Having driven R129's, a 911 Cab, and Z4 I'd say if you actualy plan on driving the car the R129 would be the most comfortable.


Out of the three its probably the most comfortable road trip car. The Porsche and BMW ride like they have 2x4's for shocks.

Insted of the Boxster I'd highly recomend the 911, its a fantastic machine.

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2016 Corvette Stingray 2LT
1969 280SE
2023 Ram 1500
2007 Tiara 3200

I'd 86 the Audi off the bat. 1.8T engine, cheap upgrade chip to 200+HP but not that reliable. The Boxster looks way better than the R129 IMO. The 129 is a little bit dated in styling.

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You don't need a weatherman to know which way the wind blows - Robert A. Zimmerman

Audi=VW=No way I'd want one. Too many problems with that chassis in my experience, and VW quality is an oxymoron especially in that year range.
The Porsche is nice, but again there is the cost. A great deal of the parts are dealer only. Ride is harsh, but they are very responsive. A lot of people complain about the oversteer issues, but if you're good with the gas pedal you're fine.
The SL is quite nice as well, but I believe in order to have one you must wear a button down shirt with your chest hair sticking out, a large gold medallion around your neck, and have your hair slicked back.

I don't know about the TT, other than it being ugly. The Boxster is nothing special aesthetically either, but as others have said, I don't think the mid-engined six is friendly to DIY'ers.

The Mercedes is tried, true and tested. It looks nice, it runs fast, it is comfortable, competent and reliable. Parts are available everywhere, and hey...It's an SL!

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1987 300SDL (324000)

1986 Porsche 951 (944 Turbo) (166000)

1978 Porsche 924 (99000)

1996 Nissan Pathfinder R50 (201000)

Thanks for the responses, guys.

The more I think about it, the more I realize owning a Porsche is out of my league. I've no Porsche ownership experience and don't know anyone who owns one. Now hearing about the Boxster having particular issues is scaring me away. And not to mention the fact that you can't wrench on it because it's so complicated of a car. Interest is waning (again), but I'm sure when I'm ready to buy the interest might come back, as it has before.

I didn't realize the TT has rear seats. I thought it was strictly a 2-seater. I'm curious why all the hate on Audis? I know they had a bad rep in the 80s and 90s, but I know the TT and the A4 were suppose to bring the name back to respectability. Yesterday I was cleaning my room and realize I had some car rating books and mags and found a few TT reviews. They were all praising the TT, particularily its styling, which I think has held up well. Being a VW of sorts, wouldn't it be deemed a reliable car that you can work on?

About the R129. This might sound stupid, but in the back of my head I'm thinking it's too much of a car for me. I feel like I have no business driving, much less owning one. Only successful people or people born with a silver spoon in their mouth drive this car. What's a plebian like me driving one? But really, I've always liked it from a styling and engineering point of view. Initially it was my main choice, if not the only choice.

I've never been a big fan of the BMW Z-series, so that's not a choice even if it's better in some regards.

Right now I'm leaning towards the TT because it seems to be the car that looks like you can do some of your own work on. Also, it's the most affordable as far as later years are concerned. Another factor is that it doesn't seem to be associated with the tuner culture. It's a car for mature people, sorta like the R129.

The real issues with the TT are the platform it's built off of. It's the same one as the New Beetle, Golf IV, Jetta IV, and a couple Seat and Skoda cars.
My ex had a New Beetle Convertible, nothing but issues with that car. Excessive body flex would actually crack the windshield, more squeaks and rattles than my 40year old F250, and non-stop issues with the auto drop power windows not working and tearing the weatherstripping around the top. Also, the headliner tension strap broke on the second or third time the top was put down, jamming it in the halfway position. It took six months to get the part from VW (complete top replacement) and get it installed, and then it broke again just outside of warranty.
The interior materials felt cheap, the seat heaters burned out, and the NVH levels of the ride were a bit excessive, mostly in chassis flex. Every bump you felt three or four ripples afterwards, and my 70 Galaxie would outhandle it.
The six speed tiptronic had it's fair share of issues, mostly in the integration with the electronic throttle. Going about 20-25 on an on-ramp, stomp on it and the thing would have to wait to figure out what to do. Usually it would wait about half a second, then go WOT in the current gear (4th at that speed), then slowly downshift to 3rd, 2nd, 1st with the engine nearly at redline and then it would go back to second and start accelerating. That almost got us run over in Chicago, but the dealership said it was normal operation. Both low beams went out at the same time, and the headlight retainers were a royal pain to get too, so she took it to the dealership. They broke the headlight retainers, then had the balls to say it came in that way. $400 for new headlamp assemblies-

