Customer Reviews

Optima Batteries 8004-003 34/78 RedTop Starting Battery

5 star:		(13)
4 star:		(6)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(4)

 

 

I bought this battery from a local Optima dealer on January 2008. It died on August 2009.

Since it comes with a three year warranty, I tried to get it serviced under the warranty by calling the Optima 1-800 number. Customer service agent was very rude and kept telling me I'd have to pay a fee in order to get my battery serviced.

Perhaps I just haven't had a new battery in a while and I've forgotten how they all work when new, but this battery seems to throw a LOT more power than I expected to the engine to start it up on even the coldest days so far this year. If this battery can perform at this level for a couple years, it'll have been the best battery I've ever bought. At this point though, expensive compared to the "el cheapo" brands you may find at walmart, but worth it knowing it's got the juice to get it done.

I bought this battery in May 2009. It just suddenly failed Dec 2010. Just over 1 1/2 years. I originally bought the battery for my Mustang because of the early reviews and the 800 amp capacity. Perfect for my car. Now, researching why the battery died so suddenly - and quickly - I read on another site that it really is a good, powerful battery - just you have to disconnect it when you're not driving so the trickle doesn't drain the battery. The stock battery that was with my car when I bought it lasted over 3 years (plugged in the whole time.) I read enough about Optima's poor customer service and not honoring their warranty that I'm not even going to bother trying to get warranty service thru them. I checked with the local Ford dealership, a mechanic friend and a rep at Advanced Auto Parts and they all agreed that it sounded like the battery was the issue ("a short inside the battery.") In fact, after I described what happened to the Advanced Auto Parts rep and he recommended getting a new battery, I told him the problem battery was an Optima and he called across the store to another worker, "Hey, Carl! I got another customer here with your favorite battery!"

I highly recommend that anyone avoid the Optima batteries. They will give you great starting power in your car, but they appear to have a habit of dying suddenly and without warning about 18 months in. Mine was great the last time I drove, then after not driving for 2 days, I got in the car and the battery was totally dead. (And I'd gotten back at night the last time, so I'm sure the lights were off - they shine right on my garage door.)

I'd only recommend this battery to someone who just needed a battery to connect to as needed. The rest of the time, it could just sit there. Or if you live in a cold climate and are okay with changing car batteries out every year.

I bought my first Optima battery for my '96 GMC C1500 with a vortec 5700 in 1998. This battery has been through all kinds of weather from New Mexico to 4 years in Germany, a couple years in Seattle, and the last 4 years in TX. I have drained this battery dead at least 4 times and it recovered/recharged every time except for this last weekend. My truck has been parked for most of the last month since the a/c is out and the temps her in TX have been 100+ for the last 2 months. I finally killed it for good... after 13 "short" years of life. I have replaced the batteries in all 3 of my vehicles with Optima's since then and will be buying another Optima for my truck. I'm sure this battery will outlast the truck this time. I'm SOLD!!!!

Needed a new battery after 5 years and wanted something that would stay charged up since i don't use the truck every day. Spins the engine even on the coldest day like it was summer. Also have an electric snow plow lift that challenges normal batteries. So far I'm pleased with my purchase, came as advertised and took less than a week to get it.

Let's face it, you're buying a car battery off Amazon. There's no returns accepted for this item, so unless you have some kind of guarantee that it fits on your car, don't buy it here.

Slow drain kills these batteries. The manufacturer knows this. If you keep this battery unhooked, except when you use it, it'll work well.
Best amp level I've ever seen, lasts forever if you leave it unhooked. But DO NOT LEAVE IT in a car for long slow drain
or it will fail. and it will fail faster than the cheapest battery you can buy. And the manufacturer is aware of this and will lie and refuse
your warranty request.

I ran a pair of Optima batteries in an off-road Samurai for several years and they powered all accessories and started the truck without fail. But that was in SoCal where there isn't any real weather. Well, maybe extreme heat. No problems ever with those. Before that I had one in a '95 Bronco, and the battery lasted longer than the truck.

The one I bought here, for my 2001 Ranger, has lived through more deserts and now a couple of South Dakota winters as well.

I was an engineer working in military aviation when I first ran across Optima batteries. They were on all the ground equipment where the military needed dependable power. Mil-Spec stuff isn't to be scorned. I bought 'em, used 'em and continue to use them. And I have not yet been let down by one.

Everything dies eventually, I suppose. But of the four I've had, none has failed in any way.

I bought my battery March 29,2010 from Amazon. When it arrived, it tested 100% charged on arrival by my new battery charger/tester with an AGM type setting. All was fine until almost a month ago. We had the car detailed Nov 11th 2010, and the detailer said he left the car doors open for about three hours while he worked on the car. After that, it almost didn't start. I put it on my charger and it wasn't able to get it to a 100% charge. It finally quit trying and said the battery was bad. As long as I put the charger on it at night, it would operate just fine the whole day. I called Optima and was told to take it to a local Interstate battery distributor to have it checked. After a few weeks I finally was able to get to Interstate. They found a dead cell. I was lucky as they also sold the Optima battery, and replaced it on the spot. I was stunned as I was in and out within 20 minutes. I hope the new battery lasts longer than the first one. The new one checks out 100%.

Great batteries, good power, very lightweight. Arguably the best features are no maintenance and NO CORROSION, ever! I use these in pairs wired parallel in a diesel truck. No batteries last really long in that application, but these lasted much longer than Interstate, Motorcraft, etc. They did not last as long as claimed, but did go 5+ years, instead of ~3 years for conventional name brand batteries. I got the 34/78 dual terminal style to make it easy to wire up heavy accessories. Warranty should be serviceable most anywhere at an AutoZone, O'Reilly, etc.