Want To Get Optima Battery...please Help!

[nicksan]

I have a 2001 ES 300.

I would like to replace the factory battery with a Optima Yellowtop deep cycle type battery.

Can anyone supply me with the correct model number for this?

I went to their website and I see different power(?) models and I read somewhere about "R" for reverse posts???

I am totally not car saavy!

Thank you very much guys!!!

Nick

[SW03ES]

My question for you is why do you need an optima battery?

[dcfish]

I have a 2001 ES 300.

I would like to replace the factory battery with a Optima Yellowtop deep cycle type battery.

Can anyone supply me with the correct model number for this?

I went to their website and I see different power(?) models and I read somewhere about "R" for reverse posts???

I am totally not car saavy!

Thank you very much guys!!!

Nick

←

Why a yellow top?

[camlex]

2001 and you need battery??

[mburnickas]

2001 and you need battery??

←

I have a red top in my 1998 ES. Works great. Look at the stats on the battery. Got in for $125 to my door.

[SW03ES]

A 2001 is getting to where the battery should be replaced as a maintenance item.

Optima betteries, even red tops, are overkill for cars without add ons that draw significant electric current. Yellow tops are designed for people with enormous stereo and video systems and things like that.

Its like using a V8 to run a lawn mower...

[mburnickas]

Its like using a V8 to run a lawn mower...

←

Nothing wrong with that! I have a Kubota BX22 (same as BX23) and mowes my lawn in 12 minutes......Plus the backhoe works great for the plants the wifes wants.. B) I at least tell her that....

Cut my mowing from 55 minutes to 12 minutes.... :)

Big is always good.....and the BX22 will be getting a red top along with my GSXR1100.

[nicksan]

Being that the ES300 is my "secondary" car, I don't get to drive it too much. I drive it occasionally when I feel that my SUV is "heavy"...or to conserve gas nowadays.

So when I leave it parked for a while, the battery goes.

Obviously with the ES300, this it is sensitive with not driving it a certain amount per week.

I figured if I get a yellowtop, I won't have to worry about it.

When I juice it up fully (drive the thing for 2 hours+) then the battery will go without dying for a few weeks.

Don't have a big stereo in there. Standard stuff. But not enough driving. There are times where I would not turn the thing on for 2 - 3 weeks straight. Then it's dead...sometime completely gone, other times click-click-click.

Just don't want to have to deal with the thing that's all.

Any other suggestions other than the yellowtopm that wil fit my situation of low usage are welcome!

Thanks

Nick

[SKperformance]

you need reverse poles ,i prefer to get a normal one which is easier to find and replace the battery ables as they do get old and were my main issue concerning battery drainage

I have a yellow in my 94 ES and 89 Civic.

[mburnickas]

you need reverse poles ,i prefer to get a normal one which is easier to find and replace the battery ables as they do get old and were my main issue concerning  battery drainage

I have a yellow in my 94 ES and 89 Civic.

←

Correct, I have the 34R or 800R....Works perfect. Gotta love Optima..........................It starts like on the "X" now! :D

[steviej]

Being that the ES300 is my "secondary" car, I don't get to drive it too much. I drive it occasionally when I feel that my SUV is "heavy"...or to conserve gas nowadays.

So when I leave it parked for a while, the battery goes.

Obviously with the ES300, this it is sensitive with not driving it a certain amount per week.

Nick

←

So are you now telling us that all the torment you went through with the snake at your original Lexus dealer about the battery continually going dead was because you actually didn't drive the car that much. If memory serves me correctly (I am too lazy to reread all your threads), you had the battery replaced three times.

nicksan, why don't you save the money you would spend on a yellow or red top and just make it a point to drive the ES a couple of hours each week to charge the battery up? Seems like the easier and cheaper alternative.

steviej

[SKperformance]

Yellows are pretty cheap to me a toyota battery is 130 an optima is 150

[mburnickas]

Yellows are pretty cheap to me a toyota battery is 130 an optima is 150

←

$114 (red top) + shipping

http://www.remybattery.com/350/shopexd.asp...cat=166&L2=&L3=

These people are pretty cheap too:

http://www.dcbattery.com/

[SW03ES]

I wouldn't let the car sit over a week without driving it, its not good for it to sit if it hasn't been rigged for storage.

Just make a point of driving it once a week.

[nicksan]

Well, since I lost the arbitration, I have no choice but to feel that way.

In reality, I never really let it sit there for 2 weeks. Only after I got fed up with this B.S. did I let it sit there.

Before all this happened, I would drive it more often than that. But after 3 times, I never drive it any more. I'm looking to sell it. But I want to make sure I get things working first before I sell it, because I don't want the other person to have the same frustrations I have. Plus I need the money, I am redoing my house.

