About if you should get a type R or a crx/civic. Its all up to you and what you want. In the end, if both cars are fairly stock the type r will be better. But a EG civic with a B18c already converted will be nearly half the price. So you will have a lot of money to play around with.

And yeah, Honda engines in general are very reliable. Honda has a excellent reputation for reliabillity. Although parts are more expencive when something does happen. But there many people on OZHonda with a B-series thats done over 250,000km's without any hassles