[AZBillyBoy]

Might be a survey. Probably in the wrong place.

Anyways, what is your opinion about Optima batteries. I won't say anything yet because I want an unvarnished response from the forum.

[theksmith]

used to be the best, no longer worth the price. try odyssey or other high-end AGM style manufacturer like braille for the best now.

personally i went with sears platinum - made by odyssey, comes with 4 year warranty, costs less that the one with the odyssey logo on it, and there are sears everywhere to honor the warranty when it comes time.

[Wikid]

Sears Platinums are rebadged odyssey's . Only they are not quite as expensive. I have an optima as a starting battery replaced once already, when that goes I get a platinum My dual battery is a sears platinum marine
1105 CCA and 205 minutes reserve. Its a beast
I highly recommend the platinum
thanks

[mbuckner]

Might be a survey. Probably in the wrong place.

Anyways, what is your opinion about Optima batteries. I won't say anything yet because I want an unvarnished response from the forum.

I bought a Red Top 2006-Sep from Costco and it bit the dust on 06-June-2010 ... I was wanting to move to
another brand, but 06-June was on a Sunday morning, as I am headed to New Mexico for a week and I did
not have a whole lot of shopping options since I needed to be on the road ....

Checker opened at 0800 so I took the dead battery down to get it replaced ... they have Red Tops and come to
find out they had two different models (grades) of Red Top; so I spent $20 more for the higher end model ... will
just have to wait and find out if it will last almost 4 years .....

Believe it or not, the battery that lasted the longest was the OEM battery that came with the TJ .....

[AZBillyBoy]

thanks all. I am collecting & digesting the answers; will have a typically long and overly detailed response in a bit. hope to hear from more of you.

[K7VZ]

I went through 3 Checker batteries in 2 years on my XJ. I can't remember now, but I think the brand they sell was Autolite. Anyway, after seeing good reviews of the Sears Diehard Platinum, I pulled the trigger and bought one. I've only had it less than 6 months, so no real review yet except it's lasted 6 months. I got it on a weekend where they were running a 10% off auto accessories, so I basically saved sales tax. I think it was about $185 out the door. Oh, it has a 4 year free replacement warranty, so I think that alone would be worth the higher price than your standard battery.

[GRUNT]

...after seeing good reviews of the Sears Diehard Platinum, I pulled the trigger and bought one.

So are the Sears Platinums a dry-cell or gel like the Optimas? I like that my Optima has never leaked and got nasty like my standard Checker batteries. I only replaced my red top once, but that was because I parked the jeep after a trip and left the CB on for about 3 months.

[K7VZ]

Sears Diehard Platinum is a sealed AGM batter. It uses flat glass mat vs. the spiral wound like the optima does. As others have mentioned, it's the same as an Odessy battery. Same manufacturer, but different branding.