MDCLK500

Would love your perspective on an issue:

On June 30th I placed an order for a CLK 500 and the saleperson at the dealer (Euro Motorcars, Bethesda. MD) said I should expect my car in early October. Last month the date had stretched to "late Fall" Yesterday my salesperson left me a mesage that the "production" was scheduled for January, so it would be February before I saw my car. Given what other people have posted this seems ridiculous.

Am I getting the runaround? Could others' orders have been filled ahead of mine? I went to Euro Motorcars because they are the 4th largest MB delaer in the US and I assumed/was told that they have good allotments but reality doesn't seem to have borne this out. Your thoughts appreciated as I need to do some thing about getting a car. Thanks

britton

I PLACED A ORDER FOR 2003 CLK 320 ON AUG. 26 AND MY SALES PERSON E-MAILED ME AND TOLD ME MY CAR HAD BEEN PRODUCED ON NOV. 3 AND WE SHOULD EXPECT THE CAR TO ARRIVE IN THE USA IN 2.5 WEEKS THAN IT HAS TO BE DELIVERED TO ME IN WISCONSIN. SHE ALSO GAVE ME A VIN NUMBER FOR THE CAR. MAYBE THERE IS A LONGER WAIT FOR THE CLK 500? IT SEEMS TO ME THAT IT SHOULD NOT TAKE OVER SIX MONTHS TO GET THE CAR. WHEN I PLACED MY ORDER IN AUG THE SALES PERSON WOULD NOT GIVE ME A DATE OR HOW MANY MONTHS IT WOULD TAKE TO RECIEVE THE CAR. SHE SAID SHE WOULD CALL ONCE IT WENT INTO PRODUCTION. I JUST HOPE IT DOES NOT TAKE LONG TO GET THE CAR DELIVERED TO ME. GOOD LUCK!!!

BRITTON

rocky

I placed my order for a CLK500 on July 7th and received the car October 1st.

nabzy

First of all if the dealer is claiming he has a production slot for jan, go down there and ask to see printout of the production slot confirmation. All dealers have a list of incoming cars at various states from produciton slot, to on the water - so ask to see the printout to make sure you have a jan build - its also worthwhile doing this as in that printout the codes for your options and colors should be on it, so you can double check to see if your car has been ordered right. If the dealer makes a fuss about showing you this printout, hes giving you the runaround again. Although, i suspect hes tellign you the truth as dealers can see upcoming production slots for cars to be built about 2 1/2 mths in advance.

The other bit of good news is, if you get the car in jan/feb at least you will save on luxury tax maybe another 600-700 bucks in your pocket.

Jksellman

I ordered my CLK500 in june of 2001 and took delivery mid august 2002.

egruber

My guess is that the dealer gave away your allotment. The allotments are normally very stable and predictable...only affected if there is a production problem at the factory, and this is easy to verify. Some dealers give allotments to special customers. Special in that they spend extra money to get a car early...which means he takes a car already promised to someone else. My dealer does not do business that way. You should consider buying the car somewhere else.

Mr. Xristo

If he is telling you he has an allotment, then he should either have a VIN, or a prduction number thereby assigning a vehicle to you.

What a bunch of f$$k nuts...

wesam

I'm going to go with everyone that said your spot was given away. You mentioned that you went to the dealer because they are the biggest--well think about that for a second. Who's going to serve you the best, the dealer trying to be #1, or the dealer that is #1? I go through the same thing because I'm in Milwaukee...I could head down to the Chicago dealers, which are bigger, but their service sucks....and most of the people working there are a**holes. Plus, a lot of car allotments doesn't mean they have a lot of cars to sell you...being that they are so big, they have a lot more people buying from them. A 100 allocations with 50 people buying them, is better than 600 allocations with 800 people after them

Anytime I buy a car, I always talk to the GM, and tell him to be frank with me about the build spot he's giving me. I've know this since 96' when I bought my first E-class, which was someone elses build date!

britton

I to live in Milwaukee and was going to purchase my car in Chicago. Instead went with my locale dealer in milwaukee and will have my new 2003 clk 320 end of Nov. or the first of Dec. In total about 3 months to get the car. It is on the ship now and should arrive in NJ on Nov. 22 and take 7-10 day to be delivered to Milwaukee WI.

Britton

wesam

Britton, who did you buy from?

STARR

MDCLK500

I have experienced the same issue, when I ordered my car I became #13 on the dealers list. I became suspicious when October came and I didn't have my car figuring some high roller swooped in and took my car. I have seen the print out (order list) and the same people that were ahead of me then are ahead of me now. As of last Thursday I was down to #5 which means there are still 4 cars to be built before mine.

I blame my dealer for accepting such a small allocation without putting up a fuss. So far my dealers allocation has been a pityful 2 cars per month. There are other dealers who make noise and get more cars, as you know the squeaky wheel gets the oil. So because I chose a dealer who was not aggressive there are people who went to other dealers after me and still got their car before me.

wesam

They can't get more cars by complaining about it....Mercedes hands out allocations based on sales, and CSI ratings....sell more cars, get more cars...treat your customers better, get more cars.

STARR

It would make sense to provide more cars to dealers with a greater demand, however I've seen the list @ the dealership I went to and trust me there is a big demand. I know for sure it's not about how you treat your customers because two of the worst Mercedes dealerships I've ever dealt with in my life are apparently getting a larger allocation.

britton

I ordered my car at Concours Motors. I have taken my Saab there for service. Have only lived in Milwaukee for about four years. Just wondering do you know any thing about there Mercedes service department?

Britton

wesam

Britton,

Great choice! Thank your lucky stars you didn't buy form International Autos, because that would have meant you paid too much. I have been dealing with concours for 10 years now....I buy my BMW's and Merecedes' from them. When you mentioned that your sales person was a "she", I assumed you were talking about Jessica. She's as good as they get when it comes to sales people. Their service department is great, a lot of really nice people, that actaully care about you as a customer. There are always two things to look out for when dealing with the concours service dept.:

1. They have a very very loyal customer base, which means people (much like myself) drive out of their way to service their cars with them. Because of this, expect the wait for service to be a bit long at some times of the year.

2. Always mention that you want a loaner held for you when you call for a service appt..

Also, if you don't mind giving out the info...how much did they take off of sticker for you?

britton

Jessica is the person who sold me the car I was not able to get them to come down on the car. Since it was the new syle 2003 clk 320 they would not come down on price but I got a couple of things free all weather mats and cargo tray for trunk. I went to a dealer in Chicago and they where not dealing either on this car. Do you think I could have got some kind of deal on this car? I placed the order On Aug 26 and should have it the first of Dec. Let me know what you think. Planning to buy another car from them . Maybe!!!!

Britton