Battery dead & Porsche warranty - what are my options? - Page 2 - Boxster/Cayman - PistonHeads UK

Had to call Porsche assist to jump start my Cayman S, then I drove a few hours none stop. Come this morning the car wont start (2009 on original battery). Porsche want £200 for a battery which I can collect, but in order to keep my warranty do I have to pay them to fit it? I did ask Porsche assist if they could do this for me but they said they are not allowed to fit batteries at the road side and the car would have to be taken to the dealer on a flatbed...over a flat battery! Edited by SkinnyP on Friday 25th July 10:16

No - you just need the Porsche part - you can fit it yourself (how would they tell who fitted it anyway)........

esuuv said: No - you just need the Porsche part - you can fit it yourself (how would they tell who fitted it anyway)........ Thanks, to be honest I thought as much (same for tyres, wiper blades etc) but you never know... Going to have to stump up £200 for a marshmallow of a battery but having had the car less than 24H I want to make sure the warranty remains intact! As for telling how I fitted it, they'll have my reg and address on their system from when I buy the battery.

If you have only had car 24hrs did you buy from a dealer, if so they should replace.

No private. To be fair I thought the battery was going to be suspect as the guy barely drove it. Having done some research there is a lot of hate for these Porsche batteries...who the hell are moll and only 380ca Jesus. The things we put up with to keep the warranty.

Ah ok then. Dependent on how much warranty is left it is a small price to pay for piece of mind. I don't have a warranty so have a Varta £78

Doesn't the warranty cover the battery...?

N24 said: Doesn't the warranty cover the battery...? No, consumable. There is a 2 year warranty on the new battery though.

SkinnyP said: No, consumable. There is a 2 year warranty on the new battery though. This only makes matters worse. Not only are you paying a fortune for a crap battery, but you only get a 2 year warranty. I paid £90 for my Bosch battery and it came with a 5 year warranty.

Im well aware of that however warranty policy is policy. I'd rather not run the risk of a claim being denied over the sake of £110 or whatever. Anyway fitted the new battery prefilled by Porsche and it fired up first time. Now to enjoy my second day of ownership. Cheers No need for a key code for the pcm I see. Edited by SkinnyP on Friday 25th July 17:22

Do you know anyone with a similar car who doesn't have a Porsche warranty (and has a good condition Porsche battery)? If so, offer to buy them a new Bosch battery for £85 from Euro Car Parts and relieve them of their Porsche-branded, Moll cr*p! Doing this, everyone wins. You get a working Porsche battery and keep your warranty. The other person gets a brand-new Bosch battery (better than the Porsche one) and it all only costs £85. (Not £220 + VAT - or whatever the thieving gits from Porsche GB want to charge for sub-standard parts these days)!

watch the Porsche one don't explode and set your car on fire, seems to be happening with the Porsche ones now, we did ask for more power, but that's a bit over the top. why do Porsche still use MOLL s t !!!! Edited by mrdemon on Friday 25th July 17:33

mrdemon said: why do Porsche still use MOLL s t !!!! If one were to speculate - Porsche probably get them wholesale for the £7.50 that they are worth...?

How long does it take for the battery to charge in these cars? It was partially charged by Porsche and I've driven 14 miles but my interior lights are intermittent, I've kept the pcm and aircon off too.

Buy a Ctek battery charger / conditioner, or alternative and you won't look back, great bits of kit and can be used on other cars as well, and sorts everything out for you once connected. I bought mine from Amazon who had a sale on at the time.

SLR400 said: Buy a Ctek battery charger / conditioner, or alternative and you won't look back, great bits of kit and can be used on other cars as well, and sorts everything out for you once connected. I bought mine from Amazon who had a sale on at the time. Thanks but beat you to it! Got the 3.8 coming today from Amazon, will let it charge to 100% before I start using the car. Lots of googling has revealed similar experiences, these cars appear to have crappy batteries and crappy alternators but once its at 100% and in daily use it should be OK.

SkinnyP said: How long does it take for the battery to charge in these cars? It was partially charged by Porsche and I've driven 14 miles but my interior lights are intermittent, I've kept the pcm and aircon off too. If it is knackered : forever. I had to replace one the other year. Jump started the car, drove over 200 miles, stopped for fuel and it was still dead - wouldn't turn the car over at all. If it is okay, not far at all.

After 5 hours my Ctek reached the 80% mark, 3 hours later it said the battery was fully charged. I start the car up and put dipped beam on, guess what, no interior lights. I then twigg that there is an interior light sensor that adjusts the brightness, for f k sake! Adjusting the dimmer fully on or off makes no difference, can’t I just have them on all the time? What a stupid piece of design, every time the car has gone under a bridge or shadow the lights have gone off and here is me thinking the battery or alternator may be goosed. DiscoColin said: If it is knackered : forever. I had to replace one the other year. Jump started the car, drove over 200 miles, stopped for fuel and it was still dead - wouldn't turn the car over at all. If it is okay, not far at all. When I got a jump start I drove 80 odd miles with headlights, aircon and PCM on only for the next day the battery to be dead. I thought 80 miles would have done it to be honest, so I just bought a new battery for peace of mind rather than messing around.

Buy and fit a new Bosch battery and then stick the Moll on charge and fit it when you next renew your warranty.

Ian_UK1 said: Do you know anyone with a similar car who doesn't have a Porsche warranty (and has a good condition Porsche battery)? If so, offer to buy them a new Bosch battery for £85 from Euro Car Parts and relieve them of their Porsche-branded, Moll cr*p! Doing this, everyone wins. You get a working Porsche battery and keep your warranty. The other person gets a brand-new Bosch battery (better than the Porsche one) and it all only costs £85. (Not £220 + VAT - or whatever the thieving gits from Porsche GB want to charge for sub-standard parts these days)! Errmm, that only works if the Porsche/Moll battery outlasts the warranty it would have had if you bought it new (2 years) - how lucky do you feel? I think it's about £150+VAT to supply only, but I agree a Bosch (or pretty much anything else) is much better.

Neighbour has a 911 still under Porsche warranty his battery went flat would not hold chage called Porsche assistance and as it was a Sunday with all Porsche service centres shut he was told to go to Halfords and buy one.

The warranty is covered by the financial ombudsman. Fit a Bosch one, cheaper, better and longer warranty. Porsche will prob not even notice. If they do and your claim has nothing to do with a the battery you should be fine. If they refused to pay, you would go to the ombudsman and win. Bosch are a Porsche supplier for a lot of things.

abby030976 said: The warranty is covered by the financial ombudsman. Fit a Bosch one, cheaper, better and longer warranty. Porsche will prob not even notice. If they do and your claim has nothing to do with a the battery you should be fine. If they refused to pay, you would go to the ombudsman and win. Bosch are a Porsche supplier for a lot of things. It hasn't historically been a problem with claims, however they will generally decline to take your money and send you on your way if you wanted to extend a warranty with a non-OE battery fitted. That is the issue. If not planning to extend it when it runs out then as you say, it is not really an issue.