Honestly I'd chalk a lot of this up to bad luck... but would echo what Nithmo said - learn to do work yourself, and be meticulous. Not only can you be certain that the job is done properly, you'll also be more vigilant for potential problems (like steering shafts making contact with headers!!!!).
The other option is to only take you car to top tier Z shops and pay the price that comes with that - which you will usually find is mostly competitive with the chop shops most people go to and they will warrant their work to boot. The real problem is finding one since there seem to be so few around the country that are well known for work with our cars and actually take care of their customers... I lucked out when I did my TT kit as I did my install in Houston so I could take it to get tuned at JTRAN. I honestly don't know who I would trust here in Tampa.
All that being said... I think you had some bad luck. Your mods are pretty common.
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