those because they're cheaper, easier to find, and all of those options have higher cold-cranking amps. As far as I can tell the Autocraft Gold ($100) has 800 CCA and is the best that I can get from Advance Auto and is a standard lead-acid battery with a 3 year warranty. Autozone has a Duralast Gold that is a similarly priced lead-acid battery but also has an Duralast Platinum Absorbed Glass Mat battery for $144 that has 750 CCA and also has a 3 year warranty. My other option is to go to Batteries Plus and get a Rayovac lead-acid battery for $100 that has 850 CCA and a 3 year warranty. I haven't heard much about Rayovac automotive batteries and don't know what to think of them.
Is AGM that big of a deal? How much importance should I place on CCA as long as it meets or exceeds that of the OEM battery? Should any of these brands (Optima, Autocraft, Duralast, Rayovac) be avoided?
I get my batteries at advance auto parts. Order it online and find a coupon. Usually I can save $30 or more. Just pick it up at the store. As for quality, their brand has worked well for me.
I have an Advanced Auto coupon for $20 off of $100 that I may use on the Autocraft Gold they have. That would knock the total down to just about $100 making the price comparable to the Rayovac. At that point the only difference is that the Rayovac would have 50 more CCA than the Autocraft Gold. Not sure if brand makes too much of a difference but they both have 3 year warranties. What will happen after that warranty expires is my big concern. Will both of them give me 6 more months or will one die on month #37 and the other on month #50? I don't know the reputation of either of those brands.
almost all lead/acid batterys are made but johnson controls the bigger battery will have more power longer... but might not be needed if you don't sit for long idle times with the radio heater lights on.. or play b/ball with the lights on to light up the court..lol
the drycell batteries .don't like fast charges.. if you happen to run the battery down.. you have to slowly recharge.. if you jump it and let the car alt. system charge it.. it'll kill it.. CCA is somewhat miss leading as most cars today.. have gearreduction starters that don't draw tons of amps like the older cars did.. 500cca will be more than enough..
Here locally, we have an interstate battery hub, I go in and ask for a blem battery (blemished) i can buy a brand new battery for $25 for the fiero. minus the price of the core that is. blem is just a cosmetic defect, still carries the same warranty, etc. they just don't put ship them out to retailers or car dealers to be sold in new vehicles and such.
Are $200 Optima batteries worth the price for a daily driver?
NO. I've had two, first went bad after 9 months, the second after 3. Recently on a fall color tour with some other Fieros, one had a battery actually overheat and start to steam, we had to go to an auto parts store to get a replacement. It was an Optima. I've heard countless other anecdotes about them, all similar.
A couple years ago I would have recommended AC Delco, but now I'd say Interstate. The bigger the better, you can't have too many CCA's
Don't bother. Buy the cheap battery at Advance and get the 84mo prorated warranty - 3 years no questions asked is nice but essentially getting a guaranteed discount on future replacement costs is nicer (unless you can swing a blemished unit even cheaper).
I just replaced the OEM battery in my 9 year old RX8. It had been at the body shop for 6 weeks and they flooded it at some point - that was the last trip it was going to make anyway.
[This message has been edited by skuzzbomer (edited 11-14-2012).]
Don't bother. Buy the cheap battery at Advance and get the 84mo prorated warranty - 3 years no questions asked is nice but essentially getting a guaranteed discount on future replacement costs is nicer (unless you can swing a blemished unit even cheaper).
I just replaced the OEM battery in my 9 year old RX8. It had been at the body shop for 6 weeks and they flooded it at some point - that was the last trip it was going to make anyway.
I didn't know that the Autocraft batteries at Advance had a prorated warranty on top of the 3 years. I wonder if Autozone has the same warranty on their Duralast batteries.
The only reason I'd spend $45 more and get the battery from Autozone is because their Platinum battery is an AGM, though I'm not sure how much of an advantage that is.
I have an Everstart from Walmart in my Fiero, however their prices are identical to the Rayovac at Batteries Plus and the Autocraft Gold at Advance. I don't think they have the prorated warranty on top of the 3 year warranty either.
Originally posted by Meatstick62: Are $200 Optima batteries worth the price for a daily driver?
If you plan to keep the vehicle a while longer, I'd say yes.
I've had a yellow top in my truck for over 7 years now with no problems, and for an awful long time I used it to play music while I was working on the truck or other vehicles in the backyard. Not so much anymore, as I've got a garage with speakers in it now, but the truck still starts with no problem everytime I go to get in it.
------------------ Nick www.naskie18.com GoogleTalk: naskie18 AIM: naskie18
After calling around and surveying different places on warranties and battery specs I decided to go for an Autocraft Gold from Advance Auto Parts. With the $20 coupon I had I was able to get the battery for $96 + tax. They had the best warranty that I found and was the lowest price out of all of the options I considered. Every battery I found besides the cheapest -Duralast was a 3 year free replacement warranty. The Optimas and the Gold and Platinum Duralast's had 3 year free replacement warranties and 5 year prorated warranties. The Autocraft was a 3 year free replacment and a 7 year prorated warranty. I bolted it and it fired right up.
One thing I did learn from the guys at Batteries Plus is that the Rayovacs that they sell have no prorated warranties and that most automotive batteries in the US sold after 12/31/12 will no longer come with prorated warranties. There are only a few main battery manufacturers in the US and almost all of them will only offer free replacement warranties.
[This message has been edited by Meatstick62 (edited 11-14-2012).]
I get the cheapest I can find with enough AH. Usually Advanced, Autozone or Walmart. They all last the same length of time. 4-5 years is average life expectancy. Ive got Duralasts in all 3 of the cars I have left.
I wouldnt put an Optima in anything if I got it for free unless I was selling the car. Everyone I know that bought one has had nothing but problems with them. Guy next door replaced 3 Optimas this week for people that died when it turned colder here. I can buy 3 or 4 regular batteries for the price of an Optima. (4 batteries @ 5 years life each is good for 20 years vs Optima thats shot in 2 years)
Personally, I've never had any issues with Optima but I DID buy the cheapest battery I could find at Autozone (with the correct CCAs) last fall as my old battery (the original, I think) completely died taking out the alternator with it in the AZ parking lot. I figured I'd end up replacing it this year but it's still going strong.
The Optima is a gel cell which won't leak so if you're planning on autocrossing/racing/off roading or even if you live in an area with really crappy roads, it's worth the extra cost. There's no issue with fast charging on them. Sometimes, you just get a dud like anything else. I've seen just as many standard batteries fail prematurely as I have Optimas. Sometimes, it's a Wednesday at the factory.
An Optima is OK if your racing since its a gel cell. But then you could also buy an AGM (absorbed glass matt) battery instead...just as good if not better for 1/2 the price. One of those for my Sebring is $79.99 from one of my catalogs.
I always run optima batteries in my buicks - they seem to really like em. I got 4 years out of my yellowtop that I purchased the car with and another 3 out of the red top that was in it. They're nice, but they just suck to replace when they do die. 200ish dollars to replace a failed optima couldve been spent twards a better downpipe or exaust or _____ part. Ive had pretty good luck with those Autocrafts lately in all my DD stuff. My .02 cents...
