Ouch. Not being stingy but paying more for installing the part than the cost of the item seems pretty odd.

Called Suncoast and got what seems like really good prices for all my other parts but wanted to check local dealers for the SSK as I figured I could get that done quickly first.

According to Rusnak Pasadena, if I don't buy it from their parts dept which charges a whole lot more than Suncoast, they won't install it - no way I'm ever buying another car from them now.

So I called Downtown LA Porsche and was given a price quote far higher for all other items but oddly enough the SSK was cheaper than even Suncoast. So I asked about labor cost to install and was told $465.

So $353 for the SSK parts, $465 for labor to install. I am a mechanical noob - no way I can DIY this but I'm also not paying $465 for an SSK install.

Now I'm thinking I might as well have Suncoast ship all the parts I want to someone like GMG and see if I can have them install everything as well as whatever AWE parts I buy from them.

 

Just curious, what SSK are you buying for $353? Seems kind of steep to begin with.

 

That quote seems a little too high. I am defenitely not that mechanically inclined but managed to do it in 3.5 hours the first time. I ended up taking everything apart again to readjust a wire and that time it only took an hour to do it all start to finish. Its fairly easy to do and certainly a Porsche tech should be able to do it for well under the 3 hours they are quoting you.

 

It's an easy Do-It-Yourself job if you simply follow the instructions and take your time. I did mine myself.
CATTMAN

 

The oem kit comes with DIY instructions? Any special tools involved?

Fwiw, the oem kit lists for $500+, so $350 is not a bad deal, imho.

 

I'm looking to install the OEM Porsche SSK - at Suncoast it's on sale right now for $369.95 and from a local dealer $353.

The difference between no tax but shipping vs. tax locally isn't that big a deal to me -either way the price of the SSK is totally fine, it's the installation labor cost that is objectionable.

3+ hrs dealer labor seems far more than what I'd read here as a quick 1hr install for a trained person.

 

1 hour of labor at Ruf.

 

Nope,
Just need a couple of different sized torx wrenches found in your tool shed or local Home depot. No DIY instructions with the OEM kit but there is a B&M DYI you can find in one of the other Porsche forums. The OEM is actually much easier to install than the B&M and will give you less grief from your stealer if there are any warranty issues.

 

I just got my Oem ssk from suncoast today. i dont feel comfortable installing it myself, does anyone know who can install it for a reasonable price? i thought labor would cost no more than 250.

 

Moz - shoot forum member TTDude a PM . He's in your area and also is a friend of mine . I don't recall the name of the shop he had his exhaust installed but he found them reasonable . I think it was called Speed Gallery? Sound Familiar? I may be wrong . He would know.

 

Well the good news is I called and spoke to Fabryce (sp?) at GMG today on another matter - my ongoing narrowing down of what exhaust system to put on, thinking AWE maybe.

Anyway, asked and found out I can just order the SSK via Suncoast and GMG will put it on. I believe it was 2hr labor quote - something like a couple hundred dollars. $240 or something.

I'm fine paying a highly competent tech a couple hundred for peace of mind to stick on my SSK instead of having me blunder around learning to do it DIY.

If you are in SoCal and close or dont mind the drive to GMG I'd just go there. Screw Rusnak - they've not only lost my service business but I'm never buying a car from there again.

 

Oh and by the way - I got a 2nd quote just to check from Auto Gallery Porsche in Woodland Hills, parts guy told me $504 for the SSK but at least unlike Rusnak the service manager said they would put on parts you bought elsewhere.

But his quote was $545 for labor to install. But when I asked what would then be a PSE install cost (without the switch), he said about $650-750.

For some reason I thought an exhaust installation would be a lot more - is $650-750 for putting on a PSE really high then too given what they are charging for SSK installation?

 

I pay $100 per hour on installation and since I have 85K worth of mods on my Turbo if an extra few hours pop up they comp me their time. Parts I negotiate and what I found is that if you install five things at one time it gives you a lot of pricing leverage .

An exhaust is 4 hours .
A ssk is 2 .
Approx time .

PSE will not give the peformance of the aftermarket.

AWE will be a better choice but I would add the Evoms intake , and Evomsit software .

 

[quote=mozhacker;2371945]Ouch. Not being stingy but paying more for installing the part than the cost of the item seems pretty odd.

Have you checked with B&M in Chatsworth? I think their ssk is cheaper, has a "lifetime warranty", and they ought to be able to put it on in an hour or less.

 

I know labor is expensive, but a trained factory service technician should be able to do this in his/ her sleep in under an hour.

I did mine in a few hours, but could do it again (2nd time around is twice as fast) in an hour. I promise, if you follow the instructions (readily available online) you CAN do this. I did it, and I'm not a mechanic- although doing this, installing my exhaust, plenum, and cold air intake myself has given me a lot of confidence, as well as a greater sense of intimacy with my car.
CATTMAN