The Dreaming Stops When The Buying Starts

That's the case if you're in the market for a ricer. But for the loyal Mercedes-Benz fans, the dreaming never stops. To the thirty-somethings, that one great European Dream Car has once passed their brainwaves in several of their nocturnal journeys, whether it's a Mercedes-Benz, BMW, Volvo or even Volkswagen. But somehow during the turn of their careers they have to settle for something less because that's the choice offered to them either by force or by circumstance. Well, that's how the ricers make business; by force or by circumstance not by following ones ultimate crazy decision.



Now that you finally made it and you finally arrived and no longer under the whims of "Dad-can-I-have-a-Mercedes-instead-of-a-Corolla-next-year?" or "Dear-we-don't-need-a-Mercedes-a-Space-Wagon-is-just-fine". There's no stopping you from making that crazy dream of yours to reality. You earned it.

So there you go, jumped in to the classifieds online frantically looking for that Mercedes you really wanted and...Surprise! You're in for some real top and tough choices.

The Brand New

Of course, nobody's stopping you right? So it's got to be simple. Have a catalog ready, call a dealer, tell them to cut the bullsh*t because you already know the color and the model you wanted, ask for a test drive, cut a cheque, have the paperworks done and deliver the car to your garage the next day. Fun Factor: Zero.



But of course, there's the obligatory slamming of all the doors repeatedly to let the neighbor's know you "arrived". You're driving smoothly and out of the blue, you run over a nine-inch nail. And as usual, you have to replace the tyres by yourself. Unfortunately, you can't crank the engine because the system is telling you that tires are incorrectly placed and you have to call a roadside assistance. Perfect!

The Pre-Owned Empire

Certified or not certified these clunkers are definitely pre-owned which means someone has deflowered them before you do. You are in this market because now you learned the hard way that they don't "build cars like they used to" anymore and you don't want to spend money just to look stupid by the roadside waiting helplessly for that roadside assistance and that's very "unpowerful".

But of course, you also want to make your choice in this market to be "right the first time". But there's no such thing as "right the first time", the previous owner's wrongdoings in the car is your gallant mission to correct. Even if you have done your homework, followed the so-called expert's advice on what to look at, you still don't know what to look at because excitement will always be in the air.



You finally saw what you wanted and did an initial ocular inspection of the car, knocked the fender twice, popped the bonnet and peek through the engine block as if you really know what you're trying to look at; so far, so good for a small purse. You did a test drive and definitely the car will run according to the current owner's stupid preferences with "this-must-be-set-first-and-that-must-be-switched-first-and-that-and-that". So you haggle for further discount because you knew there's always something to fix contrary to the "nothing-to-fix" campaign in the ad and the owner gave in. And you demanded the documents, seeing that it's not registered in the owner's name and it's not clean, you didn't walk away as per the "by-the-book" advice of the so-called experts because you know that this is going to be a great car and the pride of walking through corridors of power just to get those papers laundered will be a pubic-hair-to-your-hat thing, a thing to brag in a drinking binge. So again, you haggled further for the bargain that you have never done before and it's so ridiculous that you seal the deal with a handshake and an earnest money.

Finally you're driving the car back home by yourself knowing what you're getting yourself into hoping that someday, under your helm, the Mercedes you just rescued will get back to its original glory.



It's true that the dreaming never stops when it's about our beloved marque. But the funny thing is, the dreaming seems to be more of the backward wish rather than embracing the breakthrough innovations, flashy dashboard stuff, ecological efficiencies, it's always about those great things, about those "great cars that they used to build". Because the past is all about commitment to reliability and integrity in the more personal rather than the unproven and unconfirmed environmental way.




Credits:

Route 66 - For Chester
CATS - For the ML and C-Class