FROSTY
I was in a similar situation as you. I sold my 67 230SL about 2 years ago (had it for over 20 years). After a while I was itching for something fun. Looked at the Boxster, Vette,
TT, and S2000. After driving and reseaching each, found S2000 and love It. No Maintance, Faster than most(0-60 5.5sec) handles unbelievable, and can be had for reasonable Price.
Still have 85 280CE
Good luck

The TT doesn't generally suffer from any of that actually. Even comes stock with am upper strut bar. That Beetle was probably built in Mexico or some place. The TT is made in Hungary. It basically has all the differences one would expect from a $16K starting price vs. $45'000(new).

On edmunds, the user submitted reviews lean toward the 9.0. The VAG group hate is just more of that tribalism. I only wanted a TT for looks until I drove one. Then took Benz off the list and the only competitor for me was the new GTO. A veedub is just tons more fun to own/drive than a Mercedes. Every single one of my friends wants to be in line to take mine over if I ever get something else.

My father in law who'se played with sports cars his whole life - usually european ones - just dumped a boxster. Said it's the worst piece of junk he's ever owned. Engine was a nightmare to work on but no nearly as bad as the chronically unreliable soft top which kept getting stuck and had to be taken to the dealer to be rebuilt on numerous occasions. He said he should never have traded his SL for it. The Mercedes was a vastly better car all round.

- Peter.

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2021 Chevrolet Spark
Formerly...
2000 GMC Sonoma
1981 240D 4spd stick. 347000 miles. Deceased Feb 14 2021
2002 Kia Rio. Worst crap on four wheels
1981 240D 4spd stick. 389000 miles.
1984 123 200
1979 116 280S
1972 Cadillac Sedan DeVille
1971 108 280S

What killed the Boxster for me is engine access. I don't know about the old ones but on the new ones I looked at you can't get to the engine. Its just a sheet of aluminum that I assume and hope unbolts somehow so you can. If not that it must all be from underneath, and in that case you would need a lift.


Porsche even puts hose connections in the trunk so every 15k miles the dealer can suck the oil out and pump more in. I guess the oil filter only gets changed every 30k.


At least on the 911 you can get to the motor. Still tight, compared to the R129 which would be a dream to work on in comparision.

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2016 Corvette Stingray 2LT
1969 280SE
2023 Ram 1500
2007 Tiara 3200

I agree with forgetting the P-wagen - although the Boxster would be my Porsche of choice, they are still more "race bred" than the other 2 options.

From there - its easy - if you want a go kart/stick shift - buy the TT, if you'd rather have a decent ride/nicer interior - grab the SL. Forget the SL-silver spoon linkage - you dont get behind the wheel to drive a repuation - you get a car to drive THE CAR, and the SL is going to be a nice ride (big V8...)

Or better yet - what kind of transmission do you want ? a stick - get teh TT. If an auto is ok, get the SL - you'll want the big motor with an auto anyway =) The SL will be more liveable on long trips if you plan on doing such.

Realisitically, any of these cars could cost you nothing or thousands to repair at any given time. Both have decent forum's for support. As a VW/Audi fan I wonder if there are 2 Audi factories - one makes vehicles that go forever with no issues, the other does the opposite - so its really a crap shoot with anything you buy.

I'd go for the SL. Forget the Haters....

-John

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2009 Kia Sedona
2009 Honda Odyssey EX-L
12006 Jetta Pumpe Duse
(insert Mercedes here)

Husband, Father, sometimes friend =)

My mother's Jetta TDI (bought new in 2000) has almost 200k on the clock with very minimal problems, whereas there are hundreds of horror stories about one repair after the next with those cars. I think it is just hit or miss, when it hits you you're practically driving a lemon. I have heard the same criticism of the TTs, which is why I posted it as a cause of concern above. They may have a 9.0 rating for those that perform well, but the bad ones are a good laundry list of pricey repairs--May be due to multiple types of chain reaction failures as well...my experience is mainly anecdotal so take it with a grain of salt.

Myself, I'm (trying) to save up for a R129 but I have college loans and a w126 diesel swap that take complete precedence over it so it may be a while. Think they are the best looking cars of the 1990s (followed by 3000GT/Stealths ) and the prices have dropped to affordable levels.

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TC
Current stable:
- 2004 Mazda RALLYWANKEL
- 2007 Saturn sky redline
- 2004 Explorer...under surgery.

Past: 135i, GTI, 300E, 300SD, 300SD, Stealth