Best Place to Buy a Car Battery?

"Where's the best place to buy a car battery?" We get that question a lot and quite frankly, the way it gets answered almost makes it sound like someone asked where they should avoid buying a car battery at any price. There are definitely a lot of bad places to buy a car battery, but let's start with the best places. We have a handy find your store tool on the top of every page on our website that will serve you up with several authorized OPTIMA battery retailers in your immediate area.

We're big fans of our authorized brick & mortar retailers for several reasons. The most-important is that you know exactly where to find them. They aren't some guy selling batteries out of the back of a van in your local supermarket parking lot. Authorized retailers are well-established in their communities and are typically not very far from wherever you live or work. Authorized retailers also have important diagnostic equipment and specific training with car batteries. They can charge and check your old battery, to verify that you actually need to replace it, they can help you find the correct size battery for your vehicle and most can even install it for you. If you ever need warranty assistance, they are also very easy to track down and many will have a record of your purchase in their system, even if you didn't hold onto your proof of purchase.

There are also several great authorized retailers, who sell our batteries online and they can also be an excellent option, especially if you like to do regular car maintenance yourself. Many of these retailers carry our full product line and are just a few clicks away from shipping a battery right to your doorstep within a few days time. However, there are a lot of people selling our batteries online, who are not authorized retailers and you should avoid them at all costs.

Anyone selling OPTIMA products on Craigslist, eBay, Offerup, Facebook or any other similar site is not authorized to sell new OPTIMA products. The products they are selling are all used and the only warranty coverage they have is whatever the seller is personally willing to offer...if you can ever find them again. Our customer service department hears from people every day, who purchased batteries from someone online and they are now having issues with them. In many cases, the batteries sold to them were five to seven years old and although the seller claimed they were new, that was anything but true and the seller has now vanished.

So how can you determine if an online retailer is authorized to sell our products? The easiest way is to see if they have their own toll-free, 800 number, that they answer during normal business hours. If they do, call them and ask them what happens if you need warranty service on a battery they sell you. All authorized OPTIMA retailers handle all warranty service on products they sell, so if they tell you to contact the manufacturer or a different retailer, avoid them at all costs.

Another great thing about authorized retailers, whether they are selling to you online or from a storefront, is that their inventory is being properly-monitored and maintained. That ensures the battery you buy is properly-charged, hasn't been sitting on a shelf for a couple years and is ready to start your engine as soon as it gets installed. If you're still not sure if an online or brick & mortar retailer is an authorized retailer of OPTIMA Batteries, you can send us an email at info@optimabatteries.com and we'll let you know.