Anecdote then based on statistically meaningless numbers.
No need to rely on anecdotes. Legislative pressure - Euro 1 regulations and catalytic converter requirements for petrol cars forced car engines to modernise massively in the early 90s with huge benefits for performance, economy and smooth running. Higher exhaust temps demanded stainless steel instead of the cheese used previously.
Old engine designs were deprecated because they couldn't meet the new reuqirements, so a range of new modern engines suddenly appeared. Engine oil lasted longer thanks to fuel mixes being weaker; engine wear decreased.
Suddenly, car engines were rough rattling beasts that were burning oil and worn out at 100,000 miles; they were smooth running machines that needed hardly any maintenance and had double the life.
There were other mandated improvements too - see the Motor Vehicle type approval requirements for each year.
At the same time, market forces drove other improvements; wheel arch liners to protect vulnerable pannels from corrosion, and ultimately galvanised bodyshells. Other functionality was appearing fast - LED info displays on dashboards in the 80s; electric windows becoming commonplace, power steering becoming far more standard, etc etc.
There's simply no comparison between a typical early 80s car and a 1993 car in the UK; a quantum leap forward in only 13 years.