The only thing you're wrong about is buying the extended warranties. While appliances in general are not as reliable as they used to be and all brands and models have problems, usually the problems surface during the initial warranty period. Extended warranties are a big money maker for the sellers because on average they don't pay out much. If you do get one, read the terms carefully because they often have fine print and exclusions - extended warranties from the manufacturer itself is the best one.

Frankly, take all the money you would have spent on all the extended warranties and put it aside to pay for repairs. Even if you do have some repairs on average you'll come out ahead AND you'll be able to hire who you want to do the repair, not stuck with whoever the extended warranty co. chooses to send.

The other piece of advice, is to try to get appliances with as few electronics as possible. An all gas range, for example, is going to be more reliable than an electric or dual fuel with electronic control boards.

In addition to what Weissman advised, many times if you buy with a credit card, your warantee will be extended for an additional year by your card. Also, since you're restricted to electric for your cooktop, you might want to consider induction.

As someone who works on these things, I can tell you...the more things you want the appliance to do, the more things that can (and do) go wrong and the more it will cost to have it fixed.
Your frustration concerning the choices of days passed and equipment these days extends right to the repair company. Where I used to keep in stock maybe 75 parts, I now have to keep 250. And with newer models every year, newer circuit boards and digital parts come along with that and adding to the stock goes up. As for extended warranties, I am very honest with my customers. If they use surge protectors where possible, the circuit boards (very costly part) have a higher survival rate and just as mentioned above, there are more frugal ways to get extended protection. You will be hard pressed to find a cost effective extended warranty that goes beyond 5 years.

If you have an extended warranty, read it closely and you may find that there is a fixed amount allowed for the product within a fixed (usually 5 year) period. Each time you take advantage of the warranty, that fixed amount diminishes. One call for a logic part can come close to depleting that amount. It is true that most failures due to marginal parts will happen in the first or second year. But, just use and abuse takes it's toll over time. When I say abuse, understand I mean unintentional abuse. Opening and closing a door can cause a handle to come loose over time. That opening and closing is considered abuse, though non intentional.

This is an electronic world and electronic parts are very touchy and have a very fixed expected life cycle.

the men in your life are right: extended warrantees are a way to hold your hand and make money with your money. If you really must buy one, tell your husband that you want _XYZ_ company to be more profitable than otherwise. You will lose your money buying it, but you will be helping some other people have more money to buy things to keep their lifestyle in gear.