Just wanted to send a quick shout out and public appreciation for Chris Sterling (aka Sterling Auto Concepts) on the impeccable work and dedication he performed on my Turbo, going way above and beyond my expectations.

Once I picked up my 997.1 TT a couple of weeks ago to use in the daily driver rotation, I knew I had to have Vivid/Agency Power's LED DRLs (http://www.agency-power.com/catalog/...iu4kr4m1uqb4e3). However, I'm about as useful with a screwdriver as a monkey with a hoe, so I called Chris and set an appointment to have him install the kit.

I got to Chris's shop in Laguna Niguel on a Friday morning, and he spent the better part of the day carefully removing the bumper and installing everything, taking care to ensure even the headlight washer tubes (for the lack of a better term) were appropriately capped. During that time, Chris let me borrow one of his cars to run some errands, take a couple of meetings, and get lunch. However, after ~7 hours of installation and testing, the passenger side's driving bulb wouldn't light up. Chris tried different bulbs, reversing the wires, etc. and it simply wouldn't work. Of course, this threw an annoying dash warning, and annoyingly I told him I don't even like the look of the factory yellowish bulb along the row of white LEDs. Since I had to leave at around 3:30, Chris told me to come back next week to see if he can try some other things, including using Durametric or PIWIS to possibly flash out the warning.

Early the week after, Chris texted me, explaining that he tried using Durametric and PIWIS on his own 997 and was unable to get rid of the dash warning, and asking me to bring the car in at my convenience so he can try and get it perfect. I brought the car back on the following Friday, and Chris removed the bumper yet again, and after a couple of hours found out that the blue wire (pictured below) was stripped from the factory and did not make contact. He was able to devise a new wire and get electricity flowing to the bulb, and in the process also procured a couple of matching, error-free LED bulbs to address my dissatisfaction with the yellow bulb; needless to say, I was very happy. When I asked Chris how much I owed him for essentially doing half the job all over again, he refused to take anything, even when I insisted - all he said was "I just wanted it to be done right and perfect" and left it at that.

This is the second car I've had Chris do over the last couple years, and frankly I am not only exceptionally happy with his work, but completely humbled by the attitude. If anyone in the SoCal area needs some work done on the 997, feel free to PM me and I'll send you Chris's contact information.

Some pictures of the result:

 

I second that comment. Chris did an outstanding job on repainting my paint-to-sample front bumper on my previous car. Friendly, professional and well-priced.

A rarity these days.

 

How much is the kit? And how long should labor take?

 

$600 direct from AP (link is in my original post). Labor will heavily depend on familiarity with car and quality of job.