I heard the same; yet I owned a Craftsman garden tractor and never had a problem with it for 18 years. I sold it when I sold my home and it was still running strong.
Yeah, the rider mowers. Had a neighbor that bought one brand new around 2001...first time he used it it broke down. Then, Sears was supposed to come out and repair it on site or haul it off for repair....IIRC it turned out to be a multiweek nightmare, and the grass doesn’t stop growing.