In what sense do the boxsters cost a lot to run? As at that age, I wouldnt be taking it to porsche for any servicing etc. Do they break a lot?

Nah its not mechanical faults.

Its partly tyre and brake wear but mainly that every time you need to service it (quite often) its basically a drop the engine job as you cant really get to it any other way.  Add about £500-1000 a year on top of a normal car for general running costs.  Obviously if something does break then its more than a normal car to fix and theres petrol/tax/insurance costs to consider but I assume you allowed for those.  So far the basic mechanicals seem to be running at about £1k a year more than my 3 series to keep it on the road (using a decent garage but not a porsche dealer).  2001 Boxster 3.2S so similar year but maybe slightly higher wear and tear than the 2.5/2.7s.

Id buy another one and recommend one but the costs are slightly higher than I thought theyd be just because the engines a pain in the ass to get to for even basic maintainance.

The advice I got was every 10,000 miles is a sensible service interval on the 2001 era cars, especially the 3.2S.  My 3 series goes a lot further than that between services...

Then again I cover a lot of miles so I hit mileage services and trip computer warnings more often than relying on 12 months service intervals.  Ive only had mine for a while and its gone through a set of pads (my own fault hehe) which hit me for £600 parts.  Ill probably have to replace the tyres within the year for another few hundred and the labour of dropping the engine means you dont save huge amounts by avoiding main dealers.  I also had it given an inspection by my local garage after I bought it (not necessary but I was curious) and the labour of checking the engine really suprised me despite there being nothing wrong.

Its not huge but its noticeably higher.  For example, I had to replace my entire brake system on the 3-series at the same time (they locked on while I was in Newcastle and I needed to be in London in a couple of hours so just drove it anyway).  I replaced discs, pads, callipers, and had all the brake fluid done for the same price as the pads in the boxster...  Its not a trivial cost.

I think you should get a Karmann Ghia

Thanks for the advice guys, I might pass on the porsche then really, as I dont have tons of money!!

A friend of mine had a TT, and he didnt enjoy it to be honest.

Ive looked at Supras and Skylines, but think for £10k, they are that bit too old for me tbh.

Have you looked at Honda Integra Type R?

I have a 14 year old prelude and its been very reliable. If you get a well looked after Honda then you shouldnt get any big bills and servicing isnt expensive either. The S2000 is a great car and you only look like a bit of a fool with the roof down, keep the roof up and its not too over the top.

I think you right to be wary of Porche. I did look at buying a 944 turbo but reliability scared me off.
I also looked at a 1992 Toyota Celica Saintz edition which was awesome but looked a bit dated.. but I might look at buying one in the future if i can find a mint one
skyline would be great but insurance was over 1k for me, celica was only 350.

But I think im in a similar boat to Mark where I can do my own servicing and fix most problems, so im not as afraid of older cars as people who have to pay a mechanic to fix there cars. I dont think ill ever buy a car thats newer than 10 years old.