17,000 mile/year per year battery requirement

So I've been in a "discussion" with my local Porsche dealer after they charged me $220 to install a new Interstate battery . . . after they told me to bring my car in because it's still under warranty and it probably won't cost me anything to get a new battery. (My Cayman is three years old with 17,000 miles on it.) So a customer rep (nice lady) called me to ask me how my service went and I told her that I wasn't happy. ($220 isn't a big deal but I feel like I got caught in a bait and switch.) Anyway, she did some checking and told me that Porsche will not honor a battery warranty unless you drive your car at least 17,000 miles per year . :crazy: Where in the world did they come up with a number like that? That's not even close to what the owner's manual says. My car is not a garage queen but I certainly don't drive it 17,000 miles a year.

I keep my '09 Boxster on a battery tender. I do only about 5K/yr. personally, I think they are out of line but with all the electronics active when the car is "off" you'll have a dead car in 2 weeks. batteries certainly don't like to be drained. Get a battery tender, you'll be happier in the long run.

Or a shut off switch for the battery. Tender is easier for sure. I have junior and it works great. I even have dropped it a few times on to concrete and it keeps on ticking. That 17k thing sounds bogus to me. That is a lot of miles even for a 5 seater primary vehicle.

I did battle to get a new battery last year for my '06 CS, and I think the number quoted to me by the Porsche Customer Care people at 1-880-Porsche was 6K a year. Less than that and you were out of luck. More than that and you may still be out of luck. They may have changed the policy, but it was nowhere near that high. Brian

My god this thing with batteries. You would think that we are living in the 1905. For whatever reason(s) German vehicles (and only German vehicles) chew up their batteries. But to make a bad situation worse, they screw around with you at the dealerships....under this mileage...over this mileage etc.etc. Just crazy. Who knows, maybe they will start taking the color of the car into consideration for battery replacement. In short, consider yourself a very very lucky person if they cover it for you. If fact, play the lotto that day for you are one of the fortunate few. I have read in other posts that you are suppose to turn off all electronics about 5 minutes before you expect to turn off the car. More craziness. Sure, I live in Florida where the temperature right now is 90++ degrees and the humidity is close to 100%. Every time I take the car out for a drive, I need to take a shower and a change of clothing afterwords if I take that advice. It is of interest that in Porsche Roadside Owner's Information booklet it states "Please remember that proper maintenance of the battery includes operating the vehicle on a regular bases (when you come down to it... that has a lot of interpretations) to keep the battery charged and / or utilizing a Porsche battery charger/maintainer". Nothing like plugging your own charger. By the way it is a CTEC 3300. Please note you can get it for about half price (just like everything else) from a non-dealership provider. Note to the top Porsche engineers...either get your electronics from tiered one providers or a bigger battery... or both. Thank You.

Since I started driving in the early 60's I have owned plenty of cars, trucks, SUVs, and motorcycles. I have had two battery failures. One was in the Cayman the other was in a BMW motorcycle. Germans must not know how to make batteries. :cheers:

The criterion for warranty battery coverage was 6000 mi/yr, quoted by both the dealer and Porsche Roadside Service. It worked for me! And I use a battery maintainer.

FYI I just had to replace the battery in my 2005 Boxster S with 68000 miles. I bought an Interstate battery from my dealer for about $130, and swapping it out for the old one took about ten minutes. I'd say that $220 sounds rather high...

Just wanted to add a followup - The service department at Hendrick Porsche stepped up to the plate and worked out a equitable solution to my "battery problems". No, they did not give me a free battery but I thought they gave me a fair compromise considering everything involved. Most important . . . they listened to my grousing and gave me an answer. :thanks:

The minimum for mileage in order for battery to warrantied is stated in one of the manuals. Most likely the warranty one. It is MUCH less than 17K per year, but it could be 7K. Ergo the confusion. Glad that you and the dealer worked it out.

17000 are you serious? In that case you would have to wear out a few batteries to get teh first one covered under warranty

With a 911 they told me 2,000 miles per year, but to still use a battery maintainer. I had a Cayenne daily driver and they replaced a battery for free after 3 years. Not sure your dealer is dealing from the top of the deck with you.

i have an 07 boxster that i purchased in the fall of 07. i only drive it in the summers -- in canada that's not very long period of time. i've only put about 15000 km (9000miles) on her. when i read the manual and saw the hassle of dealing with a dead battery i immediately went out and purchased a porsche battery tender. for $80 it is worth the money. if i'm leaving the car for more than one day i put the tender on. as for the cost of a new battery: don't know yet on the box. but my benz needed a new gel battery and the part alone was $300. i subsequently went out and bought a recharger for the benz which i use periodically. (the porsche tender does not work on the benz -- it actually drains the battery!) hey, if you want to play you gotta pay.