I'll have to rate the Wal-Mart batteries better than Optima's current quality because they are still working and are older than the Optima's. I only removed them so the new turbo intake would fit and the Optima's gave me the clearance to do so. Starting the engine but leaking = failed in my book.
'Spillproof design' does NOT mean leakproof. Just like a dry cell battery Optima batteries can leak.
This is the 3rd Optima battery I have leaking with the "Made In Mexico" sticker on it. The first one ate both the battery pan and cables from a post leak. It was old and from a mild climate having a couple months of the prorated warranty left. That truck is gone now. On my suburban both batteries have failed with cracks at the top posts, pictured below, and are 1 year 2 months old. Odd since I am not using the negative top posts. The leak with the telltale black line brought my attention to the matter during a pre-trip inspection.
Grounds are clean. Voltages are in spec including alternator output voltage, diode test, shorted diode tests, etc. Cables are new. I clearly do not have any electrical issues with the suburban at this time and I have been through the electrical system thoroughly including cleaning fuse contacts.
This is the worst of the 4 cracks.
Other battery. Both batteries have cracks at the negative top posts and also at the positive posts.
Your Optima battery had better not fail on a Friday or after normal CST business hours because no one will answer the phone till Monday morning. The store you bought your batteries is now out of business? Good luck getting anyone else to warranty them. One local Napa shop went out of business that sold them. Buy them online and you will have the same difficulty warranting them just anywhere Optima batteries are sold.
Jonson Controls might as well start re-branding them. After all they are sold everywhere. I can see it now, Jim's hot dog stand and AGM batteries. Only warrantied at Jim's Hot dog stand though. Same situation with Batteries Plus, Autozone, and O'Reillys - they will only warranty Optima's purchased there. Weird since the stores have a Jonson Controls rep and sell their other products. They are all the big Red-top happy family and now part of the extended Jonson Controls family, but, may as well be private label for the lack of warranty support from other retailers. Talk about a red-headed step child.
A little trivia from Optima's warranty guide and I quote:
** "
RETAIL STORE PURCHASES
OPTIMA Batteries purchased from retail or wholesale locations will be subject to the OPTIMA® Batteries, Inc. Limited Consumer Warranty in addition to the following:
Optima Batteries must be returned with the original receipt to the location where the battery was originally purchased for any warranty service. If you are unable to return the battery to the original purchasing location, you may call OPTIMA Batteries customer service at 888-8OPTIMA to assist you with the nearest service location. Many retail locations will only support our warranty policy if you purchase the battery from that location/chain.
" **
So for the out of business Napa shop I got to call an 888 number that isn't open on the weekend. FAIL! Online retailer same problem as the online retailer needs to handle the warranty. Optima's site even promotes order online now with the same hours not open issues! Hint: Sears can sell a competing battery online and warranty it in their auto care stores - Some being open weekends. Some parts stores here are open 24/7.
Long time ago we used the Made in Colorado, U.S.A. Optima Batteries in single cylinder air cooled diesel light plants the were loud enough and vibrated enough to wake the dead. Flooded cell batteries didn't last very long in them. Optima's did. The Jonson Controls Mexico made Optima's do not share the life and ruggedness of the Colorado made stuff. Optima being reliable and tough is becoming a faded memory. I used to recommend them. Now AGM is all I can recommend for reasons the technology has like gel vs. liquid acid and electrical performance. However the quality continues to decline. Even in hot 121 degree AZ where flooded battery life is 2-3 years tops this kind of performance from Optima is un-excusable. I hate AC Delco batteries because they are common to leak from the side posts a lot and now to have what I thought was a cure to that problem occur on Optima is not a happy day.
Last issue was a 2008 battery lasted 2 years 11 months before losing voltage and was warranted. Now I have a pair that is cracked and leaking.
The new hassle for warranty is the last straw for me. There is no reason any retailer can't take care of an Optima Customer. Otherwise Private label is the way to go - something your AGM competitors have already figured out. Course you have to stand under the shadow of the past that quite frankly Optima Jonson Controls Mexico of today no longer delivers.
