As a DIY shade tree mechanic, I find car repairs are getting cheaper & easier.

New parts are a dog eat dog race to the bottom on margins with more choice than ever, markets for used parts are more liquid than ever and there’s a guide for everything.

I can google some vague OBD code (yes, the car will tell you what’s kinda going on!) with my year/model and someone will have a step-by-step guide on “oh, it’s 99% this $11 part, if not, check that”.

My own experience with an insurance claim after getting rear ended was this: take it to their preferred shop, or we could choose a licensed autobody shop (they would pay $2800), or cut us a cheque for $1900. We took the cheque and our mechanic fixed it for $950.

I’m a hobbyist mechanic and own way too many cars and I agree with your assessment all around. Newer cars are easier and cheaper all-around to fix in terms of parts (maybe labor is higher but it’s doubtful). So if a newer car is cheaper to maintain, why the rising insurance/registration costs for newer vehicles.

I own a mix of old sports cars to new SUVs and even a Tesla Model 3.

The old cars are cheaper to register so taxed the least yet pollute the most and are the most expensive to maintain in terms of parts.

Insurance premiums skew cheaper for older cars too unless it’s an agreed value policy.

Was your car still under manufacturer's warranty?

I have a friend who is in the insurance business.

He tells me that sensor-laden cars are quadrupling expenses.

If you get a little love-tap on your front bumper, it can cost $9,000 to fix.

Add in cars being totaled out a lot easier due to "efficiencies" in manufacturing making the cars disposable and of course rising natural disaster events that flood/burn cars.

In the rust belt, cars have become less disposable every decade. Coatings/paint/corrosion-inhibition have gotten wayyyyyy better.

I’ll take the brand new modern car over anything from the 60s,70s,80s or 90s for durability.

while some cars are disposable... in practical terms, engineers designed crumple zones which make modern cars significantly safer. Crumple zones are not repairable because it "crumples". Couple that with air bags, and its easy to make replacement cost less than repair.