Indeed repairability may have been the biggest change. Major appliances centralize virtually all functions including on one or two main circuit boards includin

Indeed repairability may have been the biggest change. Major appliances centralize virtually all functions including on one or two main circuit boards including the high-voltage relays which in my experience are very prone to failure (they used to be mounted separately in a different location on older appliances). Those circuit boards typically cost ~1/3 the cost of a new appliance assuming you source and swap it yourself. In conjunction with the decline of repairability in the appliances I think there's a corresponding decline in repair skills among the general population as well.