"Seemingly stupid question..."

In July I bought a 2006 Boxster S with 50k miles, looked and ran great plus I knew the owner of the dealership. Ive had a few issues, the bumper go a hole in it and the hole grew resulting in me buying a used bumper from Texas for about $1100 and had a body shop swap it and I went ahead and had the entire painted which looks awesome. I had pet boys do a simple oil and filter change which cost double what they communicated, over $1K plus they screwed up the window and convertible top coordination and then spent 5 hrs. trying to fix it but couldn't fix it, I found someone to do it for $95. I am about to replace 2 cv joints and there is a light engine oil leak that I am having repaired over the next week, this will likely cost $1K-$2K just for the oil leak, I will know tomorrow. The 2 CV boots are around $800 with labor. I won't get into it but I've gotten 6 quotes and looked at parts and know that I am still going to pay more than I want or should. But with that almost all behind me plus the new paint I really love the car. My question seems stupid, and it's come up because I am on forums and looking at parts like a new exhaust . Is my car a 986 , 987 or 987.1 ? Anyone know how to tell other than comparing pictures? The VIN will not help. Please help and thank you for letting me join the group.

987.1 S Don't have a Porsche serviced at a place like pep boys, find a competent independent if you don't wrench on it yourself. Good luck with sorting it out, I hope you are able to get it where you want it with your planned pursuits.

Hi, @Slipform - Welcome to P9! I'm confident we'll get you on the right track. If your MY is 2006, it's clearly a 987.1 as @Boristhespyder said. Providing a VIN and pictures will help us answer the question 100%. First, I'll need move this to the correct subforum. Meanwhile, please feel free to reintroduce yourself here in a new thread; it's a strong tradition (especially with providing some photos) before asking tech questions and seeking help. Tell us a little bit about yourself and your car! We'd love to hear about it. Cheers and thanks!

Just to get to the point of no more stuff other's are not doing, you will start to find the goodness of your purchase. Down the road, try to find out about the shifter cables replacement, then add the Sprint Booster to get even a bigger grin on your face. The biggest part of this is just driving it as it should be driven. Have some fun.

(By the way, please follow foodbiker's suggestion before Don E comes around and slaps you for not posting a picture or two in the intro Joking aside, you will get alot of help from all these guys especially from Don E in the future) Welcome!! Actually, I think the VIN should help or determine the code especially if you want to validate the mfg year - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Porsche_VIN_specification Also, read through this - Porsche Model and Type Codes – PCA Chicago Region Without over complicating all these codes, our codes are not different from chassis codes from any other cars (BMW E or F xx, Audi Bx, Cx, Dx, etc.) By the way, I didn't know (nor cared) all those codes before I purchased mine so don't worry And don't worry if part numbers begin with 996. or 997. as our 987 shares many parts with 911 models. Note that I was initially "initimated" by the name "Porsche" (e.g., hard to maintain / repair. expensive parts, etc.) but when I helped my friend maintain / fix 986 and 987, I gained confidence and realized maintaining / repairing a 987 isn't so bad (hence the purchase). If you DIY other cars, this is not significantly different or sometimes easier (e.g, brake pads easier to change than our other cars, additional access to the engine from the front of the engine). PLUS, you will get a lot of help from this forum as I have last 12 months or so. As for the pepboys, I had a bad experience with our other car so I avoid them and difficult to find a "competent / caring" mechanic at Pepboys - e.g., "Oh, this is a Porsche and I need an 8mm allen wrench for the soft drain plug which can strip easily and also need an aluminum washer; and make sure I don't use an impact gun to tighten" I bought my 987 at a Lexus dealer and even this "luxury car dealer" over-filled the engine oil. When I measured, 8.7 quart came out with the rear end on Rhino ramps. If leveled, I suspect 9 quarts would have come out which means they probably overfilled by almost 1 quart). A friend bought an old 986 which "supposedly" was serviced at a dealer all the time but we spent more than an hour just to "slowly / carefully" remove the stripped drain plug...and the list goes on Time to roll up your sleeves and get some elbow grease going, perhaps?? ;-) This is a perfect forum to get info as I have!!

Part of happily owning a Porsche requires the supporting resources to maintain and repair it. A good indie Porsche shop with whom you have a win-win relationship can make Porsche ownership rewarding and reasonable. Porsches are generally very well made and reliable vehicles, but they are engineered differently than most cars so a place like Pep Boys will have a huge learning curve even for something like an oil change. Why do you feel $800 is more than you should pay for CV boots? Redoing CV boots is labor intensive. If you've gotten 6 quotes and are unhappy with all of them are you suggesting that all shops overcharge for this service?

