Estimate for repair costs?
 

Hey guys,

I posted on here a while ago about some vibrations/judders I was feeling through my steering wheel that a few shops had been unable to diagnose. I took the car (2002 Boxster S with 85k miles) to a highly recommended Porsche specialist here in the Bay Area and he did a thorough - and I mean painstakingly thorough - inspection of everything the car needs. He scared me a bit with his list - I don't think he's suggesting I do all of it, but he said he could find $15k (!!!!) worth of stuff to do.

Here are the main things he mentioned needed doing - just hoping you guys could share some insight on fair-ish costs, just to make sure he doesn't try to screw me. His labor charge is $200 an hour, so I might not do everything at his place, but I'll probably have him do a couple of things. He said he'll call me tomorrow with some numbers.

1. He thinks vibration is caused by inner/outer tie rods and possibly strut mounts.
2. Rear passenger strut is leaking, suggests replacing all 4
3. Rear trailing arms need replacement according to him
4. Clutch and/or shift cables need to be replaced - this is the one that has me a little miffed. I did notice that the clutch was starting to get a little hard to push in, but it does not slip at all. Shifting into 2nd has been a little jerky recently, but I figured that it might be something to do with not having had the clutch fluid changed and I have no service records from the previous owner indicating that the fluid was changed. I probably won't have him do this one since he didn't say it's an immediate necessity, but I also don't want to risk damaging the transmission itself.

He mentioned other things like coil packs, spark plugs, and window regulators, brake pads and rotors, but I'm pretty confident that I can do those things myself.

Thank you guys for any insight you can shed on any of the above items.

Hi --

sorry to hijack your thread, but I'm curious who your highly regarded specialist is. I'm looking to maybe find a new one in the Mountain View area. Thanks!

You probably want to do 1, 2 and 3 all at the same time while it’s up on the lift Just went to purchase Koni FSD dampers (4) for $804 on line. Replacing the dampers will take all day on the lift. You will have to remove the front brake calipers to replace the struts. So you might want to do that work while it’s torn apart.

Hi Speedy,
You’re new here and welcome! Just a wee note: please avoid double posting. :cheers:

Didn't I just read this post??

My bad! The first time I posted here I thought it posted right away but this one wouldn't post so I accidentally posted twice. I'll be more careful in the future. Thank you!

Yeah, my bad I accidentally posted twice- newbie mistake!

The RennShop. I usually go to Sportech in Campbell or BRRacing in Los Gatos - they're both really good - $120 and $135 an hour respectively. I just wanted a more in-depth diagnosis of my car and hopefully to get it fixed... I miss driving my baby.

thanks -- I appreciate it very much.

Uhm, $15k worth of fixes ? First of all $200 workhour is more expensive that the Porsche dealer rate. You say he is specialist so this means it’s an Indy?

I would first recommend you to go to the dealer and get a Status Report done. They will find the “obvious” issues and then you will know what “really” needs to be done. I don’t know about vibrations, so maybe give some more clue.

About the trailing arms, you can order OEM for $300 or something. Installation is not hard also, probably less than an hour.

Clutch on P-Dealer is $1400 but you can get half the price on Indy..

$15k for fixes on a used car with market value <<15k, and with risks such as IMS, seems a bit toooo much. Most probably you can spend $2-3k and enjoy the ride!