We have Maytag Centennial dryer and washing machine - they may be robust but they're quite inefficient compared to "modern" washing machines both in terms of water use and cleaning performance (our last known-unreliable LGs lasted 5yrs until we moved). Same with our old Whirlpool dishwasher that seemed to have been tuned to the olden detergents with phosphates and barely cleaned dishes, you often had to rerun some of them vs our millenium Bosch that cleans the same dishes with 1/4 the detergent.
But it's not quite as bad with appliances imo. I have had good luck getting the higher end models without _all the unnecessary bells and whistles_.
It's probably like new cars, efficiency gains come with complexity, so efficiency/reliability might be a trade-off. I, personally, can buy a used replacement board online and replace it myself after 5-10yrs but that still means someone else threw out their machine for parts.
And then on top of that, at least here in CA with $0.4/kWh, a 300kWh/y fridge costs $200/y less to run than an 800kWh/y fridge. That's $2000 over 10 years and might cover several repairs. I wouldn't generally prematurely replace a machine just for efficiency but I'm also not sure running that fridge from 1935 is really monetarily efficient, even if your newer fridge does break more often.