so i guess the concensus is that mercedes might have it's reputation lingering on from the 70's and 80's but when it comes to the reliability factor that's opinionated.
between my 87 260E and my 87 toyota corolla, my 260 has 118K miles and i bought it when it had 90K. I've spent about 9000 on it in two years since i'ive owned it.
versus my corolla that i bought ten years ago when it had 125K miles and i got sick of it when it reached 289K and i just dont drive it anymore. total spent on the corolla in 10 years, $500. that was for the brakes and muffler.
the benz i had to get towed 5 times in two years, the corolla.. not once. i could never rely on any mercedes, either current or the ones i owned in the past to be me primary/only vehicle. i always need a second one "incase" it dies. versus the corolla which never left me stranded. same goes for my friend who owns a 400E now after selling his honda with 300K plus miles. he's owned the 30K mile 92 400E for less than a year and has already spend more on the car than he did on the honda for the life of that car... well i guess mercedes is not all that we think it is after all. perhaps it's a good "hobby" car for one who likes to work on the car every single weekend but then again we're owners so we can complain. can't we ?