In 2012, I bought a CPO 2007 Boxster from Porsche North Houston. Owned the car from 2012 to 2019. Had 20k on the odometer when I bought it and came with the 2 year CPO warranty. Here are the takeaways:

1. Porsches are special. You feel special owning one. Even a total base model Boxster. Being part of the PCA and attending club meets with genuine car dudes (the club guys mostly aren’t the orthodontists. They are real car guys….but not the obnoxious tuner types.) My Boxster turned heads as I kept it pristine and I was proud of it.

2. Cost of ownership was insane. First two years limited to oil changes. Year three, right out of warranty, was a $12k+ year. Tires, brakes, rotors, rebuilt both doors (one for a bad speaker, one for a broken handle mechanism), replaced cable linkage between shifter and transmission which required taking basically the entire interior out, replaced convertible top motor and rods, and of course year three was when I hit my big $$ service which was the belt and water pump, plugs, etc.

Some of the costs of ownership are simply due to maintaining a car to spec that is set for 100 mph+. Porsche tire spec and brake spec are high performance. And that means $$. For a car that I only drove over 100 a few times.

1. And that brings me to another point, the Porsche at 90 mph was stupid good. It was fun, shifted like butter, and didn’t even break a sweat on turns. Literally glued to the road.

But that capability came at a cost. It was dreadfully boring and almost laborious to drive it at city speeds. Contrast that to my current MX-5 which puts a smile on my face just driving to work at 60 mph, costs me next to nothing, etc. It’s hard to justify the $$ for capability that I never use.

At the end of 7 years of ownership, total cost of the Porsche wasn’t as ugly as year three taken alone. It balanced out. But in comparison, my S2000s were cheap and my Miata may as well be a Corolla.

Would I do it again? Hell yes. Owning a Porsche was my dream. I’m not wealthy. I work for my money. And I enjoyed it. But long term, I found the pros and cons list shifted for me. I’m still in a little roadster. It’s not like I grew up. But I did get more pragmatic about it.