curtis73

So what do you call a guy who's last car purchase was a 73 Impala for $300, then his wife wrecks her Tercel so he buys her a W210? You may call me Curtis.

Long story short, I am an auto customizer so I usually deal with rusty piles of American iron. I did pony up a whopping $2500 a few years ago for my wife to have a reliable Tercel and she loved it, but then she totaled it on the freeway after hitting a tire in the road causing her to slam into a cement wall. Fortunately she and her passenger both escaped with cuts and bruises, but getting a call from the Highway Patrol that says you're wife was in a crash that shut down the freeway can scare a guy. Here is her Tercel:



So what does a good husband do? Call the retired parents for his first car loan ever, and then buy his wife a beautiful tank; a 99 E300 TD. Its a true one-owner car, and the carfax report was full of about a hundred items that just said, "Mercedes dealer; scheduled maintenance" over and over. No accidents or airbag deployments, just a seriously loved car. I snagged it out of Phoenix and drove it back home to LA yesterday. Its pretty exciting for a guy who's most exciting car was a 96 Impala SS. This is really a whole different game.

Hakk403

Congrats, that car looks mint!

curtis73

Thanks... the only thing I've found is wrong is the SRS-disable switch in the passenger seat is malfunctioning. Otherwise it is pretty mint. The seats don't even have any of that creasing or scuffing that they typically have.

AsianML

Congrats!! Looks perfect.

sosh

You had to call your retired parents for a loan to buy a 10 year old car?? I would not brag about that if I were you.

Inf4life

+1

curtis73

Why not? I think it adds validity to my desire to put my wife in a safe car. If I were rich and just bought her one with petty cash in my pocket, that doesn't take sacrifice.

I'm not a pretty-boy, nor am I worried about my image at all. I have nothing to be ashamed of. I love my wife, and I probably could have scraped the cash together to buy it, but why would I do that when my parents offer me a no interest loan that I just pay when I can? Now my money is still in the market earning dividends and interest. The fact that I'm a 34-year-old bartender/auto customizer who lives comfortably in an expensive city is fine with me. I never was rich, and probably never will be. I'm just proud of myself for making the sacrifice to keep my wife safe.... and happy, she's really happy

1985mb

To each his own

boohooramblers

Good for you man! Your wife is lucky.

JKETCH

Congrats either way

LRM1

Looks mint. COngrats!

Lucky wife.

sosh

Adds validity to what?? The fact that your parents still support you as an adult? Its a nice thought to take care of your wife but with a 10 year old car?? What a success story here.

AFhockey31

hey man.. dont worry bout people hating.. it looks good... nice pick up...

you def did the right thing and got your wife something good to drive. congrats !

curtis73

I don't worry about it, I just feel sorry for them. While they're over asking which detailing shop is best to get bird poop off the paint of their S-class, I'll be here learning real things about my car. And if my parents were supporting me, I wouldn't have to pay it back. Its just smarter than getting a bank loan, especially when we're trying to buy a house. Those welfare checks don't go very far with a pregnant smoking wife, 9 kids to feed and your grandmother yelling at you to get her a scotch while the hound dog pees on the **** carpet in the double-wide. Plus the kids have the volume too loud on that WWE wrestling. They should be watching NASCAR anyway with the mullets on their heads.

Gotta love snooty people. You always have to wonder if the silver spoon is in their mouth or their ***.

Oh... gotta go, the baby's bottle just ran out of beer and my daughter needs me to get more Skoal from the bait store.

1985mb

bigben320e

I think it is pretty cool on the find. Congrats, and I am sure the wife is happy.

On the loan, you do have a point. A no interest loan is very cool, and you are paying your parents back. I think it says a lot about the family trust and bond you have. It's not like they just gave you the money and you free-loaded.

bigben320e

LMMFAO.

C43AMG

I call him cheap.........cheaper than bread was in the 20's.

curtis73

That's not PC. I will accept fiscally retentive.

sosh

Now how much interest and dividends can you earn with what a 10 year old car cost?? In reality what ever few cents you do earn on that enormous sum of money should go to your retired parents or, perhaps you can save it and some day retire yourself and be in a position to loan your child enough for a piece of candy. And, I do agree it is unlikely you will be rich or for that matter even comfortable.

curtis73

What does being comfortable have to do with money? I guess what I'm saying is, I'm not sure why you chimed in on a thread about a car that someone bought to randomly make fun of their income. I didn't chime in on one of your threads to make fun of your grammar.

You are quite an odd human. Have fun with your money, I'll just be here desperately trying to stay comfortable.

curtis73

Thank you for the kind words. My father was actually my best man at our wedding. Good family makes a world of difference.

mercedesbmw

I would. Shows that his parents are cooler than yours, especially as they know that he could do it himself.

Or a guy that knows that you don't have to have a fast car to get your kicks, or a guy who has a big enough *****, or a guy who knows the value of a dollar and doesn't buy a newer car that will just prove unreliable, if Consumer Reports and Edmunds are to be believed.

