Clutch sticking & whining. Undercarriage rust. :(
 

I bought my 03 Boxster S from an online auto wholesale company with 50k miles on it. The carfax report was clean but showed the car was from Minnesota. I had a PPI done. The report came back good except for a hand written note that said "Muffler has some corrosion" and "Surface corrosion on exhaust pipe." I didnt think much of it then and purchased the car.

Since then, every time i have had the car worked on, someone says, "wow, theres alot of rust under there. Car must be from up north". Yesterday my clutch was sticking on the way back up and there was a whiney scraping noise when the clutch was engaged so i took her to the shop. They told me the throw-out bearing was the issue and the clutch needed replacement (quoted $1400 for the job. OUCH!!!!) Then to make things worse, i get a call a few hours later from them saying that, because of rust, they couldnt get the muffler off without destroying it and they were trying to find a used muffler from a junk lot for me.

They said a new muffler from porsche is around $1200.. but i dont want to spend that. What can i expect for a used one? Is there better aftermarket alternatives? What other problems am I likely looking at from the rust? Is there a way for me to treat the rust problem to prevent future crap like this?

What year and model? The muffler is stainless steel. Any pictures of the muffler?

There are plenty of used mufflers around because people put in aftermarket ones.

What usually rusts is the clamps and the steel parts of the exhaust system, not the muffler.

It's an 03 Boxster S. No pics.. though i will be going by the shop soon to look for myself.

There is not really a 'better' exhaust for these cars. Either they sound good and don't give the car any performance, or they sound good,give performance and have resonance.

I'd search on eBay for a used Boxster muffler.

If you can't find anything send me a PM,I have a 01' S muffler sitting around.

What year is your Boxster? Shouldn't the rust be covered under the corrosion be covered under the factory warranty?

Its an 03 S. I am the 2nd owner. I dont believe there is a warranty on it. (unless you know something i dont. lol) that would be nice..

I thought these cars came with a transferable 10 year corrision warranty?

Think I have some phone calls to make... I attached some pics of the rust in my original post.

Wow that is pretty rusty. I'd check to make sure other things aren't rusting under the car as well.

If you need a muffler, I have an 03 S exhaust that is mint in my basement. PM me if you need it.

Patrick

I see a stainless steel muffler that looks fine except for some stains. The other stuff is a bit rusty. You said they could not get the muffler out without destroying it. What is destroyed it the picture? One of the flanges looks a bit funky.

Here is a 2003 2.7. California car. I took this pic in 2003 when the car was almost new.

$1400 is CHEAP for a clutch job. They are quoting without knowing for sure if it needs a $977 dollar dual mass flywheel!! $1400 would only cover the PP/Disc/T-out and labor.


B