Mercedes UK sells more broad market vehicles. Mercedes USA is focused on the premium market. The cheapest Mercedes in the USA is a CLA with the 2.0L turbo. We don't get the A/V/X-Class or anything with an engine that is <200bhp.

Most shops in the US won't do more than basic work on them. Being so rare, you typically have to go to the dealer or a Euro-import specialist shop in the US. These shops typically won't work on a new-new car, they typically wait until the model is 5 years old before picking up the equipment for them (which can be expensive).

It's not a cultural different, but an economics one. I'm sure getting a Ford Mustang fixed in the UK is expensive despite being a car any American mechanic is comfortable working on.

Interesting. I'm in the UK and I have always thought of Mercedes as the "taxi manufacturer of choice" rather than a luxury or sportier brand, in terms of where they do their big volume sales, both in the UK and globally - i.e. the S/E/C/V class. I have literally never seen an X class in my life, although I see quite a few G-wagens (easily more than I see A-classes).

The average age of cars on the road in the US is just under 12 years.

The issue is that German cars in particular have a reputation for being quite expensive to maintain outside of warranty. In general for most cars it's not a big deal.

Also depends on brand, Volvo owners in the UK tended to keep using the dealer network for a lot longer than other makes.

Are you talking about 50k+ cars or cheap cars?