Porsche 718 Boxster Review 2025: Price, specs & boot space

If you’re even contemplating a two-seat roadster and have a budget starting around £50,000 then it’d be remiss not to include the Porsche 718 Boxster on your list of potential purchases. The Porsche 718 Boxster has to be one of the best convertible cars going and a car by which all cars in its class are judged. While rivals are good, none offer such a rounded proposition as the popular Porsche. It is an incredible driver’s car while also being a credible daily car and even, thanks to two luggage compartments, usefully practical – by the standards of the class.

The Porsche Boxster’s success underlines that it’s not just right for you, but right for lots of people, and justifiably so, even if there remains a bit of snobbery among some that it’s somehow a ‘poor persons’ Porsche as it’s not a 911. We really don’t subscribe to that, as from £50,000 upwards it’s not cheap, and it’s arguably better to drive than its iconic 911 relation.

The Porsche 718 Boxster range encompasses a decent spread of models, and each has their own character and appeal. The base model is quick, looks fantastic and drives beautifully, if that’s all your budget can manage you’ll not feel short-changed or any less special driving it. The Porsche 718 Boxster S adds some power and equipment, most of which you could live without, but, likewise, are nice to have.

The Porsche 718 Boxster T is a bit more specialist, being an amalgam of the base model’s engine and GTS model’s suspension, aimed at more demanding drivers. It’s a hugely fun car, without any real compromises over its relations despite its sharper focus. 

The Porsche 718 Boxster GTS’s 4.0-litre 400PS engine is a hugely compelling reason to buy it, and if budget’s not such an issue, it’s the one we’d unreservedly choose. With any Porsche the sweet-shifting manual is so good we’d always prefer it, but, similarly, if you want your mid-engined Porsche with the ease, and the greater performance that the PDK paddle-shifted automatic brings, you’d not be wrong, either.

The premium roadster marketplace has four rivals that fit pretty much the same brief as the Porsche 718 Boxster, albeit all a little bit less convincingly. 

Mercedes-Benz offers the SLC though it’s getting very old now, BMW can bring its BMW Z4 along to a roadster shoot out, Audi its TT Roadster and Jaguar its F-Type Convertible. All have merit, but the Porsche 718 Boxster outshines them all on the road, and, arguably for brand appeal, too. It’s not unlikely that potential Porsche 718 Boxster buyers might be looking at used Porsche 911 Cabriolets too.

With every iteration of the Boxster Porsche has improved its interiors, and with the Porsche 718 Boxster line-up it’s reached a point where it’s the equal, and better than, the majority of its rivals. An Audi TT might wow a bit more initially, and you need to spend a fair bit extra on interior trim materials and finishes to have your Porsche 718 Boxster looking its best, but, fundamentally, the interior build and finish is excellent throughout.

The materials all feel high quality, particularly the control surfaces and switches, which all have a solid feel and pleasing action. Only the cup holders let the side down a bit, popping out from a slot above the glovebox, precariously housing one drink above the centre console and the buttons within it, and feeling pretty insubstantial.

Don’t pop your morning mocha-choca-double-shot-latte from Costarbucknero in there, then, as a spillage could prove costly. There’s some hard, scratchy plastics surrounding the load area under the bonnet, but that’s forgivable, as apart from when you’re under there, they’re out of sight.

All Porsche 718 Boxsters come with a 7-inch screen which Porsche dubs Porsche Communication Management, it containing a navigation module, mobile phone preparation, audio interfaces and a voice control system. 

A lot of services are bundled under the Porsche Connect banner, it a subscription service that includes Carfinder, a system that allows remote vehicle status, services and vehicle tracking. Porsche supports Apple CarPlay alone, not offering Android Auto on its cars, saying the majority of its customers use Apple products.

The standard audio system is Porsche’s Sound Package Plus, a 110 watt set-up with six speakers and DAB digital radio. Optionally there’s a BOSE surround sound stereo package which has 10 speakers and 505 watts, or, if you’ve money to burn at a touch under £3,000, an 821 watt 12-speaker Burmester high end surround sound system.

Operation of the touchscreen is simple enough with practice, with shortcut buttons beneath it speeding access to certain functions. There’s a second small screen in the instruments for the on board computer, though if you want to control the audio functions from the steering wheel you need to add the heated multifunction wheel to your specification, as it’s a cost option. 

As standard the T comes without a stereo as part of its weight-saving measures, but it’s a no-cost option to have it added back – you’d be mad not to.

There’s plenty of space inside for two adults, even if they’re at the taller end of the height scale. It’s a two-seater only, so there’s no space behind the rear seats for chucking a bag of coat. 

Oddment storage inside is limited to the glovebox and a small lidded compartment between the seats. The door bins have useful pull out sides to ease access, but they only offer a shallow small area behind them. There’s the no-cost, surprisingly useful, option of a storage net on the transmission tunnel footwell of the passenger side, that’s well worth having.

For bigger luggage the Porsche 718 Boxster is surprisingly accommodating as there are two boots. One is up front under the bonnet, the deep rectangular shape offering 150 litres of space, enough for a couple of carry-on sized suitcases. 

The rear boot offers an additional 125 litres, its greater width useful for longer items but it’s not brilliantly proportioned, meaning it’s better suited for squashy bags rather than hard cases. Forget about putting golf clubs in either. Still, with careful packing you’ll be able to squeeze a lot in a Porsche 718 Boxster, certainly enough for a week away. 

Amazingly, Porsche used to offer a roof rack system for the Boxster, but it seems this has been discontinued for the current model. There’s the option of a child seat ISOFIX mount on the passenger seat, it coming with an airbag cut off switch, though that ISOFIX mount isn’t possible on all seat options.

