There are pros and cons to each type of lift. I ultimately went with a Bendpak MD-6XP mid-rise scissor lift and I'm very happy with it.
A couple of cons for other lifts and the recessed scissor lift:
- Although a 4-post leaves the entire underside of the car "open", in some cases it's actually less open than a scissor lift. The side rails are wide and in the way to some degree. You have to jack the car up off the side rails for lots of work. We did my Boxster transmission last weekend on my scissor lift and my friend with a 4-post said it was much easier to access the tranny on the scissor lift because there is absolutely nothing but air under the back of the car from the jacking points aft.
- I totally dig the recessed scissor lift, but I like the ability to move mine! In a 2-car garage where you normally need to keep the scissor lift on the side under one car, it is really nice to move the scissor lift to the center if you have a big project and want to get to all sides of the car easily. I guess in a 3-car garage putting the pit in the middle would work, or if you put a plate over it you could center it in a 2-car garage.
You need ramps of some sort to get a modestly lowered Boxster (e.g. with PSS9 on a SPB) over the scissor lift. That's the downside of the scissor lift -- the lift itself needs almost 4" clearance to drive over, which our cars don't have perhaps even in stock form. I just stacked & screwed together pairs of 2x10 10' boards, and made little detachable stepper ramps with 1x10 material. Just recently I got another layer of 2x10 10' boards so that the car can drive FORWARD (the front is lower than the rear) and still fully clear the scissor lift arm with the lift pads attached.
Here's what my garage looks like right now!
