I bought some snap on metric combination spanners when I was an 18 year old apprentice and I still use them in industry every day 36 years later. I've snapped precisely one of them by using a pipe over it as leverage. The snap on rep still exchanged it without quibble. I've changed the innards of my 3/8 ratchet twice, again FOC. I think a quality brand like snap on, beta or teng that comes with a lifetime warranty is BIFL for sure.

As regards white goods etc, efficiency improvements tend to rule out buying for life and I look for decent longevity and reliability instead...