CornishPasty

Hello all,

How long does it actually take to produce a C class and ship from SA to Europe?

jolt8631

Are you ordering a RHD car then, or a LHD? I sort of "assumed" it would have been a left-hooker for your work location.

Assuming it is a RHD car, then mine has taken 16 weeks from order confirmation to build, then another 5 weeks (expected) to get to the dealership - another week to wash it and PDI, I expect, so 22 weeks from "soup to nuts"....

Of course if it was a LHD, it would half that, I suspect from a German build.

CornishPasty

It will be LHD. I've been told the production will start beginning of July, but I am praying I can get it 3 weeks after production start. I think I am being too optimistic

jolt8631

If it's LHD then it will be German build - that will save you time. I don't know about the build to delivery times for Germany, exactly, but I do think 3 weeks from Production Start to handover is very optimistic. Mine was "in production" (ie from Prod Start to leaving the factory for Transport) for almost 2 weeks.

Keeping my fingers crossed for you mate.

notabenex

Its around 40 days (shipping)

turt

LHD sedan for Europe is now also made in South Africa. Only the saloon is still made in Germany, except for German market (and a few other select markets/variants?) where both models are still being produced in Germany.

My sedan was produced this week in SA, should arrive on May 21st here in Belgium according to my dealership.

S18LOK

Mine took about 4 weeks after built and put on the ship to arrive in UK at the dealership.

jolt8631

Cornish

Looks like 3 weeks is looking a little optimistic - it's looking like 4/5 weeks on average, after build.

Roger Bill

I'm in the UK and ordered my W205 C200 in late December, the option freeze date was 23 January, requested production date was 7 April, expected delivery date at port 18 May and expected delivery date 26 May. As it's a saloon it was built in South Africa. I've recently been given the VIN so I guess it's more or less on schedule.

I understand Mercedes generally use Wallenius Wilhelmsen to ship cars from South Africa to the UK and that entering into the cargo id field in https://www.2wglobal.com/webapps?url=https%3A%2F%2Fatt.2wglobal.com%2Fgstat tweb%2Focean.do%3Fmethod%3DgetDefaultOceanQuickSea rchPage allows you to track the ship. My VIN isn't yet recognised so I guess it's being shipped by another carrier or that it's not yet on a Wallenius Wilhelmsen ship. I haven't asked myself, but I believe the supplying dealer should be able to let you have the name of the ship carrying your car and with this you can track the ship on internet sites such as www.vesseltracker.com www.vesselfinder.com and www.fleetmon.com

rustycruiser

I take it Mercedes in East London is not subject to Load Shedding?

CornishPasty

I have been informed the build location for Swiss orders is Germany even for the saloon models. This gives me a little more hope of getting the car in time

Dr_xavz

Ive been told delivery for 16th of may, so a week before the ship should be offloading. But i cant imagine them sending that many ships from SA to UK within a short period of time? Thats only a 2 week difference, is that how many c classes are really coming to the UK or maybe have i just been told an earlier date to keep me happy! Then again waiting time for a new car is like 4 months!

Dr_xavz

I just checked and from SA to UK they have 2 shippings per month! thats a lot of cars!

karan538

I am advised mine is a late June build and should reach dealer mid August which seems pretty long to me because I placed my order in late March.

Im in UK btw.

jolt8631

Unfortunately, that's about right, rule of thumb is about 6 weeks from build completion to arrival in UK, then another week to get to the dealership, by the time it has gone through Customs and got on a delivery run.