PDK Trans Replacement Options

I have 2009 Boxster with 106k miles on it and the trans has died. Dealer said said the trans is $18k in parts and another $2k for labor so $20k OTD. This is very nearly the price of the car. I've briefly searched the internet but can't find any price on a used PDK trans. Does anyone know who might have one or an idea of what it may cost? Are they even available? Could I convert it to manual? I understand there would be difficultly in installing the clutch pedal assembly and other components but I'm wondering if it's possible. Even if it cost me $10k I would be content with that. I've seen used manual transmissions for $2k, so shifter, cables, clutch pedal assembly and misc items hopefully would be another $2-3k. $5k in labor would be at least 30 hours of labor. Perhaps that's feasible? The car as it sits now is worthless unless I part it out. But I don't have the time or inclination to do that. As a roller it seems people are only willing to low ball me and offer $2-3k. What should I do?

Sorry to hear that mate, that must have sucked. I thought that the PDK transmission should have lasted more than 106kmiles as I've heard of some going beyond 200,000KM. Not too familiar on the matter of converting into manual, maybe you should check with your Porsche workshop? I'll certainly not get another PDK transmission as it does not make economical sense. Do you have any mods and may I know what sort of regular service and maintenance you do in your transmission? Pretty worried as my 09 PDK cayman S is nearing 100,000km!

I don't trust the recommended service interval. E.g. My BMW 330i (E46) has only about 70,000 Kms but decided to change the auto transmission oil and found out that oil is black and smell burned. I also added the Lubegard additive as extra protection (many auto transmission repair shops swear that Lubegard works and for $15 it is worth a try). When my 981 pdk will reach 60K Kms, I will replace the oil and ignore the 120K service interval.

Welcome, sad first post, and sorry to hear about the transmission! I a not questioning your car, but at 2009 and 106k miles, I would not be putting $20K into a new transmission! IS there any chance the transmission can be rebuilt or are they sure it needs to be replaced? For about the cost of the repair you could get a 2005 Boxster with 1/2 the miles on it... This will be a tough decision!

Wow, tough spot! Thanks for posting, OP. Very good to know, and follow what you end up doing.

No mods and never tracked by me. Bought it with 30k so don't know what the previous owner did but I doubt he tracked it given the condition of several consumable items that were not changed. I did the clutch pack and gear oils at 40k and 80k miles. I did not replace the pan however and I know it contains a filter. It had the red "Transmission Emergency Run" message and wouldn't shift into gear. Tried cycling ignition power but same error message. Disconnected and installed new battery but still same issue. Flatbedded to dealer and they wanted to service fluids despite having done them roughly 25k miles ago. Fluids looked fine and no contaminants in either of them. Codes were P1731 and P1736 but latter went away apparently. P1731 stil lpersists and car won't shift into gear. They say it needs a new pdk unit. No dealer rebuilds PDK trans so that's not an option. Doesn't appear to be any aftermarket rebuilds either. So far the bill is $1k but full repair will cost me $20k OTD. Value of the car is maybe $25k(optimistic) given its options package. So I guess reasonably it's worth $5k as a roller but that's a hard loss to take. I'm sure I could part it out and get double that cost but it's a hassle I'd rather not deal with.

i am sure there are some that have been crashed.. and get the tranny from it.. no use to put a brandnew tranny on it Lemon

I was just going to say the same thing - go used from a crash. Since roughly 50% of the 987.2 "s are PDK 's (I think) and since these don't seem to be trouble prone, there must be lots of them in salvage yards with low miles and little demand. Little demand should mean low price, right" certainly nothing close to $20k, and a modest labor bill as well. Possibly 997 PDK 's also swap in (just a guess). Used swap is likely more of an Indy shop project than a dealer.

Porsche should be doing some godwill replacement. Call Porsche NA and pressed them to replace it at a discount at least.

I would part out the car personally. Its almost the worst situation, if it was a 06-08 you would have a huge demand for the engine which would sell for $10-15k alone, but the 09+ are so reliable I doubt as much demand. Watch this episode and give it a try, let us know!: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oS_yKQRcln0

worth to check whether PDK from other Porsches also a direct fit ( 997.2 , 981 , 991).

Laughing out loud.

Whats so funny? Godwill repairs happens all the time for major drive train failure. Guarantee if you raise hell to Porsche NA they'll at least offer a discount.

LA Dismantlers (in CA) and DC Auto (in NC) are the two salvage yards I see advertised all the time for used/salvaged Porsche parts. Check them out. I haven't used either nor do I have any affiliation with them.

I spent 5 hours on the tracks at Porsche 's Atlanta Experience Center last Friday (a corporate event.) They keep about 80 cars on site and rotate them in and out about every 3 months (BTW, they auction them off every quarter.) 99% of them are PDK . I took 5 launch control runs in a new 911 twin turbo (terrifying the first time, but in a good way!) I asked a driving instructor who has been there since they opened, how many PDK failure he's seen, he thought about it for a moment and said he couldn't recall one. And I'm telling you, they beat the sh#t out of these cars. That 911 TT does about 30 launch control take offs a day, every day. BTW, I did about 10 laps on the road course in a new 718 , and you know what, it's very nice.

I'm sure they do offer discounts but this is an 8 year old car with a value almost equal to the repair. I'm not sure what type of discount they might offer on a 20K repair, however, I wish the OP luck.

I wonder if there might be a repair shop somewhere in the US that fixes DCTs. Could be worth it even to ship cross country. Edit: sorry, missed that you already looked for this. Frustrating, because it might not be a major repair. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk Pro

that sucks. would it be possible to speak to an auto box specialist near you or an indy? here's wishing your car a speedy recovery!

