I will post my experiences, FWIW.
My rich boss recently bought an Ed Brown special forces carry and 2 Kimber Ultra Carry IIs. The ed brown ran flawlessly right out of the box, and he didn't clean it or oil it for 2000 rounds (he's weird). I went to his place to check out his guns and was astonished at how difficult it was to pull back the slide on the Ed Brown. That's when I learned he hadn't cleaned it. He said it was still running fine and he had had NO malfunctions.
The Kimbers each had huge issues from the get-go. Neither would make it through a single mag without FTE issues. Failure to extract. The empty casing would remain in the chamber and the next round would jam up against it. Very frustrating and time-consuming to clear. Over and over.
He contacted Kimber and they said they didn't want to see the guns until he'd put 500 break-in rounds through them.
After a few more trips to the range, still unable to make it through a single mag without FTEs (one of them would do it every round or every other), I urged him to contact them again. He did, and they agreed that even by their standards they weren't running as well as could be expected. I believe he had around 250 rounds through them when the gun shop shipped them back to Kimber. 3 weeks later, he got them back, and he put a hundred or so rounds through them without issues. He remains pleased with Kimber's customer service.
I accompanied him to the range and shot all 3 pistols (after I cleaned and lubed them for him. I noted that the edges inside the Kimbers were very sharp, lots of machining marks and some burrs. They were tricky to get back together; it appeared the sharp eges of the barrel ramps were gouging the frame in spots. The slide stops were very difficult to get back in). All were accurate and remarkably pleasant to shoot. The Ed Brown was absolutely stellar and laser-accurate. The Kimbers, which I expected to have huge recoil due to their small size and alloy frames, were fun to shoot and accurate.
I did, however, experience a couple of FTEs with them, of the same type. My boss was surprised.
I don't think I'll buy a Kimber, unless maybe I can find an "old" one.
My $0.02, and worth about as much.