I’m the kind of guy who buys the well-cared for '01 Lumina with 124K on it for very little money and then proceeds to put at least another 100K on it - for not a whole lot more money. I also do most of my own maintenance & repairs though so the cost of having old cars is a lot less for me than it is for people who rely on mechanics for everything.
My daily driver is currently a '97 Ford Escort. The odometer shows 285K though it isn’t the original engine. It causes me no trouble whatsoever. Cheap & easy to operate & take care of. Everything works.
IMHO your friend’s thinking is about 30 years out of date.