Porsche said my skid plate is aftermarket?
 

Hello,

I had my boxster up on the hoist the other day and noticed a few bolts missing in my rear skid plate. Took a picture on my iphone and went to the dealer to order the missing bolts. No one could understand why their was a skid plate their. Im the second owner and know for a fact that the previous owner never modified anything on the car. Heres a picture of it and the missing bolts. Anyone have this setup?

You need a new dealer, yours is an idiot. Every 986 Boxster (I can't say for the 987) has that plate, it helps stiffen the suspension. If you flat out remove it you'll probably need an alignment every 10 miles.
From what I can see the only bolts missing are the two upfront by the wire, under the engine. :cheers:

+1 Get a new dealer.

haha... Indeed.. find a new dealer... they all have that...

Skip the dealer, go to a hardware store to get the bolts.

Sounds a lot like the dealer doesn't want to "deal with two missing bolts". If he's close to you, drop by with a Bentley manual, that plate appears in numerous photos. Better yet email his service department and link them this thread, clearly whoever told you that is flat out wrong.


Porsche world class dealer network, you can pay more but you can't get less.


I remember when the dealer returned a car to me leaking oil profusely after a repair and blamed me for not asking for an oil seal while the job was being done. Yeah fellas, an extra 30 beans to not have it leak would have been off my radar!! I had to pay another fee to have them fix it right, Porsche dealers are mother%%^ers. That's why every time I repair something without them I feel triumphant.

PS We have a fastener specialty store where I live, I'd look for one of those, many times Home Depot and the like have a lousy metric selection.

What a pathetic parts department. Show them this diagram. Or better yet, find another dealer.

http://www.pelicanparts.com/PartsLookup/HTML/986_USA_KATALOG/501-01-Frame3.htm

Here's a picture to show you it's normal what you have there...
http://i44.tinypic.com/20uyjw3.jpg

Also, if I'm not mistaken, there's actually a threaded bolt that suspends down thru the plate and then you secure a nut to it from the underside...

http://i43.tinypic.com/15ed0lh.jpg

Forget the dealer, stick with 986furum! There's a lot of experts here who really knows their boxster.

+1 on that! I learn so much from reading the threads.

Viola, definitely find a new dealer...

On another note thats happened to me once before too.

No idea where the bolts went but that plate was "flapping". I took it in for service under warranty because the car had a rattling noise going over bumps. Sure enough they put the car on the lift and found the two bolts missing.

My guess is they somehow came loose and fell off. Probably not torqued correctly.

Anyway, make sure you strap up torque your bolts correctly :D

Speaking of skid plates... what are the 2 rubber flap pieces for? I attached a picture pointing these out. Thanks.

I would imagine they're for scooping the air up for cooling.

Cooling air pickups.

WOW, The ignorance thats extended from these people never ceases to amaze me! UNREAL!

Its not just a skid plate, it ties the uprights together and without it the suspension flops all over the place!

Can the two flaps be replaced without purchasing a complete skid plate? Mine seem to be missing!

If they fit like mine they can, simply grooved rubber press fit.

Yes, those rubber flappy things are air cooling ducts. They are very close to the ground so pretty easy to lose if you go over a dead opossum or something. just pick up a new set, jack up the rear of the car, set your jack stands, and refit them. A little plastic Porsche body pin snaps in to hold them.

You know... you could just replace that skid plate with a techno brace from Pedro's garage and be done with it. Not sure if it works, but from what I can tell, Pedro does know what he's doing.

http://www.pedrosgarage.com/Site_3/Install_the_TechnoBrace.html

You shouldn't 'just' replace it with a technobrace. ;)

Any idea what the part number is? I'm missing the one on the passenger side.