In some sense, it seems to me that recent technology advancements with these trains have too often outstripped reliability. Older items were much simpler with a lot less to go wrong and easily repaired when something did break. The top-end trains are much more delicate, have many more easily broken exterior pieces and that is a problem in itself. I have snapped off railings and such just getting new engines out of the box for the first time.
For what it’s worth, I buy almost exclusively LionChief Plus motive power nowadays and have had no problems so far with any of it.
