Maybe your issue is like mine in that what you're still calling 20-30 years ago that which is now 35-45.
200k lifecycles have been the norm for a long time. My 87 Sentra made 200k and I spent very little on repairs over the last 100k. Rust was it's demise. Had a 95 Civic that was still running good at 285k, and my old FIL had an 87 Buick Century (used on a gravel road mail route) that made it to 300k. Most of those old Lesabres with the 3.8s were all good for 200k+.
Now with that being said, there were some short cycle cars as well. Head gaskets failing took out a bunch of cars...including ford escorts as well as a plethora of Subarus. Transmissions in Chryslers were terrible.
My dad would run Dodge minivans ( not because he liked them, but because he could get them used on the cheap and run them up to around 300k - while getting paid mileage, which he would generally come out ahead over the long term).
Speaking to their reliability, he had an early 2000’s Caravan (model was notorious for tranny issues) and he was traveling the less populated upper Midwest when he broke down on the side of the road (knew it was the tranny based on the symptoms it was giving him and the fact that it was approaching its 70k mile life expectancy). Got a tow onto the nearest town with a dealer. The dealer had a tranny in stock, on the shelf, ready to go, and he was back on the road in a few hours. Figure the odds, middle of nowhere, and the dealer has it in inventory. Like they knew that the likelihood of someone needing one was high. Hmmmmm….
