Mercedes-Benz

Mercedes builds cars that feel more solid than anything else at their price and isolate you from the road better than any competitor. The structural quality is real. So is the bill. Parts pricing is the highest of the nine brands here, and the electrical architecture on modern models is complex enough that meaningful diagnosis requires the factory XENTRY system — which limits how many independent shops can genuinely help you.

The specific expenses to plan for: air suspension on AIRMATIC-equipped models, where one failed strut runs $1,200 to $2,500 installed; 7G-Tronic and 9G-Tronic transmissions that want a fluid and filter service around 40,000 miles despite marketing language suggesting otherwise; and a long list of electronic modules where a fault in one surfaces as unrelated symptoms in another. Brakes and tires cost more simply because the components are larger.

The practical advice is the same as for BMW but stricter. Find an independent Mercedes specialist with XENTRY access before you need one, buy the newest example you can afford rather than the biggest, and treat a car with no service records as a car with no service history. A well-kept C-Class is a pleasure. A neglected one becomes expensive all at once.