Models
Boxster or Macan: The Two Porsches You Can Rent in Los Angeles
There are two Porsches in this garage. A red 718 Boxster and a grey Macan — a two-seat roadster and a five-seat SUV, and no 911 of any kind.
That is the whole inventory, stated in the first fifty words, because the alternative is a page that takes six hundred words to admit what it does not have. A Porsche rental in Los Angeles is usually a search for a 911, and pretending otherwise wastes a day for both of us. What we do have covers two of the three reasons people search for this badge, and the third one is explained further down without a rate attached to it.
The two cars are on the Porsche page with live dates, and every figure for both — daily, weekly and monthly — is on the Porsche price guide. What this article does is tell you which of the two belongs in your week, and then explain the range you were probably picturing.
Two cars, two entirely different days
They are not two versions of the same idea. One is a sports car that happens to be practical for two people; the other is a family SUV that happens to steer like a Porsche. The gap between the daily rates is nearly the price of the Macan itself, which tells you how differently the market values the two jobs.
The Boxster is a morning, not a week
The 718 Boxster is the mid-engined car in Porsche's range: the turbocharged flat-four sits between the axles rather than behind the rear wheels, which is the layout that makes it turn in cleanly and stay honest with you at speeds a public road allows. Porsche's own 718 model overview lists it as the open two-seater of the line, alongside the fixed-roof Cayman, which is not a car we keep.
What it is for, in this city specifically: the coast road before the marine layer burns off, Mulholland at seven in the morning, and any evening where the point is to arrive with the roof already down. Two soft bags fit — one in the front boot, one behind the engine — and a weekend for two works. Four people, hard cases, or a week of errands do not, and the Macan below exists precisely for that.
If you arrived here comparing it against the car everybody compares it against, that argument has its own page: Boxster versus 911, and what the extra money actually buys.
The Macan is the one that earns its keep
The Macan is the least romantic car on this page and the one guests keep for longest. A 2.0-litre turbocharged four, all-wheel drive, five real seats with a flat black leather rear bench, and a tailgate that swallows hard cases the roadster cannot even acknowledge. Six seconds to sixty is not slow, and the steering is recognisably from the same company as the Boxster, which is the reason to take it over any other compact SUV at the money.
One thing worth checking before you picture it. Porsche's Macan model overview now shows two entirely separate cars under one name — the petrol Macan and the Macan Electric, which is a different vehicle on a different platform. Ours is the petrol one, in grey, with the combustion engine. If you were expecting the electric car because that is what the configurator opens on, this is the moment to know.
And an honest note about keeping it longer, because the arithmetic on this particular car runs against the usual advice. Every quote here is the cheapest combination of the daily, five-day and twenty-one-day rates that covers your dates — there is no percentage discount anywhere in it. On the Macan the five-day block is priced within a few dollars of five separate days, so it is never the cheaper option and the quote will not choose it. The twenty-one-day block is a different story and saves a great deal. So on this car, a working week costs what a working week costs; a month is where the price genuinely breaks. On the Boxster the five-day block does beat five days outright.
Boxster or Macan
| 718 Boxster | Macan | |
|---|---|---|
| Body | Roadster | Compact SUV |
| Seats | 2 | 5 |
| Engine | 2.0L turbo flat-four | 2.0L turbo inline-four |
| Engine sits | Between the axles | In front of you |
| Horsepower | 300 | 261 |
| 0–60 mph | 4.9s | 6.0s |
| Drive | Rear | All-wheel |
| Roof | Fabric, folds away | Fixed |
| Luggage | Two soft bags | Hard cases and a tailgate |
| Daily rate | $286/day | $149/day |
| In our garage | One, in red | One, in grey |
| The day | The car | Why |
|---|---|---|
| Sunday morning on the coast | Boxster | The roof is the entire point and it folds in seconds. |
| A week with a family in it | Macan | Five seats and a tailgate. Nothing else here is close. |
| Airport arrival with luggage | Macan | Two suitcases end the Boxster conversation before it starts. |
| Dinner in Beverly Hills, two people | Either | Roof down if it is warm, the SUV if it is February. |
| A photograph where the badge has to read | Neither, honestly | Both are understated Porsches. Ask us and we will name a better car from the rest of the garage. |
| Both halves of one trip | Both, same dates | The SUV for the days with people, the roadster for the morning that is about the road. |
The 911 range, since that is probably what you pictured
None of what follows is in this fleet. It is here because "Porsche" and "911" are the same word to most people until somebody sits down and separates them, and the separation is genuinely useful whether you end up in one of ours or not. Porsche's own 911 body-type overview is the source, and it splits the range by shape rather than by engine, which is the right way round.
- Carrera. The base car and the shape everybody means. Rear-engined flat-six, 2+2 seating, a front luggage compartment, and a name taken from the Carrera Panamericana road race. Broad hips, long rear deck, and the silhouette that has survived sixty years of redrawing.
- Carrera Cabriolet. The same car with a fabric roof that folds in about twelve seconds and, when it is up, keeps the coupé's roofline almost exactly. The conventional answer to wanting the sky.
- Targa. Neither coupé nor cabriolet. A fixed hoop sits behind the seats, a wraparound glass rear window replaces the C-pillars, and the roof panel between them folds itself away in about nineteen seconds of mechanism you can stand and watch. Named after the Targa Florio, the Sicilian road race.
- GT. The GT3 and GT3 RS end of the range — lightweight, motorsport-adjacent, with insulation deliberately removed so the road reaches you. Brilliant, and a difficult car to spend four hours on the 405 in.
- Turbo. The fast one, all-wheel drive, and the trim that quietly does more with less drama than the GT cars. It is also the one whose name confuses everybody, because every current 911 is turbocharged and only this one gets to say so.
