I would like to point out that you need to compare apple to apples. Comparing 300E ($40K plus ten years ago) to Honda Accord ($12K 10 years ago) is not a valid comparison. I owned both cars and I can attest that Honda never got me stranded while "tank like" 300E got me stranded few times. Worst was when the car stalled on me on the bridge on Christmas evening with the entire family. Rattles or not, I think no body can match Japanese car's reliability track record to date. Things may change in the future as more and more Japanese cars are being manufactured outside its home country. If you look at Lexus 400 from 10 years ago, the car still feels solid as it was new.

__________________
'88 560SL Pearl Black / Grey