Reviving an old post here. I hereby rescind my endorsement of the Optima Red Top! At 2.5yrs, it has crapped out on me twice in the past 3 weeks. I have done my diagnostics, and there are no abnormal parasitic loads, so its definitely the battery.
Also, due to some massive renovations we are doing, I misplaced my bill for this thing, and apparently it is required in order to get warranty. My bad I guess, but my experience in the past is that they mark off the label on the battery with the purchase date, and go off of that for warranty purposes. Not the case with Optima, in fact it specifically says (in small print!) that you need to keep your receipt. Dang.
As blowing another $180 on a battery is not a priority right now, I decided to go for a Kirkland brand battery from Costco. I ended up using a Group 35 (coincidentally the same size as the Optima) as they didn't have a 24 in stock.
$78.99 + $10 for the core.
I have attached a pic of the label, that shows the CC and CCA. Should meet the requirements. Also, note the warranty listed on the label. 3yr free replacement, 100 month prorated. Doubt I will have this truck in 100 months! so we are good to go!
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