connam06

My 2004 Honda Civic EX Coupe is in need of a new battery. I run a 2000 watt hifonics brutus amp pushing a single 10'' Alpine type R (The other subwoofer blew). I drive in Ohio, and it gets pretty cold here.

Walmart sells an everstart Maxx battery for 99.97 and my g/f works there so I would get 10% off. 500 Cold Cranking Amps with a 5 year warrenty (3 year replacement, 2 year pro rated).

Amazon sells the Optima Yellowtop Dual purpose battery (amazon.com/gp/product/B00E16M1P6/ref=ox_ya_os_product#productDetails) for 153.25 and I would get 5% off using Chase Freedom Card. It is rated only 450 Cold Cranking Amps and only a 3 year warrenty from amazon.

To me, the answer seems simple. The walmart is cheaper, better warrenty, local, and better cold crank amps. I also know optima yellowtops have a good reputation, but comparing stats, the Everstart maxx appears to be a better battery at a much lower cost. Could this be true?

GolNat

iTrader: (7)

Most batteries come from the same manufacture (Johnson Controls around me) Your paying for the warranty mostly. I would go with Maxx. Only advantage to the yellow top is that they can take a physical beating, not really needed in a civic.

BlueEM2

iTrader: (1)

Everstart Maxx is an excellent battery. Optima Yellow Top is too. The price difference isn't worth it especially since Optima got bought out and their batteries are now no better than any other JC battery.

connam06

Thanks guys. Exactly the answers I was looking for. Very impressed a walmart battery would be recommended over a optima yellow top. I am heading there now to have it installed.

lowlife9

i would recommend Duralast gold.

BlueEM2

iTrader: (1)

^Made by Johnson Controls and also more expensive than an Everstart Maxx. There is no reason to over think batteries because 99% of them are all the same. Like said your only paying for the warranty or name unless you go with a brand like Odyssey who make their own batteries. There are only like three manufacturers left nowadays with JC and Exide being the two big hitters.

lowlife9

i paid 80 bucks for the biggest duralast gold they had. i had to mod my battery tray it just barely fit. plus 3 year replacement.

OptimaJim

Hello, I noticed your conversation involving our products and wanted to offer some assistance. When shopping for a battery, there are several factors that should be considered. Price is obviously the primary factor, but several others should be considered as well. Not all warranties are created equal. Some are strictly free-replacement, some are pro-rated and some are a mix of the two. If a warranty is pro-rated, you will end up paying something for a warranty replacement. For example a $100 battery warrantied in the 37th month of a three year free replacement/two-year pro-rated warranty will cost about $62 to replace and will only carry warranty coverage (pro-rated again) for the remaining 23 months. Some warranties also have a long list of exclusions, including minimum voltage levels. We don't do that with our warranty, but you can read it in it's entirety here.

While online retailers may offer some savings up front, if a battery needs warranty service, it is performed by the original retailer, which may require that you ship the battery back to them for service. Not all online retailers are authorized to sell our products, including some very big names and some online retailers have been known to not honor warranties as well. That may make a brick and mortar retailer a safer option, even if it costs a few dollars more up front. All of our authorized online retailers have a toll-free 800 customer service number that they answer during normal business hours, so it is easy to inquire about their warranty policies before buying.

It gets even colder in Wisconsin than it does in Ohio, but there is no need to overbuy on cold cranking amps here. As long as a battery meets or exceeds the engine's specifications, that is all that is really needed in that regard. A more important consideration, especially for applications that include car audio, may be the amount of reserve capacity and the ability to be deep-cycled. Our RedTops are SLI (starting/lighting/ignition) batteries and are not designed or warrantied for deep-cycle use.

Our batteries are sealed, so they are far less likely to leak or vent acid than a traditional flooded product. They are also produced with 99.99% pure virgin lead, which helps our batteries perform better and last longer than standard batteries, which use recycled lead. BlueEM2 is correct that Optima was acquired by Johnson Controls nearly 14 years ago, but we still manufacture all of our own batteries in our own facility and they are the only batteries produced there. The quality of our products has never been better and they are designed to last up to twice as long as a traditional flooded battery.

