I guess I'll be the bad guy here.
I've owned nothing but GMs my entire life with the exception of a Honda Civic for 6 months and now an Audi A6 for a part time commuter car.
I'd have to run down the list again but I think I'm around 16 or 19 GM vehicles in about 26 years of driving.
I do consider them fragile. The transmissions, suspensions, front differential, rusting, electrical, etc.
I've always owned GM because I was raised on them and knew how to work on them. The ergonomics and design has kept me coming back.
My 05 Escalade had a reman trans in it when I bought it at 83K miles, I've rebuilt the front suspension with the exception of the control arms which I have in boxes, ready to go on in the spring. I've rebuilt the rear suspension both front and rear was shot. I rebuilt the steering two weeks ago, it was also shot. All of this before 90K miles.
I drained the front diff when I purchased the vehicle and could not believe how much metal came out, I'm surprised it's gotten me this far and it's starting to act up a bit, I'm expecting to have that rebuilt by summer.
The good thing about the reputation for being fragile is we all get to pick them up cheap as used vehicles and if you can do the work yourself you get a lot of vehicle for a very reasonable amount of money.
Whenever I buy a used GM I always plan on rebuilding the suspensions at a minimum. I cross my fingers that if the trans and engine are solid on the test drive they'll remain that way for some time but I always keep the trans in the back of my mind for possible replacement.
