Well, my Mercedes experiment is over.

I have a legit question for the enthusiasts here: Are Mercedes typically fairly reliable cars? The 300E I bought was checked out by a local MB specialist, and they gave it more or less a "clean bill of health." They did point out it had a head gasket leak, which I understand is fairly common with the 103 engines. Other than that, they felt it was solid and would likely give me overall good service. Oddly enough, in the less-than-one year I owned my E, the head gasket was the one thing that never gave me any problems.

In my 10 months of ownership:

Had to replace the alternator

Had to replace the front struts and strut mounts

Had to replace the radiator

Had to replace the water pump

Had to have some heater work done on it (something about a 'mono-valve?')

Had to have three of the four windows fixed (unfortunately, two of them required the regulator/motor--only one of them was a relatively cheap switch)

Had to have the a/c/heater control panel thing replaced

That thing also had more strange sounds than any car I've ever owned, and I've owned plenty of 15-25 year old autos (mostly Japanese). The blower made some wierd chirping sound, particularly when cold... there was a faint fluttering sound at the top (defrost) vent that came on intermittently. The fuel pump(s?) at the rear of the car sounded like a small engine running constantly; if the radio was off, it was annoyingly loud.

The middle vents (above the radio) quit blowing air altogether about 2 months into ownership. The rear defogger worked less and less well as time went by. There was some wierd chirping sound coming from the rear of the car by the time I unloaded it. Antenna wouldn't go up and down. Odomoter quit working. Cruise control quit working. Recently started stalling out right after I'd first crank it. The windshield wiper started going slower and slower, particularly when cold. The transmission always felt wierd to me (not smooth as I'm used to) but they said it checked out fine... however, recently, it seemed like it always took a little longer for it to engage when you moved it from P to D or R, like 2-3 seconds or so before it'd "catch." On and on and on.

Do you think mine was just a lemon? Or is it fairly common, this type of stuff? A lady I work with who has an '82 Diesel raved about her Benz, somewhat influenced me to start looking at Mercedes. But even though she pointed out she had 400k on the car (which is, I admit, quite a feat!), I later learned she was on her second engine, making that 400k seem a little less impressive (I sold an '89 Corolla to a friend w/280k on the original engine and clutch; he recently replaced the clutch at 305k, engine still strong). I also started noticing she had hers in at the shop about half as much as I had mine in! Granted, most of her repairs weren't as costly as mine, but not like she drives it 12-18 months without having any issues. Are they just relatively high-maintenance cars that are good for a lot of miles--but with the caveat you have to invest a lot along the way?

My $275 payment and full-coverage insurance on my new car will work out to be cheaper over the course of this next year than I spent on repairs on this thing in 10 months.

Not meaning to flame, I went into this with the best of hopes and intentions. I'm very disappointed in my Mercedes experience. I have to have a reliable car, and I've just found Japanese cars to be the best in that particular category.

But genuinely curious about the experience of those here...