Yhe good thing about total loss is you can mess with it until you can get a curve that works for you. Sure, you have to know what you're doing, but for those that don't, there's lightened flywheels.
Total loss is great, I'll never run anything else. There are no problems with it, and they are not unreliable. I can say quite confidently that if you are having problems with your total loss, it's something YOU did...unless of course you bought it second hand, or a particular part fails, which happens with all aftermarket ignitions.
Total loss is 98% installation and 2% parts. Every total loss I have installed has run flawlessly. As Jared said above, earths leads are your best friend.