Ok, what did you do?

 

Thank you, Michael, for asking my current situation.. as of right now (1:32am Friday morning..), here it is:

Yesterday, I went to my dealership for the third time, and spoke to the owner. He told me that if I wanted a CLK500, I could have it this week. It would be a loaded CLK500 with everything that I wanted - except it had a light-gray interior. They were really pressuring me into taking it.. and they had a few different salesmen come up to me and tell me I'd be crazy to wait possibly 4 more months to get 2-tone seats opposed to light gray. Light gray is "cooler" for the summer, and is very classy looking. After thinking to myself "Do I want to spend $65,000 on something I'm not in love with?", my choice was made, and I told them to push their reject car on somebody else.

Sooo.. I currently have 2 CLK500's on pre-order. I am #4 on the list at my original dealership, but who knows when I'll have my car. I explained how the dealership's "allocation" system works: They have not earned my car yet. Next month, in mid-September, they will be sent their next shipment of cars. However, its possible that they will only be sent 1 car. If they are only allocated 1 car per month, that means I could have to wait until mid-December for my car.

I ordered the same car - except with charcoal instead of 2-tone seats - from another dealership in my area. I will be calling them tomorrow morning to get the exact date of when the car is expected in.

Does it sound right to you people that I have been on the reserve list since May, am #4 on the list, and still may have to wait until possibly DECEMBER for my car?!? My dealership isn't a new dealership. Its not HUGE, but this is insane. I would have to believe that next month, they'd be allocated more than 1 car, no? Very very frustrating..

 

I too am #4 on the list at my dealer and I ordered mine in Feb! Last week when I checked, the car has not even gone into production yet, so I assume that it will not be here until end of Sept/Oct. Hope it helps to know that you are not the only one, so hang in there and be glad that benz is not rushing things (and making mistakes) just to get the cars out!
Regards,
Charles

 

likuidM5, I understand how hard this must be for you, but remember patience is a virtue . Last night around 10pm I drove passed my local MB dealer, low and behold up on the platform was a new CLK500, so I stopped to take a look.

It is truly a beautiful car. I love the frontal treatment which ties nicely into the rear end. The exterior is beautiful, and as for those who think it looks to much like the Acura and Volvo, umm... sorry but no dice, it's a Benz all the way. By simply looking in the car, obviously the dealership was closed and the car locked, the interior is much nicer than my 208, NOT EVEN CLOSE! From what I saw it looked much LESS platicy than the 208 and everything looked well built and 'tight'.

I parked my car about 10ft away to try to get a comparison, these are my conclusions:

Interior - Not even close, 209 is beautiful, clean, and tight.
Front- Sadly, the 208 looks old and outdated while the 209 is
fresh, clean and very sporty.
Side Profile-Again 208 looks like a box, 209 is very sleek.
Rear-At first I thought my 208 had the 209, I looked at each of
them several times and came to the conclusion that the 209
is a wonderful, smooth looking automobile which makes my
208 look old and outdated.

From the photos I felt that MB had lost that edge they had with the 208, but after seeing the 209 in person I have changed my opinion. Don't get me wrong, I love my 208 and respect all of you who feel MB has dropped the ball, what they've done is take on the newer, sleeker, more modern MB direction and applied it to the CLK. I for one can't blame them for that.

 

I second that! I also saw a side by side comparison