Dedicated servicing and maintenance is the answer.

My Dad has a '07 Merc Sprinter from new and has over 350000 KM, Never any serious break downs, Also have a '95 Granada that lasted about 190k Miles before engine went. (Just under 200k on it now)

I had a '00 1.4 Escort with 170k Miles (1 owner) and it still drove perfectly fine and was in decent shape.

My own E36 has 182k on it, With no major problems.