tiptronic nightmares in Socal

So I finally bought my dream, Im addicted to it. I'm little by little getting her upright, the previous owner just drove her and i'm under the impression it was just a car to drive. so over the last year, I've replaced alternator, starter, radiator expansion tank, Air/Oil separator, all the pulleys including the tension pulley & belt. next, i decided, that i should have a "good porsche mechanic" scan and check all codes. just to get ahead of any surprises that could be on the horizon his diagnostics, came back all clear except for a no signal from a speed sensor on the transmission the car drove, shifted and really other than his reading, i had no reason to think that there was a problem. at this point i went back to the "good mechanic" and asked? So.... what can we do about, the sensor?? he quickly told me that transmissions where out of his hands, but mentioned the only place he would ever consider taking it. in his words "the only one he would trust with this issue"..... a week later, i make an appointment to Drive my baby into the recommended shop. im received with a sure thats a no brainer, but they will need the car for a day or to to run it through some test & hook it up to the computer to determine the fault. i get a call on day 3, im told that their is a problem, but to determine it they will need to drop the tranny, ($1300) to be credited towards the repairs and that it would take 2 more days. (i've done a lot of research by this time, im at this point considering a good outcome in the $2100 range or bad at around $4800) so i give the ok. 2 weeks later & 3 calls from me, i get the news 3 options 1) $24600 remanufactured tranny not including seals or fluids ; 2) $8790 rebuilt 1 year warranty no seals or fluids ; 3) used tranny $6500 & no guarantee of any kind + seals & fluid.!! i started laughing right when he said $24K!!! when he mentioned the other numbers my only comment was " you have never done one of these! " he swore that they had done plenty of these, but that the only place to source all the parts was the Dealer and thats why the high cost, he did not finish before i interrupted & called out a shop in NJ , that sells a rebuild kit for $895.00, he could not ask fast enough who, where & how to connect with them. he called and was told that yes they had what they needed except for seals, filter & fluids but that Pelican Parts had all this stuff and should be no problem. my transmission shop requested for them to please order all and just have it sent form NJ back down, because they had no idea what Pelican Parts Was or that they are only 25 min. away from their shop. in La Habra. So as of today, at 11am they had been test driving the Car to make sure its all good, i never got a call to pick it up (im thinking they will go to dinner with it and call me tomorrow) the total bill so far, I paid for all the parts ($1200) they completely rebuild the trany & thorque converter (still don't know why),changed out the valve body sensor plate ($115 on amazon) their cost $375 & labor $4575.00. so good deal? but i have no peace of mind, i hope it will last at least a year. as far as pulling the car from the shop at the start, well something about taking a car out of a shop in boxes & a tow truck does not give me any sense that it could get better, so i just pushed through. i'm not posting names, Primarily, because, i have not gotten the car back. also, was this all my own fault? let me know what you think.

You know that is your perspective.... Consider the other side. 1. If they buy non-Porsche parts and anything goes wrong, they have no recourse. And whatever recourse they have, it costs them money and time. 2. As a shop, they can only go with what they know to have worked. $24K for a factory rebuild is the right price. $6K for a used Tipt is the right price. 3. Not everybody on earth knows of Pelican. And not everybody does business with Pelican. 4. Buying parts from a Porsche dealer allows them to make a bit of profit, not the same with buying from Pelican. You represent the worst type of customers for a shop. The ones who know where to source all the cheap parts, alternative rebuild kits, and wants to supply your own parts. All you want to do is paying for the labor of the shop at a "reasonable" rate never mind that he had to spend $40K on computers, $100K on tools, $12K a year on insurance, and $10K monthly rent. If anything goes wrong after the repair, you point the finger right back at the shop even if it is the cheap parts that fail. That comment about "them going to dinner" with your car says it all. Tell you what, next time drop the tipt gearbox on jack-stands, buy the $895 rebuild kit, and repair one of these sum ***** Mercedes gearboxes on your own. That way, you own the success, the mistakes, and the savings.

What do I think? For me - If it's driving good and not showing a code on the dash, I'd just keep driving it until there was an obvious problem. Especially after getting the quotes to repair. It's your 1st post. Welcome to Pelican, but we don't know you yet.

Get referrals / recommendations from other Porsche owners, not just the shop. Someone in the local PCA or POC has to know others that work on tiptronics

Tell me again why you just didn't keep driving it? If it ain't broke... Don't fix it...