Jim McIlvaine
eCare Manager, OPTIMA Batteries
www.pinterest.com/optimabatteries

Civic15

Too late Jimmy

BlueEM2

iTrader: (1)

Fair enough but your batteries are just hands down too expensive and don't seem to be any more reliable than others (Based on an internet search)

OptimaJim

Civic15, it's never too late to provide accurate information. BlueEM2, I certainly respect a personal decision that our products are too expensive, but information posted online regarding quality is far from gospel. While I understand individual experiences can vary, JCI does have access to manufacturing defect rates and warranty returns on all of our products and our internal data (which is as accurate as it gets) totally contradicts your statement that Optima batteries are no better than any other JCI product. While there are three manufacturers, who make the majority of batteries on the market, there are far more than three companies producing car batteries.

Jim McIlvaine
eCare Manager, OPTIMA Batteries
www.pinterest.com/optimabatteries

BlueEM2

iTrader: (1)

I'll stop here by saying that the information I've found online has proven to be far more helpful than anything I've ever been told by a manufacturer. People generally aren't biased and if they are it's because of a bad experience. Manufacturers are biased because they are selling the product. The truth of the matter is that nobody needs a yellow top battery that costs over 100 dollars. An everstart maxx for 70 dollars will last you 6-7 years if you treat it well and follow the rules of making a battery last. My original battery was made by Exide and it was the cheapest one you can find (Exide having the worst reputation of the three big manufacturers). The battery still lasted 7 years because I never let it drain by leaving lights on... I'm sorry but spending ridiculous amounts on a battery is just simply unnecessary and I won't recommend it to anyone. Your throwing your money away.

Edit: Holy crap over 200 dollars... At that price point you might as well spend a little more and get an Odyssey which are pretty much the best you can get.

GolNat

iTrader: (7)

I could see spending the money if you really need a battery that you can physically abuse. For a street driven car, no. Serious off-roading, extreme temperatures maybe.

Stock 99

^ seriously? You guys don't just pop the hood and wail on your battery when you've had a bad day? huh

but really I off roaded the hell out of my toyota (put it air born many times) sank it over the headlights in water and it never had any special battery in it either. Just like every other vehicle they all have battery hold downs so you can roll on the roof and batteries don't go fly out/around your car/4x4.

Agreed with all the points BlueEM2 made about not draining the battery and not spending money on one either. I just put a used wrecking yard ($35) battery in my Civic since they don't really put much demand on a battery.

OptimaJim

BlueEM2, I won't question whether someone thinks a product is too expensive or not, because that really comes down to personal preference. You are also correct about proper voltage maintenance being the key to long battery life, regardless of brand. I preach the same thing on forums all over the internet. However, Corvette owners, particularly those who own C5s would strongly disagree with you that they don't need a battery that costs more than $100, as their battery sits directly above their PCM. Even some folks who don't have to deal with the thought of replacing a PCM also like AGM batteries, because they minimize the chances of battery acid damaging other parts of their engine compartment.

As GolNat indicated, sealed AGM batteries are a really good idea in off-roading and extreme temperature applications, but a lot of folks in street-driven cars relocate their batteries to their trunk or interior. Whenever any lead-acid battery vents gas, it is both flammable and toxic. For that reason, we always recommend that batteries mounted in enclosed areas be properly-sealed and vented to the outside air. For some AGM batteries the only thing needed in those scenarios is a vent tube leading to the outside air. For flooded batteries, a sealed battery box vented to the outside air should be mandatory.

People may not be intentionally biased about information they share online, but that doesn't make everything they share accurate. How many times have you read about a problem someone had, that they were convinced was caused by one thing, only to find out later on that it was really caused by something else? We are the title sponsor of the ChumpCar World Series and have outfitted entire fields of race cars with batteries someone else mistakenly returned under warranty, because they thought it was bad.

I've bought Optima batteries out of wrecking yards myself, because they can be an incredible deal. However, you have to know what you're getting for your money- a battery with an unknown history and little, if any warranty coverage. I know how to identify the exact age of our batteries and I bring a load tester with me, so I stack the odds in my favor a bit. I have also passed on several batteries that were really old, showed good voltage but didn't pass a load test or had subtle indications that they've been dropped or damaged.

Jim McIlvaine
eCare Manager, OPTIMA Batteries
www.pinterest.com/optimabatteries