The previous owner of our house apparently had an older vehicle. There's one spot in the driveway with a bunch of faded oil stains. I guess that was the parking spot for the teenagers beater. I actually tell some of my son's friends to park on the street so I don't get more.

If my oil pan leaked it would just drip onto the acoustic baffling running under the SUV. I'm always worried I screwed something up changing my own oil and the telltale spot in the driveway wouldn't give it away.

I'll let you know if my Jeep ever does

This is the result of significant advancements in machining tolerance (at production volumes we are talking about with cars), improved elastomers, QC, and ultimately engineering.

I just replaced the original oil pan gasket in a 1993 Ford 351W. It was a simple cork seal, impregnated with some rubber elements. Frankly pretty simple.

Back in went a fully elastomeric injection molded part. I guarantee you this seal went through extensive design/FEA to optimize the seal bump to achieve excellent sealability and improved contact pressure and the contact pressure profile over the machined seal face.

Now combine that with better tolerance control and QC on a modern block and you get no leaks.

My guess would be most cars have skid platates under the engine now