I have owned several Taurus guns, and had some bad experiences with a couple of them. Taurus is improving lately, but they still aren't there yet, IMO. ANY gun maker can put out a lemon...but how they deal with it is what matters to me. Yes, Taurus does have a lifetime warranty...BUT their service is (or has been historically) abysmally slow and often didn't fix the problem on the first, or even several subsequent, trips to the factory. Taurus doesn't pay for shipping for warranty repairs, after 90 days. That is a big deal to me...S&W does, Ruger does, Springfield does...it costs a lot to properly ship a handgun, and any manufacturer that won't support their product won't get my business. Also, Taurus won't sell parts to private individuals. Their CEO has pledged to change that, and apparently parts are more available for the 738 now, but why not just make them available across the board? I don't understand why they can't just decide to sell parts (based on inventory, of course.) Of course, in fairness, that isn't limited to Taurus...Ruger wouldn't sell me a striker for my SR9...they would sell the springs and cups, but not the complete striker. (That makes no sense.)
My first Taurus was (I can't remember the model) a titanium framed, ported, .44 special revolver. (I bought this maybe 20 years ago.) I had it for years and never shot it. Finally, when I got around to it, it failed to fire 10 times out of 10 (it had a 5 round cylinder) on the first two attempts, and then would only fire one or two times per cylinder after that. I took it to my local gun shop, and the smith there said it was badly out of time, and had several other problems as well. He took it in trade, but obviously at a loss to me. I also had a PT1911 that the thumb safeties fell off, and I found out that not all parts on Taurus 1911s (at that time, I don't know about now) are not standard and not interchangeable. I had a Judge, but I hadn't fired it (none of the ranges around here allow shotguns) so I decided to trade it in as well, and be done with Taurus products. I took a beating on them, because Taurus guns do not hold their value, or certainly didn't at that time.
I've been looking lately at the PT111 Millennium G2. That is a good looking little pistol, has decent capacity, and feels good in the hand. I don't like that it has plastic sights, and I'm not sure what options there are to replace them. I still have great reservations about buying a Taurus, though. According to the people on the Taurus forum, their service is very much improved. I did a test call to Taurus, which was answered promptly by someone speaking good English (which isn't all that common with any company any more...not intended as a dig against Taurus and its Brazilian ownership.) He seemed very knowledgeable, took his time and answered my questions. He said they would sell recoil springs (in fact, they recommended replacing them at intervals), magazines, and magazine parts, but anything else they wanted to replace themselves. He said it was for both analysis and liability reasons.
The PT111 G2 is certainly priced right...$329 at Academy Sports...while the Shield is $399 on sale right now, and normally priced at $449 IF you can find one in stock. The PT111 G2 gets glowing reviews from everyone, and it's the only Taurus I would even consider right now...and even so, I still have reservations about the support from Taurus. Until they change their policy on shipping, I just don't think I can buy a gun from them. I may pay more for a S&W, but if it has to go back for service, the paid shipping cost alone will make up the difference...not to mention that with S&W, they hold more value and, while an intangible, gives more pride of ownership.
I was aware of Taurus' spotty QC & CS issues but I figured any issues would have been already resolved after 27 years. 
