“As I sadly found out the hard way. Transmission, to be specific.”
My in laws have had a number of Mercede’s over the years including the newest E-Class. They have replaced the transmission in it 3 times now. Once the lease is up they have vowed never to own another and will look at a Lexus (the new LS 460 is beautiful).
At least they learned their lesson.
I know someone who replaced the transmission in their Honda Odyssey 3 times (Honda has had some major problems). Yet when their 13 year old Taurus needed an idler pulley changed (no other repairs), they cursed the Ford and bought another Honda because they “wanted something reliable”.
Go figure.