I would get a second opinion, from good independent if possible. Of course the dealer wants to sell you new transmission. $20K is insane. They are not in the troubleshooting business, they replace parts. You say the transmission is not shifting. Did they say why? Hydraulics, control module, else... I understand it is emotional moment for you with this cost but I wouldn't panic yet before having CLEAR understanding what is the problem. It seems you maintained well and did not abuse the car. So general failure IMHO is not impossible but unlikely. Keep digging and the truth will come out. Good luck!

To OP, Sorry to hear of this issue. Your options already noted, used and indy to install. Call BGB, they do a lot of upgrades and may have a pdk trans. LA dismantlers wants ~7K for a used PDK , so will run you 9K installed. There are no shops that repair these transmissions. As far as part out, not much demand for a 106K mile 2.9 motor. If you had a cayman I would buy the roller from you. Good luck.

about a year ago i was considering to install a LSD and had a discussion with (the only) local dealership mechanic - he said that few month later he'll go through the training of repairing PDK - so maybe some mechanics do know how to repair it?

I just called Porsche NA...they said it is possible and 'they review on a case by case bases.' Well damn... you post suggestion and then like vultures some members run to find any possible point to argue. I thought these forums were to help others not shoot down people ideas. I guess what some of you are suggesting is the OP SHOULD NOT call Porsche to argue to get goodwill repair? Seriously? A boxster just car just like any other. Its not a toy with fuzzy bunnies under the hood. Same rules apply as other brands... If other cars are appliances, then these are just really expensive appliances. To suggest the OP 'got too many miles' and 'its an old car' so Porsche NA wouldn't goodwill is plain ridiculous.

With all due respect... "case by case" is Porsche corporate speak for good luck with that buddy... ( the specific case, a car that is 8 years old and 106K on the clock, not holding my breath) lol. I would however be interested in what would come of it if OP did engage Porsche NA...

But don't confuse what you get in a $175,000 flagship car with what you get in a $50,000 car. Not even close.

Reach out to Gbox, they have a listing where they talk about a rebuildable PDK core. They must know somewhere to send them.

Yes, the Porsche dealer will not 'swap' in a used trans whatsoever. It's either a new one or nothing. They also advised against a swap because it requires calibration tools that aren't available to most service shops. I contacted two Porsche service shops and neither have replaced a PDK trans. As such they couldn't confirm whether only a dealer can calibrate the trans. My dealer is not willing to calibrate the trans so again I'm forced towards the new PDK option for $20k I might try some dealers/shops in the LA area and hope for better luck. Weirdly enough I've found some used m97 2.7L engines for $6k but the majority of 9A1 engines are over $10k all with around 40-60k miles. Now the 3.4 m97 is $12-15k which is on par with the 9A1 version. Error code is P1731 or whatever that means. From what I've read online about PDK failures it's rarely mechanic and usually electronic. Could be a sensor or solenoid that you'd think would be easy enough to change but apparently that isn't the case and no one rebuilds them. Regardless of the failure nothing is serviceable so the options are used or new pdk. I've contacted some of the dismantlers mentioned and await their price quotes. Hopefully I can find a shop in the Los Angeles area who can do the swap or at least calibrate the trans. If not I'll have to find a dealer who is willing to calibrate.

park it next to a sick tree during a storm and hope the tree falls on it :dance:

Skogen, I just cannot believe there is no more reasonable solution to this. Look at the forums. There are some pretty good independent shops around the country. At this price range you can ship the car anywhere to get it fixed. Come on, the country that put a man on the moon cannot fix a Porsche transmission??? Given, I have never had this problem but... In my area this is "European Road and Racing" on Rivers (I am not related to them in any way). They work on high end cars and and when I saw their shop for the first time I was impressed. FWIW as a young engineer I worked for couple of big car manufacturers in Austria and I am not easily impressed. Karl has some serious Porsche experience. Give him a call and explain the situation. He is a great guy and maybe able to point you in the right direction. Keep digging! Good luck!

OP, I have done my research on this, I have a dedicated track car, and as such have done my diligence. Again: To OP, Sorry to hear of this issue. Your options: buy used and indy to install. Call BGB, they do a lot of upgrades and may have a PDK trans . LA dismantlers wants ~7K for a used PDK, so will run you 9K installed. There are no shops that repair these transmissions. As far as part out, not much demand for a 106K mile 2.9 motor. If you had a cayman I would buy the roller from you. Good luck.

Fortunately I've found two used PDKs. One is a 2010 with 3k miles on it. Another is a 2011 with 30k miles on it but also $1600 cheaper. The price difference isn't really that much of a concern as both are well under $10k. Generally the lower the mileage the better but I'm wondering if 3k is too low. Even if the car were recently wrecked it still means it sat a long time without being driven so I wonder if that could possibly effect the trans. Thus I'm thinking the 30k mile trans is a better option. Is this a bad assumption on my part? What would you do? Again, price isn't really that important, I just want the one that should be the most reliable. They also look to be the in same very good condition and of course no real warranty.

Both are unknown or can you get background on any in terms of history?

Unfortunately his last post here was the one above ten months ago. I hope it worked out for him, but maybe he's no longer driving a Porsche .

I wound up selling the car. The 'premier' indy Porsche repair shops here would not allow me to source my own trans and wanted a starting figure of $12-15k for the repair. I sold it to someone who thought they could DIY it. I believe he was able to source a used PDK for $5k with exchange. Perhaps there's a TCM that's paired to the individual trans but he needed that replaced by Porsche and it cost him $3k. PNA offered no assistance in the matter but a 2014 should be covered under warranty or with such low mileage I imagine you would have better luck seeking some sort of restitution or aid.