Customer Reviews

Optima Batteries 8020-164 35 RedTop Starting Battery

5 star:		(28)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(18)

 

 

I purchased this battery in March of 2008 and the battery is now dead as of January 2009. I contacted Optima to attempt to arrange a warranty exchange, and they passed the buck by directing me to contact Amazon, to which I was told that they would not honor a warranty exchange, or refund on account of the shipping restriction they have on this item. I am now stuck with a $150 paperweight on my workbench, and have since replaced my battery with an OEM style replacement battery from my local auto store that will actually honor my warranty should I need to use it.

Optima batteries are excellent products that nary have any problems, but I will *NEVER* purchase another Optima product based on the lack of customer support that I received.

This product shipped from Amazon with no padding at all. It was cracked in several places, and some pieces of the plastic casing had broken off completely. It was no longer a sealed battery and was certainly not usable. I can't imagine this battery, which weighs nearly 40 lbs, ever surviving a trip through the mail without padding.

This is a great battery, however the people at Amazon were giving me much trouble for something that was their own fault. Either way, the battery is with me, although it arrived in a broken box!

Also, This battery DOES fit the Subaru WRX, this is the correct battery (8020-164), although all the other information on this page is incorrect (which I found out after talking with Optima themself)

Battery died after 20 months. After calling Amazon I discovered that Amazon does not honor any warranty on this battery. Optima doesn't either! Local shops don't either! I had to replace the battery locally, but next time I'll at least have a warranty. DON'T BUY THIS BATTERY ON-LINE!!!!!

I refused to accept delivery of this item. It was shipped with absolutely no protection. No padding, no box, nothing but a wrap of plastic to hold the spacer in place. The shipping labels were stuck directly to the bare battery. One entire lower corner was destroyed, broken plastic all the way into the actual cell. Since this is a gel cell type battery, no liquid leaked out, but I certainly was not going to accept a battery with a hole in the actual cell. These may be wonderful batteries, but shipping totally unprotected is idiocy.

I have had this battery for less than two weeks and it's failed already.
Amazon won't take it back (something about it being hazardous). I contacted optima and they
said I have to take it back to amazon. Amazon said to talk to optima. Major run around.
Optima said that I should have bought it from a local dealer, blaming amazon. Amazon won't even reply to me.
This is the worse experience ever. This battery is not cheap either. It claims to have a 3 year replacement warranty and I can't even get it to work for two weeks and all I get is a run-around and customer no-service.

Jeers to amazon and optima.

now I'm not only out $130, I have to go buy another battery so I can get to work.

:( :( :(

I've had great experience with Optima batteries in the past. Amazon offers it at a great price, but you'd be better off buying one locally and paying more. Amazon ships the battery without enough protection, so when the UPS guys drop the box, the battery is likely to get damaged. Mine arrived with a smashed corner. At the time I did not know if this would affect performance. Now after a year of use, it's pretty clear that the damage has taken its toll. My battery struggles to maintain 12 volts. I'll be replacing it with an Optima purchased locally.

Because of the issues in the reviews of people getting damaged batteries that neither the shipper, Amazon, or Optima would take care of, I decided to get mine locally. It was about $15 more at Costco than at Amazon but I got it right away and didn't have to worry about any shipping damage. I have terrible luck in getting defective things so I didn't want to risk shipping a 40 pound box around and nobody wanting to pay for it.

My starter now turns over much faster than before. The battery also looks pretty cool under the hood. The red color naturally will make the car go faster too! ; )

Ordered this battery and I received it damaged. Amazon wouldn't take it back, the shipper would not take a claim and Optima wouldn't take it back. So I was left with a damaged battery I can't use in my truck. Finally gave it to my handy man who will use it in his utility trailer after he put some epoxy on the damaged area. There's no way in hell I would put it in my truck like that. If you order this battery be aware of their return policy if you receive it damaged you're pretty much screwed!!!!

My red top died after 14 months. Went on vacation for a week, came home and car would not start. Charged battery as per instructions, then drove car 75 miles. Figured that would be more than enough to get the battery back in shape. WRONG.... stuck 75 miles from home and car would not start!.. Thank goodness for kind people that helped me with a jump start. So I call Optima and tell them I cannot return it to AMAZON due to federal regulations, so can I take it to any auto parts store that sells Optima's?..... NO.... has to be taken to a Interstate Distributor and has to be tested over night... hmm... closest Distributor is 100 miles away... so basically they are telling me I would have to drive a total of 400 miles to get this POS replaced... This is the second Optima I've had that died long before the advertised longivity... but it will be the lst one I buy.