Then again, Charles Lindbergh was a big supporter of the NSDAP as well, and so were GM, Chrysler and Ford.
German Panzer MKIIs rode on a Ford V-8.

Anyhow, not that people know that or care when they scratch a swastika into a hood.

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John J. Meadows
'85 190E 2.3L 99k mi.
'83 300D Turbo 268k mi. (sold to Mom and Dad for a song)

1L - TCW Law School, U. of Richmond

Boy, and I thought this was all just a myth! My family have been driving German cars for decades. From BMWs, Porsches, and M-Bs. But I have to agree there are a lot of stereotyping on MB owners.

I didn't realize the "anti-Mercedes Benz" till I was a Freshman in high school, at the time we owned a 190E 2.6, xxxSEL and I get a lot of sarcastic comments when I get dropped off from school. By the time I was a Junior, my parent has bought a brand new SL, and boy those sarcasms had gone to new heights! Jealousy too! I remember my mom coming home in rage. 2 Weeks after driving her SL, she got 2 indented key marks on each side of the door.

At that moment, I knew I better just stay off the benz trend in the family, and just get a Japanese import for my first year of driving, and I told my self "benz weren't cool".

After a while, and developing a family of my own, I realize the M-B did offer more than just "bragging rights". M-B truly has the luxury feel and German engineering. Of course I still get the "wow, you rich boy" attitude from friends. However I'm never hesitant to speak of my vehicle, as I shouldn't have to be ashamed of it.

I currently own a 1998 E430, 1999 CLK430...and planning to purchase a 2001 ML430 once it comes out. And yes, I get a lot of rude drivers as some of you might have experienced.

I guess I've been fortunate to never experience the I Hate MB syndrome. The only comment I ever got, was how nice it must be to have money to get a Benz... from a guy who spent 15K more than me on a pick up truck???


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Darko Vusir
1994 C220

After I bought my first Mercedes, a '73 450 SEL that I paid $1500 for, a friend of mine said to me "so now you think you're an elitist". I responded by saying "I paid fifteen hundred bucks for this thing", and the response was, "well you are still an elitist!" , so go figure. One nice thing that has happened, is after I bought my 240D, I noticed other 240D drivers waving at me.

Sigmet

73 & 80 450 SEL
82 240D

what bothers me is the door dings....what is the deal with parking lots...the further away I park my car the more likely some guy wants to park 12 inches off my door.whaz up wid dat????

Stuff like the door dings etc. makes me think of a saying I heard a while back:
"Please grant me the wisdom to understand that God did not see fit to evenly distribute the gift of intelligence"

This explains many of the things I see.
That, or some people are just a#%holes.

In this area and I suspect most others, the type of person that would damage another man's car seems to be of a specific ilk. I witnessed an unkempt, red faced woman in a fifteen year old Comet intentionally ram a twenty year old Jaguar in an LA mall lot. We no doubt had our snoots full back then and we were in a Lotus Europa. .(next to the old Nash Metropolitan I had just out of high School, this car was the smallest thing on the road) so we didn't even stop to tell the cops that we encountered. We just paused and mumbled something to them as we went by. With a car full of Bass bottles, we didn't want to end up in durance vile with the red faced harriden though things were considerably more loose in those days. .not that that made our outrageous Thompsonesque escapades any less irresponsible but we did no harm and were probably lucky, , You are only 20 once. We moved to the high desert where we wouldn't be noticed. Lotta freaks.

