control arm replacement
 

Hey, does anyone know if replacing a control arm on the front driver's side is a time consuming thing for an fully equipped shop & mechanic to do?

Deducting the part's cost at the dealer's parts counter, I think the dealership quoted 4 hours on it. Seems like a lot of time to me, but I don't really know.

4 hours seems along time to me randall, you better get quotes.

I never use the dealer due to there silly prices.
If it was an engine problem then ok book it into the dealer.
I mean the dealer has experts, all the tools... 4 hours... is stupid

4 hours seems along time to me randall, you better get quotes.



I mean the dealer has experts, all the tools... 4 hours... is stupid

I readily admit to not knowing a damn thing about replacing the control arm, but if the dealer books 4 hrs for it, that's probably pretty close to how long it will take. I would imagine that would include re-aligning the front end, too.
If you save some money by taking it to an independant shop, or the local Firestone store, what you save will be because of the difference in the shop labor rates, not the length of time taken to do the job.

my new independent mechanic will be doing the work, and he's secured the part for far less than the parts counter could sell it to me. I just wondered if anyone like ToolPants (or anyone else who does a lot of work on Boxsters) has done it and knows how long it takes

Ok, here's the conclusion to this thread. The control arm on a boxster is $400 or so from the parts counter.... I saw one on Ebay for $165 and my mechanic charged me $150 for the one he had in storage, new and unused.

It's a two hour job maximum... I timed my guy doing it while I sat in his garage and watched him.

The dealer quoted $800... complete rip off. 4 hours @ 99 an hour for the work? I don't think so. I must have looked stupid to be quoted that much.

The dealer probably quotes exactly the hours Porsche tells him to quote. If you REALLY think he was singling you out, send a note to PCNA - I imagine they would really pay attention to a dealer that was quoting high hours compared to the standard labor quote.