Pulled the Trigger on a Replacement Engine

[Cbonilla]

What brought this on was the catastrophic failure of the engine in my 2003 Boxster S Tiptronic with 105k miles. All indications (out a nowhere the engine made a horrific clatter and spewed oil onto the gound) are that it was the IMS bearing that failed, although we haven't pulled the engine to confirm this.

Found an engine from LA Dismantlers out of an identical car with 41k miles. Delivered to my indie shop in Northern Virginia for $5k. Base install cost will be $2,800 plus $1k for an LN IMS bearing upgrade and a RMS for $100. Total cost will be $8,900. Right on the cusp of breakeven on selling the car as a roller. Engine comes with a Leak Down Test.

What tipped my decision to repair vs scrap was the overall condition of my car. In the last year i had put about $6k into repairs and service. New CV boots all around, fixed a weepy rear axle seal, new trans mount, flushed the trans, diff and coolant, new front brakes disks and pads*, new window motor and lock mechanism*. Plus additional work in recent years. And I do know that this is a sunk cost, but it was a sunk cost that gave me confidence about the rest of the car. (* = labor done by me). Plus work that was purely engine related (new plugs, secondary air system, etc) and thus has no value now


I learned a lot buying an engine.

Prices vary widely. First engine I found (needed an 03-04, and a Tip would make it easier) was on Ebay from a dismantler not too far away. 48k Miles. He was asking $8,395 + shipping. Interestingly, that same vendor offered the engine at $7k on its own website (as well as nationally via the salvage yard network).

Some questionable engines from private sellers that didn't pass my smell test. Had assumed that shipping from LA would be prohibitive, but that proved to not be the case. Although I never made an offer on other engines I thought the gap between their prices and LA-D was going to be just too large. Insurance auctions, btw, did not work. Although I have a friend in the business would could have bid for me, the cars wre either wrong year, had more miles on them then my car, or were the wrong engine.

And despite having had the car towed to the shop that had worked on it before, for an outlay of this size I shopped around. My shop was actually the cheapest (by $300 - $700). Except for one that was $1900 "or so". One shop's price was $3,500 as a "Good Starting point."

All these quotes were with LA Dismantlers doing the IMS bearing. When I agreed to my shop's bid they opted to do the IMS bearing at LA Dismantler's price, + another $100 for the RMS.

Wish me luck.

Carlos