Steering rack failure -- '97 993 Carrera S

[Matt Holcomb]

My folks own a '97 993 Carrera S with a slush box. The car has travelled a mere 60,000 miles since it left Stuttgart, and has been cosseted by my parents.

They bought it used three years ago from the local Porsche dealership with a two-year factory warranty. After the warranty expired, the folks disobeyed a direct order and decided to stay loyal to the dealership. The dealer has just told them that the car needs a new steering rack.

The estimated cost of repair: north of $5K.

Like most of us, my folks have yet to figure out how to grow a money tree, so they’re understandably concerned.

The dealer may or may not be feeding them horse manure. However, I'm prone to assume that anyone who works at this Porsche dealership becomes addicted to the thrill of jamming their clients, so I've told the folks to get a second opinion.

Does anyone on the board know if late model 993s are susceptible to premature steering rack failures?

Knowing how the car is driven, the whole thing just seems improbable to me.

[Bobboloo]

Evidently they are prone to steering rack leaks. I did a search and found a few threads that mention this.

[Steve Marshall]

I had a 993 Targa that had the steering rack leak. Seems like I got it fixed for under $ 2K. $ 1k of that being for the part. They actually used a rebuilt rack. I was told this was better because when they rebuild them they also fix the defect that causes them to leak.

[Matt Holcomb]

Bobby, Steve,

Thanks for giving me something to investigate.