Work price check

From what I've gather from other peoples posts I think my Indy is pretty middle of the road on his prices, but I'd like you all to make me feel better or worse before I pull the trigger (yes I know the later is what you'll delight in ). And before the DIY crowd jumps in, I live in a townhouse with no garage. So yes I know much could be saved by the DIY route, but it's not possible/practical. Transmission rebuild (2nd gear synchro) Clutch + IMSB replacement (LN) Waterpump + thermostat Rear caliper rebuild AOS (thanks Pete!) I also originally asked about scoping the cylinders and changing the coil packs, but have dropped them from the list as there is no symptom of either having issues (e.g. no misfires, no knocks/ticks, no missing oil, etc..). The original quote was $10,300, but dropping the packs and scoping as well as getting him to package the work (original estimate was as if each job was separate...) brings it down to $7500 which is more in the ball park of what I was expecting. So, $7500. Good? Bad? Average? Edit: Sorry, forgot the pertinents... 01 6MT C4 Coupe w/70k

Have you already asked other indies in your area? Will your indy be willing to "negotiate" if you tell him you found cheaper rates elsewhere??

There are 2 other Porsche specific Indies close to me (a few more in a 50 mile radius). One has a good reputation with the air cooled cars, but I don't know how much he does with the newer ones. The other, while having an excellent reputation, I won't talk to on principle as I feel they screwed over a friend who was a long time customer of theirs when she sold her 993. I may be able to dicker on the price some more, but unless it just seems way out of line I'm not too inclined. I like what I've seen from the shop so far and am willing to a bit more for someone I trust. I'm not much for haggling. Either I think something is a fair price and pay it, or I don't and move on. Like I said, the $7500 seems to be in the ball park of what I expected so I'm comfortable with that. I just want to make sure my expectations weren't too far off.

Are they dropping the engine w/transmission or just the transmission for clutch/bearing/rebuild? The reason I ask is the AOS is a PITA with engine in car (adding a lot of time), very simple engine out of car. You are right to hold off on the plugs/coil packs as those are simple enough to do later. Transmission rebuild (2nd gear synchro) $2000 including Labor to drop transmission Clutch + IMSB replacement (LN) $1600 + Labor Waterpump + thermostat $300 + Labor Rear caliper rebuild I have no idea...why?? Maybe $100/each AOS (thanks Pete!) $1200 complete job engine in car/AOS part is like $165 Engine drop 4 hours labor but that changes the tranny cost and AOS cost And depending on the mileage and whether the engine is out or not, engine out might consider preemptive starter, oil filler tube, vacuum canister and new coolant tank, as well as oil cooler o-rings. At 70K those are approaching replacement time.

I'm with DBJoe. Also if they are dropping the engine/tranny together, I can't see them charging more than 2 hours to do the coilpacks/spark plug tubes/spark plugs. Also did you or they specify on if you wanted to just do a borescope on the top side only through spark plug holes or also from the bottom? This would also affect the price. But once again, if it's from the top side and you're already having the coilpacks/plugs done, I can't see it being more than an hour for inspection. Shop rates are gonna vary but also due to the region. Around here at least, I'd expect closer to $5k for that stuff excluding coils/borescoping.

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Motor is not coming out, otherwise (as you point out) the list would be longer. I'd probably have it opened at that point too to check on some of the other known problem areas. $2000 for a rebuild of a C4 transmission? From what I recall seeing a few months ago $4k was more in the normal range. Understanding that not everything would be seen, I was only going to do the top side for now. Much like the coil packs, since there has been no sign of an issue doing that was more of an "feel good"/"son of a ..." check than an actual concern.

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I don't really believe in replacing stuff just to replace it but when you get the work done would be a good time to inspect any of the coils closely for micro-cracks. Plastics generally wear over time, especially when you have heat cycles involved. And for the same logic as to you replacing your IXX bearing when it could be fine can also be applied for the coils as well. Either way good luck whichever way you proceed.

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Agree, also the tranny out and engine out are a great time to have work done. According to my bill just to drop the tranny and inspect stuff was about $1200 - so I'd rather not have to pay that again if they can kill a bunch of birds with one stone, assuming that the birds needed to be killed soon.

Don't forget to get the engine detailed

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Yeap I'm of the same opinion, but I also figure if you know something is a wear item, it's within the realm of problems occurring, and you're in there, then you might as well save the trouble and extra cost by putting it off. At 70k and 15 years it's probably a good bet that the plastic is on it's last legs ;-) But since there is no sign of issue and I don't save any money (e.g. labor) by doing it now, then there is no sense in doing it. I expect it to be fine (and plan to get the bastard gold plated to sit on my desk!), but while I'm not a Chicken Little about the bearing I do view it as a wear item and always planned to replace it with the clutch. In this case the clutch probably has some life left (was replaced at 30k with about half it's life left since the RMS was being done and there was no labor charge), but since it (clutch) already has to come out for the transmission work it's silly to put it off and pay for much of the same labor not too far down the road.

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This is where I'm confused as it is my understanding that your mechanic will be pulling the motor too. With the motor out, it should be a lot easier(and usually cheaper) to replace the coils/tubes/plugs. I would think one would be saving 2-3 hours worth of labor with the motor out. I'm really surprised by the second quote you got to do those items. It might not hurt to try to relay this logic to your mechanic and see if he changes his tune and give you a price break or not. It doesn't hurt to ask as long as you do it in a non-insulting way.

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Nope, see my response to Joe, only the transmission is coming out.

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Argh, misread your post. Reading comprehension owns me today. Gotcha loud and clear this time.

How much of a discount for real Benjamins?

Individually, your work adds up to about $6500 or so in my mind. But when a huge job like this is given to an Indy, I'd expect him to not charge me the standard labor rate. So I'm leaning more around Alpi's price range of $5000 to $5500. Recently, I did a price check on water pump, low temp thermostat, and related gasgets, bolts, coolant, and serpentine belt. Pelican price was about $500. Asked my Indy how much for the whole job and he replies $1000. He can probably do it in 2-3 hours but for me it will be a day job. $500/3 is not cheap labor. Plus he gets around 20% resale discount on parts. He makes $600. Plus at the end, I won't know for sure what he has used; that's the scary part.