In the modeling world, Fine Molds is one of my favorite companies because of their line of IJA WW2 tanks and their Star Wars series. Very high quality models in two of my favorite genres. Downside is that their kits are not readily available and are high priced.
Tamiya's 1/48 scale kits are great "bubble gum" kits. You can slap one together very quickly. They assemble well, look very nice and are not that expensive as their larger 1/35 kits. Tamiya's later kits are themselves of Cadillac quality.
Skybow is a defunct company that passed the molds onto AFV Club. Their kits were nice and well worth the money.
One thing to keep in mind is that even the good companies have their dogs. The best advice to give you is the internet is your friend. Use it to search for a particular kit, say the AFV Club M10 or the Monogram 1996 Corvette or whatever. Before buying, read what others have to say about the model.