Battery OPTIMA or OEM Volvo

Red top optimas work better than dealer yellow tops in the EOS I have done a TON of homework/ related to this EOS optima battery issue. I can confidently give you the best advice since I spent several years researching this issue. Absolutely YES you should buy the optima RED top 6 volt batteries instead of the dealer yellow top batteries. There is virtually NO difference between the RED top optima battery and the dealer yellow top optima battery that the dealer sells. Both are made by optima. The only difference is that the yellow top version that the dealer sells has a minuscule higher voltage at full storage capacity ( 13.9 volts for yellow tops vs 13.7 volts for the red tops) because it has one more AGM layer wound inside the case, BUT this is the reason the YELLOW top optima battery that the dealer sells fails so often. Unlike the red top, the yellow tops that the dealer sells are prone to short out some internal \"plates\" from any minor impact to the case. Once a optima battery has an internal short, the battery is garbage. So, the dealer yellow tops batteries are actually more problematic and have a much higher failure rate. I have even found that the RED top optima version is BETTER quality and lasts longer because it has a few less layers wound in the case which actually give the \"plates\" more room and prevents them from shorting from any impact to the battery case which is the problem with the dealer yellow top batteries. And there is NO need to have \" deep cycling\" yellow top optima's batteries because the 4 cylinder turbo EOS version use a standard NON deep cycling battery and actually do NOT have any of these battery issues that the 6 cylinder versions have. The reason VW chose the deep cycling yellow tops as original equipment on the 6 cylinders is because VW assumed the yellows have more reserve power to power the energy drain of an owner operating the hardtop with the engine OFF. So with out getting technical, the answer is YES the red top batteries are identical and swap out for your yellow top batteries perfectly. I threw out my dealer yellow top optima batteries and I myself replaced them with the optima red tops and have been PROBLEM FREE SINCE I DID !! I do not know if you are in the USA, but you need to buy TWO 6 volt red top optima batteries. They are an EXACT fit replacement and cost around $150 each shipped. If you are in the USA, Summit Racing sells the shipped for about $140 each. You need two. Any mechanic can swap them out in less than one hour. I did it myself . So if you buy two red tops and pay a mechanic one hour labor you should be under $400 total. And the red top optimas are actually better than the yellow tops. ( this was confirmed by an past employee of optima), I have his post as proof. Also, make sure that your batteries are actually \"bad\". The dealer may tell you your batteries are bad but they may actually be OK. My dealer erroneously tested them installed in the car which 100% will give you a reading on a tester that they have very low CCA (cold cranking amps) and are \"bad\" because the cable connecting them has resistance that throws off the tester. To test the 6 volt batteries they must be tested individually as 6 volts and not in series as 12 volts because if they are tested as 12 volts in series the testing device will 100% erroneously tell you they are bad even if they are good BECAUSE the cable connecting them has resistance that tester assumes is internal battery resistance. I personally spoke to the engineer at optima regarding this. So many VW dealers not knowing this test the batteries together as 12 volts which causes the CCA reading to be less than 180 yet if tested individually would be normal at around 850. I have personally verified this myself. So be cautious if the dealer tells you your batteries tested bad. They MUST BE TESTED individually as 6 volts and not connected together and tested as a 12 volt. Last piece of advice...IMPORTANT.. If you are swapping out batteries you need to keep all the computer settings. In the 2.3 NON turbo cars this is easily done when swapping out batteries since the engine compartment has the jumper cable connections in the engine compartment in front and the batteries are in the rear trunk. You must first attach jumper or booster cables to the front engine compartment jumper connections from another car ( or good 12 volt battery) before you remove the batteries in the trunk so that your EOS does not loose its computer memory settings. Keep the jumper cables connected in the front engine compartment the entire time until the rear battery swap is completed. This is what I did to keep all my computer settings. Mark. PS I am posting this on the forums to help others

I ended up getting a OPTIMA 8040-218 D35 YELLOWTOP from Autozone with a 3yr warranty.

Replaced batteries with red top optimas and all is good Ok so I just wanted to update the thread and mention that I replaced the yellow top batteries with red tops myself that I bought online and the car works fine. No issues. Everything works as it should.

I have an OPTIMA YELLOWTOP....was a little stretch to get it in....just a little. It is UNHEARD OF to have ANY battery here in AZ last for say more than 2-4 years. The Optima has been in the car for 7 years....yeah SEVEN! Best battery I ever had....out of 107 of them!

I'm a fan of Optima, I run them in all of my vehicles. I live in sub zero winter climate. Once I left my car sitting for an entire week during -40F windchill. Everyone else needed jump starts, my car turned right over and came to life. I've accidentally left interior lights on overnight with no issues starting in the morning. On top of the performance is the longevity, the battery lasted a decade with no issues.

My Optima same model as that, is on its 11th year . Yes, non-corrosive. I switched to AGM because I was tired of batteries coming apart at the top seam and leaking acid into the engine bay. I have never had corrosion on the Optima terminals, either. Recently made Optimas have lost their good reputation however, so if you buy one, make sure you can return it if it dies prematurely. I have switched to another brand AGM on the basis of those bad reports.

But the battery's been fine. I got a Redtop after the factory battery died, then that Redtop eventually did wear out. So I got an Interstate, and it didn't stay the whole winter before getting shuffled into the Cabby or something that was summer duty/easy to start. I got another Redtop for the bug then and it's been fine.

I had an optima in my garage queen, wasn't even hooked up most of the time(unhooked it till I wanted to drive/work on it). it died 2 years and one month later, with MAYBE 1000 miles on it, no replacement/etc. now it's a doorstop in my garage.

Optima batteries have slowly gone to shit since they were bought by Johnson Controls.

Their batteries have never been great, and they've always failed prematurely for myself and several others.