You're kidding, right ?
I remember when cars with 100k miles were worn out rust buckets. Most cars lasted 6-8 years max.
Now, the average car on the road in the US is 11+ years old. And, these 11+ year old cars get 3 times the mileage of cars 40 years ago, and pump out a tiny fraction of the pollution.
I recently sold a car with 265k miles on it. It's still on the road. I replaced it with a car with 112k on the clock, and expect another 125k from it, at the minimum.
Don't you remember cars that needed points and plugs every 3-5k miles ?
When is the last time you even checked the oil between changes ?
Technology has changed automobiles in a drastic way.
11 years huh? When I graduated high school most cars in the parking lot were between 15 to 20 years old. And my little Horizon got 30ish MPG on the highway (it was just a 1.7L four banger with a 2 bbl webber carb with no engine management). The only reason that car was taken off the road was two accidents within a month. Now days you need scanners, scopes and a lot more training to work on cars and most people don't have the time or money to do that. They run them into the ground then toss them. The only thing I've seen improve is survivability in crashes. However the body work is so flimsy a shopping cart shifting sideways can put a pretty nasty dent into them (I learned that the hard way). My 84 olds cutlass took out a stop sign after sliding off the road (wet road plus nearly bald tires) and it put a tiny ding in the bumper and a small scratch on the hood. Do that with a car built now days and its totaled. And besides, cars aside, anything else that is "built to last" costs a small fortune compared to similar items made 20 years ago. Its one reason why I don't buy much, and the stuff I do buy I make sure it will last.