A nice 15 - 30 year old Mercedes says "old money" and shows you have experience with nice things and can take care of them. Same way a wooden Herreshoff sloop scores more status points than a new fiberglass cabin cruiser.

I grew up in an "old money" Baltimore suburb, and in the '50s and '60s more than one family still had a 20 year old (or older) Packard, Buick, Chrysler as part of their auto fleet...because the "crust" bought quality cars NOT to show off, but because they LASTED. Buying stuff so good it never wears out is one of the economies once favored by the well-to-do.