Sounds like the crux is that reliability means different things to different perspectives. Those Mercs (or BMWs, or Audis) are targeted as lease-first cars, if

Sounds like the crux is that reliability means different things to different perspectives. Those Mercs (or BMWs, or Audis) are targeted as lease-first cars, if you go larger than their compact sedans (C-Klasse, 3er, A4). The cars are built to swaddle you in luxury for 24-36 months or 30,000 miles, get a refurb, then get resold at 80% original price as Certified Pre-Owned vehicles. Then they need to start having small issues to maintain a relatively predictable revenue stream for the the dealership mechanic networks. The CR notes are on the money -- really, the more tech in a car, the more likely you are to have issues. It's a big, heavy, complex dynamic system getting blasted with debris and weather. It's sometimes surprising just how durable some of the high-tech wizardry in modern autos is.