MagicMike

I went through a similar process finding the right car I wanted, I feel your pain but here is my advice. I tend to relate cars to women, the ones you want you won't get if you strain yourself. Of course the ones you don't want will fall into your lap.

Take it easy and almost convince your self you don't want a black series and I bet one will come about exactly(or near) the way you want it. Never give up but just relax and let nature take it's course.

My 2 cents

Good luck I hope you find what you're looking for.

rory breaker

GM says he's got handcuffs on selling a BS in particular that far out of market

GrnLantern

Thanks for checking with your GM, Rory. I appreciate it.

I don't understand this nonsense that I'm dealing with at dealers. I'm ready, willing and more than able, I'm an existing AMG owner, a die hard fan, an MBWorld and AMG PL regular. I've given assurances the car will never be exported outside the US, will not be resold in over a year (*well over a year*), and have been in touch with Stephen Cannon (CEO, MBUSA) and Bernie Glaser (VP Marketing, MBUSA). So it's not like I'm some random guy off the street who has no credibility.

@Rory, just curious, isn't it the GM who technically places those handcuffs anyway? Unless, of course, the owner of the dealership is placing those cuffs on the GM himself. MBUSA definitely does not place these restrictions (I've had to "educate" some dealers on proper policies lately. *sigh*).

jrcart

Were you around here back in Feb? Did you see the post I started and how I got jerked around? https://mbworld.org/forums/c63-amg-w...-bs-order.html

I posted that thread here, on 6Speed and PL and it got noticed, a day later I am getting PM's, E-maisl and phone calls from people up the food chain at MB. Long story short they built an extra Black Series for me and broke into the production schedule to build me a car that I took delivery on nearly 3 months ago. I'm sure part of it has to do with my other CLK BS being such a high profile vehicle on boards around the world. These dealerships need to be held accountable and I know that MBUSA is taking action against these shaddy dealers (I have seen private confidential private memos), when this was all going on I was being copoed on e-mails from MBUSA and Germany, I don't think I was supposed to see some of those e-mails but I did and I can tell you a few heads rolled because of what happened to me.

All that being said you were a little late to the game, most of us who took delivery of 2012 black Series were on waiting lists with deposits since last fall. If you wanted on eof these so badly you should have been ready to pull the trigger almost a year ago, they only built 76 of them for 2012 and only 21 of them are coming here for the 2013 model year. I am already positioning myself to get an SLS Black Series and it has not even been "officially" announced by MB/AMG yet.

GrnLantern

Yup, I saw that very unfortunate thread. And I am glad you finally got what you wanted.

I understand what you're saying, and yes, I realize I'm late to the game, but that doesn't mean I should get d*cked around by dealers who have allocs/cars that aren't committed to buyers yet. Also, I'm not *that* late to the game, I'm just late complaining. I originally thought I had an allocation secured and so I stopped searching / putting more deposits down.

GrnLantern

Also, we tried to convince AMG / Germany to produce another allocation, but I don't think I have as much pull as you do.

jrcart

Unfortunatley some dealers tell you what you want to hear so you don't go two towns over to the next MB dealership who might actually have a legit allocation. They keep you on the line hoping and wishing they can get you an allocation by some dumb luck and then they get a high margin (full MSRP)sale out of the deal. It all boils down to unethical business practices and it's hard to find a dealer with decent ethics these days. Best of luck, I hope you get your BS because it is an amazing car.

jrcart

I sent you a PM

GrnLantern

Indeed.

I know bad dealers exist everywhere, but wow, I had a lower occurrence of terrible dealer experiences with BMW and Porsche dealers (although there was one local Porsche dealer that sure was a class act *cough* but that's not relevant here).

Thanks for the good luck wishes. I will be keeping this thread up to date on my saga.

hunterjah

Joining the game late, clearly have your heart set on a C63 BS, but what about a new C63 and a CLK BS pre-owned?

GrnLantern

No, I'm afraid not. Already had a CLK63 BS and sold it over a year ago. As for a new C63, don't want a Coupe unless it's a BS.

I appreciate the suggestion, though.

Even Money

I feel your pain, man. I know some dealers that have had customers tell them they'll pay 20K over MSRP. Some cars in CA have gone for more than that. Supply/demand at it's finest. I think you're just gonna have to wait for a used one to come available, sadly.

