"Handover Procedure" and a rude awakening moment (welcome to Porsche ownership perhaps?)

Was ecstatic about getting a 987 Boxster (2005 2.7) last weekend and posted my intro in the newbie section. However, my first Porsche "disappointment" ................ After a brief research (in addition to pulling D9 / 10 fuse), I found out I need to do a " handover procedure " (as the previous owner or the selling dealer probably drained the battery and I have same / similar symptoms (e.g., homelink not flashing, seat heaters not working, headlight washer not working, CDR24 randomly working / not working, etc.) The solution requires visiting a dealer / stealer to reset "something" and the approach seems ridiculous to me, as this reset requires PIWIS (which is like $800+ if you were to purchase the system) Further, I actually called two dealers around me, and one dealer snobbishly said "we don't service anything before 2006" Another dealer said "not sure what you are talking about and we will call you back." I did pay "Audi tax" in the past and I guess I am due for some "Porsche tax" Would be nice to DIY some of these computer stuff and/or maybe there is a list of folks with PIWIS in NJ, perhaps???

Smells like a bunch of carp to me. have your battery load tested at a good autoparts place. All sorts of oddball electronic stuff has been known to happen if the battery is flakey. Yes, load test, not just a voltage test. Flooded acid batteries can easily be damaged if the state-of-charge goes below 50%. That would be at around 12VDC.

I don't have a PIWIS - but I do have 3 Porsche specific diagnostics tools, and I'm fairly sure one of them can do the handover if it's needed.. but meanwhile, as was suggested, get a load test done on the battery... it could be that simple. And yes - I'm in NJ, as is @9000RPM - who has an even better tool than I do. He's out near Princeton, I'm near Asbury Park. BTW - I do know some independents who have a PIWIS if it's REALLY needed..

Thanks for the information and will definitely get a load test done for sure as I try to figure out what I need to do over next few weeks / months - didnt have time to touch her since I brought her home last weekend (oh, and my Boxster , too ). I am out in Berkeley Heights area (exit 41 ish on 78 West) and I do go down to Princeton area time-to-time (and have a friend down in Tinton Falls as well). I will definitely reach out to you guys for some help on this but more importantly / critically learn about Porsche in general. Thanks again!

For the battery , I'd say you should check the date on it. If it's 5 or more years old, then just replace it. Don't waste your time with the load test. Frankly. I have heard a few situations where a load test has still shown a problem on these cars... so while it's probably an accurate test, there are a few situations where even that fails to be correct. For this reason, if the battery is close to the date, just replace it... not worth the hassle to try to keep it. And certainly don't waste your time with any "reconditioners".

a great point as we often forget "simple" things. Just ran down and checked and luckily less than 3 years old (Jul 2020). I suspect the previous owner just replaced the battery when drained, and didn't bother to reset anything else. Afterall, the previous owner only accumulated 3000 miles between 2016 and 2023 per carfax.

I have a 2010 987.2 series. It's had several batteries. The only thing I can think of that was reset was my oil reminder time cycle, I did that with a Durametric. I believe it is the cars newer than mine that may require the battery registration you included in your post. You should not have any issues after a swap and you can have it swapped with a charge maintained to the car during the procedure if that makes you more comfortable. I buy Interstate at Cosco so it's without a battery at least an hour. As for the battery being 3 years old if it hasn't had a maintainer on it or worse yet the cells inside have been allowed to go below the plate, it's toast. Many people don't realize the cells are still accessible because the panels are more integrated into the design. But if you look closely it likely can be removed, my Interstate is 1 year old and the cells are accessible. In the south they lose fluid, I check them on the reg and put painter's tape on the battery with the last check date. I keep distilled water just for this task.

good insights and thanks!! Based on my research in this forum and this Youtube my take so far: 1. The battery drained "slowly" (either the previous owner / dealer) 2. and the car "slowly" turned off one function at a time (e.g., starting with heated seats, home link, headlight washer, etc.) - all same / similar symptoms people have experienced. 3. when replaced with a new battery (or a jump), the car "did not" turn on those functions (per Youtube / or research) 4. and this requires the "handover" procedure to turn on (attested by a few folks on this forum) Learning new things everyday!!

