I have a 1995 S600 which is supposed to be very high maintenance. Well, I have driven the car for over 64,000 miles and have less than $ 3,500.00 in repairs/maintenance in 31 months of ownership. I car is a dream to own and a pain in the ass to fix (yes- I work on it myself- so far). I go through brakes every 25,000 on average and have replaced the tires once. I had to replace the folowing parts so far: engine electrical harnass, a door check, light bulb in the dash, break caliper, self leveling rear suspension bushing, ignition caps/rotors and passengers side lower ball joint- that is it. Awesome car- but when it breaks it is a disaster to work on- even changing the oil is a pain.

In summary- not a cheap to fix when it breaks but mine has not broken that much (knock on wood). Regarding the gas mileage- I get 20 mpg with the cruise control on 70 mph, 17 to 18 mpg with the cruise set between 75 mph and 80 mph and 16 to 17 mpg driving between 80 mph and 90 mph (too fast to use the cruise control - where I live) and 16 mpg for speeds over 90 mph. In city driving the car gets between 15 mpg and 17 mpg.

The car is like a drug because if is impossiible to drive slow- which has cost me on speeding ticket.