Originally Posted by sandwedge

Stupid and overly complicated design imo. I've had cars that cost a fraction of a 997 that had a simple mechanical pull inside the car that opened the compartment where the battery was located. No battery power needed. Related horror story on my car some years ago. The local dealership did work on my car that required some kind of reprogramming of the electronics including the ignition key. The car then went to a body shop for some work and when finished was then left in the shop's parking lot for me to pick up after hours. They asked if I had a second key which I had so they locked the doors, threw the key in the frunk with the doors locked.

I got there to pick up my car but my spare key wouldn't open either the doors or the frunk due to the electronics update which didn't include my spare key which was at my house Of course, nobody told me that my spare key would be worthless after the electronics update so I stood there at night dead in the water. With the centerlock wheels, the dealership had to send two people equipped with a jack and all else required to remove and re-install the left front center lock wheel to get access to the frunk and retrieve the reprogrammed ignition key. Next day I had to go to the dealership to get the reprogrammed key to get into my car and to have my spare key reprogrammed.

I still don't understand that nobody thought of the fact that they locked the only functional ignition key in the frunk but instead asking me if I had a second key. Seems like someone should have recognized that my second key was now out of commission. But no.

Originally Posted by Petza914

Why didn't you just use the 2nd key in the mechanical door lock slot to get the door open then use the sill switch to open the trunk?

Originally Posted by sandwedge

Of course I tried that but for some reason I still don't understand, the re-programing rendered my spare key useless even mechanically. I asked the service advisor about that and he just scratched his head and said "I guess when they re-program the system the way they did it obviously affects every aspect of every locking mechanism". How re-programing the electronics can possibly affect the mechanical door mechanism I'll never know. Unless my spare key was simply defective or the wrong key belonging to another car. I had never used it. Just sat around in my home office since I bought the car years earlier.

The service advisor asked me to bring the spare key in to be re-programed like the other key and then it worked. He couldn't explain it, nor can I. As I said, all I can think is that the spare key was not the right key to begin with. I bought the car from a private seller but the PPI and delivery was arranged through a Porsche dealership. Maybe they mistakenly included a spare key that belonged to another car. Either way, my dealership fixed it and maybe they gave me a new goodwill spare key to smooth over all the hassle.

Originally Posted by Petza914

That's really interesting. Now that the keys have been reprogrammed, will they mechanically unlock the driver's side door using the keyhole. I have heard of 997s having the internal plastic mechanism for the physical lock breaking and making that not work, so curious if maybe that failure people say they have isn't that at all and unless it communicated with the chip, won't actually engage the mechanism to physically turn the lock guts.

Originally Posted by Petza914

That's really interesting. Now that the keys have been reprogrammed, will they mechanically unlock the driver's side door using the keyhole. I have heard of 997s having the internal plastic mechanism for the physical lock breaking and making that not work, so curious if maybe that failure people say they have isn't that at all and unless it communicated with the chip, won't actually engage the mechanism to physically turn the lock guts.

Originally Posted by sandwedge

Pete....I tried both my keys and both work with the keyhole. Set off the alarm though which is the first time for that. I've always opened and locked this car electronically with the button on the key so I don't know what to make of it all. Never had the alarm go off opening and locking the car with the button on the key. I guess the question is what you alluded to: Is the mechanical locking mechanism somehow connected to the electronics?

Originally Posted by Petza914

That is interesting. Maybe I'll try to unlock my wife's car with my key and see if the door lock free spins or actually unlocks it but sets off the alarm.