Surely it has to be something worse than just a few badly-made U-joints, though?
I had a Chrysler Laser that constantly ate C-V joints... they'd go with no warning, sometimes after only 30,000 miles (and that's with the original MOPAR part, not a chain store rebuild). I got very good at swapping them out. Chrysler never recalled anything.... then again, that car also cracked transmission cases with frightening regularity too...
--Scott