I love Mercedes and there is no substitute when it comes to safety (and isn't that more important than anything else). I would take a side impact in my 1984 300SD anyday over any American or small Japanese car. That said, I had 1980 and 1982 Honda Civics that over 280,000 miles when I sold them both still running and legal. I had a 1989 Nissan Sentra with 225,000 on it when I sold it to a friend- everything worked even the a/c. My 1987 Toyota P/U had 240,000 on it when I sold it the other week, this was a work truck (and got worked hard) with 1/10th the maintenance needs of the MB. My mother's 1990 Honda CRX has 250,000 on it and has never even had to replace so much as the alternator (excluding clutch and brakes). My 300SD was my father's (original owner) who maintained it meticulously, and has been a great car to me but it does need REGULAR care to maintain that MB quality and reliability. And the cost factor is so much higher than the Japanese cars (what is more expensive to fix though, your car or your mangled up body after a wreck in a little tin box). I know this probably doesn't count for much coming from a guy trying to sell his MB though does it??!!