Pictures please.. https://www.planet-9.com/forums/new_members/ and check the notice at the top of the forum on how to post photos.. it can be helpful.. Do you know if the CV joint boots are torn? Or simply leaking around the big end (near the wheel or transmission). That big end has a compression ring around it that tends to loosen up with time/age and then grease starts creeping out looking ugly. That ring can be replaced without even removing the axle from the car - time might be 30 minutes per boot. There is a thread on this somewhere in the 987 tech section, a search might turn it up. The actual boots almost never fail - at least I haven't heard of one failing - it's leaking where it is fastened to the axle that's the issue, and that's easily fixed. Certainly replacing the boots will also fix the problem - for a LOT more money and labor. What did PepBoys do for $1,000 on an oil change? It's not magic, and it's pretty simple to do. One thing you want to avoid is - the "Porsche Tax..." it can apply to even household repairs. That's where tradespeople think you're rich because you're driving a Porsche, so they adjust their rates/estimates accordingly. I'm having some work done on the exterior of my house, and guys are showing up to do estimates. I own two Porsches. One stays hidden in the garage when they're here, the other one is parked up the street a ways. These guys have no idea my wife's Genesis is worth about 4x what the two Porsches combined are worth. The Genesis stays in the driveway. Some shops think the same way. They adjust repair jobs to fit their estimation of how much money they can suck out of your wallet. You want to avoid these guys. You didn't mention where you're located, but if you're in the US - join the Porsche Club of America - the 10% discount dealers give you on parts/repairs will quickly cover the annual dues, plus they're a very active organization. Once you joined, you'll get info on events the local chapter is doing - go to them. Make some friends. Ask the friends which shops they use and why. Bet'cha one or two favorites will show up, and these are usually the good and fair shops. It's a shame you paid $1,100 for a used bumper. New ones are only about $100-200 more, brand new from Porsche, ready for paint. That might have saved you the cost of painting the entire car. The cost to paint and install a new bumper from a reputable shop is around $1,000 paint/labor - at least that's what insurance companies pay. The local PCA club can probably guide you to the area's favorite body shop. Welcome to Planet-9! The Friendly Home for Porsche Owners, Dedicated to Saving Them Money! And get on over and do your intro message (consider yourself spanked..) I wanna see pictures of it freshly painted!

replacing drive shaft boots or CV boots is quite common in my neck of the woods, perhaps the heat and weather accelerates the wear. 987, 981 and 718 all have them and are common wear items here. the work can be labour intensive - removing the shafts, checking (recondition if required), packing with grease, resealing them and reinstall.

PSA. You don't actually need to remove the drive shafts (from the hub) to replace inner or outer boots. It can all be done by just disconnecting at the transmission which is MUCH easier. Either way its a hell of a messy job.

It seems boot failure must be more common than I thought. I guess the balmy NJ climate helps preserve them. And I imagine it is quite a messy job since CV joint grease usually contains a high moly content, and moly is right behind copper antiseize for transferring itself wherever you don't want it to be (body, fingers, clothing, nose..) and not wanting to come off the undesired surface. So maybe $600 isn't an unreasonable price.

Probably a $200 of that is to cover the cost of shop towels and gloves!

Join a local Porsche club. There will be members with the same model car as yours's and you can find out where they go for service and repairs. Later on down the road you may need to have some repair programed. You won't get that done at Pep Boys. Do the mechanical repairs before cosmetics. I had a torn axel boot. I replaced all 4 about 4 months ago. Got genuine Porsche parts from Pelican less than $100.oo I have a lift. Not a hard job but messy. Don't believe some of YT videos about having to pull the exhaust and lower control arms to get the axel out. Some tips, loosen axel nut while on the ground, make sure the bit on your cv joint is in securely, put Antiseize on the outer axel shaft. I believe you can only buy replacement inner cv joints, you have to buy the whole axel for the outer joint, very expensive. Get the boots taken care of while the parts are cheap. My boots had 120,000 miles on it and was 19 years old don't think I will have to do it again in my lifetime. Lot's of helpful knowledgeable people on this site. I have no idea what an indie would charge. Bernie

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I needed up taking my car to Goldcrest motor cars near anty and Ken helped. He fixed my previously quoted at $2300 oil leak for $900 and tells me all my vc books are ok, all I need is new clams. He said it’s a 1 hr job that I prepaid $900 to a mobile mechanic who I can’t get to show up….learnning. I(different thread) i appreciate all of the feed back. Anyone got a suggestions on how to remove this? Light wire on a drill? I’ve tried different cleaners, sandpaper, power washer and a wire wheel that wasn’t the right size

From a suggestion on the forum I went to Ken at gold crest motor car. They were $900 to fix all the previous $2k.+ quotes I knew were just guesses and a rio off. He also told me that my cv joints only needed some grease and new clamps. Big shout out to gold crest , they are awesome. I’m going to try and post pictures in my original post.

Thanks for getting back to us and letting us know the outcome and that the suggestions made were useful. DO try to get involved with the local Porsche community - they can be very helpful for things like finding a good honest mechanic.

