porschedog

Several years ago I went the AGM route, too, on the 996. So far, so good.
I'll do the same when the GT3's current wet cell goes ka flooey.

Less weight, no worries about dry cells in our 4,500 degree summer weather, plenty of cranks. Works for me.

5CHN3LL

Batteries are like LCDs and hard drives...you too can be a manufacturer if you get some labels printed and can pay the factory in China to run the line for an extra hour.

dporto

Yes I did! I also thought you said that "Interstate Sucks"...You didn't...Oops The point I was trying to make was that your reasoning was fairly arbitrary - as others have pointed out, batteries are pretty hit and miss and they're all made by a handful of manufacturers regardless of the label they're sold under.

** My anecdote FWIW - When I bought my car it had an Interstate battery in it (The biggest one installed by dealer). When I went to pick up the car it was dead. So, I brought it to a local Car Quest store...They put it on a charge for me and I went back a couple hours later. They told me the battery wouldn't take a charge and it was dead. Well, it was less than a year old and I was fairly close to the Interstate manufacturing facility in Illinois. As it was only a little over a year old, they said they'd honor the warrantee, but would have to try to put it on a deep overnight charge before replacing it. Needless to say, the battery took the charge, and is still working perfect to this day over a year later - I've never had another problem with it... YMMV

DrMEMS

I have a Bosch battery in our old Saab and it's been fine for years. In the past, Sears' Die Hards have also done well for me, and I liked being able to exchange it in most cities in the country (as with the batteries from WalMart). With so many Sears stores closing, it's harder for me at least to get a Die Hard.

I'm surprised that so many posts here have said that the batteries are hit or miss. It's useful to have such survey (like the IMSB survey).

One other thing that my indy noticed is that 10 or more years ago, he wasn't getting many returns on Interstates, but he was on the newer ones about 4 years back when he stopped carrying them. At the time, he said that the price of lead had gone up, but the price of the batteries had not, leading to a suspicion of a more cheaply made battery. Weighing old and new batteries of the same size would answer that question...

altonj

We use Bosch. They are readily available to us and the two times in the last 4 years we had an issue with one, warranty was nice and easy for us, and of course painless for the customer. But like most have said, they sure can be hit and miss...

eugizzle

I've currently got the Interstate in need of replacement, which model number Bosch replacement fits the 996.2 C2?

DrMEMS

I got the Bosch Platinum AGM H7/L4/94R. See the photo from the first post.

wyovino

The Pep Boys website doesn't show the Bosch Platinum AGM H7/L4/94R as fitting an MK-I 996. Does anyone know if it will work with my MY2000 C2?

Update: I installed the Bosch Platinum AGM H7/L4/94R with no issues. It is a tight fit width-wise (front to back), but so was the Interstate battery that I replaced. The existing vent tube fit loosely onto the vent elbow of the new AGM battery so I clamped it with a small cable tie and all is good. I vacuumed the area while the battery was out and pulled out a few leaves but it wasn't too bad. I had to re-enter the radio code and was surprised to see that it had remembered all of the pre-sets.

jhbrennan

Ignore retailer's fitment guides - they are rarely correct. The OEM size for the 996/997 is H7/94R. The tray will also hold an H8 (1.5 inches longer) but you'll have to find a way to use the last hole for the hold down clamp I've seen some trays (newer ones) where the last hole is threaded...but most are not so you'll have to find a way to use a bolt and nut for the clamp. BTW, buy the Bosch online from PepBoys and get a 15% (sometimes more) discount then pickup at the store.

FastM96

My 1998 Lexus GS300 came from Japan with a Panasonic battery that also lasted for 10 years! In 2009 I replaced it with an OEM battery from Lexus parts department (Nondescript, black case, labeled 'LEXUS') hoping for the same experience and now I'm back on the 4-5 year plan. Currently have an Advance Auto battery in there and expect to get maybe another year out of it. If I keep this car the next one will likely be a Bosch AGM based on the positive reviews and testimony.

perryinva

I've had a Bosch 94R from Pep Boys in my '02 since early 2008. Still going strong, but my car is garaged a lot, and also on a smart charger at least a few times a year. I'd get another one for sure.

DrMEMS

Please measure your existing battery and post the result. I'll compare it to mine.
Also, look at the battery holder toward the passenger side of the car. Hopefully you have two or three more bolt holes to accommodate a wider battery.

wyovino

Will do once I get my car back. Currently in for transmission (Tiptronic) work. Oh joy.

wyovino

Finally got the car back. The current (no pun intended) battery is 11 inches long and there are two holes showing in the holder so the 94R should be fine.

Wow, Pep Boys website sucks. They won't let you look at batteries unless you add your vehicle. They won't show an H7 battery if I enter the details for my car. You would have to know which car takes an H7 battery in order to search for an H7 battery. There is no way that I can see that you can just browse the battery choices.

I was able get there directly by using a Google search for "Pep boys agm battery 94R"

jhbrennan

The manufacturer size designations are standard - an Interstate H7 has the same dimensions as a Bosch H7 and H7 are the exact specs for the Moll OEM. The H8 is 1.5 inches longer than the H7 and the H6 is 1.5 inches shorter than the H7 - all three are same width and height and all three will fit in the tray although you might have to modify the tray since the hole needed for the hold down clamp for the H8 size is not threaded - not a difficult mod.