I spit coffee on my screen when I read Trane= quality.
The junk that's out there today is a direct result of people wanting something for nothing.
Shoppers- your fault.
Manufacturer's- it's your fault for cheapening the build & raising your prices as a parting FU.
It's all crap. All of it. You are replacing a system that lasted 40 years w/ a new "state of the art" high efficiency system that if you are lucky- will see 12 years.
ABC company could go in business tomorrow selling a system that's all USA made, thickest metal in the industry, no 3rd party parts, built like a tank & offer a 10 yr across the board warranty on labor & ALL parts. Price would probably be 3 times the cost of the crap today but that's what the American people want, right?
Wrong.
The people want cheap disposable systems. They want that thermostat they can control from their phone. They want that system that will diagnose itself. They want that super high 20 seer multi stage communication system that will save them money & pay for itself in 3 years. But give it to me cheap! If you cant give it to me cheap, someone else will.
And whose fault is it when something goes wrong? Yep- the installing contractor.
IMO- the best most dependable equipment built back in the day was Lennox. Lennox was a tank- you couldn't kill those units. For their time, they were very complicated when compared to other brands but those who went Lennox, usually had money. Lots of controls, high & low pressure switches, start relay & cap & that goofy way to charge using the approach method.
As for design flaw? Really? Trane design hasn't changed in years. I've seen Trane units w/ tubes touching everywhere & they still keep chugging along.
They are all crap today. All of them. Every single brand name.
Remember when compressors had shipping blocks under the legs? Remember when indoor blower motors had a shipping brace you had to remove before installing?
Not a lot we can do when everything out there is junk & manufacturer's wont warranty what they built.
I'd rather be selling the gear we sold 30 years ago than the choices today.