I had a nasty little altercation with a "gentleman" last evening in traffic. I was driving my trusty, rusty old 420SEL, stopped at a light. This other guy was turning left across my lane, and he had the green light, but he apparently felt I was too far into the intersection, so he had to take his turn wider than he would have liked. He saw my 3-pointed star, gave me a look of pure hatred, slowed down, and screamed something about me being a stupid, rich motherf***er. I have a grand total of $1500 in this car, it's 20 years old, and none too pretty. Has anyone else noticed that no matter how old and decrepit their Mercedes is, people perceive that it is a high-dollar car? It reminds me of the old line "it's rusty, but it's a Cadillac".

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2002 Ford ZX2
2 x 2013 Honda Civics

You think thats bad, you should try drivin the 600 in traffic. Suddenly, every one is out to get you in the pretty car. ****, some guy started swearing at us, after he almost hit us because he was drifting into MY lane...

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-Justin

91 560 SEC AMG - other dogs dd
01 Honda S2000 - dogs dd
07 MB ML320 CDI - dd
16 Lexus IS250 - wifes dd

it's automatic.

screw general population.. they dont have the talent like us classic benz owners... pfft to them and their fancy computer controlled fuel injection and ABS well laaa dee daaa

My grandmother (who is probably responsible for my love of MB) was not the best driver but used to have a W111 back in the sixties.

She would frequently get abused by other drivers for perceived (probably real) driving errors.

She would smile, wave and say 'don't mind them - they're jealous, and jealousy is very unattractive'.

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1988 W126 420 SE

beware of fundamentalists!

So, if other people think I'm rich, let them. The DC area has a pretty high Mercedes population, mostly the newer throw-away variety. Most people don't even notice you're in a 'special' automobile, but sometimes I encounter another old 126 and we actually wave to each other. Yes, I'm just oozing with Old Money - (Not!)

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1985 380SE Blue/Blue - 230,000 miles
2012 Subaru Forester 5-speed
2005 Toyota Sienna
2004 Chrysler Sebring convertible
1999 Toyota Tacoma

lol, but the brotha's love me...

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72 W114/M130

RedMeat cartoon

I see that all the time.......some idiot pulled out in front of me without enven stoping at a stop sign....so I bumped him..he got out of car yelling....told him to shut up or call the cops becasue he ran the stop sign....and I had no stop sign....he didn't have space to pull all the way out and was still almost sideways in front of me....idiots.....I have better words for them but can't use them here.

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Proud owner of ....
1971 280SE W108
1979 300SD W116
1983 300D W123
1975 Ironhead Sportster chopper
1987 GMC 3/4 ton 4X4 Diesel
1989 Honda Civic (Heavily modified)
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Section 609 MVAC Certified
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"He who fights with monsters might take care lest he thereby become a monster. And if you gaze for long into an abyss, the abyss gazes also into you." - Friedrich Nietzsche

I'm not into the bling but I am considering a set of those chrome centercaps.

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1985 380SE Blue/Blue - 230,000 miles
2012 Subaru Forester 5-speed
2005 Toyota Sienna
2004 Chrysler Sebring convertible
1999 Toyota Tacoma

Very true. Spend 40k on a dually pickup and it's alright. Buy a beater Benz and do your own work and you are a "rich scumbag" or whtever. That's why I have not bothered to paint my old 300D, someone would key it in short order. People don't know what to say when I tell them that I paid less for the 300D than they paid in sales tax on the fancy suv/truck they have.

One week after buying my last Caddy, some lady at the post office creamed the rear 1/4 panel with her bumper pulling into the parking lot. I saw her do it, she denied it and started screaming at me. I found it was easier to just pay the body shop the $400. to fix it than deal with that c***.

Well, with that logic, why not just buy whatever new car you want and key it and hammer the doors? Might as well get it over with, right? BTW, I do know of someone that keyed his car to "get it over with" and he swore that because he did that and left the scratches there, he never got any more dings.

Last year, someone stole stuff from my SUV. Maybe I shouldn't buy anymore nice stuff so no one would steal it. Also, should sell my house and live in a rathole since kids have egged and TPed my house. Guess what. That c*** was the smart one. A few minutes of screaming saved her $400.

Oh yes, I can see cutting the nose to spite the face.

