25 years ago, Mercedes Benz was the gold standard of the world, as far as cars are concerned. Their engineering was unsurpassed, their build quality was as close to flawless as it is possible to get. The 116, 123 and 126 series cars that were produced at that time remain some of the best ever made anywhere, right up there with RWD Volvos. The diesels are particularly good.

However, for reasons that are not clear, this legendary quality, which had been maintained for three quarters of a century, began to slip at some point in the 80s. First there was the 380 V8 engine with the single row timing chain (think bicycle chain) that failed rapidly. All of them had to be updated at great expense to a double-row chain. The 124 series (300E etc.) of the late 80s was not a bad car, nor was the 201 series 190, but neither was up to the standards of the earlier models. The real lemon was the early 300E 4matic, on which the center differentials fail very consistently at a bit over 100K miles (kind of like the early Volvo XC wagons) At the same time, electrical problems , which were previously unheard of, started to become more common. One reason for this was that the cars for the US market were loaded down with every possible gadget known to man. As time passed, things only got worse. The merger with Chrysler led to further cheapening of designs, and quality slipped as well. The new system of designations, with the series letter coming first, heralded the latest stage of the decline. The inline 6 was replaced with a V6. Quality slipped further, to the point where, a few years ago, Mercedes was beaten by Chevrolet (!?!?!) in the JD Power survey of initial quality. The only car they were better than was Land Rover. Recent models have been plagued with an overabundance of electronics, including, on some, a system called Comand that combines trip computer, climate and stereo controls in a single incomprehensible knob on the console. Even when it is working correctly, this system is almost impossible to figure out.

The situation with BMW is even worse. Ever since the demise of the 2002, these cars have been overrated and overpriced. Though, to be fair, many of the 80s and early 90s models, particularly the 3 and 5 series, were decent cars, they had somehow acquired a reputation for quality and technical excellence beyond that which they deserved. Since then, the story has been much like that of Mercedes---an over-reliance on complicated electronics, (BMW's iDrive is even worse than M-B's Comand) and a steady decline in quality and reliability.

Sad to say, the top of the heap these days is Lexus, which is really nothing more than a fancy Toyota. The designs are totally blah, the engineering is nothing special either, but they have got the quality thing down. All those gimmicky "luxury" features are easy to use and give no trouble whatsoever, even as the cars age. Though these vehicles are more reliable than their European counterparts, they are every bit as much of a mechanics' nightmare under the hood. For that reason, I would never own one. I plan to stick with RWD Volvos for as long as it is possible to do so.

Don't plan on buying a 12 year old V50 T5 in 2020 and running up huge miles on it, maintaining it yourself. These new generation cars are not overbuilt the way a real Volvo is, and are vastly more complicated. They weren't made to last indefinitely, or to be repaired by amateurs, without the benefit of tens of thousands of dollars worth of electronic test equipment. Today, a 40 year old 122 is still viable as everyday transportation. There is no reason why a 40 year old 240 should not be likewise in 2025, or even 2030, assuming that cars are still in regular use at all by then.