Miata, Solstice, or Mustang?

My 1996 Ford Thunderbird is starting to cost too much money to keep it on the road, and I'm considering a replacement.

My budget is $10,000-$12,000.

I want a rear wheel drive car (personal preference, I've owned RWD, FWD and AWD, and like the RWD best).

I want a car I can reasonably expect to drive until it has at least 200,000 miles and it still be reliable.

I want a car less than 10 years old with under 100,000 miles.

I used to own a Grand Marquis, which meets my criteria, but I got tired of driving an "old lady" car.

I've narrowed my search down to three models

'05 & up Ford Mustang with the 4.0 engine.

'04 or newer Mazda Miata (non-turbo)

Pontiac Solstice (non-turbo)

This will be my everday driver and will get a lot of miles put on it. Right now, I'm leaning toward the Mustang. I've seen V6 models in the 8-10 grand range in decent shape, so I could afford it.

But the Miata tends to have a reputation as a bulletproof little sportscar, and I have a soft spot for those old school British sports cars that inspired the Miata. Downsides are it's a little small to be practical.

And I love the Solstice's styling. Out of the three, I think it's by far the best looking. Finding a good Solstice in my budget would be a little difficult, however.

Is there anything in the reliability of any of these three cars that would be a red-flag for long term ownership? Any qualities that would drive me batty living with them for the next 5-10 years?

Miatas are very reliable. Mustangs V6s have the worst reliability you can get on any car. The V8s have ok reliability. Things might have changed on the newest version; too early to tell. The Pontiac Solstice is also very unreliable.

The newer Miata is a little bigger. There are other very reliable and larger RWD sports cars from Honda and Toyota. The Nissan 350Z has ok reliability. Its luxury copy the Infiniti G6 has better reliability. BMW 3 series has ok reliability. Mitsubishi might have something too.

I'm not sure what the AWD SHO is going for used.
I own a Miata and used to own a 89 SHO. If I had the bucks- no doubt a used AWD SHO would be on my wish list!
Don't knock driving a Grandpa's or Grandma's car- it gives you a few extra seconds to respond before they flip the speed detector up on you. They also let you be more selective about who to strut your stuff against.

FORGET THE GM bought SOLSTICE! The engine is a piece of TROUBLE personified! It's\is GM ALUMINUM ALLOY with cast iron cylinder liners in it! ONE OVERHEAT, and the motor is SHOT! It is almost as bad as the original VEGA engine inside! The MIATAs very refined, and MAZDA has a SUPERB track record for reliability! A newer MUSTANG iw WELL BALANCED and POISED and has GREAT road manners! The 4;0 engine is NOT the one would get! The new 3.7 liter 305 HP V6 is AWESOME and so is the V8 as well! WITH $10k, i would notify CARGURUS< and locate a GREAT AUDI A4, TT or ALLROAD QUATTRO! They will NEVER RUST< and are SUPER SAFE and durable! This is FOUR WHEEL DRIVE at it's VERY RACING BEST! Expect to get through EASILY in any weather type, and be SAFE about it! They are AUTOBAHN CARS and you can get the ALLROAD or other GREAT used unrustable AUDI for about $7-8 on CARGURUS! They are NOT as troublesome as some people think they are or even EXPENSIVE to own! If you are a GEAR HEAD< you are HOME FREE! PONTIAC is DEAD< and most came from AUSTRALIA's HOLDEN car company! NO GM four banger lives very much more than about 159k mile before self destruct, IF THAT! Since you owned a MARQUIS, you know that FORD makes a GREAT rear wheel drive car! AN AUDI QUATTRO is worth it'w weight in PLATINUM! They NEVER RUST and only need All FLUIDS replaced at 100k mil intervals along with a TIMING BELT! BIG DEAL! The MUSTANG will be very easy to care for BYE NOW! There are LOTS of great choices out there, but STAY AWAY from al GM units! They have TOO MANY LAWSUITS< and are SI|TILL UNSTABLE! BYE NOW!