totita

Just wanted to post some pictures and impressions from my European Delivery Trip. I would highly recommend it to everybody. First the financial part, I was able to save the delivery charges ($650) and I did not have to rent a car in Europe for two weeks. I also got $1000 dollars off the MSRP price. MB also paid for full auto insurance in Europe for up to two weeks. We were lucky to take the factory tour because we thought the MB workers were on strike in the month of May. A couple highlights: before the cars are painted they are cleaned with feathers, the paint is environmental friendly is water based and applied electro statically, they are using thousands of robots including on the final assembly line, the factory is ultra clean, etc. We drove the car from Germany to Switzerland, Italy, South of France and dropped it off in Paris. I put 3700 Km in two weeks and got 9.5 l/km. We got two free days in a five star hotel in Lausanne, Switzerland overlooking Lake Geneva , amazing! I drove the car max 100 miles/h on the German autobahn, did not to rev it up more than 4000 rpm. The only thing that sucked was the high gasoline and toll prices. I love this car, I’m so happy I did not get a BMW. I’ve noticed several times people were admiring the car. One bad thing the car/engine stalled three times, it seemed like it ran out of gas. I turned the engine off and restarted it immediately. The dealer promised to check it when in arrived in USA at the end of June.

totita

more pictures

totita

last

revstriker

Wow, that's a pretty steep hill!!

Hope you enjoyed your trip! Sounds like a good experience!

totita

I can’t believe nobody had any comments regarding my post. Does is suck so bad? Oh well.

nrl1

Looking forward to getting my next MB over in Europe. Sounds like you got a great deal, plus checked it out on the autobahn. Don't worry about the lack of response to your posting -- if you had included pics of 24" wheels or something like that I promise you would be a "hit".

Lynn

No it doesn't suck at all. Thanks for the pictures. I wanted to do the European delivery, but I spent all my money on the car.

nboyd

So what happens now with the car?

You dropped it off to be shipped from a Paris based shippers?

Do you have to arrange your own shipping?

What are the taxes, fees etc and how did you choose the shipping company?

How long will it take to arrive and when did you place the order to get the car?

I think more people would do this if it was easy. I really like the idea and am think maybe I should have done the same thing.

I am from the South of England, so I could have combined it with a trip home and shown the car off to my old friends and family.

Nathan

revstriker

I believe that MB handles all of the details within the package. There are multiple drop off points for you to ship your car home. If you go to the MBUSA website, there is a lot of information regarding European Delivery.

Mike T.

The E.H. Harms shipping people are not named that for nothing...

The next step is they get 18-year old Jean-Guy, just released from prison, to drive the car *****-out from Paris to Le Havre, bouncing off the rev limiter on every shift and choosing all the worst D roads.

Jean-Guy smokes Gauloises, and he pounds down about three packs worth in the 5 hours of special-stage rallying that he does on the wild drive through Normandy. Oh, and Jean-Guy drinks too, and has a 2-4 of Kronenbourg cans in the passenger seat. The odd bit gets spilled, but don't worry, it smells ok, it's French.

Did I mention that Jean-Guy has a thing for hookers? Well, he visits a few on the way, but, quel dommage, they don't have a place, so the car'll have to do....

In the docklands at Le Havre, where the Communist trade union, the CGT is pissed off because of a lousy contract offer, they can be a little careless, especially with Bourgeois-looking vehicles. Let's just say the crane operators can be easily distracted....

Just kidding

vadim

Quite a masterpiece, Mike

totita

MB takes care of the whole shipping, insurance, customs. You pick your car from the dealer where in US. I don't know if MB offers all this perks to everybody, it might be a special program for US to sell more cars. My car is due to arrive in Baltimore on June 27. Hopefully I will get it before the 4th of July.

Mike you forgot one thing, the French guy that drives the car for HARMS used a very powerful men’s cologne from Dior to cover his BO. Just kidding too

columbus

I was just speechless. Nice photos! Lucky ba$tard. That's what I should have done, but I couldn't wait...plus I'm leasing mine. But I sure do get homesick looking at the pics, and thinking about how much fun it'd be to drive it on the Autobahn. US highways are getting on my nerves...between slouches parking it in the left lane at 3miles below speed limit, crazed ricers popping up out of nowhere from the far right lane, state troopers, and the generally sorry state of the road surfaces...blecchh!

galaxygrrl

Here is the link of European Delivery on the MB website. You can drop the car off in London.

http://www.mbusa.com/brand/container...x.jsp&menu=2_0

Beth

vadim

Still drooling... rented an Alfa 156 last January... Drove from Amsterdam to Dusseldorf, at full blast after crossng into Germany.... Gotta do it again soon to stay sane....

columbus

Aw man - that's a pleasure I have yet to experience; it's high on my wishlist. But you what? I'd probably try to rent a C-Coupe just so I'd feel at home and I can really whip it without feeling Big Brother Trooper looking over my shoulder at my speedometer with big wide eyes...

Thank God for speed limits here in the States...the way some people drive...considering the fact that getting a license here is kid stuff.

AndrewK

I completely agree, a monkey on crack could pass those tests The great thing in Germany is that everyone follows the rules, and therefore they can have a two lane autobahn with no speed limit. I can just see some American in a Ford Excursion taking about 5 minutes to pass a truck and then failing to get back to right after they are done. And because people respect the idea of RIGHT LANE SLOW, LEFT LANE FAST there is no need for swooping and all of the other madness that goes on in America.