same sentiments as Cossie here ...

when people ask what type of car i drive, i answer in the most generic, need-to-know manner i can, like, "sedan" or "small 4-door". If they dig deeper i say "German". If they persist and i want to show it's none of their business, i say "white". If i think they are sincere/non-judgemental or car enthusiasts like me, i tell them the exact model. At least nowadays you could say "Daimler-Chrysler" ...

what i'm trying to figure out is that my car costs less than half a brand-new honda civic yet i get labelled for owning a benz. Would never happen to a honda driver.

For those i care to explain to, i tell them the reasons i bought the car - for the engineering features and the autobahn breeding. If the car is with us, i show them how solidly the door thunks and tell them it's a 10yr-old.

when i was applying for a car loan, even the loan officer made a remark about the car. I explained that it was a 10yr-old car, but she said that it was "still a Mercedes Benz"

i am a rather low-profile, non-descript person, and when walking towards my car in a parking lot with other people walking towards theirs, i could see through my peripheral vision how they would do a double-take when i open my door.

my car's star has been swiped a couple of times and the second time, i just grinded and smoothed off the base of the star. It also has some conspicuous rust in one of the fenders. At least these details will tell them that i'm not the rich guy they think the image says. And the absence of the star tells them that i'm not after the image.

the best way to tell them why i bought a benz is on the highway. With the right pedal doing the talking ...