Buying a Mercedes and others saying that you are "rich."

[MSG2004]

This happened at work and on the odd occasion when meeting people at wedding parties etc people that really do not know you.

Has someone ever said to you that you are "rich" just because you have a MB?

FYI, the mid-range MB was bought outright in April 2106 as brand new. GLE, 250d, AmgLine.

FYI I left work a couple of years ago ie retired at 55 as did my other half. We have never had a penny
from anyone and live in a modest house in LB Bexley. We have a few pennies saved and these are being used up and private pensions kick in at 60, another at 65 and state pension at 66. We have a small income from a property we rent out in the same borough. Our three children live in their own properties but do have quite large mortgages and we will give them ??? each when we sell our rental at 60 yrs of age. The rental property was bought 2 years ago so we did pay a lot for it. By no definition, we are "rich."
We are on the lower end of comfortable as we do watch our money to an extent and only able to afford
2 holidays a year, just about.

FYI some of my family is what I would say are rich as they drive cars costing in excess of 140k
and have the property to go with it/etc.

So why do some people think you are rich just because you drive a new/ish mid-range MB
and have you had this said to you?

Just come to me, lol. One fool we see about every 12/18 months at weddings said, "have you won
the lottery" this was a few months after we'd bought the GLE. I told him we don't do the lottery but told him politely that we all worked and did not throw our money away. I did stump him and got a dirty look.

 

[Deleted member 149005]

I think retiring at 55, dropping £55/60k on a new car and buying a second property DOES make you rich.

Remember average earnings are c£26k which provides a hand to mouth existence with minimal saving abilities

 

[DetailerDan]

I once had a sly remark off a neighbour saying in not so many words that I must be a drug dealer. I just thought "what a ****"

 

[MSG2004]

I nearly spilt my cup of tea reading your comments.

I once had a sly remark off a neighbour saying in not so many words that I must be a drug dealer. I just thought "what a ****"

 

[mercmancdi]

I once had a sly remark off a neighbour saying in not so many words that I must be a drug dealer. I just thought "what a ****"

I got same few times.

 

[MSG2004]

Thanks, Greenmanslk. TBH, at times even I think how we amassed such a tidy sum. We always spend money, had a nice car from my first car, do not do designer goods or out at flash places. Now that our income is so low, we actually spend a lot more than we worked so don't feel 'rich' at all.
Our elecy, gas, water bills all up as tv, heating on most of the time as we were at work 5 days a week. Food consumption up, eating out and pizza delivery up, buying more clothing up, everything is up other than the income that is down massively and yes, we do save a lot on fuel.
I did a quick calculation after you said that could be deemed rich. Property prices are down and we'd have to pay a small number of cap gains if we sold the rental, and the cash we have come to 1.3 mill, sounds a lot but not really IMO. Possibly because we gradually built it up over the years
and IMO rich is like my sis with the flash cars and swanky property. Having said that many would want just some of the cash we have, but it took years of hard work and sensible spending and savings.
Thanks again for sharing your views.

 

[ash59fifty-uk]

I find replying with “Said the Nazi, to the Jew” immediately and with the straightest face possible, usually shuts them up

 

[DetailerDan]

I find replying with “Said the Nazi, to the Jew” immediately and with the straightest face possible, usually shuts them up

I like that

 

[AMGeed]

It's never been said or implied to me .

 

[T5R+]

I do get this - people have made such comments to me/about me, even with an almost a 10 year old E Class. Okay it is in mint condition and wears a chav plate however people assume it is worth a lot more, probably because it looks it.

People assume that those that lease/PCP/etc £100K cars must be well off. Many of them probably are whilst others maybe not so. Guess same applies to MB owners ie some are loaded whilst others "getting by".

I once had a sly remark off a neighbour saying in not so many words that I must be a drug dealer. I just thought "what a ****"

Ironically, I have a MB car that really should be a drug-dealers car. Black, tints, big alloys, beefy engine, bling and bits plus it is a SUV.

 

[merc85]

Come on Roger i know your bloody loaded lol

I used to think that a few years ago, But there are more and more Merc's out there these days so was wondering if that sort of thing still happens? Its certainly alot easier these days getting finance for such things.

I'm 41 own a 2003 e55k AMG, But this i could only afford because i don't smoke, nor drink nor go away on holidays, i have 6 children i was lucky enough getting on the property ladder early so own (mortgaged) a 4 bed detached house.

