[Ancapistani]

No, not entirely, at least not in my experience.

I’ve replaced three engines in the past ~15 years. The first was caused by a head bolt over-torqued from the factory, which led to a non-visible gasket failure and ultimately coolant making its way into the cylinders and destroying the block. The second was a failed pistol skirt. The third seized due to a manufacturing defect in a cam bearing.

All of those problems would have been cheaper and easier to fix in a 1980s-era vehicle. The oldest of these was a 2000, though, and it was cheaper to replace the entire engine than it would have been to buy the parts to repair them.

That doesn’t even include labor - and the labor required for many things these days is much higher than it once was.

[Moto7451]

Yup, this exactly. I don’t think engine failures are particularly common but I have had a few friends quoted roughly what their cars are worth to rebuild the engine from a new block or about 1/3 to replace the engine with a manufactured unit. Mostly Japanese and Korean cars.