"Do you even have the whole "status symbol" thing in Europe?"

Of course we do. Ever heard of Rolls-Royce? European societies aren't that dissimilar to American society, we're not communists. The British consumer behaves in more-or-less the same way the American consumer behaves, it's a question of how much money he/she has and what he/she wants.

Mercedes and Volkswagen make some of the highest quality, most durable cars in the world (for example the Merc S-Class is miles ahead of any American luxury car), but sometimes some models experience problems and score low in owner surveys, it's happened to every big car company.

I don't actually have a car of my own right now, I borrow my dad's car, I don't need to drive every day. I used to own an early model Renault Clio.