Originally Posted by Baltistyle

You’ll find there there’s a lot of people here that really love older Lexus’ and their reliability. I’m a fan myself of Land Cruisers or LXs and that they are built for that 25 year lifecycle. In that world, they say the best Toyotas or Lexus‘ were designed before the year 2000. This is when they had the right amount of reliable tech and very refined engines. This is when some Toyota engines were designed for use in aircraft so they had to be ultra reliable. The Lexus were introduced to directly compete with the higher end European cars that Toyota wasn’t selling. Lexus means “ Luxury EXport to the US”. The main differences between the brands is that Toyota has very long life cycles and continues to refine the technology whereas Mercedes has always pushed new technology forward. So to compare reliability you would have to look at the S and E classes from @30 years ago, ones that don’t have the biodegradable rat food harnesses, and have minimal/less electronic tech.

Mercedes has been extremely reliable for me compared to the other top euro brands. Although I may do a bunch of preventive maintenance and DIY, I’ve not had any unknown or catastrophic issues. Parts are expensive for these cars, but buying genuine often means you’re gonna get a good lifetime out of those parts. To compare reliability these days means we have to look at what disposable technology has been included and what normal reliable features have been removed.

Unless you are under a CPO or original manufacturers warranty, there is never a reason to visit the dealer. Sure, there might be some items that can only be purchased and installed through the dealer network, and that might be a reason to avoid certain features, but generally all the cars will have those features beyond a certain manufactured date, which for many was 2015. I would say your $5000 estimate will more than cover you if you work with a reasonable independent that doesn’t take advantage of you.

A number one rule is to never buy a modded car, modded in any way to include even just a sticker (this may sound odd, but the person that can only afford the sticker and not the mod likely can also not afford all of the proper maintenance)… and to make sure that the manufacturers maintenance schedule was not followed, but exceeded with more frequent oil and fluid changes.

There’s no doubt that you will love an S class, but it’s not a Lexus in terms of reliability, similar to how the Lexus is not quite as luxurious as the Mercedes. It’s my personal belief that modern cars (aside from an lx) from either brand will not last reliably for 25 years from today. They will likely be totaled due to tech vs mechanical failures.

Originally Posted by W205C43PFL

On the topic of Lexus, I was reading another thread and looks like that brand has a better dealership experience. Although I really think it is still a YMMV type of thing.

Originally Posted by SW20S

I drove Lexus vehicles for 22 years. Mercedes service is at least as good. At least the dealers here.