I can't see that internet diagnosis. For one: I believe if all the sub systems needed to be reset after shutdown there would be threads about that here, lots of them and what I have read referred to newer series cars not older ones, I could be mistaken of course. Like I said I've had 3 batteries and every time all functions are restored with fresh power. I have the Durametric enthusiast series and concur with RSchwerer.

Just some clarification.. On a battery change on ANY 987: Memory is lost for the one-touch up/down on the windows. The relearn procedure is in your owner's manual There is no battery registration (thank Dog!) on any 987. The electronics were luckily before the era of adjusted charge rates based on battery age. If you're swapping batteries, don't close the frunk if the battery isn't connected. The handover procedure is possibly triggered by low battery voltage (when starting the car), and not by no battery voltage (battery change or disconnection.) The modules in the car try to protect themselves from low-voltage damage by shutting themselves down. If there is a no-voltage issue - the module doesn't have the ability (or need) to protect itself. That said, my battery did get flattened out quite nicely not too long ago when I left the key in the ignition overnight. Nothing needed resetting. The battery was charged by an old-fashioned battery charger (no smarts, just volts and current), then "conditioned" with a modern battery charger. The modern one wouldn't do anything initially since the battery was too dead for it. It required the battery to have some charge before it would kick on. As usual - YMMV...

I agree with most of the above. If I were in your shoes, @hoster - I'd certainly do the battery swap first as that's a no-brainer and you may need that anyway. This being said, I genuinely question if a battery replacement will solve the problems right off the bat. I hope that I'm very wrong here, but this is what my gut says. Next, I would strongly consider just doing the handover procedure ANYWAY. I have found that it clears up stuff that for the life of me -- I couldn't solve (i.e., rear trunk light not working). I also recently had an issue with a steering wheel swap over to a GT3, and it kept throwing issues. Handover procedure -- no more issues! You have a new-to-you car there, so I would just clear the deck. Sounds like with @deilenberger being quasi-local to you in NJ, someone should be able to help you do the handover procedure without your even having to go to an indie. Should take 10 minutes and you're done. Instead of spending a few hundred to go to a mechanic, when I got my 987.2, I quickly and personally invested just a few hundred (not $800!) in a PIWIS 2 using a virtual machine on a PC (read the threads) -- which has saved me a million times so far and has long since paid for itself. I think it's a very worthwhile investment, as most scanners do a lot of cool stuff -- but not everything a PIWIS can. I know that if something is wrong, I can really see exactly what's up -- exactly as how the dealer will see it (although they're now up to PIWIS 4, according a friend and wrench at a local P-car dealer). Great for troubleshooting and testing, service interval changing, handover procedures, coding, and beyond. Just my two cents here. I also think that the computerized end of our cars is often "voodoo" and is poorly understood by many -- including the dealers themselves sometimes -- despite their best efforts. Once in a while, you can find a fantastic dealer mechanic who really knows the systems and the PIWIS. With the PIWIS 2, the documentation was terrible and the interface wasn't that much better. This being said, it's pretty powerful once you get the hang of it. I'm admittedly no PIWIS expert myself, but I'm getting better at it. Cheering you on here and let us know how things work out.

Yes, sir!! This is rather overwhelming for a first time Porsche owner during my first week (of ownership ) but you are absolutely right. Do you have a link to the PIWIS (tester 1 or 2, I think), you purchased? I did use a VM on our backup desktop in the past, and do have another older laptop I can certainly use. A friend of mine has one of the Foxwell's but I think PIWIS does waaaaaay more than Foxwell (obviously). Drinking from a fire hose as we speak but I will certainly get hang of all these info (good info). Thanks again!

