[KingOfJericho]

Are Europeans as repulsed with lesser models as Americans seem to be? I mean, whenever I go overseas, I see A & B Class Mercedes much more often than an E or S class. Does this brand snobbery exist over there? Maybe we would think a little less of these brands if our taxis were Mercedes...

I LOATHE the term "poor man's ______" as it is almost always a total joke. People have said this about a few cars I've owned and in turn, I've made a few observations. People who called my Lotus a "poor man's Ferrari" universally drove pieces of junk. I mean, 90s Mercury Sable junk. People also love to pick on the 135i. I test drove many cars before picking up the 1er and I chose it because it fit exactly what I was looking for, regardless of price. The stigma is that I only got it because I desperately wanted to have a roundel in my garage and wouldn't spring for the now-one-notch-above-the-lowest-model 3er.