WH brakes were covered by a recall and like the one I had, everything was replaced with new parts. Unless the WH recall was totally ignored by the previous owner, the brake issue is really a non-issue. The bulletproof Allison transmission is the main reason a lot of people prefer the WH chassis. As far as internal failures, the rate is very low and probably about the same as with the Ford engines. Mine went well over 100K and so did many other 8.1L engines with no problems at all. Like every other mechanical object, it does take routine maintenance to keep thing running smoothly.