lately my car has been a little anemic on starting. I have a POS Honda that I park at the BART train lot and use that to commute most days. I usually put some decent length trips on the weekends to cover the battery for my occasional after work errands but it's just not covering the depleted charge anymore.

This is the one I was looking at getting with the cigarette lighter plug.
http://www.racerpartswholesale.com/p...ttery_Chargers

Here's my issue. I don't have a garage, I know :-(
I have a car port with a tool shed on the passenger side that I can draw power from, but I wouldn't trust having the window cracked leaving the interior exposed to the elements.

Any Ideas?

 

I have the Porsche branded one. The wire is flat so I run it at the bottom of the door and just shut the door on the wire (and than you could lock the car in your case). No problem whatsoever thus far with the wire being pinched. There is actually a few areas at the bottom of the door with slight depressions that you could make sure the wire goes if you are even more concerned with it getting pinched.

 

I also have the Porsche battery maintainer. Highly recommend. Works great. It basically looks like the one you posted, but plugs into the cigarette lighter, which makes life much easier.

 

I would do a battery maintainer (CTEK) - but Hella Buggin', you have an '06 and if that's the original battery I'd go ahead and get a new one! Interstate MTP-H7 for around $120 in the Bay Area.

 

I have the C Tec... I used the direct wire and run the wire out the front hood and close it on the wire ( no problems) BTW that is a very good price. I do also agree you may also need a new battery.

 

I also have the Porsche branded unit. It's older "black brick" rather than the "silver stick" they are selling now. The wire is flat and you could most likely run it through the door like mentioned above. I have mine through the window and it only takes the slightest nudge of the window button to get the window to come down just a crack. The way the window is shaped the rear of the window gets the crack and the front remains pretty much closed. You probably could put a piece of blue painters tape over the small extra area of the crack that gets exposed.

By the way even though my car is in fully enclosed garage I still worry about spiders and other "nasties" crawling around. My last car was a Mazda Miata and one year during winter storage a spider decided to take up residence in the A/C drain hose, the one that comes off the evaporator coil. He clogged up the hose pretty good with his web and the result was water dripping down onto the carpeting in the passenger's foot area. Luckily I was able to dry it out before any mold set in.

Boy, I sure could have used a "Shamwow" back them.

 

Go with the Porsche; as already said you just close the door on the supply cord. Mine still working fine after 4 years. New battery - even the dealers recommend the Interstate; make sure it is a vented so you can use a maintainer - either the H8 or the 93 which has more cca and is a little cheaper.

 

Listen to bradyb. I have an '06 as well and recently, my car starting a little sluggishly. Thought I needed a charge and maintainer. Didn't work. Got stranded 2X then decided to replace the battery.

 

Get the Ctek 3300. You can buy directly from Amazon with the cigarette lighter plug $10 extra.

 

I have the Porsche one which is made by CTek, works well. I have used it on my 06, C2S when ever it sits for more then a day. Starts well everytime, but I am not sure if it will recover your battery if it is getting weaker. Get a new battery and start using the maintainer from day one.

 

I'll order the charger tomorrow. Before I buy a new battery... is there a way to test it? I mean, it's been fine up until the other day and that was after it sat for about a week and any trips were short. Saturday I drove for about an hour straight, turned it off at the beach, and it started right up and I drove an hour home. It's been fine since then. So it's able to build and hold a charge. I think I just let it sit too much in conjunction with too many short trips.

 

My car is regulary parked for long periods duing the year , getting three months parked at times, and Porsche unit has been working great, get one. Use it has Joeshark sugested.

J.Seven

 

I survived 2.5 years on the Turbo without anything. Lately I at least do a once in 10 days minumum drive and try three times a week at best .

I will get the Porsche one eventually. I kinda enjoy the thrill of the cold start doubt for some reason.

 

Most auto supply shops, such as Autozone, can do a freebie load test; just call first to get one where you don't have to remove the battery for the test.

 

Perfect. Thanks once again!