[Rockafella]

I have a 3.6L 996 and an aircooled SC. The 996 has been fantastic reliability wise so far. It had a RMS leak early in its life and the seal (not the engine) was replaced under warranty. End of story. This is a car that was driven daily, but is now being driven occasionally since the wife and I carpool as much as we can.

The SC is also a great car. But it had an engine and trans rebuild at 70kish miles (broken case studs and 2nd gear synchro). It is an autox/DE car for me now. I do not abuse my cars, but I do drive them. Clearly, reputation is only part of the equasion. YMMV depending on the individual car.

You will remember the bad stories (one or two stories on the net of a catastrophic failure on the way to work for no reason) but will not remember the good (cars with thousands of track miles). Keep in mind that you should look for VERIFIABLE trends, not heresay. A car where someone runs it dry of oil (think "it's a lease") does not guarantee failure of your car.