Q: Which car is better as far as lasting and maintenance costs. Benz, BMW, or Audi ..?

Personally I lean toward the Mercedes when comparing these three vehicles. Audi’s are nothing more than Volkswagons unless you are considering something in there sport utility class. Here is a link that will give you some quantifiable hard data I think you will find useful. Most and least expensive cars to own

My personal experience has revealed the plastics on BMW’s and Audi’s will begin to get brittle as their mileage increases. I see this become a problem around 100,000 miles. The plastics they use don’t like to be heat cycled. Which is the heating and cooling that a motor experiences as a normal part of their daily drive cycles. Having been under the hood of these cars, it is my opinion that Mercedes builds the more reliable vehicle among these three manufacturers.

With any car purchase, unless you are buying new, I recommend a pre-purchase inspection If you are buying a brand new vehicle, and don’t keep your cars beyond 100,000 miles, you will likely be happy with any of these vehicles. This is true for almost all new modern vehicle.

Good luck with your new car purchase!