Everyone has different horror stories.
I have a VW Touareg we're dying to get rid of before our new baby comes. Need that third row seat baby!
Seriously though, my Silverado has been great. Had an 87 Grand Am when I was in college (Yes, I was a poor college kid, I drank the cheap beer) that was not a nice car, but started every morning, and never had anything wrong except CV joints. Sold it for 500 bucks at 287,000 miles. 400 more then I bought it for.
Everyone has tales of death and dispair. I've never personally met anyone who had a GM vehicle in the shop every other week. Or any car for that matter, except Touareg's.
(We've had good luck with ours so far, knock on wood)
Honda/Acura along with Toyota is as reliable as they come. I personally don't find the styling of either very appealing, but you can never go wrong with owning one. I've never met anyone with any issues with the new Honda and or Acuras.