Just the car example alone is enough. To extend it, I remember as a kid in the early 80s in Canadian winter having to *always* plug the car in (for the engine block heater) and my parents pumping the gas while turning the ignition and *praying* it would start in the morning. I remember more than one occasion my dad would call in to work saying he'd be late because the car wouldn't start and that he had to take the bus. I tell younger people this and they find it absolutely mind blowing. Nowadays, I almost never plug my car in during winter and it pretty much always starts first try, even in the closest of weather. Any car made in the last 20-30 years, cold weather starts are mostly a non-issue.

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The “cars were better built in the past” is one of those insanely wrong myths that just won’t die. But this video puts it into really stark terms:
Wow. That is a dramatic difference. I suspect a component of this sentiment comes from car enthusiasts that perhaps conflate car build quality with car serviceability - there's certainly a solid argument that older cars were easier for the average Joe to service.
If leaving a car to sit sub 0C for more than a few days its almost always a good idea to plug the battery into a decent maintenance charger.