Gooner4Life

Hello,

My 2008 TL has a major power steering fluid leak and needs a new rack. It only has 49000 miles, I've had no problems and I'm the second owner since approx 30k mi. The stealership who performed the p.s hose recall/TSB about 6 months ago wanted over $1500 so I took it to the dealer I bought it from in the hope of some goodwill....

We had a cold snap in S Florida last week and heard the dreaded whine noise, checked the reservoir which was below 'low', filled it up with fresh fluid, 2 days later it was low again so I peeked under the car and both p.s boots were wet with fluid and the oily puddle underneath is brown and murky. I'm not sure if they replaced the fluid or the O-ring at the p.s inlet during the recall. The 2nd dealer confirmed a new rack was needed.

I'm just out of full warranty since March, the dealer is willing to discount approx $370 as goodwill but I'm still looking at a major expense, so I have 2 questions:

1) Since I plan on keeping the car, is it worth spending extra on the oem rack and have the dealer repair it? Or will a remanufactured one like Cardone installed by my local mechanic (to save a few hundred $$$) last as long?

2)I see this is a common problem, and I feel it is related to the recall, at the very least the fluid was bad which could have contributed to the bad seals, so do I have any legal recourse here? I'm thinking BBB or even auto lawyer? I've never heard of racks going bad so soon.

Thanks!

PS Since this is my first post thanks to all the regulars here and on s2ki/BITOG etc. You know who you are, you are legends!