Took my '98 Boxster base to a shop to have him diagnose and fix a vacuum leak. That part was fine.
He noticed that AOS is leaking oil. He recommended swapping it out, and the estimate is rather eye-watering $965! Does that seem reasonable? I'd do it myself but it appears to be rather a PITA job...
(BTW if anyone in the SF Bay Area knows of a good shop with reasonable rates, I'd love to hear from you!)
The part can be had for about $100. I'd estimate about 3 hours to install If I was doing the work on my 03. I've done it once in the car and it is a PITA. So they charge you $200 for the part (markup is fair enough) and the rest is labor. Seems a bit steep.
They do a good job, but hourly rate is $165. So they're charging quite a bit of hours! I'll shop around...I know I live in an absurdly expensive area, but still...