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I hate to get into this again but
The '97-'05 Boxster has a ~$600 in parts IMS upgrade available of better design and materials and the replacement has had zero failures over 3+ years and 3500+ cars. The ideal time to do the upgrade is when the clutch is replaced. Cheaper to do with the stick shift car than with the auto-manual TIP cars.
The '06-'08 Boxster (and potentially any Boxster with an engine replaced after about mid '05) has (or probebly has) another IMS design which appears to fail even less frequently but whose upgrade is about 3 times more expensive in parts and labor to upgrade.
The '09- Boxster has no IMS in its engine. Thus no IMS problems.
The Porsche IMS does fail sometimes, no one totally knows why. Frequent oil (3k miles) changes with good oil seem to reduce the probability as well as frequent exercise. But even following Porsche's ridiculous oil change recommendations, the failure rate is nothing like reading these forums would have you believe. Which is not to say there isn't a big financial impact if yours should be the one.
Wonderful cars.
As for the Miata, drive one and if your size fits and you feel comfortable driving it for a multi-hour drive...do it. I was quite comfortable in my Boxsters for hundreds of miles at a clip...and around cones and corners. I'm 6' and was as heavy as 220.
The '05 and later Boxsters have larger cockpits than the ''97-'04 models.
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