My 1998 Mercedes E300D (bought by me in 2009 at around 180K miles) was one of the best used cars I'd bought in terms of reliability. We drove it 7 years until New England salt ravaged the disastrous "environmentally friendly paint process" (which served to provide an early retirement for a mechanically sound car, the overall environmental benefit of which I cannot see).

Mechanically, in the 7 years/~35K miles we drove it, it needed brake pads once each axle, oil changes, wiper blades, one glow plug, tie rod ends, and one tire plug. That's not quite EV level of low maintenance, but it's pretty solid.

Best thing about the German car reputation is that some people are afraid to own them past the warranty and many are afraid past the 8-10 year mark. It makes them (911s aside) reasonably priced to buy used.

I have had similar experiences with Mercedes, New England salt included. Bought an E series for cheap with only 24k miles and drove it with only regular maintenance to 300k miles before the salt won. I’ve heard many other people with the same complaints about Mercedes as the parent but my two cars have been excellent.