I grew up (more or less) and bought a new Saab in 1980. During the "Hungry?, ,Eat Your Foreign Car" bumper sticker days..(at least in the mid west). . With the chip of fool intolerance still firmly on my sholder, I created my own bumper sticker (with one of those press-on kits)that read "Hungry? Build A Better Car" that drew fists of solidarity from MB,Audi, Rover and most other imported car owners and of course fists of anger from union drunk and threatened laborers. I meant it because it was true in those days. Detroit had a tough time putting two pieces of steel together without creating a paper shortage with recall notices. Saab was vastly superior and in many ways probably still is in the same ways my MBs have been. Roll cage, etc. I was a professional musician and was warned to join the guys in the bus and leave the car at home during a midwestern leg of a tour but I decided not to. . Second night out at a date in Indianapolis, the hood was trounced while parked on the suposedly secured ramp leading to the loading area of the venue. Strong UAW ties in that town in those days ..Probably one of the drivers or the stagehands. Mirror damaged at a restaurant in Anderson, IN the next day. .I took the car back to western Indiana and caught up with the bus at the gig in southern Michigan that night.
My MB had the dregs of a milkshake dumped in the sunroof (it was open)once but that might just as well have happened had there been a Yugo sitting there. .except I suspect that if one attempted to open the sunfoof on a Yugo, the rest of the car would have moved and he and the roof would be left sitting there with a puzzled look on his face. So far as the prejudice towards superior rolling stock goes, Joke 'em if they can't take a - - - -! They will get over it.

Yep, its all about percerption...I've had several Porsches (2-944's & 928) plus a 350SL, 240D etc....people always made the comments about "rich boy". Funny thing was they all cost less than a brand new Ford Escort...go figure.

I didn't go out of my way to educate them to this fact, I just let them believe what they wanted. ...but it was sorta cool with the girls in college! hmm lets see the guy w/ the Porsche and the Merecedes convertible or the guy driving the Honda.....

Luckily now I'm in the land of MB down here in Boca.

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88 300E (plus used to have 72 350SL, 83 240D)
Dad's got a 99 ML320 & 93 300SE...we're a Mercedes family !

Here in Calgary, Canada, there are more trucks than cars on the road. Literally every second vehicle here is a Grand Cherokee. There is no shortage of Explorers, 4Runners and Pathfinders either. I drive an 87 260E that cost me $8,000US. Those SUV's, as well as most full-size pick-up trucks, cost three to four times more than my car and, yet, the Benz is perceived as an expensive, flashy automobile. Most people, I think, can't tell the difference between a brand new and a fifteen year old Benz. The fact that the average four year old car/truck has more rust than my automobile doesn't help either. The good thing is that I haven't noticed any hatred or lack of respect while driving the Benz. Admittedly though, I drive it in a restrained, dignified manner. Driving the FIAT is a different story...
Alex Kouliy
Calgary, Canada
87 MB 260E
75 FIAT 124 Spider

Wow reading this thread is scring me enought to not want to get my '84 190e out of the garage ive got it in and in drivable condition. Im 19 and in college so i dont hvae the money to get body and paintwork when some a$$ keys or dents it (knock on wood). I inherited the car from my grandma about 2 months ago and it was drivable then but due to my being at school it sat in the garage untouched basically and now has a real hard time starting up when cold and idling after I messed up the mixture control valve after I was told that it was an idle control adjuster.(im still so pissed at the supposedly knowledgeable mechanic who told me this that the last time i talked to him i told him id never bring any vehicle to himalong with a few choice words) hopefully this wekend ill get the mix figured out and will be able to drive it for once

After I bought my 300SD (it is 18 years old!) I had a friend (now former) tell a joke that involved comparing a Mercedes to a porcupine (I won't repeat it because of the language involved). When he told me the punch line and expected me to laugh I got up and left the house. I have yet to go back. I wish people would learn that there are both good and bad Mercedes people. I've become convinced that the "attitudes" aren't the fault of the MB owners, but the general public.

So far I haven't got such crap yet. Though I have met kids driving BMW's (M3's, etc.) overtook me and really meant to make me 'feel' it. I mean I didn't care. I knew that I couldn't do anything against a 300hp car, except maybe run it off the road...

My car got keyed once, but the drunk mofo didn't spare even an old beat up car whose brand I didn't even know. I think it was an old Toyota Corolla wagon. Rust everywhere, etc.

In fact people laugh when they know I have a 1983 Benz.......
Some even think that I buy it just because it's the only MB that I can afford... what fools.

__________________
2008 BMW 335i Coupe

Couldn't agree more!!

I just picked up the note that I threw into the garbage can, I got this note this morning on the windshield of my 92 400E.

