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Battery -- Sears Die Hard Platinum vs Optima Red Top?

Joined
26 January 2001
Messages
44
Location
San Francisco, CA
My Optima Red Top battery recently died. It's still under warranty so I went back to Sears today for a warranty replacement.

Unfortunately, Sears no longer carry Optimas. They said they could give me an exchange for a Sears Die Hard Platinum battery.

Has anyone had any experience (good or bad) with the Sears Platinum series 34/78DT? I like the Optima Red Top but will have to go with Sears Platinum if I want it replaced under warranty.

http://www.sears.com/shc/s/p_10153_12605_02850090000P?keyword=car+battery

It's a heavy unit (53 lbs) and has slightly bigger dimensions.

Height: 7-4/5 in.
Width: 7-1/10 in.
Length: 10-9/10 in.

DieHard Automotive Battery, Platinum 34/78DT
Cold Cranking Amps (CCA at 0 deg.F): 880
Reserve Capacity (RC): 135 min.
Amp Hours at 20 Hour Rate: 68
 
customer reviews look pretty good on the battery.

I have heard that optimas go bad regularly. people from pepboys say they get returned all the time.

if thats all sears got and they will replace it for free, i would go with it.

looks like a serious bugger. btw where is Bruce Willace :biggrin:
 
I had optima yellow top for one year gone bad i bought it from pepboys they give shop credit full amount.I bought odessey pc1200t drycell i am very happy with it.

Ashik
 
If you don't have an aftermarket alarm or stereo, why not just go OEM? My first oem battery lasted seven years and was just starting to get low on the cranking power when I decided to replace it.
 
Get the Sears battery.

My experience w/ Optima:
I went through three red tops from Costco (in two years) before finally just getting the Costco Kirkland battery. It has a 3yr 100% refund warranty, so at less than 1/2 the price of the Optima, it was worth it.
 
Wow, I was thinking of upgrading to an Optima, but after reading this ...never mind.

53 lbs is pretty heavy...thats a tough call. Maybe you can trade the Optima for some Craftsman tools and buy a battery somewhere else.:wink:

I have been lucky with my trusty OEM battery and it is still going strong. Just make sure you don't let it die very often.:biggrin:
 
Slightly offtopic.. but I was in Schucks a few months ago and this guy comes in with a battery to replace. He paid for a lifetime warranty on it and he showed a receipt from... 1979! Or something like that. It was before 1980 - before I and any of the guys in the store were born!

I *** you not! The guy behind the counter was like.. "well uh.. it doesn't show up in our system since it doesn't go back nearly 30 years ((!!))......"

Can you believe that? Oh, and this was after he alredy got a new one in like.. 1986.

I guess it pays to get an extended warranty on those things :)

PS: Buy the Oddyssey PC925. Save 15+ lbs and just as good as the die-hards. I might even sell mine for a reasonable offer since I'm shopping for something lighter anyway....I've had it for about 1 year.
 
I've gotten 11 years out of a 5 year Die Hard in my Nissan. I got 7 years out of a 5 year Advance Auto battery in my Accord. Nine years out of five year Napa battery in my Camaro. A battery is a battery is a battery.

:cool:

Try getting those number in Las Vegas. :biggrin:

Having said that, I completely agree. I've had nothing but good experiences with my Die Hard and I got it for a steal at $33.
 
Thanks for all the feedback everyone.

My first OEM battery lasted about 7-8 years. Very reliable but I like sealed batteries just for the extra safety in case there's a leak. The Optima Red Top seemed popular and a good choice a couple years back.

BigD - Good thinking on trading the battery in for some Sears Craftsman tools instead. I actually asked about that initially, but they said "no, it's gotta be the Sears battery or nothing." So, I went ahead and got the Sears Platinum battery replacement and will install it myself at home tonight.
 
Thanks for all the feedback everyone.

My first OEM battery lasted about 7-8 years. Very reliable but I like sealed batteries just for the extra safety in case there's a leak. The Optima Red Top seemed popular and a good choice a couple years back.

BigD - Good thinking on trading the battery in for some Sears Craftsman tools instead. I actually asked about that initially, but they said "no, it's gotta be the Sears battery or nothing." So, I went ahead and got the Sears Platinum battery replacement and will install it myself at home tonight.

Well, at least you tried. Now you can sit back and enjoy some worry free start ups. Make sure you put on some kind of corrosion inhibitor gel to keep the terminals clean.:smile:
 
I've never understood why people pay money for an Optima. Red top. Yellow top. Carrot top. Marketing bullshit.

