[hytem]

I just received the Consumer Reports 08 auto issue today. They show reliability data for the 02-07 911s. 03 reliabilty was poor, 02,04 and 07 excellent, and 05, 06 average. "Major Engine" seems to be a trouble spot for most years except 04 and 07. They don't define "major engine" and they don't say what their 911 sample size is, though the total number of responses from all cars is 1.3 million. They generally don't report data below a certain unspecified sample size. They say 911 reliability has improved to better than average--same as the Boxster, and they now recommend both. These cars have the best braking (60mph-0) of any production car.

I've been watching the reliability data from year to year, and they tend to change. It's hard to say if the differences in model years are real or just statistical fluctuations. For a given model year, they might change significantly the next year. I haven't looked at last year's auto issue as a comparison, but I suspect there are changes up or down.