rrm

I picked up my newly certified '07 tt in late sept. and have had a slight problem with my battery from the first. Was told that sense the battery was so far from where it is needed for starting it doesn't re-act as other car battires do. Well... this morning the Moll is completely dead and this is Sunday (of course). What is your feeling whether this will be covered under the 2-year warrenty. The warrenty itself just states under which conditions it won't be replaced and none of those apply.
Best guess if it will be covered? rrm

jcnesq

Can't answer you re the 2 year warranty. With the new car warranty, they will cover them in some situations (not if you don't put enough miles on the car).

But the KISS method would be to run down to WallyMart and buy a new one for ~$100, stitck it in, and drive!

Macster

Guess again. The battery is not covered. A bad battery was the only thing that went bad in my 03 Turbo that wasn't covered by the 2 year, 100K mile warranty.

The warranty even saw the tranny replaced for a seal leak but I had to pay to have the battery replaced out of my pocket.

My dealer uses Interstate batteries and the ones that suit the Porsches are I was told made in Spain (there should be a Made In Spain label somewhere on the battery) and are pretty good batteries.

We'll see.

Sincerely,

Macster.

ltc

Batteries from a Porsche dealer have their own warranty, different than a CPO.
There is a minimum miles per year requirement, to prevent garage queen batteries from being claimed under warranty for sulfate issues.

Skip the dealer, get any battery that fits (Interstate has been used here before) and make sure to connect a vent tube.

BTW, the battery is in the correct location, it is the engine that is in the wrong spot.

jhbrennan

AFAIK, Interstate doesn't make any batteries just like Die Hard and Everlast and Duralast don't make batteries - I believe Johnson Controls is the manufacturer for all these brands and Interstate is just one of many marketers/distributors. I think a good AGM is a great replacement choice. Optima is one AGM brand (also made by Johnson Controls) but you need a special mount since the sizes are very different than OEM. Interstate, Everlast, etc. all have the correct size.

rrm

Thanks for the reply. If they don't warrent the battery it just seems strange that they would bother to state specific situations where they do not warrent instead of just stating that there is no warrenty.
I am sure you all are correct. I will call and find out just how much they will charge for a new "Moll" battery to replace the old one. I would assume it would be cheaper to go to Wallmart....rrm

Macster

I don't know which company makes the Interstate brand but I've been assured by people I trust the the Interstate batteries at least those 'made in Spain' are quite good batteries.

My previous battery experience has been with I guess Moll (or whatever brand of battery Porsches used to come with) and the original one in my Boxster lasted around 7 years and I had another like it (though a size larger because Porsche issued a TSB that called for the next size up battery for my car) and so far this battery is doing just fine. Might add that even though the replacement battery was larger -- longer (and offered more AH's and CCA's than the original battery) the battery fit right into the stock battery box and while I had to move the holddown out one hole there was already a threaded backing nut present. God I love Porsches...

The 03 Turbo I bought in '09 and the car had an Interstate battery (probably not its first replacement battery since the car had barely 10K miles on it when I bought it), though I do not know where it was made.

Sometime after I bought the car, the engine started cranking slow and the tech tested the battery early in the day and again later. The 1st test found the battery ok but the later in the day test found the battery had lost power, enough to justify replacing the battery.

I was initially against replacing the bad Interstate battery with another Interstate battery but as I mentioned above when I asked the techs about this they assured me the Interstate battery going into the Turbo was a real good battery.

Lastly, I would never use a battery that did not fit into the stock battery box or that required any changes to the battery lead rounting. I'm old school: Yank out the old battery drop in the new battery hook it up and secure the hold down and drive the car with no battery slamming about worries.

Sincerely,

Macster.

jhbrennan

Who knows how accurate:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Interstate_Batteries

Wonder what tray or adaptor Porsche uses for that outrageously expensive lithium ion battery -

Bob in NY

I had the same issue, the batt went bad on my 07 in 09 and because it had such low mileage it wasn't covered under warranty. My advice is don't let the dealer replace the battery, I got nailed for just over $300 for an Interstate battery that sells for about $180. Good luck

ltc

There IS a battery warranty, it is just not the same as the OEM CPO vehicle warranty.

Eric - Plug Guy

My new '09 Turbo Cab had battery issues upon delivery (had local dealer working on various goodies at delivery, car came from another dealer, had been there a short while). After 18 mos the battery gave up the ghost one day, and I come to find that Porsche won't warranty a battery on a new Porsche unless you drive at least 6k miles/year (I don't put that many on the Porsche). So I bought an Interstate non mileage warranty battery for a great price, dealer installed, and got a battery tender as well for any long periods I don't drive it (not often).

Bob in NY

+1 on the battery tender, it works great and I use it all winter long

rrm

Thanks to all! and beware all you that might reasonably expect a cpo'd car, only four months ago, battery to be under warrenty....like most of you have written it is not covered. Took the car, after jump starting it off my wife's '05XKR and low and behold! Even tho the extended warrenty state two situations where the battery would not be covered leaving one to think there must be situations where it would be, it was not. And my dealer is a very good one so I am sure they were telling me the truth when saying Porsche would not cover.
The cost was 380 but included doing a check on the charging system and anything that might have caused the failure.
Oh well...LAL.
Thank you all again...rrm

jhbrennan

Glad it's all resolved - next time contact me and I'll show you how to change it out and save $200+. I just gave an almost new Wal-Mart MAXX 94R to a fellow board member in Austin but even buying one you'ld only be spending $108. What battery did they put in? If it's anothe Moll what warranty does it have? Wal-Mart has 3 year replacement no mileage restrictions and Interstate has the same plus pro-rata adjustment from 36 months to 85 months again they don't care whether you drive 6,000 miles/year or 600 mile/year.

rrm

Yes it was a Moll with a 2yr warranty...rrm