[jqpabc123]

It’s far from unique to VW.

I have found that there are very few absolutes in life --- so use your best judgment.

In my judgment, European manufacturers have jumped on this bandwagon more than most. Probably out of desperation and necessity --- they can't compete solely on price.

As another example, Mercedes vehicles seem to be good for about 3 years before the planned maintenance (aka gouging) really starts kicking in. I've known people with $10K bills for the scheduled maintenance from a dealership --- for a 3-4 year old car that seems to be running just fine.

"Mercedes-Benz is one of the fastest depreciating car brands in the world!"

https://yourgreatcar.com/do-mercedes-hold-their-value/

[SoftTalker]

For used car buyers this is a boon. You can pick up a nice older E class for a few thousand dollars if you know a bit about what to look for and what to avoid.

[jqpabc123]

Yes, this might make sense if you could do the maintenance yourself --- but this is not at all easy or even possible in some cases without expensive/specialized electronic tools --- and this is all by design.

Something that should be simple like changing the battery is actually an intricate process on some models involving all sorts of resets and nonsense. A mistake can "brick" your car. I know someone who did this and had to have the car towed to the dealership where they were subjected to a good ole fashioned ($$$) reaming --- all for a dead battery.

https://www.mercedesmedic.com/mercedes-battery-replacement-d...

For me, a 5 year old Mercedes is just not worth the headache --- and again, this is by design IMO. If you choose to buy one for basic transportation, my advice is make sure you have a backup vehicle.

[SoftTalker]

Yes this is more and more true of any car. And yes I'm assuming you can handle at least routine maintenance and repairs yourself. My newest is a W211 which is about 20 years old now. Reliable drivetrain, pretty easy to work on overall, most electronic systems can be at least read if not managed by a generic scan tool such as a YouCanic.

You can find them cheap enough so that if they have a major failure you just scrap it and find another one. If they last a few years, you have a comfortable solid car for way less than making payments and depreciation on a new one.

[jqpabc123]

With all due respect, your experience is kinda out of date.

A lot has changed over 20 years. Just as an example, a lot of new Mercedes are now being equipped with Renault engines.

https://cartriple.com/mercedes-models-with-a-renault-engine/

[SoftTalker]

I'd never consider any of the cheap classes. Most of those are not available in the USA where I am anyway.

E or S class only for what I'm talking about. And S are generally too complicated unless you can find one that's been really well kept up.