OPTIMA High Performance 34R RedTop AGM Battery

i’ve heard nothing but good things about optima batteries, but mine must’ve been a fluke, ‘cuz it died after just 6 months. a battery test showed that it was indeed bad. but it has a 3-year warrant. HOWEVER, amazon does not accept returns for batteries, ‘cuz it’s hazmat. instead, it just tells me to recycle it at my authorized local recycling dealer. i called optima, and they told me that amazon is NOT an authorized online dealer, but fortunately they were able to find a servicer locally that i can go to, so i’m keeping my fingers crossed. the moral of the story? optima batteries are great, but do not buy them from amazon! in the unlikely even that your battery fails prematurely, amazon does not take care of you. spend a little bit more money and get them form a local store or someone who’s authorized. that probably goes for any electronic things and amazon. don’t get me wrong. i love amazon, but i probably would only buy books and such from them from now on

This item was ridiculously overpriced and the whole experience a disaster. My daily driver suddenly lost a cell and wouldn’t hold a charge. I heard good things about Optima however the seller priced this normally $249.00 battery at over $410.00 plus free shipping. Initially I purchased it and asked for a rush on the shipping. The very next day I found a similar “AGM” battery through interstate batteries and it was local and half the price of the optima. I immediately fired off a DO NOT SHIP email to the seller in B.C. Who had plenty of time to cancel the order since I placed the original order on a Thursday and then asked to cancel on Friday and nevertheless in the interest of making a buck knowing batteries are non returnable, the seller shipped the following Monday anyway. I had no choice but to wait for its arrival and refuse shipment on the advice of ups as this was my only way to prove it was never used or installed. It finally got back to the seller and they pretended to be closed so as to not accept the return. After several emails to the seller I finally got them to accept the return and refund my money minus a $45.00 charge for my Amazon Prime Free Shipping. $45.00 doesn’t exactly seem like free shipping to me especially since I wrote them a day after the initial purchase to cancel the order. Would never do business with dishonest folks like these again and apparently Amazon Prime offers no protection against this type of seller and they never even offered to waive the one way shipping fee. I cancelled my prime membership the very next day. I did buy locally though and got a better AGM battery at half the price through Interstate batteries which is owned and run by good honest Christian people unlike the dishonest folks out west who ripped me off and Amazon Prime which hardly seems worth it if it exposes you to dishonest business people. Now we wait for an embellished version of events from the seller in response to what I’ve told you above. Take it away boys…

I have a 2003 F250 with the 7.3 Powerstroke diesel engine, which requires 2 batteries. The specific size batteries for this pickup are not cheap. So for a few more bucks I decided to upgrade to Optimas. I was worried they would be difficult if not impossible to secure the same base clamps, Optima to my pleasant surprise was one step ahead. They come with snap-on adapters for several different base clamps, and a platform to raise the height of the battery for certain applications. Both batteries are solidly clamped in place with the factory provided fasteners, it took less than 30 minutes to remove the old batteries and install the new red tops. I am looking forward to years of worry-free dependable starts!

This battery failed and would no longer charge beyond 4.5 volts.

The seller couldn’t provide a warranty replacement even though this problem occurred within the warranty period.

They said they list to record of the purchase so they couldn’t get me a warranty replacement from the manufacturer,

Do not buy anything from this seller as they are either incompetent or untruthful.

I emailed Optima and they told me that the seller needs to provide the warranty.

Really sad for such an expensive battery.

Previously running Optima Yellow Top 34 since 2016, still works and still starts but starting to go weak over the last year so trying the Red Top after 7 years for more CCA and hopefully same level of longevity. Strangely, after installing the battery I remembered ordering the 34R which is model -003, and the box label shows 34R -003, but I didn’t remember seeing “34R” on the battery during installation. Sure enough, the battery in the box is a 34 -002 battery, and I don’t know what the difference is between these batteries.

I checked the battery voltage upon unpacking, and it read 12.4V. I charged the battery over a few hours to full, and it read 13.1V when installed. First start was very powerful with no power sag as the old battery was typically exhibiting when idling. The car sits for days or a week without starting so during these early periods upon installation I’m keeping it charged when not running to maintain battery health, and after a week the battery reads either 13.2V or 13.3V after charging and will drop down to 12.6 or 12.4 after sitting for a couple days slowly discharging, a good sign it’s a healthy battery.

7 years ago the Yellow Top was $130 less in price and lasted that long without the attention I’m giving this Red Top right out of the box, the old one is disconnected and fully charged with some life left in it. Although Amazon says this does not fit my vehicle it is a perfect fit. Maybe I got lucky getting a 34 instead of the 34R because I don’t even know why I’d need one over the other, they look exactly the same.