As I'm taking a look at wizard spells, it appears that a lot of the level 1 spells seem to lose their luster.
Particular with the lower DCs.
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1st Expeditious Retreat, Feather Fall, Enlarge Person, Identify, True Strike.
2nd Protection from X Communal, Glitterdust, See Invisibility, Invisibility, Mirror Image, Darkvision
Glitterdust just because it's a will save and a good number of the things you really don't want hitting you in melee wont have high will saves.
Otherwise think utility.
Just a few quick ones - these are fairly obvious though...
Mage armor never loses it's luster. It can be replaced with items if you're looking for something a bit more powerful or different, but usually, it's your best bet.
Shield is great, especially if you can quicken it with a rod. It's even worth quickening with a 5th level slot at higher levels.
Vanish / Invisibility are both great at high levels as long as enemies can't see invisibility. 5 Round is usually enough. Just remember to cast your spells each round, then move (at half speed) so you can stealth again at a +20 bonus.
Mirror Image - Can never go wrong with that spell at any level.
Resist Energy gets better as you level and is great at all points in the game - I once ate 3 scorching rays and 3 quickened scorching rays in the same round and took zero points of damage - one of them was a crit, even.
I've always been fond of Invisible servant and Alter self. Especially at high levels
Shield is great, especially if you can quicken it with a rod. It's even worth quickening with a 5th level slot at higher levels.
Yeah, I have to agree. Back in 3.5 I used to use persistent metamagic to make my shield spell last a full day. Meant using a 7th level spell every morning, but it saved my bacon more than a few times. Definitely worth it.
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At higher levels, your low level spells should be more about utility than combat.
Summons are always good.
Floating Disk has good utility for random things (mainly surfaces you or your allies don't want to stand on)
Mount
Magic Missile is much better at high levels than low, especially to disrupt spell casting (although shield or brooch can stop it easily).
Alarm for guarding your retreat or other areas.
Silent Image for any number of things. To trigger an ambush, to fool low INT/WIS monster into believing a more power spells (like trolls vs. a fake Wall of Fire). Sight based encounters are especially susceptible to illusions. Heck, a properly placed Ghost Sound will confuse opponents on where your party are.
Or if you have Fast Study arcane discovery, you can leave a lot of low level slots open, and it only take 1 minute to fill those slots in the middle of the day.
As I'm taking a look at wizard spells, it appears that a lot of the level 1 spells seem to lose their luster.
Don't use the ones with DC's then? Usually they tend to slowly turn into utility slots, rather than spells for blowing things up. The level 1/2 spells that remain useful are usually utility spells or defenses, or the rare few that scale well without a DC or work well with metamagic.
Liberating Command for sure. My 7th-level cleric always prepares two of them.
Some first level spells become good as you move further up in level -- for instance, anticipate peril.
Most of the Divination spells stay as relevant as they were originally.
Some of the Abjuration spells remain mainstays: Resist Energy, Protection from Evil, Protection from Evil (Communal), Endure Elements.
Glitterdust and Invisibility, as has been repeatedly said up above.
The 2nd level spell Scorching Ray, even unaugmented, will often clear minor threats out of the way on those rare occasions the mage has no BSF nearby to do it for him. Intensified Spell makes some of those 1st level damaging spells worth another look as 2nd level spells instead. Magic Missile, because it's not only good as a readied "counterspell", so long as your opponent has no Shield spell up or Brooch of Shielding worn, but when you run into undead Shadows, you may want something that always hits and ignores incorporeality. Plus, when you get the Quicken Spell feat, it is an easy pick for taking down the creature(s) most wounded after you cast a "big gun" spell.
As has already been mentioned - a lot of utility spells keep up. Low level evocation is, of course, pretty much useless at higher levels. But defence spells and simple crowd control with non-DC based effects, like Grease, remain neat tricks.
Heck, if you are feeling extremely cautious about things (and possibly a bit mean), summon some minions for scouting with a low level summon spell.
Another fun one no one's mentioned, Comprehend Languages. No combat utility, but it removes one of many curve-balls a DM might try. True Strike gets round a few possible disturbances itself. Assuming (although it'd be an odd situation as the party wizard) you're one of the higher perception party members, you're a pretty good candidate for Keep Watch.
Essentially, just think "What can my DM do that I can counter?"