a comment.....

We recently had an incident with our MY'00 986 Tiptronic Boxster. When less than two blocks from home the engine stopped while driving. Upon restarting and moving a couple of feet we noticed lots of smoke. Upon exiting the car we saw oil every where. It turned out to be transmission fluid. The car is currently at European Performance Auto, Cameron Park/outside of Sacramento. Their estimate is for a re-built transmission, plus a few other items and is around $8k. Given the current value of a MY'00 with some 50K miles, that also needs a replacement window and/or top, does anyone have any advice/recommendations?

We are thinking that it may be time to sell our wonderful little friend. Any one local interested in a project?

Where it may not make economic sense but emotionally you aren't ready to give it up...or are you? The argument I can think of is you know the repair history of the car so it is a better decision than you can make on a comparable used car someone else might have owned.

Did they explain why the engine stopped or was it just the car stopped because the transmission had decided to disconnect the engine from the drive wheels? Or if the transmission failure locked the engine suddenly, is there any assurance that the engine wasn't damaged in the process? Odd as Tips are usually pretty reliable.

And option is to sell it to a wrecking yard. It has a good engine I presume and good body parts and maybe wheels/tires so you could at least get some $ out of it. Or get a Tip from a wrecking yard. I know I contributed a perfect '99 Tip to a wrecking yard somewhere.

Don't know what I'd do....

Certainly not emotionally ready to give it up. As for the failure, the engine starting again just fine and ran ok. I believe the sudden loss of fluids cause the car to shut down. I guess there is never any assurance that the engine is ok though, and obviously something I will check into right now. I have also heard that Tips are pretty reliable, but in speaking with this shop they indicated that the transmission is actually shared with other German car, such as BMW, and that they have had similar failures. Can anyone confirm this info? Selling to a wrecking yard is not my #1 choice. I did this with a MT'02 WV Passat that I owned from brand new. One of my kids who was old enough to know better neglected to take care of it and I netted $200!! A good used Tip might be an option, but I'm not sure what they really cost.

If the car is in good shape otherwise, I'd consider fixing it. It is worth nearly nothing as it sits. Last time I checked (over a year ago) non-running Boxsters were going for $3K to $3.5K.

Let me see if I can learn anything about Tips, failure modes, replacement costs, rebuilt/repair options.

IOWs, let me see if I can get you a 2nd opinion.

Sincerely,

MarcW.

Marc - Appreciate your response. Let me know what you find out. Cheers!

The loss of fluid could be due to a failed seal, a torque converter seal. This is repairable. But the transmission has to come out.

But there's a complication. In at least one instance the techs reported finding after removing the transmission the torque converter could not be separated from the oil pump shaft and this renders the transmission unrepairable. I did not have the presence of mind to ask more details about this condition.

Let's see... a 'new' transmission is roughly $14K. I do not know if this is with or without a transmission that can serve as a core. And I do not know if this includes R&R labor.

The techs said the Boxster automatic transmission is a ZF transmission and is quite common. There are shops around that rebuild these and do a good job. All parts are available and the transmission rebuild shops can get these parts for considerably less than the dealer's service department can get them from PCNA.

In your car's case, if (big if) the transmission is rebuildable you can think about having the thing removed and shipped to a rebuilder. I would bet there's a good one in your area. Mike's Transmission in Livermore is the shop that has been used to resurrect out of warranty transmissions. The tech removes the transmission and it is picked up, rebuilt, then dropped off at the dealer and reinstalled. The techs mentioned one on the west side of the bay and another down in the south bay. The are not aware of any shops in your area but one (or more) almost certainly exists.

The rebuild costs roughly $3K. I do not know the labor, but a WAG would be around $1000 to R&R the transmission.

If the transmission is not rebuildable -- if the oil comes from a busted case/housing -- the techs tell me there are many sources for used Boxster autos in the 'LA area'. Check ads in Panorama and Excellence for names/locations/phone numbers.

What can be done is a used transmission is sourced and installed. Or, maybe better yet, sent to a transmission shop and gone over/through then installed in your car.

This could be a wise move because it will find an unsuitable transmission before it is installed and if you buy from a reputable salvage yard you might be able to exchange the bad transmission for another one from 'stock'. This is something I think you'd want to check into as you look for a salvage yard to get a transmission from if of course you go this route.

What the car is worth as it sits I can't say. Call Parts Heaven here in Hayward and see what it might offer you for the car. Or call one of the salvage yards down in the LA area. Another big one is Oklahoma Foreign in Oklahoma City. I called this place to get a value for my totaled Cayman S. I didn't do business with the place but I was quite pleased with the exchanges we had. I ended up auctioning the car instead of selling it to one of the salvage yards.

Sincerely,

MarcW.

Marc - Thanks for the research. Very much appreciated.

