I agree with Sturgedm. Is a pity that Porsche did nothing to help in your case or mine. I got the
'you r just a poor boy that got a Porsche and don't have the money to let us maintain it for you so, go away' treatment when I went to the local dealer for info and advice. Needless to say, I will NEVER buy a brand-new Porsche nor take my car to them for service.
My Boxster is a Stuggart built so I do not think is related to where they were assembled. According to Charles Navarro, and other experts, sub-standard manufacturing and engineering decisions are a major factor on 996 engine failures. I'll bet the 'nickies' I installed on my engine will way outlast any OEM cylinder sleeves out there. the JE pistons look way better quality than OEM too.
Guys, my message is that, a full rebuild can be done for fewer than 7K if you do the work yourself and keep everything OEM, maybe a little more depending if you take the opportunity to upgrade a thing or two. The main hurdle you will have is to build or acquire the Porsche special tools #9612 and others (see list at
http://www.baumtools.com/pdf/porsche_timing_tools.pdf). Aside from the 9612 and the cam tensioner tools, my brother built all of the tools for me fairly easily. The one you cannot go without is the piston pin and clip installing tools (9608 & 02). The cam alignment I did it by 'feel'. So far, I put over 8K miles on it with no issues.
I love Porsche cars, always will, but don't like Porsche 'the company' very much right now...
Regards,
Fred