Quote Originally Posted by oj88 View Post
Growing up in the 70's and 80's in my dad's talyer, I recall seeing customers occasionally come in with problematic starters. I guess back then, starters were more taxed because engines only had carburetors and more often than not, they will not start on the first 'click'. Carburetor issues, problems with the distributor cap (contact points, condenser, timing, etc.) or the high-voltage systems (hi-tension wires, ignition coil, etc.), all worked towards a hard-starting engine.

Modern engines with EFI and ECM/PCM, made it more likely for the engine to start on the first try. I think that and other technological improvements to the overall engine and starter design, including engine mass and weight reduction, etc., lends towards their increased reliability nowadays.
you are quite right. with pre 2000 cars, you often just replaced the solenoid and the stater motor assembly would work just fine. it was very seldom that the stater motor itself had to be taken apart, often just to replace the brushes or clean the commutator/armature. that was also when people swapped their starter assemblies for jdm ones that came with a reduction gear which were more powerful than the pdm.