[racer]

Having had both 914 (2 of them) and 986 boxster, they are both Porsches and mid-engine, but everything else is different.

As others have mentioned, the 914 is simple. a little loud, a little slow, more "fun" when used as a weekend backroads car. Do you really want to do valve adjustments? gap plugs? gap distributors? track down 30+ year old replacement parts? Now, these aren't everyday issues, but they will crop up.. and they will only crop up when you want to use it.

The Boxster is a great car. modern. Fast. Safe. Relatively reliable should the IMS issue not pop up. Great DD. Great HEAT (not smelly) and AC. And even heated seats.. and you don't have to leave the car to put the top down.

Last I checked, "decent" 914's on the east side of the US are $8-15K ( I sold my last one in 2009 for almost $12k) and even more depending how nice you want. And don't be fooled, those cars all have 100K+ miles as the 5 digit odometers have surely been around once.

A 100K mile boxster doesn't sound enticing cause its so new.. no charm.. you know its been a 3-4-5 owner car and the first 2 were lease owners. No love. No history. Just durable and perhaps a little too common.

I hate to say it, as lover of the aircooled cars, but my current 944 has been the best "compromise" Porsche I've had. It is old enough it has none of the safety nanny items (ABS, Airbags, PSM, TC, Bla Blah) so it rewards good driving, and cause its a little old, it lets you tinker as needed. It has a large sunroof that does make it feel quite open. Its got great AC and Heat.