In any event, I am sure if I drive it to work everyday then the battery won't go. But I used to drive the thing maybe 3 times a week to pick up my wife from the train station. Now obviously that's not 10 miles, more like a mile or two, but that's how I used to drive my Maxima, Honda Civic, Acura TL...NEVER had a problem.

In fact the Acura TL I used to own, would sit in the garage for a while with a car cover on. I would take it out occasionally just for change of scenary from my MDX, no problems.

That is why I was quite surprised with the ES. This is the first time I ever had problems like this with my driving pattern. I have 2 vehicles. I use the SUV 90% of the time.

Whatever...I'm selling it...but you got a point. I might as well boost the car, bring it to Lexus to get the battery replaced, then drive it on the highway for 15mintues once a week until I sell the thing.

[SW03ES]

Theres got to be something causing a drain on the battery...

[nicksan]

Well, since I've been reading that I need to drive my car at least once a week at highway speeds, and given what the Lexus Tech said (whatever that's worth...) I gues I just need to admit the fact it's a "feature" on my ES300 and try to deal with it as best I can.

Like I said I lost the arbitration hearing so...

But I don't want to pass along this car to anyone else unless I can find a reasonable solution. As I said I am sure if the new owner drives this normally, I don't really see the issue.

I wonder how good one of those solar panels are.

Consequently the portable starter I have lost enough juice so that I can no longer boost the ES. Just goes Click, click, click...this is on a day when I was going to take it to my local mechanic for new inspection and perhaps replace the battery!

What luck!!!

The thing is, I don't have the AC Adapter that hooks the starter up to a regular outlet to charge it, due to my home renovation.

So I need to go buy another one...I'm thinking I'll buy the same brand that uses the same AC Adapter...but a model wit Air...so I can put air in my tire. Tired of paying a quarter per tire at my local gas station!

[SW03ES]

That advice about driving the car at least once every week goes for any car, nothing different about a Lexus. Thats just smart vehicle owner practice.

Like we've all said before, it sounds like there must be something draining off your battery when the car is parked. Replacing the battery with a new one, even an optima, isn't going to help you. It could be anything, and it could be very hard to find.

Just sell the car, if you can't be bothered to drive it once a week you don't need it anyways. Sell it to someone and be done with it. Its nice to be altruistic, if you have to tell them if it sits for 2 weeks the battery dies in the ad, but get rid of it. I don't understand why you obsess over this so much, life is too short to be worrying about things like this.

Sell the car, get on with your life.

[nicksan]

I guess people are just different.

I prefer not to pass the buck to some "poor sap" to deal with the problems.

It's not like I don't need the car. Can I live without it sure...just like a whole bunch of other people who own 2, 3, 4 cars. But it's sure nice to have.

But sure, being that I am going to redo my house, investing in that is probably a wiser thing to do.

In any event, the reason why I obssess over this is becasuse 1) It's a Lexus. I want the freakin' thing to act like one 2) I paid good money for it, I want it to act like an expensive car 3) I don't want to pass along problems to another person.

Call me idealistic.

That's what makes me different from the A-hole car dealers, and so many other crooks out there.

Anyways, I'll get the battery replaced by Lexus for free, then do that drive it once a week routine, see if it lasts. If it does, I'll be comfortable selling it.

Hope to have another opportunity to buy a Lexus as my primary car. 2002 - 2005 models were zzzzzzzz....but from the looks of the new GS/IS, things a picking up for them.

[steviej]

I guess people are just different.

I prefer not to pass the buck to some "poor sap" to deal with the problems.

Anyways, I'll get the battery replaced by Lexus for free, then do that drive it once a week routine, see if it lasts. If it does, I'll be comfortable selling it.

←

your are not passing the buck to a poor sap if you are completely open with them. Be honest and tell them about your lack of driving the car and that the battery is new (assuming you replace it). For all you know you may sell it to and electronics master technician and he finds the drain and fixes it.

one man's lump of coal is another man's diamond.

steviej

[SW03ES]

Exactly.

It may be a "Lexus" but it is a used Lexus, this is one reason why I don't buy used cars. How many different people have you had try to find the drain?

These things happen, its a machine with tens of thousands of parts and sometimes they don't all work the way they should. If my only problem with a car was that it needed a jumpstart because it sat for 2-3 weeks...

I would buy the car from you if you told me the battery runs dead if it sits for 2 weeks. That wouldn't keep me from buying it.

[azmalu]

guys costco is a great place to get red top or yellow top as well...their exchange program if it ever goes bad is the easiest and most convenient than any online retailer or local shop....Replaced my red top witha yellow top 154 ...I think red top is 119.....the ones they carry have both side mount and top mount....Looking at the engine bay positive is on the left and neg on right btw(donno if that is reverse or regular poles)