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As someone who has driven, and worked on, MANY German cars for thirty years, I have some thoughts.
First specifically on Mercedes is that hey have engineered too many single points of failure Why should a smog device failure shut down the engine rather than just throw a light? I have often said that given my choice to make a nonstop drive coast to coast with either a new Mercedes or new Yugo I'd choose the Yugo. Because the Mercedes has such poor reliability. And I have driven them for thirty years! High end too, always S cars. But they are too overengineered.
In general the Germans are gadget freaks, and they love to make complicated gadgets. Just go to germany and look at a store door, or any other commonplace item, and it'll have twenty moving parts rather than a hinge. Mind you that device will last forever with some rebuilding rather than replacing - and that is their mindset. It's not that they make junk, it's that they try to go too far too fast, be the first, be the most innovative etc.
I love their cars (well not VW & Audi) but I am well aware you can't be a one car family if that one car is German.
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