battery availability!!

Hi guys My battery is on its last legs and i have already scoured the pages here about batteries. Without buying one from porsche, the best options seem to be bosch silver or varta silver, which from reading their specs are probably better than the porsche one. The correct bosch for a 996, looking at dimensions and power output, is the bosch silver s5 010, and the correct varta for a 996 is the varta silver dynamic 585 200 080, which gives 85ah and cold start crank of 800 EN. Now for the problem....I cannot find either of these batteries anywhere online in the country!! Im not a member of costco, so cant go there and dont know if they have them anyway. I have looked at www.tanya.com and varta-automotive amongst others and cant find either. Does anyone know where i can buy one of them. Im in west london but will travel if needs be. Thanks guys and MEEEEERRRRY CHRISTMAS

Bosch and Varta are both the same battery AFAIK. As you say, 85Ah 800 CCA and the correct 315mm dimensions, both have 5 year warranties aswell, which is nice! There is a Bosch dealer locator, but judging by the poor layout of the website, Bosch don't seem to actually want to sell any. Don't worry, as Varta are less well known they both want you to buy one and are generally cheaper than the famous Bosch units. The handy dealer locator lists all stockists within your defined range from a town or postcode (as you would expect in the 21st century) I just bought a Varta Silver F18 (that's Varta's short code for 080) for £77 from a wholesaler 5 miles from me, called ManBat.co.uk (Shefford, Bedfordshire)

Get yourself one of these too, its an awesome bit of kit: http://911uk.com/viewtopic.php?t=40347 :santa:

I've got a Varta bluetop and a Bosch Silver on two cars, and they have been acceptable, but the Bosch doesn't like not being used. Therefore for the Porsche I chose a Halfords Calcium. Why? They get very good recommendations for ability to hold charge. It has a 4 year no-questions-asked warranty, and there is always a store nearby.

Over the years had a variety of different batteries - experience has shown that the badge doesn't seem to make a huge difference. I bought my battery from my local German Swedish and French retailer 'GSF'. Not sure what the brand is, but the dimensions are the same as the original and I've had no problems in 12 months. Ray :thumb:

Hey thanks so much guys and thanks 'GT4' :thumb: You are right about the Bosch website :what: ...its like they're saying..'yep! we're the best and have the best batteries but dont actually sell them anymore...but incase we ever decide to, this is what you could have...take care now'.. I took yr advice and went to Manbat (Shefford) and spoke to Brian who was great. Great price too! Car is much healthier now with a Varta F18 and cheaper than any of the others including halfords So to anyone out there in need of the best spec, best priced (85ah 800cca) battery you can buy for your 996 go to http://www.manbat.co.uk/ . Find the closest dealer to you and buy a varta f18 as they are more powerful than the porsche oem battery and half the price!..and remember to leave your ignition on when you disconnect the negative to stop the alarm deafening you take of the positive after, put in new battery and clamp etc then put on positive followed by negative (reverse of what you just did) then turn your ignition off again...sorted :dance: Thanks again

Totally agree, im in West London (Fulham) and there does not seem to be any dealers anywhere, or stock! Costgo is likewise a no go as not Trade Thanks for confirming guys that Varta is the same as Bosch, I did not know that, have found some on ebay from York Varta, which is near my parents house. Edward

Hi Tedzwedz I saw that battery on ebay too...and it is exactly the right one but i didnt get it as its nearly 200 miles away and had to draw the line somewhere..lol But i ended up getting it cheaper at a place called 'manbat' in shefford, which is about 40 miles away from fulham...let me know if you want their number, but you can find them online anyway. They are the best for value also. peter

Hi Peter Thnaks for your info on this, I think I will go and get one from this place in York, my parents live 10 miles away and I am staying with them till Sunday night, so makes sense, before returning to London. Kind Regards Edward

Just read this post. I have a costco card if anyone near reading is in need. Happy new year TB

battery i have purchased most of my batteries for various porsches from a place called going spare e18 they are a varta supplier think they mail order 02085040011 if that helps

Got the Varta F18 from York Varta in the end, its a MASSIVE battery, I was runnign a Bosch Silver battery that was 2/3rds of the size before, it came with the car 6 months ago, bit cheeky, previous owner must have put it in rather than buy a big one (the car had sat for 6 months when I bought it) It was definately too small, there was always a hesitation for a second with starting etc, and other glitches, probably because the poor battery was dwarfed by the car! V pleased with new one so far! Edward

It was the same scenario with me Ted! The battery that came out of the car was half the size but just as heavy or maybe heavier...wasnt even a bosch like yours and had something like 540 ca as opposed to 800 ca as given by the varta! Yep! much better starting power! Its great you only had to go ten miles for it too =-) Happy driving buddy.. Peter

Popped into Costco Cardiff for an S5 010 and they don't seem to stock them. It also looks like Euro Car Parts don't have them either :dont know:

Halfords now stock the Bosch Silver batteries for £10 more than the Calcium one.