I agree with Brad's analysis of the impact of overhead on shop costs. You have to realize that the mechanic without your level of education is certainly NOT getting paid the $100/hr that you pay for his service. Most of that is absorbed into the overhead costs and the cost of capital to even have the shop in the first place!

Still there is NO question that when it comes to Porsches the labor rate can sometimes become unreasonably inflated, especially by the dealerships. When I recently purchased a Carrera 4S I was also strongly considering a Ferrari F355. The ridiculous labor and parts costs are what scared me away from that though.

In the end, if you don't want to pay the price, then fix it yourself. I just tore the transmission out of my 914 to replace a $1.75 seal. The labor would have been 500X the cost of the seal at a shop. In the end though the work was pretty easy and only required one $10 special tool. Most jobs really just come down to turning wrenches (and banging knuckles). So if you don't want to pay or you want to be more meticulous about the work done (as I am), then do it yourself. But do yourself a HUGE favor and have at least two cars. I've got three Porsches I can switch between, so while one is on jack stands (I have one like this now) I've got another one to get me back and forth to work.

In your case, if you're moving and can't do the work yourself now, then find the best price and just get it fixed! You can do the next big job DIY.

BTW - Brad does make a good point about the torque wrench for the axle nut. I'm lucky in that I have access to one of these through my work, but yes they are around $500, I've looked. Sometimes you may just find that it makes more sense to take it to a shop then to buy a tool like this. Personally I bought the SIR tool as I felt it made more sense for me to do the job and I'll need the tool for other cars in the future....

Kirk

Eric Madsen is outside of Boston and can help you with the Boxster. He is a head honcho with Aprilia motorcycles and has worked side by side with me on PRO teams. He placed second (first loser LOL) at the SCCA Runoffs in E-Prod. He can drive and he can wrench. He builds his own cars and is my "goto" guy for the NorthEast.

You are correct. So far.. what you have listed would not fly here in CA or TX. We are required to show you the parts/give them back to you and 99% of the shops I work with ALWAYS go over and show you what we did and how. 99% of them will also pick you up from train stations or stay late for pickup. I guess we have a different outloook on the customer out here. I delivered a Boxster to customer who lives an hour away from me at 9.30PM the other night :)

B

The 914 uses the same rear wheel bearing as the 97-99 Boxster uses front and rear :) the tool works on the back of the 914 also!


B

986 S - Rear Wheel Bearing
 

Finish replacing the L/Rear bearing on my 986 S, for the third time. The job is alot easier with the SIR TOOL B-90. I highly recommend it. Also, I contacted the Porsche Corporation of North America to tell them that I had to replace my bearing three times already with only 65K miles on my car, and to my dismey, they told me that my complaint is the first complaint they have ever heard of. So Porsche owmers, please contact the Porsche Corporation and tell them about your similar wheel bearing failures. Their (Porsche) number is 1-800767-7243. They need to know what is the problem and maybe they can do something about it or compensate us for the bearing failures. After all, it is a "Porsche."
Steve M.

Mass Indy Shop
 

i don't know where you are in boston, i'm on the south shore. recently i took my 1975 bmw 2002 that had been in storage fo 19 years to motor cars international in bridgewater to bring it back to life after they quoted me a ball park figure. i looked at their shop and decided to go for it. greg and his team of racing gear heads did a great job. you can have the old parts, and receive complete documentation upon completion, stop in to view progress in my case etc. i enjoyed the 2002 and wanted to go faster. the solution was my 2008 s which i purchased from them too. google them and give them a try.......as for high prices on parts......i work at an appliance parts house and i'm amazed everyday what manufacturers sell their electronic parts for. thankfully the days of the $300.00 washing machine are almost over and the new ones are closer to 1K, which allows for the higher prices of parts. and yes, warranties are common on electronic parts.