[quote=@Rithy]
[@DarkFey] I don't think the Geth/Quarian war was ever a big issue for the rest of the galaxy, as it was isolated.

Rather, it'd probably be the old quarian/geth war, subsequent isolation and final battle of ME1 that would turn public opinion of the lampheads into scary bogeymen!

I can just imagine the Geth being the favorite villain in countless in-universe movies & games in Mass Effect universe after that! xD
[/quote]

I imagine they were basically rumored as the scary boogeyman. As one would assume the Quarian's would of told some tales (probably not exactly the whole truth considering Shepard was the first to probably discover that heard what really happened) so of course they'd be geared toward the 'bad guy' way. That and being AI, then the whole Reaper thing happened.

They got some generations to help lighten their record. Their appearance alone probably would make people nervous.

(not as bad as a Krogan, but Geth seem more creepy while Krogan you just know it could flatten you if you piss it off)