Too many other things going on right now to focus and make a decision. My gut says I want to keep it and spend what ever it takes. My pocketbook says otherwise!! I'll let you all know what I decide. Thanks again for the great advice,

My '98 transmission finally croaked last month and my local Porsche trained independent sourced a used transmission for me (from a place near you! www.mpusedautoparts.com) and got the car back to me within 5 days of my first phone call to him for well under $2000 out the door. Time will tell, but my used transmission works well and has already stood up just fine for a full race weekend, and when the transmission costs less than a set of tires how can one complain? I would put a used one for a fraction of the $8000 estimate.

... The place I linked to currently shows an inventory of 3 '00 2.7 tips for $1000 or less. Since you're local you can probably avoid any shipping charge. R&R labor & fluids should be around $1000 if the tip is like the manual.

Trygve - Thanks for the information. This is amazing! They quoted about the same for labor, and said used tips were $3k+. I will certainly look into this source and let you know. Thanks again.

Mechanics are understandably hesitant to put in a used transmission because if it turns out to be bad their customer has a legitimate complaint. That being said, if you assume the risk of a bad transmission and just deal with a reputable place you can get a perfectly good transmission from a wrecked car and spend significantly less money than $8k to get it replaced.

Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 06/05/2012 02:23PM by Steve (Berlin & LA). (view changes)

Strange to see two transmission replacement threads so close. Looks like this isn't as rare an event as I thought. My indy mechanic said he trusts and has experience with the source of the used transmission he found for my car. My bill will be about a quarter of your figure. To each his own, but I think the huge price difference justifies the risk of a used transmission.

Does anyone know what model year Tip are compatible with my MY'00? (A.T. 2.7L)

but that's just my WAG.

The transmission as with most other parts (even fluids and fluid fill levels) is tied to the car's VIN. With the VIN a Porsche dealer parts department could look up the part number for the transmission based on your car's VIN and tell you that this also fits 2001 and 2002 cars, if of course it does. I have had part numbers looked up (no auto/manual transmssion though) and the parts manager often tells me the part is for a span of MYs.

Sincerely,

MarcW.

if you decide to keep your friend a little longer, since the transmission will already be out, you will save on labor to upgrade your IMS bearing (even though your engine currently runs strong); also check on the engine mount to make sure it is in working order...Good Luck

Bum luck. Hope you find a good solution for less money and get back on the road soon.

Charlie

Thanks Charlie - Hope you are doing well. Do you still have a P-Car?

Your close to a lot of really good Porsche auto yards, you might consider just putting in a low mile used trans and a donor top/assembly from a 03/04 car(IE glass window if preferred). If it is sold "as is", the car is a bit of a give away(IE 3k or less). Having said that, even sourcing a re-man trans through a discounting dealer, or ZF source, and top should not be too much. Considering what a new Boxster goes for, it is a small piece of that pie. Sorry to hear,hope it turns out OK.
regards

Thanks! I've got feelers out to most of the auto yards now and am checking daily. As for the top, is an 03/04 (glass window) top a plug-and-play replacement? Is this some that some with medium talent can do themselves?

Cheers!

frames and all is a trivial exercise helped only by another set of hands to move the thing around.

Writeup here by Maurice

On a '97-99 it is slightly more complex but there is a writeup again by Maurice on the same site.

Doing an R&R of the top assembly is pretty much a plug and play type of job with the 00-04. Just scribe the positions of the top trans when, or during the procedure, it should not be a problem. I like the old style tops, but DIYing a factory replacement skin is not a task for everyone. You might check the ZF North American or USA site, I believe they have rebuild sites down your way. The official shops tend to get better technical support and parts to fix fundamental flaws that have cropped up over time. You should be able to source a used, low miles, tip gearbox for for very little though. Best of luck with the fix, hopefully it will be on the road soon.
regards

A rebuilt Boxster Tip is about $3000 plus about a $1000 core charge, try searching the web for "rebuilt Boxster Transmission." Taking the trans out is an involved job and not for the faint of heart but it's doable. And as other commenters have mentioned it could just be something simple however it may be tough to find a shop with expertise on that trans.

Hi Phil, sorry about your car. I live about 1 mile from Euro Perf and have used them for the past 10 years or so. I do everything I can, and they do the rest. Marc is an extremely experienced and well connected guy. What he is not is a discount repair shop. I think that his labor rate is about the same as the dealer. I use him because I trust him to do the job right and frankly, because he is close. But, for a job this size, I'd have a heart to heart discussion with him. Is he willing to look used? What are other options that he would support? I would also talk to other local shops if Marc is not flexible. Let me know if you'd like a couple of names. My car is a little older, but it's in great shape and I love love love it, but an 8k repair would mean that it's time for something else. 4k and I'd think twice. Sorry you have to make this tough decision.