Owner reviews for battery

I don't recommend anything less than the DEKA ETX-20L for a car that see true street duties. The ETX-14 is 200 CCA @ 12 lbs, and the 4 lbs weight loss isn't worth it for 70 CCA loss on a small battery in charge of starting a car. The ETX-18L does 270 CCA @ 16 lbs and much more suitable for our 4 banger application. The ETX-18 however is the one I recommend to 95% of readers of this thread. It cranks out 300 CCA at 18 lbs, which is still plenty light.

I've always had sucess with the Deka ETX-20L in the DSMs, two EVOs, a Saturn race car, and now the TT (most of them running on E85 which is hard to start on cold winter mornings). As long as you discipline yourself to not run accessories with the engine off, they are a great option!

Been meaning to post an update on this little saga... Eventually decided to get the LH battery replaced about a month ago and has completely cured the electrical problems. The car feels like new again and I love it again.

I just upgraded to a yellow top optima n I'm one cable short on finishing the big three.

Bosch Battery from Pep Boys 80 Bucks with a 20 dollar rebate. OEM fit.

My Passat still has the battery it came with lol 6 years in the Arizona weather, I'd say that's pretty good.

My Jetta is a 99 and I've replaced the battery once. The first lasted 6 years and the second is still going at almost 7 years. Unless I'm lucky factory batteries will last longer than store brand.

The only advantage to Optima batteries is if they are used in an environment where they experience very high vibration or need to be mounted in unusual positions. The longevity of them is no better than a good quality lead acid battery, so unless you're hardcore offroading or need to mount the battery upside down for whatever reason, they really offer no benefit.

Optima is no longer the same quality as it was years ago due to outsourcing to Mexico

Optimas are junk. They used to be good years ago but that time has passed.