I'm afraid I don't have a link to the PIWIS 2 boxes, but they're out there if you look (probably about $400 for the box with cables). Again, there are plenty of great tutorials that go through all this. If you know how to work a VM, you'll be just fine. Better yet, if you have an old XP laptop you could dedicate to the cause, you could likely just use that for the win and no VM needed. Until your PIWIS 2 box shows up, you can certainly set up the VM now and practice using it. I encourage everyone to do so. Plus, you'll need a serious charger to keep your battery charged while coding; you don't want the voltage to drop for whatever reason. In case you're wondering, dealers do NOT get to hold onto their older PIWIS units as they have to turn them in. This means, you have to expect that any dealer out there is now using PIWIS 4, and nothing earlier. Arctic Silver for the win. Mine was the same car but a 3.2L; hardtop was GT Silver (close enough). That hardtop is unobtainium. Hang onto it! Before you invest in all-season tires , I strongly suggest that you try out summer tires FIRST. Okay, I don't (and many of us don't) do autocross (AX) or high performance driver's education (HPDE) days -- yet (I especially can't afford the latter yet), but a 987 is definitely a car to consider getting dedicated summer/winter tires for, and taking two hours out of your year to swap them out. Hear me out... A 987 (either .1 or .2) is hands-down one of the best handling cars Porsche ever made -- arguably more than the 911. Why? They're the last generation with hydraulic steering, and of course -- it's a midbody engine. With a 987, you can literally FEEL the difference in handling -- even down to slight slants in the road for water drainage. It's that sensitive. For that, you really want summer tires to take advantage of what makes the car good -- it makes the car shine -- even at low speeds. The fact that you can take turns like you're on rails -- that's the key "driving" difference that makes a Boxster so special -- and you need summer tires for that. For winter tires, six weeks ago I went up to snowy NH and the car laughed at the hills. No 4WD needed. But if you get all-seasons, IMHO -- it'll make a great car mediocre and you'll likely be missing out what makes this car so special. I didn't really feel the "summer" tire difference with my BMW E30, but definitely did with the 987. In both cases, winter tires were a game changer. I appreciated this more and more over the years. You do not need to race to feel the difference. Want speed? That's what a 911 is for. Want the thrill of the best gosh-darn handling out of Zuffenhausen? Get proper summer tires and a Boxster. After all...the contact area a tire makes with the the road (the size of a softball) is what it all comes down to. End of soapbox! You'll get the hang of all this; one step at a time. You've come to the right place and get ready for the adventure of a lifetime.

Sup! I can take a crack at it with my x431 . I'll send my number via our convo.

I was one of the lucky ones to pick up a generously-discounted 2008 CS in calendar year 2009. This was when some dealers had difficulty selling the pre-refresh cars during the height of the housing crisis meltdown. My car sat on a dealer lot for 18 months. The battery was obviously left drained often, as it only lasted 6 months in my daily use. That's a case where a batter was dead at well under 3 years. Your battery may suffer the same problem. I just wouldn't trust it. Is it really worth being stuck somewhere for lack of replacing a $130 3rd-party battery that you install in the parking lot outside of Pep Boys? One of the great things about these "old" cars is that you just need a wrench and maybe a pair of pliers. Remember to test things out before closing the frunk, as the release is (unfortunately) electric! Another problem I had with my car's sitting 18 months on a dealer lot is that the tires were showing dangerous signs of sun damage. You should check your tires for cracks also. I'd also suggest checking the date of manufacture. Search the internet for how to decode the numbers on the sidewalls. In addition to visual inspection, if the tires are 5+ years old (and especially if the car sat outside in the sun), I'd replace the tires just as a matter of safety. Buy yourself a set of Michelin Pilot Sport 4S for $1000 and enjoy them for 20k miles instead of having old, dangerous, and mediocre tires . That's a cheap way to greatly improve the car and also improve your safety. Having a tire blowout, which will happen when the tire is at load (cornering or high speed), is something you must be careful to avoid.

