Had my dead 2014 boxster towed to the dealer.....the battery was toast.
So he charges me $550 for a new OEM battery and then proceeds to charge me to reprogram the main module to support the OEM replacement.

Is that fraudulent or not ? The reprogramming should only be necessary if there was a change in the battery to a new manufacturer, right ?

Why would an OEM replacement require a reprogramming exercise ?
The specs should be either the same or very similar, no ?

 

Should ask the dealer those questions.

I can think of 2 possible explanations. The car lost battery power and this resulted in the loss of some "komfort" settings that needed to be reset and this requires the diagnostic computer be connected to the car. You will be billed for this. (The computer is quite expensive and on top of that costs a considerable amount of money to keep its subscription alive and dealers are very reluctant to provide any "computer" time for free now. Blame Porsche for this.)

Or less likely there are "smart" batteries which have some microcontroller inside which monitors battery condition and can help optimize battery life, battery recharging, etc. If (big if, and I have not heard anything on this) the newer models use "smart" batteries this may (may) account for the extra effort to customize the car's DME to recognize and work with the new "smart" battery and its microcontroller.

Frankly I don't like either explanation.

Ask the dealer. I think you are entitled to an explanation. A few times, well, I can only recall one time, I have questioned an extra charge after speaking with the service manager it was removed. (Only one time because I generally have a pretty good idea of what's involved and what the cost is going to be before I have something done to either of my cars.)