cfugle

Having joined the forum only recently, really enjoying hearing the good and bad from GLK owners. Overall my heart is set on a 2015 tenorite grey GLK 250, 20" wheels, adv.safety features and navigation. It looks and 'feels' like it will fit my needs perfectly as I want trade in my Kia Sportage (MY2012), but don't want to lose too much internal space. I want a real 4 x 4 full time for the very best in traction compared to my sometimes grippy Kia, I want a strong storage net than can attach to the floor and ceiling to stop my dane and lab from bounding into the front seats at every available chance, and MBTex opposed to leather for dog proofing as those nails can pier pretty much anything (although the Kia has done well here). The bonus torque and excellent diesel mileage on the highway helps to compensate for the higher price.
So one big question left: My Kia will be three years old (perfect condition) in the end of March which is my plan to place a custom order. If Mercedes is no longer taking these orders, will they look at other dealerships to acquire one for me or does it hall to me to find one on my own using their online search tools? Are dealerships friendly to each other normally?

sblvro

Where are you located? Not all dealers are created equal. You have to shop around.

Alex Bel

I do not think it has something to do with the dealer. The question I think is about factory order. At some point with new model coming out dealers are stopping to take a factory orders on previous year model.

In my case I remember in May 2013 I could order only 2014 GLK model, since the plant already stopped making 2013 GLK models.

Bob338

You are ENTIRELY correct! You don't need to "think"!

cfugle

So as the GLC is rumoured as a 2016 MY, if it comes out this late summer I am screwed already and will need to kiss some major *** to get what I want or travel quite some distance to get something close. My MB dealer appears to have a great reputation but we live in the Laurentians in Quebec , Canada so being quite far from a major city... stock levels are kept low. I only see one or two max of the just released GLA model and only one GLC so far. The showroom holds 5/6 cars max so things are now looking slim... may need to acquire a 2013 used /off lease now.

LesF

custom orders apply only to models still in production. if the model run is over for the year you have to choose from dealer stock. It took me a month to find the car optioned how I wanted it as 15s were being produced but not available for sale.

My dealer and I kept abreast of stock in transit or unsold units until we found a close match.

rmfnla

Dealers can search each other's inventories and get you any car you want as long as it exists. I'd stick with the dealer you are going to have service the car.

BTW, we bought our GLK for our boxer. She actually prefers to ride in the back seat but the MB-Tex was a bit slick so we put on a velour seat cover; works great!

ningster

so far no one has answered the OP's question...


the only one that came close was stating in May it's too late to order the same year model....

cfugle

Your boxer is probably close to my dane's size and outside of a pickup truck no back seat is perfect for her until she decides to just lie down and take the whole seat up! Great advice in sticking with the dealership. I tend to try and do that as often as possible as a repeat customer is the dealership's best profit margin, and a great advertisement to bring new clients in as well. The city is far too small to maintain a lousy rep, and word spreads fast.

Thanks. Great forum.

rmfnla

Bob338

I picked mine up in June of '13, at the factory, but would have rather gotten a '14. (I'm glad I didn't because of the DEF problems!) My cutoff date for factory order at that time was April 30. Though there were no changes, they were starting to produce the new year's model effective May 1, for sale in the US starting on July 1.

I'm speculating it's still the same.

sblvro

Would have loved to drive the GLK when I was in Europe last year but instead used a rental from Italy to southern France and back!

cfugle

Superb. Thanks so much. I will drag my backside in before April to get what I want opposed to settling for something less.

cfugle

Boy do I have a big mouth. "I will drag myself in...blah blah blah". Took the used 2011 white GLK 350 for a spin and it was wonderful. I liked the diesel (and would love the $$ savings) but budgets made me look at used. They are asking $33K CAN for a very low mileage (41,000 KM) with Navigation, HID headlights, leather, 20" 5 spoke mags and zero markings inside or out. Looks well cared for with less than 10,000 KM per year. Question: is an offer of 30K unreasonable to the dealer. I am no expert but they probably sold this car originally and made their profit and now for round two will still make profit. The salesperson claims "they will lose money" but I have never known a dealer to ever lose money.

mjhawkins2346

Hard to tell what they have in it but in my dark moments I suspect it's not much over $27K. This is where you bargain hard. I would offer $29K and pull out my checkbook to reinforce that you're serious. It will probably go back and forth but at the end of the day they want to sell a car and you're a qualified buyer. They won't want you to get away.
I usually use Kelly Blue Book, Edmunds, NADA or Clearbook/Truecar to determine pricing but it's in US Dollars so would probably be off. Check and see if they convert based on your location. They paid "Trade In" price and not a dollar more.