Fix strut or wait a few years?

[JayG]

Brakes and rotors

Rotors ~ $85/axle for Meyle drilled rotors
Pads ~ $40 /axle for PowerStop ceramic pads. I run these as my DD pads and also sometimes for AX. Stop on a dime and get 5 cents change and virtually no dust
Very easy DIY. At most 2 hours the first time you do it including flushing the system

Changing pads on a Boxster may be one of the easiest DIYs you can do. In probably takes longer to jack up the car and remove the wheels than to actually change the pads. Once you have done it the first time, maybe 30 min for all 4 wheels
Changing the rotors is minimally more work, you have to remove the calipers. Easy peasy

Also get a Motive Power Bleeder ~ $75 to make flushing or bleeding super easy

Struts run ~ 250 each

[bwdz]

An independent shop is not likely using OEM parts. What happens is they have to mark up the parts, if the rotor costs them $80, it costs you $149.95 etc... That is what they have to do to stay in business but for something as easy as brakes it is not necessary to take it to a shop. To replace the rotors over just the pads it is 3 more bolts, 2 caliper bracket and one rotor screw.

[Anker]

Originally Posted by bwdz

An independent shop is not likely using OEM parts. What happens is they have to mark up the parts, if the rotor costs them $80, it costs you $149.95 etc... That is what they have to do to stay in business but for something as easy as brakes it is not necessary to take it to a shop. To replace the rotors over just the pads it is 3 more bolts, 2 caliper bracket and one rotor screw.

Bad example. Porsche doesn't manufacture these parts themselves, but purchase them from several manufacturers and then mark them up significantly. You can purchase these parts directly from the supplier or from a distributor for significantly less money, often half of what Porsche sells exactly the same part for. This practice is called relabeling.

In many cases you can purchase parts that are superior to the Porsche parts for less money. The indie I use specializes in auto sports upgrades. They do NOT use inferior parts.