Help: Alternator needs replacing at 42,000 mi? Price jacked up in past year?

[socratic]

Because of some worn pulleys on the alternator/waterpump area needing replacement, I took it into the dealer.

The bad news is that they believe that the alternator is contributing to the noise and feel it needs to be replace. The initial estimate was maybe $400 for the alternator.

Now I'm told that the dealer has discovered that Porsche has jacked up the price by over 100%. Retail cost (before installation!) of the alternator is now over $1000.

First, is it possible that there is a worn out bearing inside the alternator itself or a worn or bent shaft that is causing the noise and could it have happened at only 42K?

Second, is there an alternative to a full retail price OEM Porsche alternator? If so, where and what? Can third-party alternators be trusted? An alternate source perhaps?

[spine911]

It is possible that the bearing inside the alternator would start failing and could start making noise...ALMOST ALL Alternators that are sold by a part shop or your local dealer are Rebuilt. Rebuilt Alternators also carry some warranty(approx. 6mo-1yr) depending on the dealer. The quality of Rebuilt Alternators are as good as your Brand New Alternator....I once purchased a Rebuilt Alternator from ****************************************.COM(Miami,Florida) for my 86 944 which i completely rebuilt about 4yrs ago(4yrs/85k miles since) and still performes like Brand New...Another alternative would be to find a local Starter/Alternator repair shop in your area and have it rebuilt.--will probably cost you below $100 to rebuild(same quality with warranty as well). Rebuilding/Reconditioning an Alternator is not Rocket Science and is extremely cheap/and easy to repair ...Im sure your local Porsche Dealer would take your core to be rebuilt by a local shop and resold for 10x the orig. repair cost....Having owned 3 previous Porsches before my Box, ived saved tons of $$$ just ordering quality Porsche parts from ****************************************. They are very knowledgeable with Porsches and has competitively priced high quality parts.

[Tool Pants]

http://www.boschusa.com/AutoParts/AlternatorsStarters/RemanAlternators/

[socratic]

Thanks for coming through so quickly with help guys.

I'll check those places out.

[Brucelee]

Rock Auto has alternators from $180-329. www.rockauto.com.

[deliriousga]

You may be able to have it rebuilt locally. I'm getting a local rebuild for about $100. They're replacing the bearings and brushes so it should be as good as new.