Dead battery and the joy of finding a replacement

[mdrips]

Yeah yeah yeah the dealer wants $500 to replace and install the battery.

Not happening unless I cannot find some other shop in Houston to do the work.

I have to admit it is amazing how difficult it can be to located a replacement battery that someone actually has in stock.

[kjc2050]

Seriously? $500? That can't be true. What's the name of the dealer?

[Alphaboy1]

I paid local Indy shop in CT 250.00 installed. Got an Interstate.

[recycled sixtie]

Looking through the receipts of the previous owner and the Porsche dealer estimate back in 2010(March) of a new battery was $331. He went with a Canadian Tire battery installed in the Box for $133.33. Can. Tire is like your Target or Sears. I would
have done the same thing. This battery handles our Can. winters very well. Model was ELM-48-690. I have a 2001 Boxster base 2.7l.Keep looking

[mikefocke]

A battery in a Boxster is just a battery. Buy the right physical size and amp/hours and you are good to go.

I installed an AGM sealed battery (Optima) in mine which was the finest battery I could find and even purchasing a mounting kit I didn't spend $500 or more than 15 minutes. I'll bet I could have gotten by for less than $150 if I shopped around and gotten a normal top of the line battery.

My web site has a whole list of batteries that were known to fit and I doubt that situation has changed.

[UNYboater]

In my old '97, I took the dimensions of the existing one & found a perfect fit at AutoZone for $100...& thought THAT was a lot! It didn't have the cool lifting handles in the center but it worked & fit perfectly. I'm not sure what year you have...but I can go back & find the model I bought if you'd like.
My '01 came with a good one so I haven't had to replace it yet.

[Rot 911]

If you can't change the battery in your Boxster, turn in your man card. It takes a type 48 battery, which is smaller than the stock, but just as many cold cranking amps. Open front trunk. Remove battery cover. Remove positive than negative cable. Remove hold down. Get in trunk and lift old battery out. Put new battery in. Move hold down clamp up to new battery and bolt down. Reinstall clamps and cover. Go have a beer. Takes about as long to do it as it took me to type this.

More details and what batteries fit can be found at Mike's site: https://sites.google.com/site/mikefocke2/batteries

[recycled sixtie]

Originally Posted by Rot 911

If you can't change the battery in your Boxster, turn in your man card. It takes a type 48 battery, which is smaller than the stock, but just as many cold cranking amps. Open front trunk. Remove battery cover. Remove positive than negative cable. Remove hold down. Get in trunk and lift old battery out. Put new battery in. Move hold down clamp up to new battery and bolt down. Reinstall clamps and cover. Go have a beer. Takes about as long to do it as it took me to type this.

More details and what batteries fit can be found at Mike's site: https://sites.google.com/site/mikefocke2/batteries

Then I believe u have to input your radio code.

[randy_k]

Bought mine at NAPA with the right specs. 120 bucks, which I thought was high...Took 15 minutes to install. Piece O cake. It's my understanding that there is really only a few battery manufactures left. And people buy them from those and put there brand name on them.
Randy

[Cajundaddy]

A Bosch battery was $110 at Pep Boys in SoCal, A high quality Optima was $165, a Shorai 5lb motorsport battery was $250. You don't need to spend $500 unless you really want to.

https://sites.google.com/site/mikefocke2/batteries

[mdrips]

AAA delivered a new battery and installed it for $150 with a 3 year warranty. They checked the old one (dead), as well as the alternator.

Looks like this might be the original battery which as my car is a 2001 would make it 12 years old, assuming it was made in 2000 prior to production.

As to the man card and doing it myself. I move to TX and left my tools in CA with my ex. My Porsche lives outside, not in a garage and with only one car I couldn't drive anywhere to buy a battery or new tools. So I figure $150 for the entire purchase, delivery, testing and installation was worth it.

[mdrips]

Fortunately I have the original radio code card so that was a non-issue. Whew!

[Rot 911]

Originally Posted by mdrips

[img] So I figure $150 for the entire purchase, delivery, testing and installation was worth it.

I agree, that was a good deal!

[ghtaboma]

The dealers want us to pussy-out, and fork over $500 for a $100 job! Renew "Man-Card"!

[lithium1330]

I went with Bosch because they have a 36 mos replacement warranty and 96mos pro-rated. I've had one Bosch battery go just after 2 yrs and Pepboys (where I bought the Bosch batt from) replaced it for free. In S. FL... the avg batt life is about 24 mos, according to the battery testing machine Pepboys uses for testing the battery.

Just make sure you give them your name/number and save/scan a copy of the receipt so they have a record of the purchase. Otherwise, they may charge you $15 for replacement... which is still not bad for a brand new batt.

[ghtaboma]

Don't buy by brand. Buy the warranty. In AZ, batteries out here last 2 years if you're lucky. With the 36 month free replacement, you can't lose! BTW, 99% of car batteries are made in Mexico, regardless of brand!

[Fingal]

Optima red top. Make a battery tray from a 1/2 inch Teflon cutting board. The battery screws on to it. Use a carriage bolt to hold the Teflon in the battery mounting area. Cinch it down. This battery is rock solid and will not move. It held its charge in my boxster for 2 months of sitting.