Is this a case of buying the competition and killing the product because their products ate into your primary sales? :mad2: Do you need to make it suffer a slow death by killing quality to the level of your short lived flooded cell stuff?
'Spillproof design' does NOT mean leakproof. Just like a dry cell battery Optima batteries can leak.
This is the 3rd Optima battery I have leaking with the "Made In Mexico" sticker on it. The first one ate both the battery pan and cables from a post leak. It was old and from a mild climate having a couple months of the prorated warranty left. That truck is gone now. On my suburban both batteries have failed with cracks at the top posts, pictured below, and are 1 year 2 months old. Odd since I am not using the negative top posts. The leak with the telltale black line brought my attention to the matter during a pre-trip inspection.
Grounds are clean. Voltages are in spec including alternator output voltage, diode test, shorted diode tests, etc. Cables are new. I clearly do not have any electrical issues with the suburban at this time and I have been through the electrical system thoroughly including cleaning fuse contacts.
This is the worst of the 4 cracks. Other battery. Both batteries have cracks at the negative top posts and also at the positive posts.
Your Optima battery had better not fail on a Friday or after normal CST business hours because no one will answer the phone till Monday morning. The store you bought your batteries is now out of business? Good luck getting anyone else to warranty them. One local Napa shop went out of business that sold them. Buy them online and you will have the same difficulty warranting them just anywhere Optima batteries are sold.
Jonson Controls might as well start re-branding them. After all they are sold everywhere. I can see it now, Jim's hot dog stand and AGM batteries. Only warrantied at Jim's Hot dog stand though. Same situation with Batteries Plus, Autozone, and O'Reillys - they will only warranty Optima's purchased there. Weird since the stores have a Jonson Controls rep and sell their other products. They are all the big Red-top happy family and now part of the extended Jonson Controls family, but, may as well be private label for the lack of warranty support from other retailers. Talk about a red-headed step child.
A little trivia from Optima's warranty guide and I quote:
** "
RETAIL STORE PURCHASES
OPTIMA Batteries purchased from retail or wholesale locations will be subject to the OPTIMA® Batteries, Inc. Limited Consumer Warranty in addition to the following:
Optima Batteries must be returned with the original receipt to the location where the battery was originally purchased for any warranty service. If you are unable to return the battery to the original purchasing location, you may call OPTIMA Batteries customer service at 888-8OPTIMA to assist you with the nearest service location. Many retail locations will only support our warranty policy if you purchase the battery from that location/chain.
" **
So for the out of business Napa shop I got to call an 888 number that isn't open on the weekend. FAIL! Online retailer same problem as the online retailer needs to handle the warranty. Optima's site even promotes order online now with the same hours not open issues! Hint: Sears can sell a competing battery online and warranty it in their auto care stores - Some being open weekends. Some parts stores here are open 24/7.
Long time ago we used the Made in Colorado, U.S.A. Optima Batteries in single cylinder air cooled diesel light plants the were loud enough and vibrated enough to wake the dead. Flooded cell batteries didn't last very long in them. Optima's did. The Jonson Controls Mexico made Optima's do not share the life and ruggedness of the Colorado made stuff. Optima being reliable and tough is becoming a faded memory. I used to recommend them. Now AGM is all I can recommend for reasons the technology has like gel vs. liquid acid and electrical performance. However the quality continues to decline. Even in hot 121 degree AZ where flooded battery life is 2-3 years tops this kind of performance from Optima is un-excusable. I hate AC Delco batteries because they are common to leak from the side posts a lot and now to have what I thought was a cure to that problem occur on Optima is not a happy day.
Last issue was a 2008 battery lasted 2 years 11 months before losing voltage and was warranted. Now I have a pair that is cracked and leaking.
The new hassle for warranty is the last straw for me. There is no reason any retailer can't take care of an Optima Customer. Otherwise Private label is the way to go - something your AGM competitors have already figured out. Course you have to stand under the shadow of the past that quite frankly Optima Jonson Controls Mexico of today no longer delivers.
Is this a case of buying the competition and killing the product because their products ate into your primary sales? :mad2: Do you need to make it suffer a slow death by killing quality to the level of your short lived flooded cell stuff?
