Battery replacement quote - does this make sense?
 

My car is in the shop for some warranty work (new pistons for rear deck lid, window drop fix, and a newly found transmission leak (only needs a new transmission pan!)) and my SA, who seems to be a good guy, mentioned that my battery is starting to go. He offered to replace it for a whopping $796. The battery itself is $406 and the "programming" is $390 (including battery test, charging test, and replacement labor).

I've done a little research on this, but I thought I'd give some more info about what my SA is saying about the "programming." "The new Porsche battery comes with a code that gets programed to a few computers to allow full communicate in the vehicle . You will find that something will not work or will stop working if an aftermarket battery is put in and the programming is not done."

Does this make any sense? What could possibly stop working if the battery is not programmed? I've asked my SA, but have so far gotten no reply.

I figure I could get a better battery than the Porsche OEM one for about $200 and install it myself in about 30 minutes, according to threads on this board.

What am I missing here?

You figure correctly. What year is your car. Are you using a battery maintainer??

Only makes sense if you agree to pay it! I always buy my batteries from Walmart and install myself. Cost around $100 for the battery. All else is fluff for the dealer.

BatteriesPlus. Duracell Ultra Platinum AGM Battery

$229 minus a $10 Rebate minus another 10% off when bought online and picked up in store.

Walmart does not have AGM batteries. A high-quality replacement battery will be about $200.

2014 C4S. Have not been using a maintainer, since I drive the car a few times a week, but I do own one. I used it every once in a while when I had my 997.

I just found this youtube video showing a battery replacement on a 2014 Cayman. I think it's the same as for our cars. It looks STUPID simple (famous last words)...

Battery Maintainer
 

You did very well. OE Porsche factory batteries last about 5 years.

Sorry for the possibly dumb question because the page literally says, "2014 Porsche 911 H6 3.8L," but is this the right one?
https://www.batteriesplus.com/batter...40cca/sli49agm

Thanks, but I've only had the car since February. I have no idea if/when it was last replaced.

I'll check the make/model of my trickle charger. It was given to me by my dealer when I bought my 2006 997 in 2012. I have no idea if it will charge an AGM battery.

I do believe the car has to be reprogrammed when you replace the battery. I think it regulates alternator output and charging based on the condition of the battery. I know we had to do this on our Z4 after I replaced the battery, but the indy didn't charge us anything when they were doing another service on it.

owners manual for my 2018 says a new battery needs to be initialized in the gateway control panel after installation. Contact an authorized Porsche dealer.