I'd call that taking care of her. Its a safe car that she enjoys, and it won't depreciate like your gas-guzzler. And as for old Mercedes, they haven't made a car as good as the old W124 chassis E class. So you can buy a new Mercedes. But its not as good as an old Mercedes (no offense, curtis... I envy your's and the deal you got)

sosh

You all are missing my point. I was not making fun of anyone. My point is that an inexpensive car was purchased and the money had to come from the retired parents. And this is not for a child but for a working adult with a wife and perhaps children to support who seems happy with his situation and tries to justify it. There is no ambition there at all and he will go thru life living paycheck to pay check and when he retires he will expect the tax payers to support him. In addition its unlikely that he has the resources to maintain the car. As for my grammer, its just fine. My typing is an issue but not the grammer. When I spoke about "comfort" I meant financial comfort not the fact that he is physically uncomfortable. He is fortunate enough to have parents that were willing to do this for him however perhaps they did too much for him when he was younger and thus the lack of ambition.

curtis73

Ok, I can clearly see that you are from a much older generation, so I'll spell it out for you like you're a child including full disclosure so there is no way you could POSSIBLY misinterpret it this time. If, after reviewing this candid response you still feel the need to make commentary on what YOU think is right in MY financial life, then do it via PM. This is a Mercedes forum, not your personal venue for criticisms of the financial situation of forum members.

1) The money didn't HAVE to come from my parents, I actively chose it because they offered it as a financially wise alternative. The reason I didn't get a bank loan (as I said before) is because we are trying to buy a house in Los Angeles; Pasadena to be exact. In 5 short years we have saved and invested over $40,000 for a down payment, and our income qualifies us for about $400k from a bank loan. If I used cash to buy this car, not only would the $40k I saved for a house now be $30k, but I would be taking a full 25% hit to the income that those investements generate, as well as being a huge capitol gains liability at tax time for having sold all of those securities. So, paying cash wasn't an option I wanted to entertain. PLUS, if I got a bank loan for the car, banks would place us in a higher liability for purchasing a home, meaning we would only qualify for about $360k. Since the median home cost in Pasadena is approaching $700k, we can't afford to accept that hit.

2) getting a loan from my parents is not freeloading. I am paying them back, but why on earth would I pay them interest? They are fine without my pathetic interest payment on a small loan and besides; I'm going to get all their money when they die anyway. Why pay inheritance tax later on interest that I gave back to them now? That is not a responsible use of money. You may have had a business relationship with your parents, but I do not. My parents love me and truly foster my welfare. They have never given me a free penny. My allowance for doing an entire weeks worth of chores was $1.10. At Christmas time, you know what was in our stocking? An orange. Citrus fruit??? in PA??? WOW. It was exciting because we couldn't afford the finer things like citrus fruit, so I learned early that money was not to be disrespected or squandered. So if you think for one second that my parents coddled me or gave me everything I needed you can go sit on that silver spoon you have in your mouth. I grew up on a farm; sweet corn and chickens, so don't think for a second that I don't know the value of money or the importance of earning it for yourself. I also learned how to live without money, and there was a time I had "comfortable" money. Not rich, but I had saved and invested close to $250k by the time I was 26. It caused me nothing but stress, hardship, pain, and consternation because it wasn't me, which is something that your generation didn't value. So, my wife and I unofficially retired at 26. We used that money and its value to live a good life for 8 years. We have both now returned to the working world and have chosen to live like normal people. There is still a sizeable chunk left; enough to be "comfortable" as you rich older people like to call it. My generation sees the need for financial stability, but places higher value on self-worth than net-worth.

3) on another note; yesterday I had my taxes done. My gross income for the wife and me combined for 2007 was $66,346.45. In L.A. that isn't much for two people and two dogs, but I think I can provide for my family just fine, thank you. We're not eating Ramen noodles and cans of generic green beans, we don't have kids and never will, we eat well, never have a problem providing ourselves with clothing, paying for healthcare, vacationing for up to 3 months a year, or buying oranges at Christmastime. My point for entering your forum with humble disclosure about borrowing the money was so that I didn't appear to anyone as a pompous rich boy who bought a toy, AND because I wanted you to see that my motivation for purchasing a mercedes was because I was passionate about my intelligent choice, not because I was rich and wanted my wife to have a flashy car. I can see now that some people on this forum don't appreciate that trait in a husband, so I've learned my lesson and from now on I'll try to come across as a little more haughty and snobbish so I fit in.

4) Having the means to financially support the CAR is matter of comical irony for me in the Mercedes world. I was just reading a thread on another forum about the rear window regulator issues. Everyone marveled at how it could be fixed at home with a screwdriver and a rivet with a $7 part in about 20 minutes. They all whined about how they took theirs to the dealer and shelled out upwards of $600 to have it fixed. Myself, being an auto customizer, I do everything from body work, to engine building, to custom interiors. There is nothing about a car I can't fix or haven't busted a knuckle trying, so don't worry about my being able to support the car. The rest of you can continue your $600 dealer repairs, I'll stick with my $7 wholesale replacement parts from my friend who runs a wholesale parts distribution warehouse. He can get me genuine OEM MB parts for about 25-50% of what you guys pay at the dealer so I'm not worried a bit.

So, you have taken one tiny statement from my post concerning borrowing money, assumed that because I borrowed it from my parents that I was a either a spoiled brat or dirt poor, then permutated and extrapolated from that an entire scenario of what you think my financial situation is. Not only were you way off base, but you jumped to conclusions that have NO place in a Mercedes Discussion board.

Its grammAr with an A you moron, so take your high-horse, self-entitled, pompous, 1942 attitude somewhere else and get the hell off my back.