Optima Warranty

[v8killa]

Has anybody had any luck with there warranty? My optima red is basically dead, bought it last year from Autodream and still have my receipt but apparently they can't do anything for me.

[gretz]

Its basically dead? or is it dead? Did you try to throw a trickle charge on it for a day?

[GTS4tw]

They are such garbage, I know people have had good luck with them, but I personally know of dozens and dozens that have died in the first year. Interstate ftw.

[v8killa]

Trickle charged it, ended up lasting a few days but if I don't start it in 48 hours it dies again. Yeah, lots of people have had issues with them, just wondering if the warranty would get it replaced.

[GTS4tw]

Originally posted by v8killa
Trickle charged it, ended up lasting a few days but if I don't start it in 48 hours it dies again. Yeah, lots of people have had issues with them, just wondering if the warranty would get it replaced.

Try taking it to wal mart, they have replaced a few that I know of (all those die again within another year but I digress...)

[v8killa]

Walmart said they would do it if I had bought it from them, which is why I don't get why Autodream can't do it.

[davesparky6]

Buy a new one from wal mart.... Return your old one.
:dunno:

[GTS4tw]

Originally posted by davesparky6
Buy a new one from wal mart.... Return your old one.
:dunno:

They mark the dates on the top. I have noticed though that wal mart is usually pretty good with missing reciepts....

[v8killa]

Do they check serial numbers?

[v8killa]

I am just gonna buy a new battery, just wanted to see if anyone had luck with there warranty especially since I haven't even had it for a year but it is what it is.

[gretz]

If it's still in warranty, what reason did they give you for not being able to "warranty" it?

[410440]

As per the Optima warranty page:


Just call Optima and ask them the best course of action ?



OPTIMA REDTOP WARRANTY INFORMATION



6V, 12V Passenger Vehicle / Light Truck (noncommercial)

36 Months Free Replacement



Commercial

12 Months Free Replacement



Abusive service / Deep Cycle Applications / Car Audio

Not covered

[v8killa]

Autodreams reason was that there warranty is shitty and they never end up replacing them but Walmart said it wouldn't be a problem but I need a receipt from them.

[clem24]

Man Costco batteries are so fucking awesome. Bought it brand new like 2+ years ago and just suddenly it wouldn't hold a charge. It's a battery, shit happens. Anyway, over the counter exchange is like 3 years and regular warranty is 7 years I think. Went back to the store, told the lady it was dead. Took my receipt, and put a refund back on my card no questions asked. Bought another one, saved $5 in the process, and have a new battery with warranty reset. Win-win-win!

[cancer man]

Are you sure you don't have a draw?Autodream should warranty it unless it was on the shelf for 3 years.

[M.alex]

I've given up on Optimas. Every single one I've ever had lasts like 2yrs max then dies. Also, if you let it drain it seems like it's 50/50 if you can resurrect it or not.

For me it's just plain old Crappy Tire batteries - they seem to last at least 8-10yrs and you can abuse the hell out of them and they don't care.

[TomcoPDR]

Originally posted by M.alex


For me it's just plain old Crappy Tire batteries - they seem to last at least 8-10yrs and you can abuse the hell out of them and they don't care.

Are you one of those who do bicep curls carrying a battery through the parking lot?

[M.alex]

Originally posted by TomcoPDR


Are you one of those who do bicep curls carrying a battery through the parking lot?

Nooooooooooooo :angel:

[v8killa]

My battery isn't even a year old, don't know why they won't honour the warranty. I won't be getting another battery from them though, might have to hit up walmart!

[heavyD]

Originally posted by v8killa
My battery isn't even a year old, don't know why they won't honour the warranty. I won't be getting another battery from them though, might have to hit up walmart!

The reason they don't want to honor the warranty is because they are a shitty business and suck at customer service. They don't want to deal with the hassle of giving you a new battery and then going through the process of sending the bad battery back and getting reimbursed from Optima which can take months. Nothing irritates me more than distributors/middle men that are eager to take your money for a product and then leave you high and dry with warranty if you have problems with it.

[SCHIDER23]

Isn't Autodreams a sponsor here?, maybe they can explain why they are not honoring warranties.:dunno:

I also had problems with a red top, but got lucky and bought it from Walmart, they exchanged it no questions asked, and it finally died 2 years after, I must agree with M.Alex those CT batteries are damn good batteries, been using one in my brothers truck for 3 years now.:thumbsup:

[GTS4tw]

Originally posted by SCHIDER23
Isn't Autodreams a sponsor here?, maybe they can explain why they are not honoring warranties.:dunno:

I also had problems with a red top, but got lucky and bought it from Walmart, they exchanged it no questions asked, and it finally died 2 years after, I must agree with M.Alex those CT batteries are damn good batteries, been using one in my brothers truck for 3 years now.:thumbsup:

They are good as long as you arent hard on batteries, I have 5-6 dead ones from the last 3 years to prove it... And only one dead interstate in the last 10 years.

[Alak]

Odyssey makes the best batteries there is. It did the work of two yellow tops, with one battery. I had it 6 years and sold it with the truck. It is 100% lead acid tho, not like an optima which is sealed. I'll never never use another optima again.

We use optimas in oilfeild but only because the new kenworths have the battery box in the cab. When it came to warranty replacement, they usually honored it without much hassle, but thats through the dealership that we just bought 200 trucks through.

[Maxt]

According to my battery salesman, there were 2 grades of optima, might be down to 1, now.. Apparently when they went "big box" distribution, the quality went down to.
I have a 6 year old optima that can sit all winter and still fire up my old truck.
I have 3 dud Odyssey's in my shop right now, 2 less than a year old, one 1.5 years old. And I also own the special AGM digital charger for them, they just won't hold charge.

[Alak]

Yeah, thats the only problem with lead acid batteries. When they go dead, they go dead dead.

Usually an optima you can breathe life back into it, even if one of the cells kaputs, which is what my two yellow tops did after a heavy winching session.

[Point4Dave]

I bought a Red Top a couple of months ago from Mopac on 16th.

It was bunk from day 1. Wouldn't start the car. I returned it and they sent it off for testing. A week later I get a call saying it is in fact faulty and to come in for a replacement. I upgraded to yellow top for $20 and never had a problem since. I read so many problems on red tops.

I don't see why Autodream won't send it off for testing/replacement.

I guess go over their head direct to optima and let them know.

[J-hop]

I can see that a shop like autodream which puts pretty small orders in for these batteries as compared to a large corporation like Walmart might not want to honor warranties themselves as they don't have as much pull with optima. However that seems like a poor excuse as your customers individually have even less pull. Could be something missing from the story (usually is) but if this is truly a case where a shop isn't willing to step up to bat for its customers then I thank you OP for the heads up, I will scratch them off my list for sourcing parts for my Nissan.

[Maxt]

I dropped my odyssey batteries off at my battery guy yesterday, he says that Agm batteries often will not take a proper charge, but most of those that won't aren't defective.. The odyssey engineers say that the AGM battery has to be "woken up", this would probably apply to optima's as well.. They are going to cycle charge them and them run them dead on a load test a couple of times.

One of the batteries that was totally dead and refusing to charge, I doubled it up with a regular lead acid battery as both optima and odyssey has on their websites with a standard charger. I previously could not get it charged with my hi tech charger, after 4 hours with the double up, it was testing 93% and load tested at 650 CCA, and started the car.
Those with dead optima's might want to try this.