Mods to the Lola? Not a cat in hell's chance.
TOOO much lavished on it recently in the £10,000 engine mods, it will stay as it is until I pack it all in.
Toyota
My petrol headded daughter tried one, an auto (!) some years back, did not gell with it all.
Now on here 5th MX5, punctuated by a short spell with a VW Up! Gti
However, still worth a look i agree.
Boxster?
Bought in 20016, a 987.2 2.9 2009 car @ 36K back then. Used as a daily driver by a lady.
Have done about 5 Eurotours, Scotland runs and much more, about 5K / year.
Great when working well!
Had a string of issues:
A/C radiators rotten, £400 DIY repair
Several cooling pipes at the front, rotten, and also a DIY affair to avoid the £800 bill quoted, £1200 at an OPC
White cold start smoke. Haunted me for 2 years, 2 AOS swaps (pain to do) and advised to drop the engine oil level (no dipstick) and this had 99% fixed it. Belches a cloud every now and then. Drove me nuts.
Front brakes, easy DIY but expensive.
2 sets of 19" tyres which may be the root of the current problem with the car. These are N rated, and expensive.
Exhaust bolts to car converters and other silencer bolts, had them done by indie Zuffenhaus, a real pain. Not cheap.
6 coil packs...
Lots of services at Zuffenhaus, great indie imho in south Birmingham. This has ensured it has a full service history.
Driver's window regulator failed one cold icy morning, DIY, £60 and a pain to do.
So, above is the bad stuff, and maybe what is expected.
The good bits are:
Fabulous flexible engine and 6 speed manual box, dare I say 35/36 mpg cruising.
Runs on E10 (!) every bit as good as E5. Done this for 3 years now after advice from one-who-knows.
Will swallow all luggage and junk needed for Euro tours with ease.
An absolute mile eater of a car with strong performance and docile in towns
Sounds fabulous at about 6500 and more.
Suspension totally silent, rare at this mileage which has just turned 80K yesterday while in Scotland.
My advice is to buy a second generation 987, you are free of IMS and seal worries, the 2.7/2.9 engines have no bore score issues, only the big engined Boxsters may suffer in S form.
Leather seats are very cold in winter, so heated option is good.
They are not particularly fast nowadays, EV's are a pain, but they are small on the road, steer really well and have nice progressive brakes.
Paint stone chips easy...
Hope this helps.