Last night I parked my 400E beside a new Oldsmobile Intrigue in a visitor parking lot, I parked a little close to Intrigue because the car on the other side squeezed a little bit, I didn't feel any difficulties when I got out the car.

The note says: " Is there any reason to park so close to my car ?!? Didn't anyone ever teach you how selfish and ignorant that this?! You wouldn't like it someone did that to your "precious" car!! Smarter up!!"

I have had Fiat, Volvo, Toyota, Ford, I haven't encountered this kind of things until I drive a 10 YEAR OLD Mercedes!!

__________________
99 BMW 540i 6-speed 110K Km
03 SAAB 9-5 wagon 80K Km
92 400E (Sold) 245K km
Still missing the days with the Benz, it kept me busy.

These are great, I think it’s interesting that a car changes the way OTHER people act, not only does it give you a different image. I have had both positive and negative experiences on the subject. At 18 I bought my first MB a 190E as I always told everyone I wouldn’t buy a car until I could buy a MB. I think the message that gave to my friends and family was. Wow he does work for what he wants. 8 months later I bought a C280 Sport in Brilliant Silver...that’s when I started getting the comments from co-workers like "Are there any open positions in the IT department" of course portraying that I was getting paid considerably more. Where I work is about 30 minutes from where I live and I drive 1 of the 2 Mercedes I see on occasion in the way through the town I work in. I get looks (some good, some not) and have gotten flipped off for no apparent reason many times in that town. Where I live is completely different. About every other house have 1 or 2 Mercedes, Lexus, and BMW in the garage so it’s looked upon as a "normal" car. When I am out driving I think you definitely get some respect you wouldn’t get in a Honda or what-not. For instance I was waiting to make a turn out onto a busy street about rush hour, no stop lights or anything; you just wait until someone is nice enough to let you in. Well I was behind a Toyota and it took about 3 minutes before someone stopped to let him turn out. Next up I thought I would wait 3 more minutes for my turn but 20 seconds later someone (in a Mercedes) stopped and let me out in front of them. I think there are still plenty of owners that know they have something in common by owning a certain type of car. I guess it could be that he was polite and didn’t care at all about what I was driving, but it makes me feel better to think it was the MB bond and the star on the hood. I just can’t see a rice burner owner stopping to let another one in front of it.

On another occasion (last week) at the movie theater I came out and the emblem was all twisted around backwards and laid over, which I don’t know if they wanted it....or just wanted to bend it around. It went back into position but I felt sorry for it....it had been violated. I thought it would be a little extreme to get it fingerprinted though.

I guess the moral of the thread (if there is one) would be: You must take the good with the bad to have the best. A true MB lover will gladly put up with a little hatred for the joy of driving a dream.

-Brad

At 19, I see a long relationship ahead with Mercedes-Benz

__________________
1986 190E 186K (For Sale)
(Maroon, Tan leather)
1996 C280 Sport 208K
(Brilliant Silver, Black Leather)
2002 CLK430 Sport 45K
(Brilliant Silver, Gray Leather , Birdseye Maple)

If I didn't own a M-B I would think that the everybody's egos and imaginations were getting the best of them. The funny thing is that I was thinking about this very thing a couple of days ago.

I have owned my car for almost a month now and cannot believe how often I get challenged while driving. I drive moderately aggressive, I try not to hold any one up and pay attention to school zones and residentual areas when children are present. On the open road I open her up, and look forward to the next curve. When it comes to city driving I play fair at yields and merges etc. I don't take risks and don't cut anyone off. I drive the same way and follow the same rules that I do with my other cars.

These last few weeks I have found myself in situations where I had to back down if I didn't want my car bent. So many other drivers think the give and take rule doesn't apply to M-B owners. People must think that we have some unfair advantage in life and they take the opportunity to "put us in our place".

On the plus side I like driving around and looking at fancy houses and things. Salespeople give you respect because they think you have money.

My wife's Durango and my previous car. Mazda Millenia S, all cost $8K - $10K more the the car below.