I need to replace my battery in my 997. Do I go OEM through the dealer? Any recommendations/options?

 

It's a DIY. Get it from WalMart, Sam's Club or Interstate. WalMart & Sam's Club are the same but you pick up an extra year of warranty at Sam's Club. After you do the installation you will have to drive less than a mile to clear the many code faults.

 

Walmart MAXX 94R - exact replacement - $77 plus better warranty than Porsche.

 

just did mine. 5min job, faults cleared in 30secs of driving.

 

Just remember those are made in Mexico

REbattery

 

I had an Interstate put in my car.

 

Where did you buy your Interstate? Do you remember the model? I like them - seems they are very long-life and reliable.

 

Autozone Duralast Gold is also a good replacement.

 

+1 on Walmart MAXXX 94R ($90.00) out the door with core exchange. EXACTLY same physical dimensions and physical configuration as OEM. I swapped mine out last week and left battery tender plugged in while doing so. No fault codes, inexpensive & easy install! Highly recommend!

BTW, I paid for over price interstate batt for wife car and it lasted three years..not worth expense. Next time the wife/family car gets a Walmart battery!

 

OEM, unless you plan to go with something of better quality. When it's time to sell (if that may happen to you) the use of OEM parts will acknowledge that you spent the extra money to make sure it ran as Porsche said it would.

 

TO THE OP: If you replace your own battery, remember to connect a battery maintainer first and avoid (completely) any memory loss issues.

 

In a recent test German electrons were found to be 25% faster than their Mexican and US counterparts.

 

If the car ran as Porsche said it would, the battery wouldn't need to be replaced if driven less than 6,000 miles/year. Duralast, Interstate, Optima, Everstart are all better quality than the OEM Moll plus they all have a warranty better than Porsche.

 

+1
Why pay $300 for a $100 battery?
Also, if you need a battery, investigate the cable from the alternator to the battery. Seems a common problem that will cause slow cranking and extra battery drain.

 

If you want to tell the quality of a battery, weigh it. Batteries that have more plates and more lead, weigh more and will last longer. I learned this a long time ago while running a stock class in the SCCA, we would look for the cheap batteries in the same size and group, and it was always the lightest, some times by over 10 pounds compared to the others.