I've gotten 11 years out of a 5 year Die Hard in my Nissan. I got 7 years out of a 5 year Advance Auto battery in my Accord. Nine years out of five year Napa battery in my Camaro. A battery is a battery is a battery.

:cool:

Really the optima battery is leak proof, for a guy like me who take nsx for track, it's a no brainer... I would probably try oddysey or other tiny battery but I'm not sure if it's a good idea, as my nsx drain battery worse than any other car.

I had a very bad experience from the cheapo battery I got from Schucks, it's only 5 mo. old and it grew a bubble on the side, and had been leaking battery acid... good thing it's on my 95 accord, but it was such a headache to get those acid cleaning up... I have to throw that battery away, as Schucks won't change that battery as it's still holding charge and works in "good condition" besides the physical deformation...!
 
Are you sure the 34 is the right battery? What about the 35? With the 34 you have to worry about the positive post being too close to the firewall and with the 35 you have to worry about it being too close to the tie-down bar.

Edit: I've had both a 34 and a 35 in my car and there were no problems.
 
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I have had good luck with an Optima red top for over 4 years of storing my car for the winters, but there is a catch. You need to use the Ctek 3300 battery tender! My experience was with an MR2 but it was very similar to the NSX as it constantly drained the battery. Actually the first winter the car was stored for 4 months and started the next spring with out the tender, it wasn't available yet. I thought this was great as I just about went through a battery every 2 years and after the second year you couldn't get them to hold a charge. Then the following winter it died in the spring but a trickle recharge and it was good to go after that. The third year it died and could not be revived with any charger I had. I was told the Cteck will bring it back to life by my local parts store. I couldn't beleive it but it did, it took 3 weeks to completely allow the battery to get to 100% but it made it. After that I kept the car on that tender and had no more issues. I sold the MR2 and bought an NSX and continue to use the Cteck tender this winter with no issues. I will go to the Optima eventually as I like the no wet acid aspect of the Optima, but you have to use the tender in the winter if you don't use the car or at least you know you can recondition it if it does die if you don't tender the car.

Regards,

Tytus
 
I am currently on my third optima red top battery. I think they are very overrated. The Sears Diehard will do you fine - it is probably a lot better than the Optima.
 
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I have all red optimas on my cars. So far everything runs well except for my cougar I just had replaced the alt at 114k miles. Whats so wierd was when I replaced the alt the first time the alt overcharged the batt and the optima leaked fluids to the top. I returned and replaced the new alt to another new one and installed it again on my cougar. Good so far with the same batt after a short test drive this evening. My '99coug was down for a month. I just got done fixing it tonight. But to be on the safe side, I'm going to replace the optima to another one in the morning.
 
I've been thru several yellow tops and a few red tops on my boats and other cars. I would agree they're overated...:rolleyes:
 
Go With an OEM battery !

About six montns ago I went to an Acura dealer and picked up the OEM battery specific to my car The service department can install it for you. However, I was driving my truck, so took the battery home with me and simply installed it later.

I like keeping my car 100 percent correct with OEM replacement parts. When I change my own oil, I use Acura oil filters as well.

Works for me ... and gives ample satisifaction.
 
Okay, just got an Interstate "Green Top":wink:, posting this comment to mark the date when I got it, let's see how long it lasts.

I am sure the oem battery is a fine battery, but I had already paid a lot for the Optima Red Top. In exchange for that POS I got an Interstate and a $60 check back.
 
I'm not sure if I agree with everyone here. I currently have a yellow top Optima battery which was in my Supra that I have sold over 7 years ago. That same yellow top battery is currently in my NSX and still going strong. I was told by a Optima battery representative to NEVER let these batteries drain all the way down. If these Optima batteries were drained all the way down, they cannot be revived/recharged. I've only driven my NSX about 6K in the last 7 years. When it's not driven I have a battery tender plugged in and never have or had any problems with it starting when I need it. Same goes for all the other batteries I have in my other cars, which are not Optima batteries. I usually get at least +1 or more years over the warranty on my car batteries. Guess I'm just lucky. It all depends on how people maintain their batteries. I have no affiliations with Optima.
 
Okay, just got an Interstate "Green Top":wink:, posting this comment to mark the date when I got it, let's see how long it lasts.

I am sure the oem battery is a fine battery, but I had already paid a lot for the Optima Red Top. In exchange for that POS I got an Interstate and a $60 check back.


Interstate FTW, one of the best batteries on the market! :cool: You won't be disapointed.
If I replace my OEM, it will be with an Interstate...:wink:
 
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