I agree longevity and efficiency can both exist but there might be a pivot point. Like you said the average age of cars went up (I think I heard 12 years and it was supply side issues that helped boost that number up).
Those 12 year old vehicles might have been at that sweet spot for durability. We have a 2011 Ram 1500 5.7 in the driveway and while is has some overall rust and wear issues (it spent it's early life in Canada) the drivetrain hasn't been an issue. On the flip side my 2019 Ram with just 55k miles has had a check engine light for the DEF pump for the past few months. Ram won't cover it (even with an extended factory warranty and I've always had it serviced by the dealer). I'm all for clean diesels but at what costs especially as they get older with more miles? BTW - Gale Banks said on his podcast recently where he could get his military engines to pass emissions with tuning, turbo and other configurations not emission add-on's
I'm guessing the 300k 0-20 oil car was a Toyota? And there is a difference between 0-16 and 20. It sounds like from what
@shrpshtr325 posted the trend will go even thinner weight oil and tighter tolerances (and more complex engine design?). Maybe the new stuff will last way longer - I hope so :thumbs: