that's exactly why I ask.... Coz my 95 is damn fine automobile. My friend's 89 W124 was also the most reliable thing ever.

It's just that it's rather ironic that these commercial I've quoted are rather new (much later than 1997 for sure) and they are just so far from truth from what they have been selling at the time. At the time those ads were aired the M-B brand was so far down in the initial buyer satisfaction survey and that particular ML class in the faithful video was like second from last for Top Gear's reliability survey.

Ferrari I don't blame them they have never ever put a commercial on TV saying how reliable their cars are or what not.....In fact I don't know if there is a Ferrari commercial on TV. One search on youtube says they don't.

And that's fine, coz I had a BMW they always seems to break down too (not mine though) I never see BMW advertising about their reliability. They put their money where their mouth is: their machines are about driving experience. Always a bit of a laugh:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AT-2y7PyFpk