[thstone]

Rather than dealer, if the cluster really is the fault, buy a used one from someone parting out a car and replace it yourself in 30 mins. Then pay a dealer for an hour or two of labor to program it.

I assume that the several hours of labor you were quoted was to determine that the cluster was indeed failed. If it was just to install and program the cluster, they are insane.

Here are the instructions for removing the cluster:

Take out the emergency flasher button and the little thing that looks like a microphone on the other side of the pod. You'll see the Torx screws. Remove them. Once out, you need to disconnect 3 wiring harnesses. They are each attached with Porsche's famous locking connectors. Disconnect and you're done. Re-install in reverse order.