I can definitely see both sides of the discussion here. I can tell you're not an air-headed, snot-nosed kid who just wants to show off. I understand wanting to be different from the masses (in this case, your autocross competitors), and you have the advantage of working at a shop which specializes in cars such as a Boxster, plus a knowledge base for those cars that even those two decades older than you might not. If anything, it's a good thing you mentioned your age on here, but do understand that no one on here's trying to give you the "you're just a kid, maybe when you're older" lecture. They are indeed looking out for your best interests without even really knowing you personally, because that's just the sort of people we have on this board.
I think Perfectlap made some very important points and gave you some things to think about that are outside of, but can have a very heavy influence on, your ambitions to improve at autocross and owning a Boxster. What he's saying about (smartly) investing your money early, don't take that lightly. The only reason your peers aren't doing it is that they do not have enough examples of those who have done that and had success with it, and they can't be expected to practice something that they simply do not know or were never taught. So consider yourself (at least slightly) educated on the matter and given a strong recommendation to look into it further.
Before I get too long into that, I'll cut myself short, because we're still talking primarily about a car buying decision, here, which is a big deal for anyone, particularly for someone who is about to be 18.
I've got no clue how much it'd cost you to repair/replace a blown engine on a Miata, but I imagine it'll be significantly less than the cost to replace (since you're highly unlikely to have a "repair" situation) the engine on a Boxster. I'm sure you've probably read up on some of the failure points that this engine has (it's not just the IMS), and how catastrophic they can be. If not, spend some time on Mike Focke's google pages and Jake Raby's Flat 6 Innovations website, as well as LN Engineering's site. Any engine can fail, yes, but this is one aspect where the Porsche adds a rather large pouring of salt into the wound and hitting your wallet hard. Even with you doing a lot of the work yourself, it'd still be a huge chunk of change, especially for a young adult, and I know you'd take care of the car, but that hasn't stopped failures from happening to people who take very good care of theirs. To me that's a rather heavy cost difference to consider between the two cars.
Here's my bottom line: There's nothing that says you couldn't get yourself a Boxster. Your money, your decision. Yes, you have a lot of consideration to do, and while you may want that more instant gratification of having the car now and starting to build it up now and work on getting even faster with it
now...it may be worth it to wait and use something that's more cost effective, even if only slightly, in the meantime, and be able to have the disposable income to own, maintain, and heavily repair a car like a Boxster comfortably. Trust me, there's no shortage of Boxsters, they're not going anywhere, and their market value may be pretty much in the pits right now, but you can still get yourself a car that you know works (a Miata, clearly
), and that you know you can buy, modify, and blow the doors off of others with at a fraction of the cost of just getting a Boxster, and work on saving up for the car you want (a Boxster, clearly
). Yes, a few hundred dollars' difference between things like tires or parts at cost
right now isn't a huge hit to you now, but when you consider that that few hundred dollars today can be worth tens of thousands of dollars in just a few years' time if you put it in the right place(s), I feel you'd be hard-pressed not to do all you could to have that few hundred left over to put away/invest and get a return on it, which would allow you to very easily buy a Boxster, do what you want with/to it, and have plenty of cheddar left over, come whatever may. So spending a lot less on a car that will accomplish the same thing for you will allow you to put more of what you earn to work for you rather than just getting spent and lining someone else's pockets, and when it comes time for you to part with it you won't have invested as much into it, so the parting will be that much easier (I know you're not planning on getting rid of the Porsche, I'm just talking Miata here). As I was saying before, you're beyond your peers in a good few ways and in some of your thinking. Don't take what people are saying here as trying to shoot down or steal your dream from you. Rather, we're trying to help you find a way to enjoy it even more, for longer, and with less hardship. Short term pain for long term gain.
