People even think my W123 (which is red with a recent, but poor respray), cost me an arm and a leg. Perceptions are indeed amusing.
My friend's '92 400E was purchased for $20k and gets far more looks and 'we're paying you too much' comments than his co-worker who spent over $40k on a '97 Landcruiser! Talk about a waste of money
Some other friends who are big audi/rally fans thought MB's were only conservative cars for retirees, to which much flack is passed my way, only being in my late 20's. They promptly changed their minds after a test ride in my friend's 400E - "Wow, we're already going 120!?". They were further silenced when finding that the cost of maintenance on their cars over a year nearly doubled mine. Maybe not fair comparing a diesel to a gas model in regards to durability, but they now know there's much more to the 3-pointed star. They now can't wait for me to get that perfect E420 I'm after, so they can actually drive the thing - we'll see how generous I'm feeling
I'm kind of glad there are so many ignorant out there - all the more people to astound when they experience the performance
and hear what I paid for it!
- Ryan