A VIN number for a quote?
 

I was shopping around for a quote from a few local “Indy” shops to Replace 6 PLUGS, 6 TUBES and 6 COILS and one of the shops asked for the VIN. Number in order to quote. Is that typical?
I gave him the YEAR of Boxster, MODEL, MANUAL TRANS. But he’s asking for the full VIN.
Thoughts?

They just want to double check your info. A lot people are idiots, so you can't blame them for wanting to be sure that they have the right info. Don't sweat it.

bet you $ to donuts that they come back with a recommendation to replace the IMS based on the VIN indicating that your car is high-risk of failure ...

Completely common in the auto parts business; the last eight digits of your VIN tells them the exact configuration of your vehicle. It is not uncommon that a single model year may have anywhere from two to as many as five configurations that used totally different parts. Give them the VIN, get the right parts the first time......

Yeah. What JFP and Tom say. Having the VIN saves headaches at ordering parts time.
No conspiracy theory here.

Thanks gentlemen for your replies.