As Lee eludes to, S stands for Spensive!

I do go along with the 124 being one of the best, but I wouldn't necessary go along with the 104 engined versions making up the best 124 package. You ONLY have to put a head gasket and a wiring harness on it? And what about the chance of evaporator leakage?

The 124 is a fabulous car, but it is SUCH a great driving car, that people tend to get blinded by their incredible drivers seat experience. This blindness prevents things like head gasket work or $2500 evaporator jobs from being seen as a deterrent. I'm as guilty as anyone of this. I have been very lucky with my evaporator so far, but I have done LOTS of work to this car, and the later 124's could be just as bad or worse, albeit even more fun in the drivers seat.

If I were you I would do a search on the word reliability. I think Steve Brotherton has posted on this subject before. He sees zillions of cars in his shop and is one of the few here with enough data to answer your question. The rest of us, except for the pro techs, can only talk about our experience with a handful of models.

As far as reliability, back when the 123 cars were new, they gave me the best reliability of any car I ever drove. I had several of them and put over a quarter million mile on one and over a half million miles on the other. They were by FAR more reliable than anything else I ever owned. My first one I bought new and the second one was almost new. If you could start with a new one, it would most likely be the most reliable car you ever owned, but most of them are pretty rung out now.

Good luck,