Hi all... have a he said/she said issue here and am feeling a bit overwhelmed at trying to decipher this and would love to get a third opinion.
Car: 2003 Boxster S, based in NYC
The situationOct 2010 (55k miles) - Was at a dealer and they said I had torn axle boots on both sides
I understand that this is somewhat common with our cars
They quoted me $2400 replace, $1800 rebuild
Didn't drive much rest of the year and stored for the winter.
April 2011 - Went to Independent mechanic and they said something to the effect of "It's normally $785 each for the axle, but I have a [story here] and I can hook you up and we can use these at $550 each. So $1100 for the axles + $400 labor." So I said go ahead and they repaired for $1500. Note: I don't remember what [story here] was... but I swear it was something to the effect of we have one someone didnt need, or aftermarket part, or getting a sale on it, etc.
April 2012 (62k miles) - Went to the dealer and they said that my axle boots were torn again. The quote from the Porsche mechanic was something to the effect of "the parts were not genuine OEM and the clamp was not on sufficiently to hold the boots on... etc" They again quote me in the ~$2500 range if need to do a full replace.
Today - Brought back to the Indie to say WTF, and he is claiming the part is the correct part for the car. He says the part failed -- "which never happens" -- and thinks that there is something else that is causing them to separate. He says they called Porsche, and a year later they can't do anything for something that happened a year ago. Disputes claim about the clamp, saying it was already part of the entire replacement axle.
So my thinking is, if the dealer originally wanted to charge me $1800 for parts, and the Indie was going to charge me $1600 for parts (basically the same), and all of a sudden they give me a deal for $1100, then there MUST have been something subpar with this, no? And if they installed a subpar part and it failed within a year, then they should hook me up? Dealers can be evil and want more business, but they don't have THAT much incentive to lie, right?
Would love someone else's take, as it is difficult for me to argue effectively when we're talking mechanical issues I'm not clear on.
Thanks!
Jim