A little update for those in the waiting room.

My car is produced not shipped. My understanding is that the BS has a different process than other MB vehicles. As in it is partially built in one location and then sent to AMG to be finished. My assumption is that if they say PNS it means it’s completely done, but I don’t know at what point in the build process they label it that way.

There are two cars at VPC. This is great news that there are cars finally on US soil. Maybe that means that the EPA process has started but again I don’t know how these things work.

There are currently three cars on the water on their way to the US.

There are currently over a hundred Us cars in produced not shipped status.

The expectation is that now there will only be about 300 BS cars total in the US, this info comes from a higher up at MB USA. I have been told that number includes P1 customer cars, but I’m suspicious because that seems like an extremely low number accounting for P1 and regular allocations. However either way if the source is correct the BS is going to be super rare despite not being a limited number car.

There are rumblings coming out of Germany that there is going to be a total industry thirteen week shutdown because of chip shortages. The rumors started in relation to Porsche but apparently it’s going to affect all German brands. If that does indeed happen I hope MB manages to squeeze out everyone’s black series before it begins.

One last thing to note. My dealer tells me that just because someone’s car is PNS or at VPC in doesn’t necessarily mean they’re clear of the chip shortage problem. Apparently MB has been shipping cars to the US without chips and having VPC instal them when they get the chips. Not sure how they manage to drive in and out of ship without chips but that’s a real thing that happening.

Hope this info is helpful.

 

Very helpful. Thanks for the info. It arrives when it arrives.

 

This is super helpful, I wonder how many GT BS will be produced worldwide. Also Im anxious to hear the first one with an aftermarket exhaust system!

 

The carbon fiber manufacturer who is suppose to supply the trunk and the spoiler is bankrupt and failed to supply, this is why our cars are manufactured and ready parked in a building somewhere in Sindelfinger waiting on the Carbonfiber trunk and spoiler from a new manufacturer
Yes there is a shortage of computer chips that is effecting the whole German car makers but if your car is ready then it is ready

 

Is this the same company that supplied Lamborghini? I've heard that Lambo is denying certain carbon options on STO builds after October due to supply issues from their vendor (Sparco?).

 

I really don’t know, all the info I have is that I have passed my Vin number and order number to a friend of mine who walked to my car and explained the situation, he says there are like 500 BS’s all lined up waiting on those spoilers and trunks, no idea which company or if it is connected to the Lambo supplier

 

So I assume we're chartering a plane to Germany to bust our cars out of jail.

Who's with me?!!!

 

Do you know who the supplier was?

 

 

For those that are patiently waiting like me with no much of a delivery date. This provides some hope.

First GTBS in the US- Miami ??

 

Maybe it's part of EPA testing?

 

It seems that it is on manufacturer plates and it has 2 different set of wheels so likely still in some type of testing. Provided all the number of top executives from major corporations that have moved to Miami, maybe someone lucky enough to get assigned a GTBS as a corporate car

 

Has anyone been given a final price of their AMG GT Black Series yet?
My dealer has told me that they don't know how much they are going to mark my car up until they start selling in the US. They gave me a range, somewhere between $0 and $100k over.

 

Man that is some pretty slimy poop there.
I would think that anyone picked for a BS would be a prefered customer.
That would be the day: A) I agree to pay a mark up or B) Told that the mark-up would be based on market conditions.

 

It's absolutely some BS. That's the main reason I'm trying to see what other dealers are saying to their customers.

 

I am sure they will have an auction to see who is willing to pay the most premium for the car.

Unless YOU have a GM or Sales Mgr signed contract with the year, model and serial number that says the car is yours, I am afraid it really isn’t since price would also be one of the components of the sales contract.

Scott aka Malibu Scott and AMG 17 GT are the best legal experts here and I am sure they will share their perspective after they read your post.

It’s a very personal thing BUT for me I won’t pay a premium for any car and will walk away from the deal.

Good Luck with the outcome.

Jerry

 

Yes Jerry believe you are correct sir.

Based on beller 21’s representations, there is no “consideration” in this “agreement”, which is essential in any contract. Further, the fact that dealer gave a ridiculous range of markup is additional evidence and defense that no contract ever existed.

That being said, I’d be interested to know if anything was written out and signed. I’m always looking for a way to make it happen...

 

I was told by the GM at my dealer that I was going to be the first on the list for the BS 2 years ago when I inquired about the car. Then in October 2020 was told by same GM that he was not honoring that list and the BS was going to go to the customer who was willing to pay the AMV (Adjusted Market Value). Then in December I was called by my sales guy and he told me the BS they had ordered has a 175k-200k adjusted market value over the MSRP and they had 2 people that had verbally committed to pay that price. So 500k+ for a BS!!! They are simply nuts.....
I contacted MBUSA and discussed this sales behavior from their dealers and their answer was that once they sale the cars to the dealers, MBUSA has no saying or part on any AMV the dealer may add to any of their cars.
bull!@#$ excuse IMHO....
best of luck on the guys who are willing to pay this AMV.....
The funny part in my case is that I went to a Mclaren/Ferrari dealership nearby and to my surprise there were allocations available back then in January for the SF90 and the 765LT with NO adjusted market value added in the final price.
Autonation Sucks!!!

