There was an article in the local paper's automotive section a couple of months ago regarding automobile reliability.
They measured it just by assessing the percentage of cars sold and still found on the road for the last 10 years for different automakers. It may not be scientific but for what it is worth Benz was by far the most reliable of all the cars included in the survey. I did not save the article so I am not sure about the exact percentage, however it was reported that over 95% of Benzes put on the road in the last 10 years is still running. Well mine is (86' 300E), in fact so beautifully with over 270K on the odometer, that the other day my girlfriend asked me if the car has stalled at an intersection because she could not tell if the engine was running. Beat that Toyota, Honda, Ford, etc. The other day some 16-year-old punks made some comments about how nice the car looks. That says something about the timeless design of these cars. Reliability this, cutting corners that, I will stick with Benz for as long as they make them.

Alex