For a two-seater open-top sportscar the Porsche 718 Boxster is surprisingly useful and useable, its skill-set not just limited to enjoying drives on fun roads or tracks, it a genuine day-to-day proposition.

The Porsche 718 Boxster dimensions are 4379mm long, 1994mm wide and 1280mm tall.

If there’s a contentious issue in relation to the Porsche 718 Boxster it’s entirely centred around the engines. In isolation the turbocharged four-cylinder engines are great, 300PS and 350PS is plenty of power, making any Boxster a 170mph+ capable car. 

The Porsche 718 Boxster can reach 62mph in 5.3 seconds, that dropping to 4.9 seconds with the PDK transmission and by a further 0.2 seconds to 4.7 seconds if you’ve opted for PDK in combination with Porsche’s Sport Chrono pack. Move up to the Porsche 718 Boxster S and those numbers are 4.9 seconds, 4.4 seconds and 4.2 seconds and 7mph onto that top speed.

The Porsche 718 Boxster GTS isn’t much faster thanks to its manual only specification, with 62mph arriving in 4.5 seconds and it’ll run out of go at 182mph. The difference with the GTS is how it produces its performance. Being naturally aspirated, bigger capacity and six-cylinder it’s a high revving screamer, with its performance in the upper rev range.

Indeed, jump out of one of the smaller capacity four-cylinder cars and you’ll wonder where all the low rev urgency has gone, the turbo engines offering greater low rev torque and, hence easier flexibility. But easy isn’t necessarily better, and that’s certainly the case here; the GTS is wonderful car, all the sports car you could ever want.

For all the criticism of the four-cylinder units they do deliver great performance, and for daily driving the extra flexibility is genuinely useful. Whatever engine you pick the manual would be our choice, its crisp, quick action making it one of the best manual transmissions available today. The PDK is great, too, if you want finger-flipping instantaneous shifts and the ability to pop it into auto in traffic you’ll love it, but if driving really matters to you, you’ll love the manual more.

Roadsters used to mean a whole lot of additional pay offs for the ability to open up the top to the sun above, but modern convertible cars have moved on, significantly. The Porsche 718 Boxster’s hood is a tight fit and well insulated, meaning it’s a proper all-year-round proposition. 

That insulation means it’s quiet, too, the Porsche 718 Boxster only marginally less refined in relation to wind noise than its coupe Cayman relation. Drop the roof, at speeds up to 31mph and in just 9 seconds and the interior remains impressively draught free, thanks to a wind deflector behind you.

Drop that roof and you’ll better hear the engines, the four-cylinder turbo units lacking the howl of the GTS’s six-cylinder, but having their own, not entirely unpleasant character. You’ll need to specify the optional sports exhaust in all to really enjoy the sound from any of the engines, it adding some aural thrills to the driving mix. 

There’s a bit of tyre noise, more obvious with larger wheel and tyre combinations with tauter suspension set-ups, but in this respect it’s no worse than its direct rivals, and only really noticeable on rougher sections of road.

The Porsche 718 Boxster hasn’t been independently crash tested by Euro NCAP, but it should protect you well in the event that an accident is unavoidable. There are full-sized airbags for the driver and passenger, Porsche Side Impact Protection comprising of side impact protection elements in each door, thorax airbags in the seat side and head airbags for both the driver and passenger, too. The Boxster has a fixed roll-over bar, too.

Helping you avoid an accident in the first place is its inherent agility, as well as its electronic traction and stability aids. There’s ABS acting on brakes that offer superb stopping power, while there’s a tyre pressure monitoring system. LED headlights and daylight driving lights are also standard. What the Porsche 718 Boxster is lacking is the sort of advanced driver assistance systems that are creeping into competitor’s specification sheets. 

Adaptive Cruise Control is offered optionally (only with the PDK) there’s the option of parking sensors or a full ParkAssist system that adds a parking camera, Porsche also offering a camera-based system for traffic sign recognition, it highlighting speed limits and no-overtaking zones. Lane Change Assist is also on the options list, it a worthwhile addition.

The Porsche 718 Boxster scored a highly impressive 9.67 out of 10 for reliability, second only to the Porsche 911 in the range. Even though that figure will include older versions of the Boxster, it suggests owners are exceptionally happy with the reliability of their cars, which is good news whether you're buying new or used.

This is backed up by Porsche's performance as a brand, finishing 9th overall out of 30 manufacturers - that makes it the highest-placed German manufacturer in the table.

You’re insuring a Porsche, so it’s unrealistic to think that it’s going to be inexpensive. The standard Porsche 718 Boxster sits in insurance group 45, while the S will be higher, in 46, with the GTS in 49. Servicing costs won’t be cheap, either, with tyres brake pads costing a lot to replace, and Porsche dealers charge a sizeable hourly rate. There are plenty of specialists who can service it for you, once it’s a few years old and you’re less worried about main dealer stamps.

Every model is in excess of the £40,000 list price VED penalty charge, so you’ll pay an additional £355 a year – so £520 annually – for the first five years of ownership, after that it’ll be £165 a year. The first year payment in all the four-cylinder cars is £1,420 with the GTS costing £2,015.

The Porsche 718 Boxster and Porsche 718 Boxster T are fitted with a 2.0-litre 300PS turbo engine. The Porsche 718 Boxster S has a 2.5-litre turbo engine with 350PS

The Porsche 718 Boxster GTS has a 4.0-litre flat-six engine with 400PS, it currently only with a manual transmission. Standard equipment in all models includes Porsche’s PCM infotainment system, alloy wheels, air conditioning, a manual transmission, electrically powered folding roof, sports seats and LED head and driving lights.