I live in the Chicago suburbs, car bodies have vastly improved in durability and resistance to road salt in the past few decades. It used to be that most cars were rusted through in less than a decade. Now you almost never see a rusted out car.
On the other hand, it's a $300 repair job to replace my niece's Headlight on her Ford Focus. That's nuts!
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In the world of industrial machine tools, like lathes, etc. it is generally accepted that 1940-1960 American Cast Iron machines are the best machines available, after rebuilding. The quality of the materials has not been matched since then.
Car headlight and taillight assemblies are kind of a special case. In the late 80s and early 90s it became common to use a lot of computer assisted design to make multiply layered constructions with lenses and diffusers and so on built in. Given the amount of engineering going into these a complete replacement is going to be expensive and even getting at them to replace primary bulbs ends up being a chore.
On the other hand, it's a $300 repair job to replace my niece's Headlight on her Ford Focus. That's nuts!
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In the world of industrial machine tools, like lathes, etc. it is generally accepted that 1940-1960 American Cast Iron machines are the best machines available, after rebuilding. The quality of the materials has not been matched since then.