To offer an opinion from a different perspective, the maintenance and repair costs for a BRZ will be significantly less than for a Porsche (especially one out of warranty). The driving experience is one thing and can be debated, and which one is ‘better’ is purely a matter of personal taste. But a Porsche is going to be much harder on the wallet than a BRZ (or probably any Japanese car).
I’ve owned well over 100 cars in over 45 years of driving (yes, I’m old, ugly too), including several Porsches (air and water cooled). Some of my favorite cars were the old-school air-cooled Porsches, of which I owned a 356, 914, and 911. They were different animals compared to the water cooled ones when it came to maintenance and repair (I also owned a 2006 Boxster S).
Porsche’s motto used to be “Excellence is expected”. Under Wendelin Wiedeking’s leadership, he changed Porsche’s mission to “be the most profitable car company in the world”. He succeeded, but the money comes from customer’s wallets. So much of the design of a contemporary Porsche is intended to make it difficult for owner service and force you to bring it to a dealer.
Particularly with a Cayman or Boxster, the engine is essentially a sealed pod, accessible from the bottom, or after removing some panels – it’s not a simple 3 second popping of the hood. For laughs, check out what it takes to change the air filter on a new 911:
For the past 15 years Porsches haven’t even had oil dipsticks, only a digital display of oil level. I found out first hand how expensive that could be with my 2006 Boxster S. About 3 months after buying the car new, the digital display showed the oil level was
increasing. First one quart up, then a couple of weeks later, two quarts up. If it had a dipstick I could have found out instantly myself both the actual level, and if it was contaminated. As it was, I couldn’t tell if the sensor was bad, or if gas or coolant were leaking into the crankcase. I took it to the dealer, but since it wasn’t throwing a code, they charged me $250 (in 2006) to drain the oil, measure it with a measuring cup to determine the volume, and examine it to see if it was contaminated. It turned out to be a bad sensor (that was covered under warranty), but I still had to pay for the drain and measure. After that I swore I would never again own a car without a mechanical dipstick.
I love the way the Cayman looks (gorgeous) and drives (sublime). Since at my age, I’m getting close to my final sports cars, when I was shopping for the BRZ last year I toyed with the idea of a Cayman as a possible swan song. I checked with local Porsche dealer to see how much an oil change (they call it “oil service”) would cost: $650. That sealed the deal for a BRZ, and I haven’t looked back since.
The bottom line, if you own a Porsche out of warranty, I think you need to be prepared to either be able to work on it yourself (which requires above average skills), or to pony up a LOT more money than it costs to keep a Japanese car running. As beautiful as they are and as nice as they are to drive, for me it wasn’t worth it. I would feel like a sucker every time I went to the Porsche dealer for them to vacuum out my bank account (if you really want to go directly to bankruptcy, buy a pre-2009 Porsche at risk of IMS issues).