Just thought Id share a quick story about my failed attempt at buying a "more reliable" performance car.
About 2 years ago having been a die hard subaru owner I went in search of what I thought would be a more reliable sports car. My previous cars had been a turbo 2000 136,000 miles and another turbo 2000 with 145,000 miles (both bought for £1500 each). Neither car had given me any issues except a minor radiator leak. However the dread of rod knock always had me scared.
I went out in search of some german reliabilty and picked up a lovely 2005 2 door GTI 150,000 miles with full history. So I drive the car out of the dealers forecourt... get on the dual carriage way and the oil light comes on. By the time I leave the cariageway the engines knocking
which was quite funny seeing as I only had the car for less that 15 minutes and it was the whole reason I was so scared of driving the scoobies hard. The oil pump had failed...
Fortunately the dealer gave me money back straight away
and about a month later I went out and picked up my 1993 WRX 125,000 miles which is still running smooth even after 2 years of fast road driving.
Morale of the story... drive what you enjoy as any performance car can fail at any time and Id rather break down in a scooby