BMW v. Mercedes Benz

[Anonymous]

Honey, you don't know jack shit about being "wealthy" if you think the rich toodle around in 3 series BMW's. The wanna be rich do. Big difference.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:This is the poster that commented on the image of cars and people .... If I had to choose, I'd pick the Mercedes. Does it have to be a Mercedes or a BMW? If not, how about the 2011 Hyundai Sonata? It's comparable in price, and it got great reviews in performance and safety. It also looks similar to the Mercedes CLS.

Um, no one in their right mind is going to compare a Hyndai Sonata and a BMW or Mercedes.

Also, seriously, this thread is straight out of bizarro world. There is a high demand for luxury cars for a reason. Wealthy people tend to buy nice cars. They don't drive around in Subarus. Yes, there are exceptions, but the rule of thumb holds true. Note that wealthy people also tend to live in nice houses. Yes, there are the Warren Buffets of the world, but most people that live in $300,000 homes in DC aren't making big money; and most people that live in $2 million homes are. Similarly, most people that buy 3-series make pretty good money. Most people that buy 5-series make even more. Most people that buy 7-series make more than that, and so on. This isn't rocket science. If you can afford to buy a luxury car (and "afford" means pay in cash, not take loans; and not take from other needed resources), why wouldn't you? They call them "luxury" for a reason - they are well-made, go from 0-60 very quickly, and are pretty awesome to drive. Those of you that make of them likely can't afford them, even those of you pretending that you'd just "prefer" to put your money elsewhere.

sorry, but you are wrong. you can look up the demographics of the buyers of each car. Subaru drivers make more than 3 series drivers.

[Anonymous]

The "just made $1M, took out a loan for my BMW" is bad. The rich guy who drives a Ford or a Ferrari is fine.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:
Um, no one in their right mind is going to compare a Hyundai Sonata and a BMW or Mercedes.

Why not? What constitutes luxury? Price point? We're talking about the 3 Series BMWs and the Mercedes 300 models. You can easily compare performance on those vehicles. You can compare how well made they are (maintenance). Are you just looking at their names?

[jsteele]

Anonymous wrote:
sorry, but you are wrong. you can look up the demographics of the buyers of each car. Subaru drivers make more than 3 series drivers.

Where are you getting your data from? In a quick search, I found this:

http://www.businessweek.com/magazine/content/10_22/b4180018655478.htm

"The average household income of a Subaru owner is $88,000, the same as Honda Motor (HMC) and $10,000 more than Toyota (TM), says Alexander Edwards, president of market researcher Strategic Vision. "

And this:

http://www.businessweek.com/magazine/content/10_20/b4178023174411.htm

BMW
Average Age of Owner: 49
Median Income: $169,289

That's BMWs as a whole. Here is some data on 3 Series:

http://www.bimmerfest.com/forums/showthread.php?t=226355

Median household income $102,000

One thing that might be affecting perceptions is the fact that over the last decade, 3 Series buyers have trended to older and more affluent. So, the recent college grad with a 3 Series is not as common these days (especially when those grads can't get jobs). Also, BMW now has the 1 Series and the 128i is now the true entry level BMW.

Regardless, I am a firm believer in buying a car that you love and meets your requirements. I don't give a toss about the demographics of its buyers or the bias of others. For the record, I have a 135i which probably makes me a social climbing asshole (I'm definitely not a recent college grad).

[Anonymous]

PPs, my husband and I paid cash for our 3-series, nowhere near entry level, ten years ago when he was 30 and I was 28. What are we supposed to do now, according to you?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:PPs, my husband and I paid cash for our 3-series, nowhere near entry level, ten years ago when he was 30 and I was 28. What are we supposed to do now, according to you?

Rinse and repeat. Buy what you want and what you can pay cash for.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:PPs, my husband and I paid cash for our 3-series, nowhere near entry level, ten years ago when he was 30 and I was 28. What are we supposed to do now, according to you?

Ditto this. This entire thread is ridiculous -- as one would expect, it turned very quickly from "which luxury vehicle do you think merits purchase" into "every bitter DCUM-er who can't afford a BMW or Mercedes piles on about how gauche it is to buy one." Does anyone ever look at Car & Driver or the other car review mags? Contrary to dominant DCUM belief, they seem to like the faux pas luxury cars (like the 3-series) an awful lot. They must be social-climbing bastards.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:PPs, my husband and I paid cash for our 3-series, nowhere near entry level, ten years ago when he was 30 and I was 28. What are we supposed to do now, according to you?

Ditto this. This entire thread is ridiculous -- as one would expect, it turned very quickly from "which luxury vehicle do you think merits purchase" into "every bitter DCUM-er who can't afford a BMW or Mercedes piles on about how gauche it is to buy one." Does anyone ever look at Car & Driver or the other car review mags? Contrary to dominant DCUM belief, they seem to like the faux pas luxury cars (like the 3-series) an awful lot. They must be social-climbing bastards.

Who the hell can't afford a crappy 3-series? That's the point...they're not "rich people cars." If you think they are, you must also think the goods at the store for poors are good quality.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

My FIL is an equity partner in a big law firm and drives a second hand Volvo. He is majorly preppy.

Obviously not. Only on this cheapo website would people be advocating driving Toyotas and Hyundais over BMWs. It's hilarious. Newsflash: wealthy people typically drive nice cars (take a drive through any nice suburban neighborhood in Maryland or Virginia), and don't really care that crunchy Subaru drivers think that money could be better spent elsewhere.

I am a millionaire. I drive a Ford. A Nissan before that. A Toyota before that. Newsflash: I know a whole lot of wealthy people who drive "average" cars. They are the ones who don't feel the need to tell everyone that they have money.

And yet here you are, telling an anonymous website how much money you have.

Correct, here I am on an ANONYMOUS site saying that to prove a point. This isn't exactly real life, now is it?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:PPs, my husband and I paid cash for our 3-series, nowhere near entry level, ten years ago when he was 30 and I was 28. What are we supposed to do now, according to you?

Ditto this. This entire thread is ridiculous -- as one would expect, it turned very quickly from "which luxury vehicle do you think merits purchase" into "every bitter DCUM-er who can't afford a BMW or Mercedes piles on about how gauche it is to buy one." Does anyone ever look at Car & Driver or the other car review mags? Contrary to dominant DCUM belief, they seem to like the faux pas luxury cars (like the 3-series) an awful lot. They must be social-climbing bastards.

I don't know what thread you're reading but much of the commentary was about buying luxury cars when you can't afford them. Except for the one poster who thought the senior partners in her firm were kinda hot if they drove a Chevrolet or van.

[Anonymous]

At least one PP proposed that no one over 35 should drive a 3-series, though.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:If you own one - what are some of the pro/cons?

DH is considering of buying a new car and is debating between those two. TIA.

I've had one of each and I thought the comparison was apples and oranges. All European cars are high maintenance. Personally, I liked the MB better but my eperience isn't recent with either car. I go for Japanese cars because the maintenance is low.

[Anonymous]

20:17 - 1st pp here. Called it! Bragging rights!

DCUMers not only have absolutely NO f*cking idea what they are talking about, they are also really P*SSED about it! BAHAHAHAHAHA!

There are maybe one or two of us on here that can talk cars intelligently, afford these cars and not take out a second mortgage. I will never look at this area the same again. Ever.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:At least one PP proposed that no one over 35 should drive a 3-series, though.

And the argument would be the 3 series is for the under 35 "look at me I just got a BMW crowd." But for the over 35 crowd, my neighborhood is Benzburg (E or S).