Jeff J

I'm thinking about getting a C230 or C350 Sport. Our dealer is out of '06 cars, but he has a few 2007's already. Sadly, they don't know too much about the new cars aside from what's on their lot.

It looks like the interior and seats have no leather at all - it's all MB Tex. I want leather, but I also want a grey interior. In the past, "premium leather' was only black. Is this still the case for '07? I hope they offer some choice of leather color, because the new black wood looked really nice with the grey MB Tex - but I'm not buying a $40K car without leather.

The dealer doesn't know, and the MBUSA configurator isn't updated yet.

Thanks for your help.

Jeff J

amdeutsch

Actually the dealer knows. He has ordering guides with pictures and he can look on Netstar.

Jeff J

Ok. I'll try again with him on Monday.

amdeutsch

You might try to PM a member by the name of moose something. At one time he had a copy of this guide posted/linked on this forum.

pookie

http://www.beckimports.net/

not sure if this is what you mean amdeutsch. not all 2007 are posted yet though.

Jeff J

That looks like the sort of order guide I'm after, but the 2007's aren't listed for the C-class yet. Audi's has been out for a month or two now. Hopefully the M-B guide will show up soon for those of us without a dealer insider contact.

Jeff J

amdeutsch

The dealer should show you. Insider info is not needed. Just talk to the GM or equivalent in sales.

patrick_y

Your sales agent or dealership is wasting your time by not giving you a straight answer. Go straight to the GM or another sales agent and tell him exactly what you want and ask him to give you an email when it comes in.

If the case is that you want "ash" leather and this is not provided for, then the dealership should tell you about the conflict in the ordering procedure.

The Netstar system is up for the 2007 C-Class cars. The system should be up for the past two months by now. This Netstar system allows the dealer to configure and order the car and inform the importer of the specific car (with colours and options) they need on behalf of their client. Instruct the agent to use the Netstar system to build the car or to check on incoming inventory or inventory at the port.

Regarding inventory at port; sometimes, if the car is not spoken for, the dealership can request the car to be shipped to its dealership. If it is spoken for, the dealership can possibly arrange a dealer trade with the dealer who has already requested that car.

I frankly don't care if this is your first car or if it's your dozenth car; but the process of buying a car should not be this difficult. I think your sales agent is wasting your time and for doing this, he's a terrible person and deserves to be sacked. Go to someone else and don't forget to complain to the GM about this incompetent person; this way you've done a good deed by preventing other clients such as yourself from having to waste their time.

Dealership sales agents probably know less about the cars than the average user on this forum. If I were you, and if I wanted to be a really big *****, I'd give the sales agent a test. Question One, how many horsepowers are in each of the C Class vehicles? If they can't answer that off the top of their head or give you a ball park figure within 10%, then they're not worth your time. How large are the brakes? etc. You are the client, in Japan, the client is god; in the US, the customer is always right. You hold the power, the ball is in your court, don't settle for improper treatment, it's perfectly alright to start raising your voice aloud and complaining in front of others at the dealership should they not meet your needs.

I had to do that recently at a Honda dealership when they couldn't give me a straight answer if I could order the car in a specific colour combination.

Jeff J

I went back to the dealer, and they (including the sales manager) again said they don't have anything on '07 cars yet.

But, they did give me their only '07 brochure, which was a pre-production one used for dealer training, so that's helpful. It says "Full MB-Tex interior", with no mention of leather seating inserts. You can still get full leather, but only in Black. So the only way to get any leather in a Sport is to get Black full leather.

For what it's worth, the brochure shows the old climate control with knobs instead of the digital one mentioned in other posts, as well.

In any case, the dealer said that he should have all of his data by the end of the week, and if I wanted to order or find a car I could try again then.

Based on what you guys said, I proceeded to call a couple of other dealers in the area (which for me means within 200 miles), and they said basically the same thing - they've got a couple of cars, but no information about them.

Jeff J

SEXSPHERE

why would you buy a W203? Just wait for the W204 to come out..

Jeff J

The short answer is the dealer I use for my current car (1999 Saab Viggen) has become so frustrating to deal with that I need to get out of it.

Every time I take it to them, they damage the car (scraping the front spoiler on things, gouging wheels on their lift, etc) and try to say it was like that when I brought it in. And they seem incapable of fixing even the simplest things. For instance, they had the car for a week to replace an air conditioner compressor. On another occasion, they ordered four of a certain part (over the course of 2 months) before they managed to not loose the part by the time they called to tell me it had arrived. The dealer has only one service tech, and he's only been there 3 weeks. There's no one else in town who can work on the car (no one has the electronics), so I'm stuck either with the dealer or nothing.

I'd like to wait for an '08, but it just doesn't seem like a good idea right now.

amdeutsch

Doesn't look like you even have a real dealer in your town, only a retailer: Link 1, Link 2

Jeff J

Very true. They've had the franchise for about 2 years. Before that, it was shared with a Buick dealer. Not at all like when I bought the car in San Diego. That's why I'm looking for a car with a better local service organization.