That used to be true but not anymore. Just look at the classified ads, screaming at you that before you buy that Toyota or Nissan, for $329 a month "you can be driving a Mercedes"

They are indeed saying that NOW a new Mercedes can be cheap.

Many of them are indeed being built to a price point nowadays. The Mercedes of yesterday were very expensive as they were engineered to high standards and built with great care

That is not necessarily true in the models or the last ten years or more, as surveys attest, the quality has gone way down

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1991 560 SEC AMG, 199k <---- 300 hp 10:1 ECE euro HV ...

1995 E 420, 170k "The Red Plum" (sold)

2015 BMW 535i xdrive awd Stage 1 DINAN, 6k, <----364 hp

1967 Mercury Cougar, 49k

2013 Jaguar XF, 20k <----340 hp Supercharged, All Wheel Drive (sold)