$4700.00 repair bill. Need your help!

[85.5classic]

So i took my newly bought 1988 944 celebration edition to Jack Williams Tire and Auto here in PA for a inspection. A day later i have a quote for $4700.00 repair bill before they will slap a sticker on. Looking at the items needed how bad are they ripping me off. What can i get good used parts or new reasonable ones for? I searched around and saw a ball joint rebuilt kit that was cheap. Wonder if i can use this? Anyways, i need your help with this one guys. What should parts cost me.

[emoore924]

I'm in PA, I understand (or at least acknowledge) the "inspection" racket, and that's a bunch of cr*p.

Find out what the limit is for spending, whether that's applicable to emissions or suspension, find out what caused it to fail, *exactly*, and get certainty around what you need to do to get to "pass". With the later car, some things like front a-arms (with "unrebuildable" ball joints) can be expensive, but not *that* expensive.

I then TAKE IT TO ANOTHER MECHANIC or DIY. Save all your receipts. Then take it back to them and make them reinspect and pass it, for free, as they should.

grumble grumble. >:[ f'n ripoff.

[rickharrison]

Jack is effing you...what, no kissing first?

Walk...wait, run away.

[924RACR]

Not even the common courtesy of a reach-around? Shame, shame...

[carlege]

all brake rotors? do they look that bad?

[85.5classic]

they said that there UNDERSIZED??

[porsche4life]

With the exception of the cat you can do most of that in a weekend if you are a moderate shade tree hack... Take it to a muffler shop and have them put a generic cat in.

[carlege]

Originally Posted by porsche4life

With the exception of the cat you can do most of that in a weekend if you are a moderate shade tree hack... Take it to a muffler shop and have them put a generic cat in.

generic cat = about 125 welded in

[Eric 951]

You can rebuild the A-Arms easily, or buy rebuilts and swap them--Blaszak performance used to offer this service--don't know if he is still around though.

Sway bar bushings are a snap--especially if you are doing th A-Arms. Rotors--the same, might as well do the pads and flush the fluid while doing it.

There is nothing on this list that you can't DIY as porsche4life said-- you are looking at a weekend of work. You can even hack in your own cat with clamps and adapters.

For 4,700 you can buy another (nice) 944.

[porsche4life]

Thats what I paid for my 944 with a fresh top end and less than 100k miles...

[rickharrison]

Originally Posted by 85.5classic

they said that there UNDERSIZED??

They likely measured the thickness with a micrometer....re- can they be turned on a lathe, or are they already worn down "thin" enough.

[PHillary]

This is a awsome place for good cheap or performance rotors.


Brake Performance - Slotted and Drilled Brake Rotors

I got a set of rear cross-dimpled and slotted rotors for 130.00 bucks including shipping.

Best of luck to you

[racer]

Can you rebuild the ball joints on the later cars? I thought they needed to be replaced (maybe that's changed over the years?)

I can't read most of the items.. but a factory cat is likely thousands of dollars.. so look aftermarket.

Brake rotors aren't too much.. $80-100/each is a guess. no point not replacing them, fluid, and pads, especially if you have to replace the A arms already.

Struts? Could fail.

While the Price tag is high, lets also realize it is a 20+ y/o car. It will have some shortcommings and PORSCHE parts have Never been cheap.

Hope you don't need a clutch too

Do you need to use the car right away? If not take it off the road and spend the winter fixing it up. Or, do you have the option for classic/antique tags in PA. That can be another way to skirt the issues.. That said, I'm not sure I'd want to be driving a car with so many potential problems. I'm guessing there was no PPI done?

[minho78]

Yup, he's ripping you off. Is he Installing Dealer parts? Still a Hefty bill for Cat, shocks, rotors. If you were by me I would help you. It's not that hard.

[minho78]

"Can you rebuild the ball joints on the later cars? I thought they needed to be replaced (maybe that's changed over the years?)"

Yes you can if the arms are not damage. Multiple companies offer rebuild kits.

[Grandad#3]

Take a look at the link below for Control Arms. It also covers other things. Buy a floor jack and some jack stands for your own safety.

Home - Porsche 951 - texasblake.com

Cheers,
Larry

[mikepellegrini]

The guy is a world-class rip-off. He oughta go right up there in the Theives hall of shame.

Yeah, you can rebuild late ball-joints. Rennbay sells a kit, as do others. Porsche 944 Complete Ball Joint Kits - Rennbay - Porsche 944 ball joints, power steering, brakes, odometer gears & accessories

It's not that hard.

I don't know what sort of struts you have - they may or may not be bad. How many miles on the car? If they're Koni's with under 150,000 miles on them, I bet they're still just fine. It's easy enough to check. If you push down on the fender hard, does the car rebound at once without a bunch of aftershocks (where it keeps jiggling for a few seconds)? If the suspension is still firm and there's no particular jiggling, then they're probbaly okay.

The only other thing to check is to see if either is leaking oil. Absent oil and prolonged jiggling, you're probably okay.

If they are bad, changing struts is not real difficult. You can find good used Koni's pretty cheap. And new ones are not that expensive. Or you could go with Bilstein's or Sachs.

Like the other guys said, your rotors could probably be turned. If not, new rotors are fairly cheap and easy to install.

The rest of the stuff might or might not be necessary. I'd question the need for a new cat unless it's actually rusted out or something. If emissions are a problem, there are usually other ways to deal with that problem.

I would think you could do all the repairs they listed (doing it yourself, just buying parts) and keep the total under $1,000. But I doubt you really need most of what they laid out.

I'd take it to a different place. DON'T SAY ANYTHING TO THEM ABOUT THE FIRST INSPECTION. You don't want to prejudice them or affect their findings so just take it in without comment and see what they find (if you tell them the first place found all these faults, they'll not want to second guess them - these places tend to stick together).

They may come up with a laundry list, but I bet it'll be a different list.

And by all means, do the work yourself. You'll save a ton of money.

God, I hate rip-offs like those guys...

[nightheart]

first thing is take it to another shop, and try a local mechanic that is not part of a chain. I can recommend a few around here, but you a ways away. Ask around from people in your area to get recommendations, if you don't know any, and ask both car guys and people that pay to get their oil changed.

If you can't do the work yourself, find a place where you can supply your own parts, then check prices here and for used parts.

First thing has to be find a mechanic you can trust.

[Arizona_928]

I wonder what a power steering bolt is refering to?

A vapor canister.... do those even go bad?

[looneybin]

the power steering bolt is next to the muffler bearing