2000 Boxster Repairs

[CP711]

2000 Boxster Black Triptronic 77k. 49k when I got it almost 2 years ago. In March I was hit with repair after repair. April only got worse. The plastic window cracked 1" in the left corner. I went with the GAHH A5 glass. Nice top! Picked the car up as soon as I get home the CEL comes on. Drove 30 miles to work, leaving that day it smoked like it was on fire. Thick thick smoke. Towed to garage. Mass Air Sensor needs to be replaced. $690 was bill, took the afternoon to do. 2 days later the car is smoking again like crazy! No CEL though. Decided better take it in. On the way to the garage the CEL came on. This time they tell me it is the AOS. $470 was the bill and when I picked it up it smoked like crazy. The mech told me I needed to drive it some to get the oil burned off. Picked it up Mon. 5pm. Friday coming home pushed the pedal to the floor and started to take off then chug chug felt like I was running out of gas. No CEL. Drove home finaly the CEL came on parked the car and when I went to move the car it had no power. It sounded and felt bogged down. Monday a flat bed picked it up. The driver was a cool guy we talked while he did his thing. Watching it drive off with a feeling I wish I could have taken a picture of my car while it was on the truck. Well this time it is the MAS.... again but under warranty and since it was back in the shop I got the horn fixed that started beeping in early March when I turn left or hit the brake sometimes. $535 for the horn problem repair, oil change & the new warranty MAS & tow. This is the 3rd time in 3 weeks so maybe they will get it right this time. Tuesday picking up the car I walked in thinking my car has to be fixed this is getting old. Payed for it they said they would have it pulled around for me. While im waiting for them to pull my car up I'm looking over my bill and see rear panel dent and weird why is the owner of the garage bringing me my car to me, the 2 previous times it was there car fetcher that drove it all the time. He gets out I'm on the passenger side, he says thank you walking by me and walks off. I look at my driver side rear panel and it has been hit by another car. I'm starting to think WTF. I have to go back in and find the owner, he comes back out and his 1st story was, it was like that when the flat bed rolled it down. Civil Suit.... 2nd story was towing company says it was like that when they picked it up. I called the police to come and make out a report for my insurance and talk about a civil suit. I called the tow truck owner, he and the driver show up and luckly the driver turns out to be way cooler than I thought he vouches and says the car was not damaged when he picked it up or dropped it off. The police officer advised me to speak to a lawyer. 5 mins later the owner agrees to repair the car. I asked him to put it in writing. He tells me to take it to a good collision center for estimates and all will be fine. Wed. The Porsche dealer told me they use the local Cadillac dealer's collision center. This is crazy they said $1800 I went to another Cadillac dealer 20mins away and they said $1100. $700 difference for 20min drive. The worse part is tonight my car started to feel like it was going to run out of gas when I step on it. I still haven't talked to the owner since Tue. about the estimates I got on wed. here it is Friday my car is starting to die on me, it is possible that the AOS or MAS is another defect so it might be under warranty again and it will be repaired for free. Also I might have to sue my mechanic next week for the big dent in the rear panel plus rental car lawyer fees \ depriciation. Anyone have any advice , or ways I can approuch this guy for a win win or atleast a win for me? I hear I can sue for 3.5x the damage ect. I have the paper he signed saying he would repair and the a few witnesses. This garage is highly recomended and I hate it that I didn't get to say the same.

[SeanZ4]

Whoa! What a horror story! You're a trooper for keeping the car and sticking with it. It would've soured me on it and I'd had been making movements to get rid of it! Good luck on this!

sean

[rdancd816]

Wow! $690.00 for a MAF. Must be a stealership install. Just had mine replaced and the bill was $386.00. Hang in there 'till all the kinks get worked out. That's quite a story!

[KevinH1990]

Originally Posted by CP711

Picked the car up as soon as I get home the CEL comes on. Drove 30 miles to work, leaving that day it smoked like it was on fire. Thick thick smoke. Towed to garage. Mass Air Sensor needs to be replaced. $690 was bill, took the afternoon to do. 2 days later the car is smoking again like crazy! No CEL though. Decided better take it in. On the way to the garage the CEL came on. This time they tell me it is the AOS. $470 was the bill and when I picked it up it smoked like crazy.

I think your mechanic misdiagnosed the original problem. I had a problem with my MAF (Mass Air Flow) sensor and it did not smoke. While I have not had an AOS problem, I understand one of the most noticeable symptoms is a cloud of smoke.

If your mechanic had replaced the AOS on the first visit, maybe your MAF would not have required replacement.

You mention driving 30 miles with the CEL on. When my MAF went out, the CEL flashed - indicating that I should turn the car off immediately. The mechanic I used told me that continuing to drive the car would have resulted in unburned fuel passing to the catalytic converter. This would cause the converter to get very hot and possibly catch fire.

I hope that you can find a better mechanic.