Optima Batteries 8012-021 D34 YellowTop Dual Purpose Battery

I decided to order this battery through Amazon since it was about $50 cheaper than local retailers. Since I've never purchased a car battery online, I called Amazon and Optima to ask how a warranty claim would work when the battery was purchased through Amazon. The people I spoke with gave me some very surprising information, which I thought I'd share with you:

1. Amazon only accepts returns for up to 30 days after the item was purchased. After 30 days, the customer will be referred to the manufacturer of the item.

2. Optima refers all online purchases back to the original retailer. The full warranty cannot be honored through Optima unless the battery was purchased from one of Optima's authorized online retailers. The authorized retailers are shown on Optima's site; Amazon is not one of them.

3. Optima is unable to honor any warranty for batteries purchased through Amazon because Optima is unaware of the condition of the batteries, the shipping procedures, how long the batteries have been in a warehouse, etc.

The Optima Yellow Top series are arguably some of the best auto batteries currently on the market, but the money saved by buying from Amazon clearly isn't worth the almost nonexistent warranty.

I was hesitant to buy this because of all the reviews saying the battery was poorly packaged and would arrive damaged. Knowing Amazon has a good returns policy, I took the chance and ordered it.

I'm in NY and the battery was shipped by truck cross country (I watched the tracking updates). It took about a week for it to arrive.

When I finally received it, I realized I was lucky. The battery was in good condition with no breaks or scratches on it. At the same time, it came in a simple cardboard box with some cushioning on top, but nothing on the bottom. This is a very heavy item and it's very easy to visualize the bottom of the battery getting damaged during a long truck ride as there is no protection whatsoever between the bottom of the battery and the 1/4 inch cardboard box it comes in.

I don't get it, sometimes they go overboard & package the most trivial of items in styrofoam and bubble wrap, and with this 50lb. item it's basically just covered in 1/4 inch of cardboard.

The battery itself seems fine ...started my car up fine (although I can't comment on it over the long term just yet).

Buy Optima Batteries 8012-021 D34 YellowTop Dual Purpose Battery Now

I bought eight of the Optima yellow top batteries for house batteries in a sailboat for the convenience of AGM, no fill, no spill, etc. These batteries are charged by a state of the art 4 stage regulator, plus solar panels on a microprocessor charge controller. The batteries are all in one bank and charged/discharged equally and never below 85%. In other words they are pampered. Now the bad, one battery failed within a week of installation. It started gassing and heating up even under a light charge. After about a year another one developed an internal short and its voltage dropped to around 8V. It was easy to detect by just touching the top. It was warmer than the rest. Six months after that, two more developed internal shorts with the same symptoms. These batteries are over rated. It appears that the build quality from battery varies widely. I will never buy another one.

Read Best Reviews of Optima Batteries 8012-021 D34 YellowTop Dual Purpose Battery Here

I bought this one to replace a yellow top that was 14 years old. I got 10 years out of a red top. I like these batteries!

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Everything I had hoped for in a car battery.. strong cold cranking amps and a huge reserve capacity. My lights don't dim anymore when the bass on my stereo hits hard or when the AC is running. This is in a 97 volkswagen vr6. Had a redtop before but it finally crapped out after about 7 years and way too many discharges.

Big thumbs up for any optima battery.

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