Quote:
Originally Posted by Doug427
I've owned both, so I have a bit of perspective that I hope can help you. My Miata was a first generation Miata. Honestly, I don't recall what exact year it was.
For the Miata, here's the good points:
Shifter - best I have ever used, hands down. Period.
Rock solid reliable. Mine had power windows, brakes, etc. NOTHING ever broke on that can. Ever.
It was a blast to drive.
Bad points of the Miata are:
Lack of power. I have a 2002 Boxster S, so while I can't speak of the base Boxster, the Miata was lots slower than my current Boxster S. It wasn't a slug by any means, but it wasn't quick either. I still found it very fun to drive.
Dated styling. On the first gen of the Miata, if that's what you are looking at, the interior styling is very dated and spartan. I'll take the Boxster 986 interior over the 1st gen Miata any time.
For the Boxster S,
Good points are -
Better power
Better styling, which is subjective
Better all around performance
Not really that expensive to maintain if you do the work yourself
Bad points -
Where do I start, how about IMS bearings that can grenade an engine with no notice at all.
Cracked heads that are far too common that lead to intermix and a VERY expensive repair
AOS that need fail far too often, and in some cases can also grenade your engine
Water pump replacement at regular intervals. They just don't last.
Radiator tanks that will eventually need replacing. expensive if you have it done. Pain in the a$$ if you do it yourself
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Thanks for the thorough response -- this is exactly what I was hoping to find. It sounds like the Miata can only really sell itself on a test drive, which I admittedly have yet to do (both early-2000s Boxsters and early-2010s Miatas are oddly scarce in my area).
Not to try and put words in your mouth, but it sounds like you're saying the main drawback with the Porsche is maintenance and reliability.
Is it safe to assume that the IMS bearing is good on a car that's past 80k miles on the original IMS? My understanding is that the bad bearings typically blow out pretty early.
For the cracked heads, water pump replacement, AOS replacement, etc. are there typically warning signs prior to catastrophic failure? And how expensive are we talking? I can afford a grand or two in repairs and could do simple stuff myself, although anything that requires lifting the car up and/or taking out chunks of the drivetrain is a bit iffy.