Hello! I have a 2005 997.1 cab with ~60k miles. History about the car. The IMS bearing did fail in 2015 years ago requiring lower end rebuild done at Porsche dealership otherwise no other major issues other than routine servicing per manual.

For the past 2-3 months the car would randomly throw “Tiptronic emergency run” light and go into limp mode without warning. Turning the car off and then back on would fix the issue as I believed it to be an electronic gremlin. The car also is slowly doing gear changes from 2nd to 3rd which will trigger the warning Tiptronic light. As I increase speed in 2nd gear the car with lurch forward and a big thump will be felt triggering the error.

No leaking or odd noises from engine bay or under the car. All appropriate service completed by Porsche dealer in the past. I recently used a recommended independent mechanic to change the Tiptronic fluid and filter as they believed this could possibly fix the error as supposedly it was due to old fluid and clogged up filter. This fluid/filter change worked for about 3 months until the error showed up again and this time the car won’t leave limp mode. Luckily, I was near my home so was able to make it to the garage. The car won’t shift out of limp mode at the moment.

The OEM transmission is half Mercedes Benz and half Porsche. So Porsche dealer will likely replace completely and not service or repair which will cost the most

I searched for similar threads and it seems others have same issues. Either the valve body, connector plate, solenoids, or wiring harness could be the issue vs complete replacement.

Question 1: INDY or Dealer? Any recommendations on Detroit Michigan area independent mechanics that have fixed this issue? I see other threads stating pros and cons. Any thoughts or ideas? I appreciate helpful feedback.

Question 2: Car is in limp mode only 3rd gear? Is it ok to drive to a local shop with limp or better to flatbed?

Thank you! Please also PM me if you don’t want to publicly speak of different mechanics or dealers.