I am in need of a new battery,the optima croaked.
With the talk of optima's quality being in question.
What are the best batteries out there from your experience.

Odyssey

I had a 8.5yo farm and fleet battery in my weekend cruiser. It was still good when I changed it out!

I like Interstate. For what its worth, they are a Christian based company and supposedly treat their employees well and offer a good product. Makes sense given that they sponsor Joe Gibbs Racing (I'm sure he is particular who he associates with). They have a new solid core battery now. I haven't tried it, but probably will next time I need a battery. I have run their old school liquid acid batteries for a few years now with no trouble.

I've had two Optima's. The "old Optima" lasted 6-7 years with some abuse. I was very happy. During that time it sounds like Optima went through quality problems... then got better. I bought a "new Optima" about 3 years ago and it has been fine.

That said, I use Optima only on the battery in trunk to prevent leaks and a rotted trunk floor. In DD's and other projects, Walmart or parts store "better" or "best" has served me well.

I currently have an AGM Mopar resto battery, about 4 years old. When that croaks I will gut the case and install an Odessey inside.

Walmart!

I've never had a Wally batt go bad before 5 years. The one in my '84 D100 is 7 YO. The one in my '00 Neon is 4 YO and the one I had in it before went 6 years (OEM went 5).

Some last even longer.
The one in my '68 V200 is over 13 years old, still cranked it up last week and the one in my '68 V100 has one that's 11 YO.

And if they do bad bad early, there's always a Wally nearby that is open 24/7 for a warranty exchange.

For the most part anyone who has an old battery that is still working, my Cuda's is from 05 and was Autozone's cheapest group 24, is probably not much help because batteries today are most likely not made the same and not made by the same factory (think overseas).

Kinda like asking what paint is best and me telling you the original paint on my Cuda is pristine. Good luck getting that formulation today.

My friend had a diehard he ran for over ten years.
He replaced it because he was worried it may die at any time but never gave him any trouble or reason to.

Cold Michigan winters and my Interstate is still working strong...

personal good luck with Interstate. I've heard good on Walmart. Make sure the charging rate is in the normal range/ammeter needle stays close to 12 o'clock and dont let the batt get run down for any reason unless you have to

Just had to replace my Interstate battery in my daily driver after 8.5 years.....

My car has an Optima in it...its been there about 5 1/2 years. When it croaks I'll replace it with another one due to the custom battery box its in.
When the factory batteries in the dually needed replaced after about 10 years I put a pair of Interstates in. They should have another 6 or so years left before I have to worry about it again...

I usually use advance auto batteries. If you order online, you can get a good discount if you do a google search. Got $90 off the 2 batteries for my truck this fall

I am an interstate fan also, that's what we sold at our garage and I run in my ta.

Sears DieHard Platinum, which I believe is made by Odyssey. Not cheap, but extremely powerful and able to withstand repeated deep-cycling by parasitic loads in vehicles that sit for long periods of time. Here in Iowa, cost is of no concern when buying a battery - you buy the most powerful one you can find. I will never again use a "flooded" type battery in any of my vehicles. Who wants to clean corroded battery terminals at -20F? Been there, done that - never again. BTW, the very first AGM battery I bought in 2000, an Orbital, is still going strong! Fifteen years!

I was at the Grand National Roadster Show and saw a local wholesale battery supply house with the two mini Oddessy's next to the same size cased Braille's.

OMG !!

I thought the Brailles were gutted display unit. NOPE!. Full functional uinits. Stupid light. About 3-4 times cost though. Supposed to last a lot longer than oddessy's.