Certainly on the slim end of comfortable , my business which im part owner funds repairs to the above vehicle, along with other running costs.

One thing i don't like doing is taking my car to work and Parking it outside my business during Work hours as im conscious that it may give the wrong impression.

 

[DetailerDan]

I do get this - people have made such comments to me/about me, even with an almost a 10 year old E Class. Okay it is in mint condition and wears a chav plate however people assume it is worth a lot more, probably because it looks it.

People assume that those that lease/PCP/etc £100K cars must be well off. Many of them probably are whilst others maybe not so. Guess same applies to MB owners ie some are loaded whilst others "getting by".



Ironically, I have a MB car that really should be a drug-dealers car. Black, tints, big alloys, beefy engine, bling and bits plus it is a SUV.

Drug dealer

 

[190]

30 years ago I would say yes, owning a Mercedes marked you out as being reasonably well off and the odd comment would be made but not now when they are so common. A low/mid range Mercedes is no longer vastly more expensive than other makes because in real terms a Mercedes has halved in price over that period.

 

[alabbasi]

You should try to buy an old Rolls Royce and see what happens.

 

[SmartAmg]

Thanks, Greenmanslk. TBH, at times even I think how we amassed such a tidy sum. We always spend money, had a nice car from my first car, do not do designer goods or out at flash places. Now that our income is so low, we actually spend a lot more than we worked so don't feel 'rich' at all.
Our elecy, gas, water bills all up as tv, heating on most of the time as we were at work 5 days a week. Food consumption up, eating out and pizza delivery up, buying more clothing up, everything is up other than the income that is down massively and yes, we do save a lot on fuel.
I did a quick calculation after you said that could be deemed rich. Property prices are down and we'd have to pay a small number of cap gains if we sold the rental, and the cash we have come to 1.3 mill, sounds a lot but not really IMO. Possibly because we gradually built it up over the years
and IMO rich is like my sis with the flash cars and swanky property. Having said that many would want just some of the cash we have, but it took years of hard work and sensible spending and savings.
Thanks again for sharing your views.

1.3 million I would say that is rich! Hey I'm not saying you've not worked hard for what you've got, and bl00dy good luck to you!
But 1.3 million is Defo rich.

 

[John]

The only person who seriously questioned how I afforded my W211 E55 got advised that she could easily afford one with the £6k per year she could save not smoking 60 fags a day. The fact she was even shocked I could afford to run a 6 year old Merc was a bit of a surprise as it was hardly ruinous.

I don't think anyone has seriously commented but I've had what I call "the look" a few times when someone discovers it's you driving around in the £100k Merc.

What they obviously don't know or don't understand is depreciation is heavy on said cars and I buy them when they are typically a third of the original value.

Some people might sink that on a brand new fully-loaded A or B Class... which I personally think is more expensive given the drop in depreciation.

Just remember the Top Gear where Clarkson and Hammond bought a CL600 and 850 respectively, and how much people thought the cars cost when they were shown them in some city centre somewhere.

Some of the suggestions are ludicrous.

A lot of perceptions are based on Mercs of old which have filtered down over the years. Mercs are nothing like that any more and haven't been for many years.

In my case, people don't often know or realise cars are my hobby. As I would have a car anyway, I deduct a typical car cost from my hobby and that extra is the hobby part. As long as I don't on average piss away more than £6k a year (which would be the equivalent train ticket), I'm happy with that.

I once had a sly remark off a neighbour saying in not so many words that I must be a drug dealer. I just thought "what a ****"

I've had the odd "drug dealer" type comment mentioned in jest although I always take it as a joke and often mentioned how my car is a Mafia pool car and I have plenty of room in the boot for dead bodies when required.

 

[Teego]

The truly rich with old money are invisible.

 

[markjay]

The truly rich with old money are invisible.

You can expect the modern nobleman to own a small nondescript 'foreign car' - typically a Peugeot or an A3/A4. Though perhaps nowadays it will be a Japanese marque?

 

[AMGeed]

Come on Roger i know your bloody loaded lol

I wish Gav, I wish.
I wonder what peoples perception is of someone who is rich?
How much do you need to be classed as rich?
Its a vulgar subject to discuss really

 

[DetailerDan]

I wish Gav, I wish.
I wonder what peoples perception is of someone rich who is rich?
How much do you need to be classed as rich?
Its a vulgar subject to discuss really

I feel rich if I have a spare £50 these days