Starter hanging? How bad is this?

[Kevfra]

2001 986S.

I think my starter motor is hanging. Car starts fine, but when I release the key for the first perhaps one second there is a high speed whirring sound from the engine area, which I beleive is the starter not immediately disengaging. So the enegine spins it for a second before it frees. Is this a common problem with this car?

I'm curious how much this might run me to correct. I'm thinking the cheap and easy way is to loosen the starter and re-tighten. But then I'm concerned the gear on the starter might be a bit buggered now and if I continue to use it even after getting it to release properly, I'll bugger the ring gear as well. What's a new starter run?

Many thanks!