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Modern motorcars. What have manufacturers learned in 92 years?

All $ values expressed are AUD.
I have always liked diesel powered motorcars. They are cheaper to run because fuel is cheaper, they burn less of it and there is less engine maintenance, yet they have plenty of power. The last 7 motorcars I’ve owned have all been diesels. Three Mercedes, three VW’s and a Toyota Landcruiser tray. All pleasant and easy to drive. As I said cheap to run. Except for 1. That is my current VW, a Tiguan. A lemon. Firstly fuel pump failure, the local dealer quoted $10,700 to repair. I purchased a fuel pump, plus a timing belt, and a water pump on eBay, and had them replaced by a local mechanic for $1,700 all up. This motorcar was a used vehicle and prior to purchase I enquired about its accident history and was told there was none but the man lied. I know this because I found documents to the contrary. A local panel rebuild man said the repair was very well done but I discovered the front drive train was not. In addition to the repair mentioned above I have further spent another $5,300 on front drive and breaking system which now brings the total rebuild to $7k total. But now it needs a transmission rebuild. Five grand quoted. Yes, it’s a lemon.
None of the 3 Mercedes nor other 2 VW’s have required any repairs and were all high milage when I replaced them. Nor has the Toyota required repairs and it is now 27 years old and driven 330,000km and I still use it most every day. My Model A’s are much cheaper to operate than this current and troublesome VW and I understand most everything about them. They’re simple and I love simplicity. Even considering my ordinary mechanical skill I can make minor adjustments and repairs. With these modern motorcars it’s not even easy to locate the battery!
What have I learned? My next motorcar will have radiator, engine, transmission, drive shaft and diff all in line, ie simple. No all-wheel drive. No front wheel drive. Yes, that has narrowed my choice. Furthermore I will take heed of the opinion of my local motor mechanic. He said he won’t buy anything after 2005. Older low Km vehicles can be found and don’t use too much capital which I can better spend on my Model A’s. So what have motorcar manufacturers learned since the Model A? I can say with clarity, “not very much at all”.