I worked with these DC motors for many years at IBM and they are actually pretty solid.
I would be hesitant to consider that relevant experience, especially if it wasn't recent.
My concern is not so much with the DC motor but with the electronics to drive it. Electronic stuff dies.
That's the right idea. The physical motor is no more or less susceptible to failure than any other induction motor - it's the driving electronics that are under my scrutiny. It's like CFLs versus incandescent bulbs. The ballasts compromise the service life of the whole bulb, in most cases, and increase the overall failure rate of the bulbs exponentially.
In looking at some sort of schematic for the internals of these units, I would hope that there is at least one built-in form of line voltage protection, like a pair of fuses... at the bare minimum.