The comparison people actually search for is Targa against Carrera, so: a Carrera Coupé is the lightest, cheapest and purest of the three; a Cabriolet gives you the most open sky and the least structure; a Targa is the heaviest of the three and buys you the roof theatre plus the wraparound glass without a fabric top over your head at a standstill. If you want the classic photograph, the Targa. If you want the best-driving one, the Coupé. That is the whole of it, and it is worth knowing before somebody sells you the middle one.
Two more names that come up. The Panamera is the four-door saloon and the Cayenne is the larger SUV that sits above the Macan; neither is in this garage either. What that leaves is an honest map: if the roof coming down was the point, the Boxster does that job here. If five seats and a tailgate were the point, the Macan does. If the badge specifically had to be a 911, nothing on this site substitutes for it, and it is better to read that in a paragraph than to discover it at a kerb.
Where the car meets you, and what sits on top of the rate
Collection from our lot on Robertson Boulevard costs nothing, and delivery to our partner Beverly Hills hotels is complimentary. Any other address in greater Los Angeles is quoted before you pay, not after.
LAX delivery is paid, in two tiers, priced each way. Standard is $75: the car is left in the airport parking structure and you ride the airport shuttle out to collect it, which adds about half an hour. VIP is $150: the car comes to the terminal and somebody is standing beside it. They combine per direction, so a round trip is $150 standard both ways, $300 VIP both ways, or $225 for VIP in and standard out — which is what most people choose, because nobody wants a terminal handover on the way home.
Which tier suits depends on the car, and on these two it genuinely differs. The Macan has a tailgate, so a shuttle ride with luggage is an inconvenience and nothing worse. The Boxster takes two soft bags, which makes the same journey a bad idea for reasons that have nothing to do with the fee.
- The deposit is refundable and both Porsches sit below the exotic band. It is a hold against the card in the primary renter's name rather than a charge, and it is released 5–7 business days after the car is back.
- Under twenty-five, this is the cheap way into the badge. The young-driver fee follows the deposit band, and on both of these it is $50/day rather than the $175/day a top-band exotic attracts. For a driver in their early twenties, the Macan is the least painful Porsche in Los Angeles by a wide margin.
- Cover is part of the price, not an upsell. Damage-and-liability cover is mandatory and priced per day off the deposit band, so it is cheaper on the Macan than on the Boxster. Your own policy replaces it if it genuinely extends to the car; read the wording rather than assuming.
- Twenty-one and up, licence held two years, credit card in the driver's name. Everything else, including anything about changing a confirmed booking, is on the terms page.
718 Boxster, Red
Roadster · 2 seats · Roof down
Dates and rate →
Macan, Grey
SUV · 5 seats · The whole week
Dates and rate →
The short version
Two Porsches, and the choice is almost never close. Take the Boxster if the plan has a road in it and two people — mid-engined, roof down in about ten seconds, and a boot at each end. Take the Macan if the plan has people, luggage or a whole week in it; it is the cheaper car by a long way and the only one here with five seats. Take both across the same dates if the trip has both halves. And if it had to be a 911, this is the page that tells you so early rather than the invoice that tells you late.
A roadster and an SUV. That is the whole Porsche shelf here.
Delivered across greater Los Angeles or collected from Robertson. Tell us the dates and how many people are coming, and the choice makes itself.
See both PorschesCars in this guide
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Frequently asked questions
Which Porsches can you actually rent in Los Angeles?
Two: a red 718 Boxster convertible and a grey Macan. That is the entire Porsche shelf here — one two-seat roadster and one five-seat SUV. There is no 911 in the fleet in any body or trim, which is why this article explains that range instead of listing it.
Do you have a Porsche SUV?
Yes, the Macan, in grey, and it is the only Porsche SUV here. Five seats, all-wheel drive, a tailgate that takes hard cases, and a daily rate a long way under the roadster. It is also the petrol Macan rather than the Macan Electric, which now shares the name on Porsche's own configurator and is a different vehicle entirely.
What is the difference between a 911 Targa and a Carrera?
The roof, and the weight that comes with it. A Carrera Coupé has a fixed roof and is the lightest and purest of the three. A Carrera Cabriolet has a conventional fabric top. A Targa keeps a fixed hoop behind the seats and a wraparound glass rear window, and folds only the panel between them away in about nineteen seconds — the most theatrical roof in the range and the heaviest. None of the three is in this fleet; the open car we hold is the Boxster.
Is a Porsche cheaper if I keep it for a week?
It depends which one, and the answer surprises people. Every quote is the cheapest combination of the daily, five-day and twenty-one-day rates covering your dates — there is no percentage discount. On the Boxster the five-day block genuinely beats five separate days. On the Macan it is priced within a few dollars of five days, so the quote never picks it; on that car the twenty-one-day block is where the price actually breaks.
How old do I have to be, and what is the deposit?
Twenty-one, with a licence held at least two years and a credit card in the primary renter's name. Both Porsches sit below the exotic deposit band, so the under-twenty-five fee is $50/day rather than the $175/day a top-band car attracts, and the mandatory per-day cover is cheaper with it. The deposit is a refundable hold, released 5–7 business days after the car comes back.
Where do you deliver a Porsche in Los Angeles?
Anywhere across greater Los Angeles, or collect it from us on Robertson Boulevard at no charge. Delivery to our partner Beverly Hills hotels is complimentary and any other address is quoted before you pay. LAX is paid in two tiers priced each way — the car left in the airport parking structure, or brought to the terminal — and on the Boxster specifically the terminal tier is usually the sensible one, because two soft bags is its honest luggage limit.