By your standards, a Mercedes-Benz would be a lousy car.
Actually, they are absurdly over rated. A personal friend sold European cars for decades. He has some rather interesting perspectives on reliability.
Sorry, but have friends that have owned several and will never buy another because they are lousy cars.
Same with BMW now, sadly. I bought my first one in Canada and it was a European import and I drove it into the ground and still got $4K as a trade in for my next BMW. The next one was domestic built and was a piece of sh*t from the minute I drove it off the lot. Will never buy another.