gota911

No ressponse or updates from the OP?

mdr2001

2008 C2S - did the work myself November 2014 - 42K miles. Pictures in this forum

only a slight drip from pulley -no noise, no seizing just noticed the coolant stain during an oil change. Caught it early and only had to get the pump and 2 gallons of coolant (in hind sight, I only needed one since one gallon is diluted with an additional gallon of distilled water).

moorejd

UPDATE: I went to inspect the car in daylight yesterday afternoon. The shop claimed that they had spent four hours "dismantl[ing] to gain access and check belt and pulley system" and that this labor "includ[ed] time to remove shredded remains of old belt." As you can see from the attached photos, they hadn't even taken the belt off the pulleys, let alone done anything else. From what I can see they spent about fifteen minutes removing the air box, and that's it.

They couldn't tell me the name of the person who allegedly worked on the car, nor did they have any kind of worksheet detailing what was allegedly done. The file they did have--which they refused to provide me a copy of--I could see from over the counter was a handful of pages of what looked like exploded diagrams from a service manual (presumably printed off the web), and what looked like a quote from Manhattan Motorcars for parts.

They refused to release the car unless I paid for at least three hours of this "labor." After an argument, I paid (under duress), and had the car flat-bedded to my regular mechanic.

My regular mechanic (a specialist Indy shop about 25 miles away), rang me minutes after the car arrived, and confirmed that it was obvious what was wrong with the car: the bearing on the water-pump was shot. He estimated it would take maybe 5/6 hours (not 9.1 hours) to replace the pump, belt, and a couple of tensioners just-in-case.

He also confirmed that there is nothing wrong with the alternator, which the other crowd wanted $1,100 for, not including the 6.5 hours it would allegedly take to replace it.

Car should be back by Monday. I'm still arguing with the original garage.

Ben Z

I would've paid with AMEX and then immediately opened a dispute.

moorejd

Also, thanks everyone for the responses--much appreciated. And to the person who asked: time-of-death on the water-pump was 63k miles.

DC911S

Call the credit card company and dispute the charge. Go on Yelp and flame their butts real good. Tell the name of this shop on the Porsche boards too. They obviously tried to rip you off.

Saaboteur

Sad story. Best of luck getting the car back on the road and in your dispute with the rip-off shop.

Team Plutonium

Most retarded post of the week for sure. Congratulations.

Marine Blue

Personally I would have been happy and relieved to know they didn't actually do anything more than remove the airbox. It sounded immediately like a shop that would have taken you for a ride to the tune of thousands of dollars and likely incorrect work. As far as arguing the labor, I would agree that 3 hours is ridiculous but at some point you have to cut your losses. I would suggest to the shop owner that if they don't adjust the rate to one hour you'll share your story on yelp and also on a very well known Porsche forum.

Bruce In Philly

Fair.... stereotyping is not cool.

Peace
Bruce in Philly

Bruce In Philly

Quick story.... it is Manhatten Motorcars actually....

My buddy purchased a low-volume performance car there and then put a dent into its aluminum sheeting. MM quoted him about $8,700 for the repair. I steered him to Karosseri outside of Philly who did the work for around $5,000. Karosseri is a certified repair place for Jaguar, Ferrari, Tesla and other exotics. Their staff were shipped to the UK and Italy among other places as part of their certification to work on these cars. They also do carbon fiber work.

Just sayin.....

Peace
Bruce in Philly

hankcah

"My usual mechanic tells me he'll cover the cost if it was his fault, but not if the band failed because something seized"

Just hearing your regular mechanic say this, shows he's willing to not screw you over. Tow it to him ASAP.

At the $6k price, I'd get a quote from a Porsche Stealership and communicate those possibly cheaper prices to the jerk where your car is at now. If your'e handy at all, I'd order the parts and put your car up on ramps or jackstands and check out the DIYs out there. There's even a youtube video of one being done on a 996, to give you an idea.

How much is a new waterpump? For some reason I only see a thermostat for around $60.

3Series

$300

moorejd

UPDATE: The owner of the garage has agreed to refund me two of the three hours they charged me for. So at the end of it all, I'm only out an hour (plus towing costs and whatever my regular guy charges me). Regular guy has a great shop, and I trust him, so fingers crossed...

I'll let you know how it all shakes out, hopefully by Monday / Tuesday.

Edgy01

I'm sorry that you had to go through this. My water pump failed long ago--because I drive my car. Porsche AG got to pay the entire bill.

They have been getting away with this for years because a majority of Porsche drivers don't drive their cars, and the failure occurs after the 'warranty' expires.