The newer cars have more problems.
Some brands have replaced a lot of more durable meta parts under the hood with plastic parts, that do not last, or get damaged when you are trying to get to other parts.
Further, cars may develop problems not because the engine, transmission, or alternator (an actual working part) fails, but because a sensor fails, and the newer the car, the more sensors they have, that can fail.
We had two Volvos when our kids were little, a sedan and a station wagon. We took the station wagon to San Francisco about 1995 and when we got back to the car it had dumped all its coolant on the parking garage floor. The tee valve that shunted coolant to the heater core was plastic. One of the arms of the tee broke completely off.
Putting a plastic valve in the coolant li e was the stupidest design decision I ever saw. Nothing but problems with those cars, big and small.
We bought that car about 34 years ago.
I bought a used Chevy truck that had just had its engine replaced at 100,000 miles (for $10,000!). It is some sort of “fuel efficient” design that turns it from a V8 to a 4 cylinder when you don’t need it. Does it automatically, so was on/off very frequently. And the design was poor with regard to lubrication and the cylinders got ruined.
Anyway - I read up all about it before I bought it. Sent the computer to some guy in Missouri(?) that re-programmed it to stay in the V8 mode the entire time. It has 155,000 miles on it and no issues. And I bought it for cheaper than used-car sales places with the original engines. (I bought it with 5,000 miles on the new engine.)