Burnt out AT transmission

My friend had a Colorado Z71, you know the "taco killer," and he says that he had to replace it the transmission (all covered under warranty) because it burnt out. It got screwed. f'd in the a. Done with. His truck probably had 30K on it. He ended up replacing it with a Jetta. Couple that with the "shifting" problems others have mentioned about their colorados and the soon to be heard problems with the ranger and gladiator. Are all mid size trucks lacking here? Are they trying to give us everything we want, but end up failing miserably? I blame the government.