Didn't drive my '08 C4S for about 2 months. Battery dead. Jump started, drove around for about 40 minutes, next morning not enough to crank the engine over. I guess my battery is now toast?

 

I had the same issue in March, although in my case it was 4 months in storage - same car. It is likley not covered by the warranty, unfortunately, but suggest you have the dealer test the battery first before replacing it.

 

Your battery should still be covered under warranty as there aren't any rules I'm aware of that say you have to drive your car in order to keep the battery from going bad. Not driving it might cause the battery to run down but not go bad. I would definitely take to the dealer but if the problem is a bad battery it should be covered under warranty.

 

I called roadside assistance since the car was in a garage and there was no other car to jump start from. First thing they said is "let's have it towed to a dealer because your battery is probably bad and is crystalized". I thought, hmm, yeah, let's not.... So they sent a guy with a battery jump pack instead, complimentary of course. Even getting to the battery is fun when it is dead since you can't open the trunk to get to it. There is special procedure for that in the manual. I guess they knew something I didn't about the batter going bad in such a short period of time since it can't hold a charge. Unless the alternator went? Unlikely...

 

Not sure what the new warranty books say but on my 06, warranty says you have to drive the equivalent of 500 miles/month (6,000 annual) - anything less they can deny warranty on the battery. Depends alot on your dealer.

 

If this is the case I'd buy your next battery from someome other than the dealer. Porsche doesn't make car batteries but charges you like they did for another manufactures product with a Porsche logo. Match or exceed the specifications for the OEM battery and buy a battery from Auto Zone, Sears, Pep Boys or anyone. Better still by an Optima gel cell battery, I'm having ahrd time accepting that crystallizatio or sulfation would occur in such a short period of time on a battery the size of the one in a 997. Would love to know if there are any battery experts on the forum who could jump in on the on the subject of battery sulfation and under what conditions and over what period of time it takes to destroy a car battery.

 

My dealer even suggested using something other than the $350 battery they sell. I think I went with the Autozone battery on mine for about $120. Easy install other than it's pretty heavy and akward getting it in/out.

 

My Dealer suggested and put in an Interstate Battery for a reasonable price, rather than the uberexpensive Porsche OEM.

 

as others said, call dealer to see if covered under warranty. if not, get one from walmart or interstate. should be about $60-75 and it'll fit just fine. stand in the trunk to pull the battery in and out.

 

Similar issue with my 05 C2S. In my case the dealer blamed it on a cable from the alternator. Apparently a known issue with the 05 model year (wire gauge is too small and carries too much resistance). They replaced the cable and the battery under warranty. The only unfortunate part was that they had to use a Porsche OEM battery since it was replaced under warranty (dry cell battery) - otherwise I would have opted for a Bosche brand that they carry.

 

Same here except they did not put it in; fell out of the chair when the service manager recommended that I pick up an Interstate.

 

I just want to say, I got FLAMED several months ago when I suggested that PAG should put an engineer or two on their battery issue and just solve the problem. What's with the wet cell batteries?