It's hard to buy anything new today and expect it to last more than 5 years. This includes cars, tools, appliances, all kinds of electronics, furniture. You have to buy old if you want long term reliability. My rough rule of thumb is: If it was made before 1980 (maybe before 1990), it will probably last as long as you need it. If it was made after that, expect it to break.
Plenty of manufacturers give a 7 year warranty for new cars. In addition, there's no sign that new cars depreciate faster than older cars (when comparing current depreciation for historic depreciation). In markets where cars are driven for many, many years and kilometers (e.g. Finland), there's no evidence that new cars shouldn't be expected to last more than 5 years.
Seven years is not a long time for a car. My family's last car was kept for almost 30 years. My aunt has never bought more than one car in her entire life -- a toyota camry. Man, if you toss out your car after seven years, you will end up buying almost seven cars(!!!) in your lifetime. That's insane.
I think the key point you left out is Finland. Long drives, harsh winters, and corrosive salt do a number on cars. 5 years is a long time for a Finnish commuter. It's not very long if you typically use it for Sunday family trips to the ice cream shop in Southern California, however.
I really wonder with angle grinders, for example, how many are bought to do a one-off job and then set on a shelf for 20 years, versus being used daily until they break. Maybe Harbor Freight is just selling something appropriate for it's real customer base.
While this is applicable to a lot of things such as appliances and cheap furniture, I wouldn't apply it so broadly as a rule. Plus, many new things just haven't been around long enough to tell. 5 years is absurdly short for a car, most seem to last between 15 and 30. I have several working computers, cell phones, and game consoles between 5 and 20 years old.
The trend of making computers and phones nigh-unrepairable glass sandwiches is awful though, as soon as the battery or other major component is toast the device is practically worthless. It's infuriating how far backwards we've gone in that aspect.
Really depends on the manufacturer and target market. A 10 year old car Honda Civic for example is still cheap to maintain.
Generally if you are willing to pay 80’s prices inflation adjusted you can still get high quality appliances you just end up with the washing machine Apartment complexes use etc.
