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Get ready to possibly be harassed by the police. By first 15 years of driving, I was only pulled over 3 times, and each time I was double digits over the speed limit and deserved to be pulled over. Of those 3 times, only received one ticket.
Bought a brand new BMW (not even one of the expensive ones either). Pulled over 3 times in 2 weeks. Each time I was 4mph over, 4mph over and 3mph over. I was ticketed 2 of those 3 times. All 3 incidents cops were total !$#!$# despite me being polite, no attitude. I guess they assumed I was rich. Was pulled over 2 more times the following month. 5 times, in 2 months, 3 different police dept's, never more than 5mph over the speed limit. I'm white too, so Eddie Murphy's SNL skit about being white is debunked, lol.
LOL, and deservedly so. Nobody wants to hear about "Rich people's problems". Far more important things to think about. OP was just finding an excuse to show off by starting this thread.
Location: Formerly Pleasanton Ca, now in Marietta Ga
10,353 posts, read 8,581,497 times
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Years ago I had a Ferrari. I was always concious of not being and arrogant pr*ck when I drove it. I would never take 2 spaces and when possible would park far away to empty rows. Still people would throw cokes on it or key it. I was in a middle class area. I live in an upscale area now and many won't pay any attention to it.
Given that the greater % of MBs (and other luxury brands too) are leased it isn't the sign of wealth it once was. As someone else pointed out, biggest threat is leaving things visible. More likely your car will be stolen (for parts) if it is a Honda Accord or Toyota Camry.
I grew up in a time when if owned a Cadillac, Lincoln, MB it was a real sign of status. My Dad drove Caddy's in the 70's and 80's and we were the only one on the block that had one. My Father was the only white collar guy on the block as well. It without a doubt bred jealousy from people on and off the block.
Now any J/O can lease a high end car. it doesn't mean they can afford it. I remember one of the best feelings in the world I ever had was when I out right purchased my first Cadillac it was a wonderful feeling.
I drove a Jaguar XJ6 25 years ago. It was 4 years old when I bought it. In those days I did a lot of antiquing. When I parked that car in front of an antique store, I swear my bargaining power went down by half. I learned to ask a friend to drive when I was seriously shopping for something specific.
It's not just "crooks" who might try to take advantage when you drive an expensive car . . . even if it's not all that expensive.
If you live in the "hood" then you're just asking for the wrong type of attention. If not then you shouldn't have anything to worry about so long as you don't leave valuables in the car that are visible. Mercedes aren't uncommon and no longer draw the attention that they use to.
^^^^^
I can find 10 year old MBs for sale cheap and they still look new. When their OEM parts start to break down you will spend $$$ repairing them. The same is true with a new model; ten years down the road will be telling. Used MBs are to the middle class what used Corollas are to the lower class.
Someone can correct me if they think otherwise but I thought the vehicle theft market was primarily driven [no pun] by a demand for parts not necessarily by any value associated with the entire, operational, vehicle. So Civics, F150s, etc. are prime targets. You would be hard pressed to find any complete, stolen, vehicles driving around. They do exist, but not many.
Hey, look at that...someone with some intelligence on C-D!
This is exactly it. It only takes a couple minutes to pull up the list of top selling vehicles, and the list of top theft targets, and realize they're quite similar. The average MB, BMW, etc owner also carries full coverage insurance on their vehicle, and in the event of collision or comprehensive damage, they'll just let the insurance company handle it, thus little to no "black market" for those parts. The new Benz owner also isn't likely to be scouring eBay looking to save a few bucks for a new air bag for his car...
Vehicles like the F150 and the Accord sell FAR more than MB, and generally will be owned by lower income level people, who may not want to deal with the insurance hike of a paid claim, thus may be more likely to go the little shop on the corner for cut rate repairs, and there's reasons why their "used" parts come in so insanely cheap, lol.
There's also the factor that these vehicles will blend in a lot better in high theft areas, so a stolen vehicle won't attract attention driving down the street. They're also much less likely to attract attention going across the border, say going into Oginaga. Border Patrol may just question why the scruffy dude in the brand new Benz is going into that area, lol.
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