Personally I think reliability depends heavily on how you drive and treat the car, regular maintenance is key to making your engine last. Some cars have more problems than others. One of my ex-girlfriends wanted a probe for her first car so I asked around and got the same info - stay away from them. they have piss weak transmission and gearboxes, if the auto shat's itself you will be a sorry individual to have to pay for a rebuild. meshmesh is correct it's basically a MX6 with a different body shell.
So anyway I steered her away from the idea and she bought a civic (lol) which in my opinion was the better car... even the older honda's are pretty reliable cars with good solid engines. Also if you're looking at Calibra's, dont bother as they have the same high maintenance costs and problems that go with it.
In the end if you see what you like, you dont have to listen to what others tell you, if it's what you really want then go for it. Just factor in some extra money for if(when) problems might happen and consider people's advice. You may not have any problems with the probe but as there's been several reported major issues with them, it's possible and something you should consider when choosing your car. Hope this helps, Good luck.