I am from Europe, precisely Croatia and I always wanted to know what kind of people drive Mercedeses there?
For example, in Croatia W123 are mostly driven by farmers and gypsiesand in 99% of the cases we are talking about diesel models ( something like Ford F-150, from the '60 in USA. At least that is what we can see in american movies ). W210 is driven mostly by the bussinesmen that don't have enough money for a new Mercedes.
New S class ( model before 2006 model ) is also very common, for example in my city ( population cca 35 000 ). We are talking about a couple of dosen of these cars. This model is mostly driven by the people that have more money.
ML and SL models are also pretty common.
And W124 is very common, too.
What I'm also interested in, is Mercedse looked as a status symbol in America? If you drive W123, do people look at you as if you are stylish, rich.. Or are they like in Croatia, farmer and gypsy cars? Does an average family in America own a Mercedes of any kind, can they afford it?
So any kind of insight about this, I would apreciatte.
In my opinion, there is no way to define a Mercedes driver in the USA. Mercedes are a lot less expensive here in the USA then they are in Europe, therefore they are more attainable by a larger group of people. You can have everyone from college students to brain sugeons driving Mercedes. Even the most wealthy of people still enjoy driving their old W123 or W124 because they like the feel and quality of the vehicle.
A Mercedes in the USA is definitly seen as a status symbol here just like anywhere else. Mercedes has defined the luxury car and I think no matter where you live, Mercedes-Benz is symbol of prestige. Based on where I live, I don't believe that any model of Mercedes has a stigma of being associated with any specific class of people.
For the most part, people that do drive Mercedes do live a somewhat comfortable lifestyle. Driving a Mercedes is not cheap and it requires a significant amount of reserve funds in case of an unfortunate mechanical breakdown. No matter which Mercedes you drive, fixing a Mercedes is going to cost you a lot more than fixing a Honda.
Bottom line, I dont belive there is a way to define a Mercedes driver in the US. The only common aspect of a Mercedes driver is one that enjoys a well enginneed automobile with a heritage unlike any other autombile on the road.
Last edited by satxmerc01 : 06-30-2006 at 11:10 PM.
__________________
<font face="arial" color = blue size="2">
Classic black 1992 190E 2.6, with over 250,000 km, Silver 1998 SLK230 (sold)</font>
<font face="arial" color = red size="3">
<a href="http://www.theanswertothemeaningoflife.com" target="_blank">www.theanswertothemeaningoflife.co m</a>
</font>
No, but I've been in a bunch of MB sedans in the LA area. Not much more expensive than a taxi and a lot safer.
__________________
You can spend a lot of money and drive a MB, or buy a cheep MB and learn how to build it. For only 1K I'm learning how to put this thing together!
No, but I've been in a bunch of MB sedans in the LA area. Not much more expensive than a taxi and a lot safer.
True. If you come down to Santa Monica (West LA), you can see a quite few numbers of W126s and W140s for Taxi. I will take pictures if I see them next time.
Anywho, in the U.S. major players of taxi cabs are Ford Crown Victoria and Lincoln Town Car.
An E500 here costs about $60K depending on options and an E500 in fx Denmark is about 1.4 million DKr which (depending on the exchange rate) is about $216K. So MB is defenitly cheaper in the US then in Denmark. Now, one should keep in mind that DK has the lowest price for cars before the registration tax (180%) is added so your milage might vary depending on which country in Europe you are lookign at.
Linear Mode
