I get the same response all the time. I've owned the car for only 7 months and have probably gotten the snide remark well over a hundred times by friends, family, co-workers, and even strangers. I basically ignore it, but it still bothers me a little bit.

As you can tell from the list of cars I've owned before, a few I've bought new, but most were purchased used, but nearly new.

My 93 300E is the cheapest car I have ever purchased (except the El Camino, which was a car from high school - doesn't count).

I paid $9,500 for it, which was about $2,000 below Kelley Blue Book Private Party Retail, and $1,200 below KBB wholesale trade-in value. I bought it from a guy who was desperate to sell it immediately, so I jumped on it. He had bought a newer SL from the MB dealer in Long Beach and needed to sell the car to have enough down payment to qualify for the loan.

But I digress. Back to the point - it seems that everyone who thinks I'm rich for driving the MB is driving a new or nearly new SUV, Camry or Accord, and paid 2 to 3 times or more than what I paid!

And the funniest thing is in 4-5 years, their cars will be worth less than mine!

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Paul S.

2001 E430, Bourdeaux Red, Oyster interior.
79,200 miles.

1973 280SE 4.5, 170,000 miles. 568 Signal Red, Black MB Tex. "The Red Baron".