new boxster owner : )

[choddy]

Picked up a used 99 Boxster last fall. It had 84K, black and beautiful. Always wanted a Porsche and thought it was the time. Love the car but had a heart attack when the Porsche dealership told me what it "needed" to have repaired. From new wiper blades to new bulbs for the headlights all the way to new head gaskets (slight oil leak). The cost was beyond ridiculous! Will now find a good indie mechanic in my area (eastern connecticut). Anyone know of a good mechanic in my area?

[Brucelee]

Did you get an PPI before you bought this car.

Any recourse with the seller?

[dcporsche99]

Congrats!

Hope you can take care of it without too much out of pocket costs! If you could do some of the fixes yourself, you may save some $$.

Here's a link: http://986forum.com/forums/boxster-general-discussions/15369-porsche-mechanic-specialist-listing.html#post135837

Good luck!

[choddy]

Originally Posted by Brucelee

Did you get an PPI before you bought this car.

Any recourse with the seller?

No. I bought the car "as is" for a few thousand below Blue Book. I knew it was going to need some work. I guess on the plus side...the car will get the quality repair that's needed.

[rick3000]

Just a quick tip on saving cash at the stealership. Find out everything that needs to be done, and go on the internet and buy the parts yourself. Then take the car in and have them use your parts. Wiper blades, air filter, spark plugs, serpentine belt, stuff like that is going to be a lot cheaper on the internet than through the dealer.

I stupidly had the dealer do a spark plug change, and they charged me $140 just for spark plugs, because they claim they installed Porsche Gold plugs, which don't even exist. Then another $200 for the install. I should have done it myself!

[Dragonwind]

Where is CT are you? What I don't do myself I bring to Musante Motorsports in South Windsor. They are great guys and know Porsche inside and out. Very flexable and much better than a dealer. They may not be there today because of the race this weekend (Chris Musante builds and races Porsche) but if they are talk to David.
He'll help you out and at least they can get in there and give you an honest opinion about what needs and what doesn't need to be done.

Many times the stealer will just go by the maintenance schedule and say everything needs to be done. If you know anything about cars you can easily work on your Boxster. It may have a mid engine but I found it to be one of easier cars to deal with. Only some things are a little tight.

Chris

[Perfectlap]

You have a very flexible dealer. I've yet to visit a dealer who would allow you to give them your own parts...presumably for liability reasons. Even some independent shop refused to install my parts. One guy wouldn't touch anything unless it was OEM.

For non-mainteance problems, I like to get the diagnosis from a dealer and then take it to the independent. Even if I have to pay for the diag it's always much more expensive for the dealer to work on the car. The peace of mind having two different mechanics come to the same conclusion is worth it to me.

Originally Posted by rick3000

Just a quick tip on saving cash at the stealership. Find out everything that needs to be done, and go on the internet and buy the parts yourself. Then take the car in and have them use your parts. Wiper blades, air filter, spark plugs, serpentine belt, stuff like that is going to be a lot cheaper on the internet than through the dealer.

I stupidly had the dealer do a spark plug change, and they charged me $140 just for spark plugs, because they claim they installed Porsche Gold plugs, which don't even exist. Then another $200 for the install. I should have done it myself!