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01 Ford Excursion Powerstroke
99 E300 Turbodiesel
91 Vette with 383 motor
05 Polaris Sportsman 800 EFI
06 Polaris Sportsman 500 EFI
03 SeaDoo GTX SC Red
03 SeaDoo GTX SC Yellow
04 Tailgator 21 ft Toy Hauler
11 Harley Davidson 883 SuperLow

This is my real logic:

It would have meant a police report, and that welfare b**** would have had too much access to my personal information. It was worth the $400 to not deal with whole situation. Do you think she even had current insuance? I doubt it. If I took her to court and got a judgement I would still be trying to collect the money. The 300D is a beater the I bought for the only pupose of doing errands with. Nobody has put a mark in it. The good cars stay at home and don't get driven to the local grocery store or Wal-Mart, where these things happen.

I get an occasionally glare or spiteful remark when I'm in my W124. I think most people think it's newer and more "expensive" than it really is. To be honest, though, most people are fairly respectful. I get a lot of ribbing from friends about my "snobby Mercedes," but I take it as more of a compliment ... hey, I think my car is beautiful and fancy, so I'm glad to hear other people think it looks nice, too.
Every once in a while someone takes exception to it. I'm a young woman who looks like a college girl (even though I'm older than that), so I think a lot of people probably assume I'm some dingbat in daddy's Benz. Once people interact with me, they usually figure out that I'm pretty down-to-earth (or just plain eccentric), and anybody who knows me knows how much I love that car and how much work I put into it.
One incident I did have was when I was pulled over for speeding last year. It was in one of those rural stretches where the speed limit drops fast and is marked by small, obscured and faded signs. Officer said I was going 52.7 in a 35 (I found out later that there was no sign ... he made it up or was confused ... but it was too late to do anything). He was so disdainful, looked my car up and down and I could tell by the way he eyed me and spoke to me that he thought I was a ditzy rich college girl heading home after a weekend of partying (it was 7:30 a.m. and I was on my way to a memorial service). He was very careful to write "52.7 mph" on the ticket so I would be in the highest "points" bracket possible. Maybe I'm paranoid, but there was no question in my mind that he judged me based on my car, my vanity tag, my youthful looks, my being a girl, and the Bucknell sticker on the car's rear ...

Mostly, though, I get compliments on my car ... people are usually impressed and ask "How did you afford a MERCEDES?!" I tell 'em it was a hand-me-down.

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1987 300D, arctic white/palomino--314,000 miles
1978 240D 4-speed, Euro Delivery, light ivory/bamboo--370,000 miles
2005 Jeep Liberty CRD Limited, light khaki/slate--140,000 miles
2018 Chevy Cruze diesel, 6-speed manual, satin steel metallic/kalahari--19,000 miles
1982 Peugeot 505 diesel, 4-speed manual, blue/blue, 130,000 miles
1995 S320, black/parchment--34,000 miles (Dad's car)

I love the fact that something about a guy in coveralls in a near-spotless 126 still makes people raise their eyebrows. They often ask if it's a customer car. Usually I respond something like, it's 25 yrs old and my most prized possession. This often gets a look of quiet respect. One time at a 7-11 at midnight, the bum out front grinned and said, "All you rich white guys love this... (as he holds the front door of the store open as I approach) 'Ladies and Gentlemen... it's Brad Pitt!'"

That cracked me up. There is something about a Benz S-Class, no matter the year, that says something to people, even people who spent more on their sales tax than I spent on my MB.

when i was in high school i one of the girls in my class saw me in my first one and soon after called me a rich *****. i couldnt belive it. i pulled in in a primered,dented and rusty mercedes and she assumed i had alot of money. after that day she never said another thing about my car

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have no worries.....President Obama swears "If you like your gun, you can keep it

I don't know I have been driving MB's for awhile so maybe I am used to it.

In the center of town a few weeks ago I was sitting at a light and in the center lane to go straight. The car accross from me wanted to make a left across my lane.

So insted of waiting for me and the car behind me to clear the lane they turned in front of me. I was driving my beater SD and if I hit them it would have been their fualt. So I kept going, scared the S**t out of them.( I was going slow 10mph maybe) They slammed it in reverse and got out of my lane. Of course they swore at me but I flipped them off screw them.

Once in awhile someone says something, mostly in upstate CT in some of those little towns. Local for example if you are sitting at a stop light you usually find yourself sitting next to: BMW, BMW, Audi, Volvo, me in the MB, and maybe a MB behind me. So no one cares.

It is really scary in Newport, I was driving down a side road and their were 3 W220's of various colors in front of me and a W210 behind me. S430's are the Chevy's of Newport, everyone's got one and nobody cares anymore.

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1999 SL500
1969 280SE
2023 Ram 1500
2007 Tiara 3200