i have to have ,because my battery sits on its side under the driver seat. i have the NAPA orbital (optima clone). it should handle a complete discharge better than a regular battery per paper specs, but i've had 2 go dead and never hold a charge for more than a day after that. good news-i get a new one free if less than the 5 or 6 year warrantee.
I had an Optima go dead in the parking lot at American Toyota. Thankfully Bushrat was there to give me a jump... Dan was already seeing dollar signs and tried to sell me a new one as we were jumping mine. (Greedy vulture )
The optima was less than 2 years old but getting it swapped under warranty was a hassle. They (Desert Rat) had to order a replacement and it took a week to get in. Meanwhile I bought a yellow top from Sears 'cause it was my DD back then and I needed a battery. The good news is they prorate 100% if it fails within 2 years. They're getting one more chance with the 2 that are in there now. If both don't last 5 years then they go off my approved vendor list. (aka The Kiss of Death)
What kind of distribution does your approved vendor list have? It's probably not exactly the same as Consumer Reports. I'm just trying to get a sense of the size of the distribution list necessary for a poor rating to be "The Kiss of Death."
Ok Mike. That's about the best I can do with my limited wit and skill. Go easy on me.
Different Optima's have different warranties. The one that went dead on me had a 5 year warranty; within 2 yrs=100% then it went down each month from there to 0% after 5 years (can't recall the details.)
I bought 2 of whatever brand of gel battery Checker sells (I think a rebadged Interstate?) and both have been fine for over 5 years. I switch the main and aux units about every 1.5 years. These were about $20 cheaper per unit than the lower end Optimas.
I have an Excide gell and a Yellow Top gell for a head to head test. It sounds like Johnson Controls' quality control has been declining on their Red and Yellow tops as of late. One thing about Non Deep cycle gell cell batteries, they sulphate easily once fully discharged. Once they're totally dead, you won't be able to revive them like a traditional wet cell battery. So, try not to deep cycle them if possible
Wife's LC will be be getting this Odyssey dry cell battery some day. This has enough power to run everything with some outrageous specs. It still costs less than two Yellow tops but does take up a fair amount of space. It should fit into our 80 series battery tray and keep the wiring to a minimum, unlike a dual battery system. Now only if the OEM Toyota battery died soon....
The factory batteries were Panasonic brand but not available as replacements from dealers. I doubt very many original batteries are still kickin' after 10 years.