GrnLantern

Not giving up just yet.

Also, it's against MBUSA policy to sell cars over MSRP (even though, I know very well, many dealers do). If MBUSA finds out, they can issue fines and withhold future allocations.

Cylinder Head

iTrader: (1)

Jim, first of all I can't believe MBUSA didn't know who they were messing with when they jerked you around. Glad you got that settled. Second, you don't think they're planning on producing more BS's after this run despite demand? I know they're a PITA to build and take time from regular production runs, but people are falling all over each other to get one.

jrcart

Long strory short I got jerked around by a sister dealership of the of my regular dealership. My regular dealership(MB Naperville) is not an AMG performance center(even though I ordered and bought my CLK BS from them) but one of their sister dealerships(same owner) MB of Westmont ten miles down the road is a performance center and I got their allocation...well, I had their allocation until the GM of that store got greedy and decided to sell that allocation to another customer willing to pay more even though I already gave them a hefty deposit. Heads rolled and I ended up getting a "special" VIP allocation.

From what I understand after these last 21 2013's hit the U.S. Shores that's it, those are the last ones. They only built 76 2012's for the U.S. and they coul have easily sold twice that many. They are now focused on the next BS which is the SLS BS which I am already trying to get my hands on even though it has not even been "officially" announced by AMG yet. From what I understand they hardly even break even on these Black Series cars, they are nothing more than marketing tools to generate hype and make magazine covers. They need to keep them rare enough to generate a buzz otherwise they are no longer "special"

Cylinder Head

iTrader: (1)

I get that. I mean the 2008 CLK BS still haven't depreciated much.

Even Money

You may have an even harder time getting one now after reading that best drivers car of 2012 from MT. They loved it, even called it the best AMG ever, 2nd only to the new carrera s.

jrcart

The CLK's took an initial HUGE hit on resale value, probably because they were released in late 2007 and early 2008 just as the U.S. and global economies came unglued. 2008 CLK BS's MSRP's were $138K and within a year there were used ones on the market for $90K. Prices for the CLK's have been holding firm for the past 12-18 months from the mid $70k's to the low $80k range on average depending on mileage, which is great to see...although I don't ever plan on selling either of them.

GrnLantern

Thanks.

GrnLantern

You know what would really help here? A NetStar report of where all the 2013 cars were allocated to so I can reach out to those dealers. I know for a fact that they don't all have customer names attached to them, and that some are willing to take backup deposits (which I am willing to put down).

Unfortunately, all the dealers who have been "searching" for me, don't seem to be willing to pass on this information as they are holding out hope that they can do some magic (likely impossible) such that the car ends up theirs and they can sell it to me themselves.

Cold calling / emailing the ~thousand dealerships in the US isn't the most efficient method. (Although, I continue to do this, like a fool -- perhaps.)

GrnLantern

What else would help? If AMG would send more cars to the US. While globally, I think, they're producing the same number of C63 BS's as they did with the CLK63 BS, the US is getting less than 1/3 what we got when the CLK63 was dished out. :\

jtrichel

I still think that your very best bet (and I know that you have started/tried doing this already) is to identify which dealerships already have 2013 order cars with other customer names on them. Explain that you want to get in line. Not to rub it in at all, but I feel very lucky that I found my 2013 order car at my dinky small local MB dealer. All the big dealers already went through all their allocations. I know from experience with my RS4 and other cars, if you can squeeze out the 2nd and last build year, even better. I feel very lucky. But my point is that there are others like me. And as I have mentioned privately, will I come across something else before November that would make me itch enough to drop the BS order? Not impossible. So find the other versions of me out there. Certainly I would contact you immediately if that happens, but I am saying, try to spread that net.

GrnLantern

Yup, that's exactly what I'm doing. Problem is finding those dealerships as no one is willing to give me that information (no one with NetStar access, that is). So I'm cold calling / cold emailing dealerships across the US.

I'm in third position on one car. That's at least something.

Thanks, by the way. Very much appreciated.

CoolBDPhenom03

Give Schumacher MB in Arizona a call. Mr. Schumacher runs a very interesting business down there.

GrnLantern

Ah, lived there for 5 years, previously. Might as well call them up. I cold emailed them a while back, but got no response. Couldn't hurt to try again.

Thanks!