Yes they are too good for you. Or they are envious that your car is paid for. I do not bother waving at fellow Mercedes drivers. I live in the so-called "Aloha State" but I do not get any love for my 1983 300D. Many Mercedes drivers here are either nouveau riche' yuppies or showoffs who can barely afford their brand new C-class or E-class. The worst ones of all are the ones in a pre- 1990s model. So many of them are just miserable old bats in nice cars that go around hating the world. There was this gorgeous surfer girl filling up her 240D at the pump next to me who pointed and smiled as she said "you too?". We then compared whose car had more miles. No, I did not get her phone number.

The other reason you might be getting the cold shoulder is because it is a diesel. Those same people are too good to be near anything that clatters so musically. I have also observed people giving me attitude because they assume 'its a diesel, so it is slow'. An OM 617.952 is anything but slow after an ALDA tweak, boost adjustment to 13PSI and EGR in test mode.

They might not like the idea of you getting soot on their car after they just spent $150 having the car detailed. I often have some A@#hole in their SUV barrelling towards me even though I am driving 20mph over the speed limit, then they back away when they are close enough to read the TURBODIESEL badge on the trunk lid.

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Geben Sie ihnen Russ!

Rey

Honolulu, Hawaii

1983 300D Back From the Dead. Thanks, Erich and Shane.

most Mercedes owners/drivers in Malaysia tend to look down their noses at the older MBs, like mine that are almost always dirty and look scruffy, but when their's are being towed away, my cars are still rolling down the road at a fair pace
I do get the occasional noveau rich guy/gal in a reimported Japanese market W210 E240 approach me at gas stations with "Would you be interested in selling your old car?" and my answer is always "You can probably buy a cheaper one somwhere else"
I do not wave, complement or ask questions about cars anymore, it is a waste of time.
And the answer to your question is, YES, they are SNOBS

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Nachi11744

I don't get waves here, but people in this area generally don't wave to begin with. Drivers(?) here can't even find time to use their turn signals, let alone wave at others.

Maybe waving just sort of fizzled out, with most people being too tired and stressed? Also, why wave to someone you've never seen before? Maybe in their minds they actually like the 220D?

If I happen to be stopped at a light next ot another MB, I'll look over to see if they seem friendly. If so, I'll give a little nod and see of they respond. People in newer cars generally don't, but some do. SL drivers almost always do unless they're hairdo-nuts mid '50's women. They think you're a rapist.

I didn't see many Porsche driver's flash their lights, but I think this is due to the move to that meaning "radar trap ahead." I only owned my car for one year while the Boxster was out, and I only ever had one Boxster driver salute back, but pretty much every 911 driver did. Many would point to a turn off and we'd stop and chat.

On the bike, Harley riders generally wave, even when I'm on the 'Busa. Some "hardcore" lookin' dudes don't, but screw 'em anyway. I don't care what you ride, just ride. I've known colour-flying outlaw bikers, and they waved at everyone, EVEN Goldwing riders, which they generally don't like. It's the psuedo-outlaws that don't wave.

The gas station is a popular "hey" spot for MB drivers. The exception seems to be the 30-40 crowd driving 86-90-ish 300E cars. For some reason, they are not very friendly. Of course, this fits MANY of our members here, but in my own little corner of the world, they're not all that gregarious with respect to the car.

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John Shellenberg
1998 C230 "Black Betty" 240K

http://img31.exs.cx/img31/4050/tophat6.gif

Their are to many MB's around to waive at them. But I do check out other W126's no one seems to friendly.

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2006 CL500
1969 280SE
2023 Ram 1500
2026 Genesis GV70
2007 Tiara 3200

Well, glad I am not the only one.

I have a choice between driving my 96 tahoe and my 69 220 D to work. I choose the MB. There are those people that are intrigued with it, and they are always fun to talk to for a while. Most of the people that I work with when they see me driving the old one instead of the new one are partially amazed at the features that the 69 has. I always finish with "Those Krauts sure could build a good car!"

Not to mention, I am of German descent so then again maybe I am biased.

My wife lived in Montrose when she was an art student at U of H. Quite an interesting area I saw an 5 Series BMW painted to look like a wooden boat there once. Come to think of it, that was the least shocking thing I saw there...........