It's a tornado of battery acid!

[SVXyGirl]

A few people on the forum have heard pieces of this story. I am sharing this story to show how impressed I am with the Optima Battery company. This story is proof that they stand behind their product. I have a red top Optima in my 95 Brilliant Red SVX aka Killer Tomato.

Tom (svxfiles) can fill in any pieces of his part in this story if I missed something.

Back in September, Tom was working on Killer Tomato. He was driving the car around and was on his way to the Advanced Auto parts to pick up some parts. When he pulled into the parking lot he heard a hissing sound coming from underneath the hood. He got out and opened to hood to find (as he described) "a large cone of battery acid" shooting out of the vent on top of the battery. He quickly ran into the Advanced Auto Parts and grabbed a couple gallons of windshield washer fluid. When I say grabbed, I mean grabbed and ran. Good thing those guys know him. He managed to save my paint by pouring the fluid all over the front of the car. Once everything died down, he left the car there for a few hours till the battery cooled down enough that he could remove it and replace it with a new Optima (free of course, since it has a warranty). Meanwhile I get a call at work from Tom and I just couldn't believe what he was telling me. Immediately I contacted Optima to tell them about the incident.

The next day Tom called me to say that there was some cosmetic damage to some parts under the hood. Main items damaged: Radiator, upper wiring harness, fuse box, some other wiring, intake manifold is stained from the acid and more. I took pictures and filed a claim with Optima. Optima sent a special lock box to the Advanced in Cumberland (where the battery was being held...awesome people btw) and Ken the manager packed everything up and sent it back. Optima wanted to test the battery to find the defect. I got estimates from Tom and the Subaru Dealership in Cumberland for the damages. Weeks later I received a call from the company that handles the claims for Optima. They got my story. I told them why the car was over 90 miles away being fixed (because I don't trust anyone else to touch my cars) and they would call me back once the testing was complete. A few weeks after that I called to get an update on everything. They were running another test on the battery. The woman handling the claim called me and questioned why a couple things on the estimate were "no longer available". I explained how some parts are no longer available because Subaru doesn't have them etc. She urged me to find a price for at least the upper wiring harness because she wanted to make sure that I was given the right amount to fix my car. A forum member pointed me in the right direction (thanks Cam) and I sent the price as well as labor, etc.

The woman handling the claim called me earlier this week and said that I should be receiving a check for the damages (includes labor) probably around or after the holidays. I'll just say that the check will be over $2000. The most noticeable damage is the radiator. Everything is cosmetic, but I take care of my cars. Every time I open my hood I see off-white splotches all over the engine compartment...hopefully not for much longer. It's great to see a company stand behind their product. I know that some would not have treated me the same way that Optima did.

I will be buying a Red Top for my Claret too.

That is the short version of a long story....

a couple pics:

Killer Tomato:

[SVXyGirl]

This should probably be moved to product and service section. If they mods want to move it they can.

[svxfiles]

WOW!
I am very glad they, Optima came through for you!

[newsvx]

I'm impressed - never heard of an Optima exploding!

[fun173]

That's great customer service. +1 for Optima

On another note, your car is gorgeous, i showed pics of the painted engine covers to my dad and we have decided we are going to do this. Thanks!!!

[SVXyGirl]

Originally Posted by newsvx

I'm impressed - never heard of an Optima exploding!

Same here.

[svxfiles]

Originally Posted by newsvx

I'm impressed - never heard of an Optima exploding!

Harry, the Optima did not explode.
When I pulled up at Advance Auto Parts, after driving directly from my shop, there was a cloud of "vapor", that LOOKED like steam, and when I opened the hood,
A (non-spinning)TORNADO SHAPED CLOUD OF ACID VAPOR WAS SPEWING OUT OF THE 1/2" OPENING/VENT ON THE BATTERY!


Wiskey
Tango
Foxtrot!
Several hours later the battery was still too hot to remove.

[SilverSpear]

Originally Posted by newsvx

I'm impressed - never heard of an Optima exploding!

Well defects happen each once in a while, even with the best brands like Optima.

But that is really impressive still... would they do the same in countries with no serious/swift legal laws? The best they will do is replacing your battery.

[Cam]

Your very welcome . I have a yellow top in mine and love it. It seemed to improve every electrical function in the car when I installed it (stereo, window speed when rolling up/down, etc.). Glad to hear they took care of you.

[TomsSVX]

Those harnesses are around $400 a pop if I remember correctly... I am shocked that Optima has come through with this. Congrats, I know my choice to go to a Yellow top for the bimmer was a good idea!

Tom

[SVXyGirl]

Are the Yellow tops preferred? Doesn't the difference depend on how often the car is driven and how much extra stuff it has (huge stereo, DVD, mini arcade, etc?)

YT,

I was surprised too. I'm sure that if they found the problem to be due to the owners error, they wouldn't have followed through with the claim.

[svxcess]

Originally Posted by SVXyGirl

Are the Yellow tops preferred? Doesn't the difference depend on how often the car is driven and how much extra stuff it has (huge stereo, DVD, mini arcade, etc?)

RED TOP

This battery is preferred for normal engine starting where an alternator immediately monitors the state of charge and provides energy to the battery whenever it is needed. This would describe most stock vehicles.

....* Automotive and RV under-hood starting
....* Heavy equipment where starting is the primary function
....* Diesel powered vehicles with no aftermarket electronics


YELLOW TOP
This battery is preferred when electrical loads are much higher than average, or when the discharge cycle is more than typical engine starting, such as vehicles without alternators. This also includes commercial vehicles and trucks with significant electrical loads that may exceed the average alternator output (for example high output aftermarket audio systems, winches, snowplow, inverters, drag cars). This can also include vehicles that have a lot of electronics from the factory, such as a minivan with power sliding doors/ liftgate, DVD players, etc (especially if the DVD player is used when the engine isn’t running.) Most emergency vehicles, ambulances, etc use the yellow top for obvious reasons.

....* Racing vehicles without a charging system (alternator or generator)
....* Dedicated drag racing vehicles
....* Diesel powered vehicles with aftermarket electronics
....* Car audio/video applications exceeding 250 watts over the OE system
....* Vehicles or heavy equipment with inverters, hydraulics, winches or other accessories
....* Electric vehicles
....* Emergency vehicles (fire, ambulance, etc) with multiple strobes, lightbars, sirens, inverters, etc.

.

[Crazy_pilot]

I've had the big (1000 CA/800 CCA) Red Top in my car for the past three years and it's never let me down even during the -40 (and below) nights out here. It's great to see a company standing behind their products to such a degree.

[TomsSVX]

With the electronics in the M5, the battery needs to be able to hold juice... A red top would do just fine but when/if I take the car out of DD service I want a deep cycle battery in it

Tom

[Rodolfo]

For the record, there is no Optima battery company as such. Optima is a US brand under which Johnson Controls sells batteries world-wide. They have a couple of tech centers here in Michigan including one about 20 minutes from here; that battery may have been sent here. Don't know about SVXs in particular, but there aren't too many things in our cars that don't come from JC, and that Control is only increasing.

Happy holidays to all.