I have a 1986 245 DL that has had a leaky power steering rack for a few years now. Almost weekly I check the power steering fluid and end up adding a bit about every 4 weeks to keep it above the min. line. I wish I had the money to get the rack repaired but I've been quoted by two shops I trust at $500 plus to do this. I don't know enough about cars to buy the parts and do it myself like you guys. I have a few questions related to this:

Does the price for this repair sound about right if you're going to have someone do it for you?

Am I causing my car more harm by not repairing the leaky rack even though I'm keeping the fluids above the min line?

Would it be cheaper to have the power steering system removed and just have a car without power steering, and besides harder steering at low speeds what would the positive and negative results of doing this? Would the car have more power w/out this system?

Please help. Thanks...