If It Sounds Too Good To Be True, It Probably Is

Even though this battery shows obvious damage around the bottom, as well as damage to one of the vent ports, someone was selling it online, claiming that it was new. Unfortunately, this happens more than we'd like it to, but there is little we can do beyond warning consumers to steer clear of deals that sound way too good to be true.

Once one of our batteries is sold and in the marketplace, individuals can do whatever they'd like with them and sometimes folks decide to re-sell them, making claims about them that just aren't true. We try to police them online as much as possible, but we've also spotted our batteries for sale at swap meets and other locations, with absurd claims being made about those batteries being "re-manufactured " or "re-built. "

There is no such thing as a re-manufactured or re-built OPTIMA battery. Anyone who tells you otherwise is either ignorant or lying. Either way, you're probably better off not dealing with them. Many of these batteries were just deeply-discharged and discarded by their previous owners. The re-seller snaps up these batteries for the price of the core (usually $10-15 or so) and recovers them with a quality charger or by using the parallel charging technique shown below, wipes them down and puts them on sale for many times more than they paid. They make work just fine for several more years or they may be worn out and ready to fail at any moment- either way there is no warranty coverage to fall back on, if needed.

In the case of car batteries, buying used products is really a roll of the dice. That's because the battery may look very clean and unused on the outside, but in actuality, it could've seen a very hard life in an industrial application that didn't result in any noticeable wear to the battery case itself. We've all heard claims about used cars only being driven by little old ladies on the weekends and the same stories can be told with batteries.

When it comes down to it, we depend on our batteries to start our vehicles and help us get to where we need to go. If that is important to you, then you should never put your punctuality at risk (or potentially your life), by purchasing a used battery. If you are unsure whether the retailer you are dealing with is authorized to sell our products, give us a call at 1-888-8-OPTIMA. You can also buy directly from us, ensuring the battery you purchase is factory-fresh and ready to go