Adrian_Thompson said:AAZCD is THE Boxster guru here. My experience so far is they are dead easy to work on. Any issues I've had are either age related or things I missed putting it back together. With the soft top 'service position' and the access panel from the inside everything is easy to reach. What (very few) mechanical parts I've bought have been fairly priced. The Porsche tax has only come in on trim bits so far and is why I'm still running around with one slightly cloudy headlight as after market replacements are over $500 vs $50 for your high volume vehicles.
While size is a personal issue, I now find an NA/NB simply too small, too slow and too exposed for DDing. I consider NA/NB's to be in the same category as MGB's from a DD point of view. Fun, easy and affordable, but not practical, safe or comfortable, especially around here with E36 M3ty roads and predominant use of SUV's and trucks for DD duty. YMMV.
A 986 boxster, relative to it's price point, has a E36 M3ty interior. Having said that, it's magnitudes better than an NA or NB. That's no slight against the Miata's. They were $20K cars new, not $50K+. Despite its sub par (for brand and price) interior, the Boxster is a really really nice place to be, at least for me. I love DDing and I love taking 250+ road trips in it.
You will also love how the Boxster handles. Plenty comfortable enough with good ride for a sports car, but the handling is sublime at street legal speeds. The steering is simply suburb, it feels like you have a tie rod in each hand rather than a steering wheel, column and rack in between you and the wheels. Boxsters, especially early 2.5L cars like mine, are slow by modern traffic standards, but rocket ships compared to a Miata. The nice thing is you get to wring that glorious smooth yet howly flat six all the time and listen to it's sweet wailings. An early Miata will have a loaded semi flashing you to get out of it's way from a stop light even at WOT.
These are all personal opinions mind you, but the Boxster really is in a different class here. Now a couple of disclaimers. One, these are my opinions and yours may be different and just as valid. Secondly, I've just discovered how cheap NC Miata's have got. NC Vs 986 is a totally different conversation that you might want to have.
I already have a 924S and a DD, and for some reason now I want a Boxster ;) nice recap.
