I drive an '06 "S" with the six speed manual, and 46k on the odometer. I do a lot of the maintenance myself such as oil changes (Mobil 1 synthetic) and air filter changes. I'm hoping to touch bases with other forum members and share best practices for taking the very best care of these wonderful cars.

Hi RoxApex

I have a 2006 Boxster 5 speed with about 12K miles - I mainly use it on weekends and when the weather allows top down driving. I am a new member in this forum and would like to know more about taking care of these great cars as well. One problem that I discovered today made me sign up to the forum to ask for advice - the car has been garaged over the past 3 months but with a Porsche battery charger plugged in. When I went in to start the car a while ago the engine just would not start and I started getting system failure messages on the dashboard. Not sure if this is a battery problem or something more serious. Any tips anybody? Should I call AAA and get a jump or should I contact the Porsche dealer who services the car?

Appreciate a quick reply from any experts on this forum who may have seen this problem and know what could be done to fix it.

Anand

Hello Anand

The onboard computer system sucks a lot of juice and seems to kill batteries in about 6 weeks at the most. Try AAA, because most likely the system failure is due to lack of current. I tend to drive almost every week, even in the winter because I go crazy if I don't, and even a half hour in the car does wonders for me as long as the roads are dry. It also allows the alternator to recharge the system when you can take let it run for a while.

Let me know how that works out for you!

Thanks for the quick reply, RoxApex

I read the manual and it does seem to be the battery. Unfortunately I did not quite read the section which says not to put the key into the ignition when the battery is dead so when I did, it got stuck in there. Will now need to go through an extra step that is described in the manual before I can access the battery and have it jumped. Hope I don't need to buy a new battery - that would be a real pain.

Lesson learned. Next time I will make sure to drive the car even during the winter when there is no salt and snow on the road.