Oil Leak, Need help with talking to dealer

I took my car (05 Boxster) in for service to the dealer in Bellevue about a month ago. Had the major service completed, at a cost of about $1K. Car has 29K miles on it. I noticed a few drops of fluid on my garage floor about two weeks after that. Never had any fluid leak on this car at all. I assumed it was maybe just some excess oil from the change, so I wiped it up. However, I now see new drops in the same place. These are under the rear of the car, can't tell if it is the engine or farther back. I plan to call the dealer, but just know I will be asked to bring it in, and then charged for them to diagnose and fix the problem. Any suggestions on the way I should present this, or words I should use?

Put a piece of cardboard under the motor to see where it drips from. The only major leak that really poses a problem is usually a leak from the center of the car, where the tranny and motor mate. A leak there is usually either the rear main seal or the intermediate shaft bearing, which should be addressed immediately.

Another common leak is towards the side of the car, just in front of the wheels. This is usually the camshaft covers that weep or drip a bit. A nuisance but expensive to have resealed. Mine leak and I just live with it.

There are other possible places it may leak from, the AOS, the oil fill tube and a couple of other places that are easily fixed. But you are going to have to put it up on a lift and have it examined. Just get back to us with the diagnosis and the cost to fix so that we can smugly tell you what a rip off the dealer is.

Hmmm.....sounds too coincidental. I would go in there arguing they forgot to tighten something or messed something up.

If you are lucky, it could be as simple as coming from the drain plug. When I bought my Boxster (used), the dealer had serviced the fluids. I soon found a very small oil spot under the car and, having read the posts on the PPBB, figured I had the dreaded RMS issue. Upon close inspection, I found oil dampness around the oil drain plug. (They may have not replaced the metal gasket on the plug or torqued it properly at, I think 37 ft. lbs.) Sure enough , with the next oil change the problem went away.

The good news is that it turned out to be just an oil plug gasket issue. The dealer fixed it, no charge. The bad news is that I really want an excuse to upgrade to a new P car. I can't justify it, having just purchased new PS2's, and have had the 30K major service. I guess I will just have to get by with more of the same permagrin.