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I have a 2015 V6 Mercedes that I have put 50k miles on. Not a squeak, creek, or rattle. The interior does not only still look modern, but is very comfortable and practical. I have not put any money but gas and lubrication into it. Not one issue to date. It is very capable in the snow.
I traded in a body on frame Toyota FJ manual trans. It had no creature comforts. Got 13 Mpg. and blew out a throw out bearing at 60k. go figure.
You will cry when you see what the FJ is worth today compared to the beating you took on the Mercedes
My dad was the service manager at several different dealerships and whenever they got a German car trade-in they would just wholesale it cheap so it wouldn't sit on the lot and breakdown when road-tested by customers. German cars always were problem cars.
Totally depends on the year/model..........S class from the 80's to 1991 was bulletproof, easily a 200K mile car. Newer S classes got more complicated, less viable to drive 200K miles without hurting your wallet.
E classes were always great until 1995 brought a wiring harness issue and then later models had a balancer issue that cost more to fix than the whole car was worth.
I have a 2015 V6 Mercedes that I have put 50k miles on. Not a squeak, creek, or rattle. The interior does not only still look modern, but is very comfortable and practical. I have not put any money but gas and lubrication into it. Not one issue to date. It is very capable in the snow.
I traded in a body on frame Toyota FJ manual trans. It had no creature comforts. Got 13 Mpg. and blew out a throw out bearing at 60k. go figure.
A Toyota with a blown engine at 60k miles then a hassle free Mercedes?
A T/O bearing can be a bear to replace depending on the make of car.
Same goes for the clutch disc or pressure plate same.
Check out the cost on replacement on the early 911.
( VW mechanic retired)
Expensive yes, but unreliable: no. German cars are reliable, though, especially Opel, but right now I drive a leasing-car (duration: 2 years), so because of the warranty, repair bills don't matter to me. After that, I'm not going to lease another one, but only ride my motorcycle, for I live in a city where public transportation is well developed. Subway, streetcars, and buses go everywhere, so I don't depend on a car, and insurance-technically, a motorcycle is a lot cheaper.
I sold my old 1999 MB E420 a few months ago and never had a problem. I bought a new AMG C63S in 2016 with no problems. I buy new drive them for many years problem-free. Many people buy used and get what they pay for. My new 2013 Ford had 7 recalls, a broke sunroof that I had to pay for, and many trips to the dealership. I love MB’s, but I am considering adding a new Genesis QV80 for vacation driving.
Expensive yes, but unreliable: no. German cars are reliable, though, especially Opel, but right now I drive a leasing-car (duration: 2 years), so because of the warranty, repair bills don't matter to me. After that, I'm not going to lease another one, but only ride my motorcycle, for I live in a city where public transportation is well developed. Subway, streetcars, and buses go everywhere, so I don't depend on a car, and insurance-technically, a motorcycle is a lot cheaper.
German cars are not reliable and are expensive to repair and maintain. That's a statistical reality, regardless of your personal experience. I'm not a German car hater - I currently own 2 BMWs (2018 M550i, 2021 Z4 M40i), but I'm willing to put up with the lack of reliability, repair expense, and rapid depreciation to get the performance/luxury. Some people aren't and frankly, those people are being more logical about this than I am. Both of my BMWs have less than 6K miles on them, so they haven't had any issues yet, but I'm not naive enough to think that they won't in the next few years. It seems like Euro cars in general start turning to crap around 50K miles.
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That's German engineering, baby! 
