Love the optima redtops, seem to last forever
Finally pulled the trusty old Panasonic battery out of my CX-5 and replaced it with an Optima Yellowtop. When I buttoned everything up, I still had my radio stations and settings right where I left them.
Buy a nice battery. I bought used 6 months ago and did a week of nightly research first, by FAR the biggest complaint was the battery going out or having constant low messages. I put a yellow top in mine a few days after getting it, not one issue this far.
I have an Optima Red Top battery in my 2006 Dodge Magnum that's at least 5 years old (probably older). It was heavily abused for years. Since then, this battery has been in my daily driver (5.7L V8), and it's still cranking strong with no issues.
I put an Optima Red Top in it when my tester showed it below 75% health, about a year ago.
Get the battery from the dealer. It lasts longer and has a 7 year warranty. The Optima Yellowtop died on me after 3 years.
I bought an Optima Red Top battery for my van, but the part store accidentally got me the one with top mount terminals only instead of top and side like I requested.
Fwiw optima batteries have been garbage for the last 20 years.
Optima batteries are absolute trash for deep discharge use. Their quality is also not what it used to be. Anytime I see them in marine use, I swap them out for a proper AGM. Only thing they are decent at is starting applications in cars.
I bought a red top.. in like 3 weeks it wasn't taking a charge and it got returned. Never again
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If choosing battery across many manufacturers, check the part ranking. If your choice is down to two brands, the PartReview part comparisons help.
We compare battery across these categories:
In March 2026 on PartReview, battery OPTIMA were overall better than Panasonic.
In March 2026 on PartReview, battery OPTIMA were overall more popular than Panasonic.
By vote balance, battery OPTIMA surpassed Panasonic:
By number of reviews, battery OPTIMA surpassed Panasonic:
In March 2026, according to PartReview, battery OPTIMA led more car-specific ratings than Panasonic:
OPTIMA are chosen by owners of cars such as: Audi TT, Honda Civic, Jeep Cherokee, Nissan Leaf, Subaru Outback, Subaru Forester, Volkswagen Jetta, and others.
Panasonic are chosen by owners of cars such as: Toyota 4runner, and others.
If this comparison didn’t fully answer your question, there are many others on PartReview.
For example, comparisons of battery Panasonic with: Varta, Bosch, OEM Subaru, OEM Volkswagen, YUASA, Tesla, Duralast, Exide, OEM BMW, Deka.
Also available: comparisons of battery OPTIMA with: Varta, Bosch, OEM Subaru, OEM Volkswagen, YUASA, Tesla, Duralast, Exide, OEM BMW, Deka.
You can also see who is better among other battery manufacturers: OPTIMA or Varta, OPTIMA or Bosch, OPTIMA or OEM Subaru, OPTIMA or OEM Volkswagen, OPTIMA or YUASA.
