I would be inclined to agree. Its infuriating to buy a new car and have it break in an expensive and premature way.
I bought a BMW 733 from a friend who was the original owner, at 120,000 miles. They had dumped many thousands of dollars into it, and I got it for a song. I loved the car, but it had persistant electrical, head gasket and structural problems along with lots of little things that would go wrong.
The dealer had a monopoly on parts and would soak all their customer, so, although none of the problems were too severe, the car was not worth fixing.
My friends new 735 was no better and started breaking in a big way early, to the benefit of the dealers bank balance.
I have found GM is very inconsistent in their product quality. The 3.8 L V6 is incredibly reliable and is excellent. The 2.8 to 3.4 L family of engines is poor due to gasket and camshaft issues.
Customers should not have to do relaibility research to find out what is going to last or not. Everything should be built to meet certain standards. The Japanese companys generally do this. GM does not and is paying the price for it.