For this? I had similar on one of my rims. I think it was because I'd put ceramic sealer on the rim, and didn't wait long enough before driving the car, so the brake dust got embedded in the soft coating. The only answer at this point is paint. I went after mine with a buffing wheel in my Dremel - which went right through the ceramic, and the clear coat under it and the paint under that. It totally fudged up the rim. Uhggg. I was annoyed with myself. I went poking around in the huge cabinet(1) of spray paints with clogged nozzles (some dating back at least 30-40 years maybe more, when was orange metal flake the hot setup?).... anyway - the only gray/silver paint I could find that would spray for me was not Wurth Silver (my usual one for BMWs..) it was (have to go to the garage and look - hang on..) (back..) NAPA Colorline - Cap Indicates Color. There is no text on the cap, it's just sort of a flat light gray color. Since that was the only one that would spray, I decided what the heck. give it a go. I taped off the tire and the valve stem (it was that section of the rim) and wrapped an old rag around the brake caliper, and had at it. A few light coats - and the color didn't look bad - maybe not perfect, and not very shiny. The only other spraying can was some Wurth Clear Coat (made for rims) - so I got that out and gave it a few light coats. It's perfect. It's perfect enough that the kid who details the big cars for me was over helping clear up the garage a bit - and I mentioned it to him, he went and looked and I had to point to the spot I'd painted. He couldn't see any difference. Very odd - but next time I'm in NAPA I'm gonna pick up another can of it. And nozzles. I spent several hours with tiny watchmaking tools trying to make clogged paint spray nozzles work again. That didn't work well. It involved a bunch of cursing, and they about instantly clogged again when tried out. SO - I figured AliExpress would have some deals like 1,000 nozzles for $10 or something. NOPE. No nozzles on AliExpress (I was shocked I tell'ya..) so SWMBO (wife) said "Look on Amazon - they have everything.." I did - and she was right. Amazon has several packs of mixed replacement nozzles of various sorts (one pack was approved by a National Graffii Organization - I can't make these things up..) so I bought some. I also bought 2x 54" lengths of the tiny red tubing that goes on cans that spray liquids out like WD40 and such. This was a cut-it-yourself-to-length deal. It was a few dollars. I couldn't resist. I'm determined to win over the spiders that live in my garage who drag those straws over to dark corners to build their nests.. they'll choke on'm. I'm gonna leave them all over the garage. That'll teach'm who's boss. BTW - I stayed away from Temu in my quest for nozzles. Costs me $35 every time I open that site. Every time. (1) The huge cabinet of spray paints is directly over the huge box of wires too good to throw away, I might NEED one someday. That's actually box #2 - there is an even bigger one living in my cellar. I did find some wire I needed there just a few months ago - so I'm leaving it to my granddaughter in my will. She's (5 years old) much more interested in mechanical things than my son has ever been. The first place she heads for when visiting is the garage and the toolbox. She LOVES the toolbox drawers and all the toys inside. So she gets the primary big box o'wires too good to throw out. Maybe my son can have #2 box.

i WAS ALSO TOLD i NEEDED NEW CV JOINTS AND BOOTS BUT A REPUTALE SHOP, SAME ONE THAT WANTED TO DOUBLE CHARHE FOR OIL LEAK. GOLDCREST, THE RACE SHOP WHO QUOTES ME 1/4 OF THE REPUTABLE SHOP WANTED TO CHARGE. UNFORTUNATLE, I HAD ALREADY PREPAID A MOBILE SHAO AND THEY WERE 1/2 OF GOLDCREST AND THEY WOULD FIND THE PARTS NOT FIND PARTS WHICH THEY SELL AT AUTO ZONE FOR NOTHING, IT'S BEEN TO WEEKS AND 2 CANCELATIONS CLAIMING THEY COULD NOT GET PARTS. SUPPOST TO HAVE BEEEN HERE TODAY BUT NOT SEEN THEM YET, $480 TO CHANGE 1 SIDE. FORTUNALLY, I FOUND A GUY TO CHANGE ALL 4 BRAKE PADS FOR $150 AT MY HOUSE FOR $150, I SUPPLIED THE PARTS. IAM LEARNING, I COMPLETELY REFINISHED Y WHEELS MYSELF AND THEY LOOK AWESOME. STILL LEARNING.... THANKS FOR THIS FORUM!

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We're not quite sure what this post is about, but you're welcome to use the forum - that's what it's hear for. In future posts please do not use all CAPS - it looks as if you're yelling at us. And I'd suggest adding paragraph breaks where you change topics of questions. It makes it much easier to understand what you're saying. Glad to see you're learning - I think paying up front hasn't worked out for you - so it might be best to abandon that practice. We'd love to see some photos of your refinished wheels.. but before posting again, and especially before posting any photos - please read the following two posts: https://www.planet-9.com/threads/before-posting-a-technical-question-please-read-this.254535/ and Posting photos in posts to Planet-9 You might notice, the majority of photos posted to Planet-9 are posted right into the posting in the thread. There are however instances where people DO post large images, which causes them to be hosted but not displayed in the thread - what's displayed then is a thumbnail of the image(s) -... www.planet-9.com This thread has become technical enough that I'm going to move it to a technical subforum rather than leave it in "chat" which really isn't designed for tech sort of questions... hang on..