Thanks for the advice, and yes, slowly trying to work on one thing at a time Literally putting in an order for new tires as we speak And will test the battery as well. Thanks again!

Hmmm, I have an 08 CS dd project car that I regularly fiddle with and disconnect the battery for days while I’ve got it torn apart on the rack and have not had any problems when reconnecting the power. No loss of programming anywhere. Maybe it’s a low voltage sensor thing. Ironically I thought I messed it up this week when after doing some work it suddenly threw the “check engine go to workshop” light with p0074 code until I realized I had forgotten to reconnect the ambient air temp sensor under the bumper=>disconnect battery again, bumper rr again and back together and codes gone. Love this go cart

@foodbiker I love what you wrote about the 987 and agree with you, it’s a superb handling machine. I currently have Federal summers on but honestly am considering switching to Conti DWS06+ to soften the ride a bit without having to go to 18s. I have 19s on and the roads here in Austin are so freakin rough for a dd it’s shaking the croc apart. You are right, the 987 really feels the road and unfortunately in my area there are many parts of the road I don’t want to feel (lol). Anyway, I have read great reviews about the DWS for a dd so I thought I might give it a try. I don’t track it and mostly just buzz around town and weekend trips out to the wineries and such. Also my federals are so mind numbing loud (like having a WWII prop fighter right behind you everywhere you go) that I can barely hear the sweet engine note, let alone the stereo and my ears ring when I get out, so I’m hoping a high performance A/S might be a little more quiet. I guess at my age I’m looking for a smoother ride in still a badass car without sacrificing too much rail. We’ll see

Thanks for the feedback. Based on my research (multiple people had the same symptoms - e.g., no heated seats, no headlight washer, no homelink ), this occurs when the battery is "slowly" draining (e.g., when the car is sitting) and the car / system turns off certain functionality and when the battery is "back up" or recharged, those functionality remain turned off - hence the need for the hadnover procedure. On a side note, just got my battery tested and got "good" results (cranking and reserve health) - load above 9.6v, 775CCA (vs 730 rated), voltage 12.91. Will get some help this Friday and hopefully resolved.

AD33 - Absolutely no wrong answers here. One of the issues with the 987 is that it is indeed a generally louder car than a 981. I'm seriously considering getting some inexpensive sound deadening material and putting it under the carpets to knock down some of the tire noise. It was admittedly very easy for me to install on the doors when I did the speakers, so that's another thing you might want to consider. I also empathize with you about road noise -- as I'm finding myself more sensitive to it as I get older. Don't get me wrong; I'm not a hater on A/S! I just don't want anyone to miss out on the summer tire experience with a 987 and the tire police won't come after anyone who runs A/S. Coming from a BMW E30, I really did feel a more noticeable grippy experience with summer tires. Hope that makes sense.

I don't really know what you're talking about here but if you want to do some self-diagnosis, pick up a iCarSoft OBD2 scanner/diagnostic device. about $200 from flat 6. it will tell you absolutely everything going on with your car and let you reset oil change nag.

If the car is doing weird stuff, replace the CR2032 battery in the key fob. It might not have anything to do with the main battery . My 08 CS did all sorts of weird stuff when the key fob battery was weak, and replacing it solved all the problems.

Update - a BIG, HUGE thanks to @9000RPM . I went to his house this morning and he spent over 2 hours trying to reset / find the handover procedure using his tool (x431) and various / older versions. While we were not able to resolve the issue but I really appreciate his diligence and care for a complete stranger like me. While I am about 12 days into my first Porsche ownership, I feel blessed to be associated with a great group of folks!!! Thanks again!

Like I mentioned to hoster, I had enabled wireless carplay for a 2019 Cayenne and thought this would be cake. Haha. Hope you can get it sorted out. Attached is the code from the initial scan. You'll probably need to get it scanned again and see what came back since I'd cleared it.