Sort of. I know plenty of people who had the same washer and dryer, kept alive by the 'ole repair man, for three decades; then they buy a new one, with all the bells and whistles, and the first time it breaks down, they're told it's cheaper to replace than repair. This is the most common story I hear from people in their 80's, but is true even of the appliances I grew up with as a kid.
I think the most common problem with consumer appliances and automobiles is that they're more complicated now, involving more electronics. This means more can go wrong, and there will be no one near you who can fix it. Hence why I'm firmly against installing anything in my plant with a computer, when a simple mechanical item will work work just fine. I have to budget for disasters and repairs.
"Old things were made to last"
Bullshit. Old things broke all the time and were replaced by new things. Any old thing you see today is just 0.1% of what we used to have. It's called survivorship bias.
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