Sounds like it was never properly installed, not Carrier's fault. If a good vacuum was not pulled and the lines not flushed out (if it was a replacement and still using the old refrigerant lines for the flushing part) the air left in the lines will mix with the refrigerant and form an acid. That acid will slowly eat away at the epoxy coatings on the compressor windings until it fails. It will also eat away at your coils. It will do this silently and slowly bring death to your HVAC equipment
A properly installed system, almost any brand, will last at least 10 years. The good ones, like Carrier, should go for 15-20 and sometimes well beyond. These numbers are generated for my part of the country after 20 years in the biz.
Just hope you have a good tech - it is usually the ONLY thing separating you from a good system versus a money pit.
My $0.02