As somebody who's M9 did succumb to the cracked sensor syndrome even I would take issue with the idea that M9's were ever unreliable. Whatever you were reading was leading you up the garden path. A shame because you could have had an M9 by now.
There was a hot spot of about fifty cameras that all came down with it over a similar period. So filter fifty bitchy posts on internet forums out and compare with the tens of thousands of cameras made and you have a truer picture.
There is an ongoing writing problem with some SanDisk cards, to be fixed in the next Firmware update, although my Extreme III 16gb card has worked perfectly.
The previous comment about oil or grease on the sensor when new is a problem that affects many cameras, not just Leica. Usually higher end cameras where the shutter is built for longevity. As Leica have said they don't oil the sensor it is down to how Copal lubricate it before shipping them to Leica. It does die down after a while, but until then a wet clean is needed each time you want to remove dust. After it has stopped an Arctic Butterfly brush is usually sufficient for all cleaning (don't use it on your sensor if you think you may have oil on it!!). Since cleaning a sensor is an established part of the workflow with digital cameras I can't really see it as a fundamental problem, thousands of photographers do it.
Steve