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Hi, I am looking at a couple of midlife crisis type cars and interested to know your thoughts on the reliability and long term ownership costs (previously I have only owned Japanese cars). The two I am looking at are a 1997 Porsche Boxster 2.5L manual with approx 50,000kms (includes full service history) price $20,000 or an older Porsche 944 manual with approx 130,000kms for $9,000. Are either of these a realistic proposition or do they have serious or expensive known faults. Your thoughts on which (if any) would be a better choice would be appreciated. Regards.

It's hard to give a definitive answer, as both these cars are quite old now, plus both have quite different appeal.
Having said that, the 944 is now at an age that we would consider it to be a classic, so if you're not mechanically minded, perhaps a classic car is not ideal as even the newest of these is now 20 years old and will require unscheduled on-going repairs and maintenance.
At only 50,000km with full service history, the Boxter sounds like the better option, but it too is no spring chicken at 15 years old, so although it's low mileage, it could still have its little "quirks".
I'd suggest you have any prospective purchase checked out by a Porsche specialist as even the best example could still need money spending on it.
The reality is that either of these cars could be expensive to maintain, but if you go in to this with your eyes open, have the car thoroughly inspected and have realistic expectations, you should also find that you have a car that provides a lot of fun and a great deal of ownership pleasure.