The installation of HVAC equipment is NOT comparable to a new car. The competency level of the installer will be the major factor in the life & service of central AC equipment. The major components in air conditioners are made by other companies & most companies use the same ones, with a few exceptions, and that does not mean that their compressor or other component is better than what the other AC companies are using. The Copeland Scroll is installed in many brand name ACs; are they better in your AC brand; me thinks not.
A bad install can ruin the best equipment on earth, and that includes the equipment you are boosting about! Additionally, the price differential on new Brand XX AC equipment, when equipment is properly installed with matching ductwork, etc., will NOT provide the buyer "with as good a payback" on the higher SEER. I am talking about the HIGH END of a Brand NOT the low end of any Brand! I firmly believe that the high end Models of, for example, Goodman condensers' with scroll Copeland compressors will perform & last with any other Brand.
I am a Retired HVAC/R Contractor and am not selling or promoting any AC Brand for monetary gain. - udarrell