and the size of the engine, there can be varying causes of problems. As with any engine in any make car. Many drive their cars well past the 100k miles mark...max I know of is a daily driver '02 at 230k...with never going inside the engine. Others have had multiple engines fail in their car.
There are starting to be aftermarket solutions to design problems available that can be installed as preventative measures.
As one who has documented many things about Boxsters including common problems and solutions, I own my second Boxster and it has been more reliable than my Honda, Acura, Mazda, VW, etc when measured in $ spent in repairs per month driven and/or frequency of trips to the mechanic measured over 5 years. Neither Boxster I owned ever left me stranded. Maintenance does matter...change the oil at least twice as frequently as they say to. My total expenses this year so far were $140 for a sensor that I really didn't need to change but just wanted a new one in to balance the age of the opposite one I replaced 3 years ago...the Honda dealer wanted $450 to replace the same part in my CRV.
Just because the Boxster/Porsche community knows all about their engines and shares the info freely, don't over-react to knowing so much. Other cars have their problems, their owners just don't care as much or share as much. Or maybe have as much fun.
More thoughts h
here