After dealing with old stuff for most of my life and being 30 now, I'm kind of the opinion now that 10-15 years old is the best age for a car in the value you get vs depreciation and still having parts and the cars not being valued for collector status yet. My most reliable car was my 1997 Galant gotten in 2010 or 2011 for $1500, that I put 50K miles with very little work done. At the time it was a 13 year old car, like my 2007 Fusion was when I got it.
With my Sentra and to a smaller extent the 94 Jetta (though it was very well kept...) the big thing that was hard for me to realize is the 90s cars of today are like the 80s cars when I first started driving in 2007. As in, even if the engine runs, you got rust to deal with, usually weird electrical crap, air conditioning problems, rear defrosters, and broken/worn out interior stuff, sagging door hinges, etc, etc. Lots of little quality of life things that don't make the car stop driving but annoy you a lot. Most auto parts stores had to special order even simple parts, too. My problem is, I aged, but in my mind I still saw these 90s cars as I did back in 2008 or so, when now they're functionally the same as 80s cars when I was a teenager. By this, I mean, riding in a 96 Corolla or Accord in 2008, it felt functionally new, when it definitely won't feel that way now. Riding in a 1996 car now feels like riding in a 1986 Camry in 2008.
I don't know specifically how new cars will be with things like $3000 laser headlights, but I think there's still going to be some cars coming out now that are decent values and will be good to drive in 10-15 years still. I'm still going to love old cars for their style, aesthetics, and project aspects, but as I get older now I learn time marches on and I need to get with the program to have something actually reliable. It doesn't mean I need to get a new car on a lease, but driving too old stuff daily ends up being a recipe for heartache.