 

I'm friends with several exotic car brokers and those are ridiculous markups. As of a couple of months ago the market was at best at around $100k over msrp and it's still hovering around there because of the uncertainty over how many will be imported.

I decided many years ago not to pay for things over msrp, but the world is changing, and between inflation and the rush to hard assets the high end sports car market is behaving more like the real estate market where everything is worth whatever someone is willing to pay for it and msrp is irrelevant.

I'm still not willing to pay over sticker for a car but that means I have to be happy to get the cars (and watches) that are offered to me by authorized dealers at msrp.

If you think 33% markup over sticker is bad on a BS the Nautilus and multiple Rolexes that trade at twice msrp would like to have a word with you.

I have a basic 2019 50k mile Jeep Grand Cherokee that the dealer offered me $29k for three months ago. They cold called me out of the blue the other day and offered me $33k ... for a beat up JGC!!!

This is either the bubble to end all bubbles or the dollar is going the way of the Argentinean peso ... either way, not good.

 

Another update for the peoples ...

My car was in B50 (Produced Not Shipped) last time I posted an update, since then it has moved to B60 (Factory Invoiced). I don't know if that means that it is now fully built, or if it still could be waiting for parts like chips or the spoiler ... but maybe someone who would know the nuances between B50 and B60 can chime in.

The only three status codes left before it hits US soil are B70 (At Port No Ship Assigned), B80 (At Port Ship Assigned), and finally C20 (On Water).

As far as what's on the way and at VPC. There is one NY car on the water, and there are now a total of six US cars at VPC ... 1 MA, 1 NJ, 1 FL, 1 IL, 2 CA.

 

Have any of your contacts given an indication on how many cars the US will receive? I believe Canada is mid-30’s (?) which suggests the US should be allocated about 300 cars.

 

I haven't heard anything new or different since my previous update a few posts up the page.

https://mbworld.org/forums/coupe-roa...ml#post8313726

 

Back to the topic of mark ups, my dealer sounded like they were doing me the largest favor in the world by offering the the GTBS with a 75K mark up.

I understand that limited production cars are worth what people are willing to pay for them, but thats a hard pill to swallow. I remember when a buddy paid 50K over on a BMW I8 lol.

Given the GTBS very well may be the last fully internal combustion black series vehicle, I still find myself wanting to pull the trigger.

 

No one can tell you what to do, sometimes a person wants a car bad enough and if they can afford it they are willing to pay whatever the adm is.

But as a reference, historically these things go like this with restricted or limited issue supercars ...

The highest markups are at the front end when the car gets announced, it's hyped up, and first round of allocations get handed out. That's when the demand is generally at its highest and everyone rushes to find out if they can secure an allocation at msrp. The dealers see what kind of demand there is and how much they can adm the car and where people start biting, especially trying to catch those who need to be the first to have one in their area. The higher markups area also at the front end because those allocations are still configurable and people are more willing to pay a markup on a car they can make their own. If a car locks as a dealer build then obviously it is less valuable because you're getting someone else's spec. The markups then go up and down depending of where demand is relative to supply as times goes by.

The lowest markups are generally when the cars start hitting the ground. You will get all the dealer builds being up for sale, all the flippers putting theirs up for sale, and that will drive prices down. What happens next price wise is then a reflection of how many cars keep getting imported. The 991 GT2RS and the Pista are great examples of this. Both had over $100k markups when first announced (in the case of Ferrari either a year after a customer took delivery or having to burn $100k depreciation on a Lusso) and both were trading under msrp a year or so later, mostly because both Porsche and Ferrari kept printing them.

So if history is the guide the best approach for someone who hasn't secured an allocation yet would be to just wait until 150 cars get released from VPC at the same time and a third of them hit the market at the same time.

BUT ...

All of this was valid before covid closures, parts shortages, chip shortages, which combined with trillions more being pumped into the economy and a brand new covid borne wealth class looking to buy bucket list products, all have led to huge pent up demand against very low inventory. All the dealers I know have huge inventory issues, and I'm not talking just for supercars, even for Silverado work trucks and GLAs. So much so that even the aforementioned GT2RS and Pista reversed their downward trends and are now back above msrp.

So I don't know what the right move is here. There's a valid argument for waiting for cars to hit the ground to play the flippers against each other, but one can also see a circumstance that the ADM might be $125k by then. The market is so distorted that it's more difficult than ever to try and predict these things, and when chip supplies come back to normal this bubble will burst. But it could take years for that to happen, or it could take months.

As far as focusing on the whole 'last of something or other' aspect, I would be very cautious with that. I'm keeping my 15 458 Spider and CLK BS for a long long time as I will my 992 Touring because I can love driving them and they don't depreciate as a bonus. The last NA thing is real in general as is the whole last NA manual thing for Porsches. Once you go past NA and start getting into FI cars are people really going to parse the differences as much? If the next BS is a 1500 hp ICE/electric car will someone say turbos are worth more than batteries? Maybe maybe not, but I wouldn't bank on it in the short term. Sure people are losing their marbles these days because of the aforementioned market distortion and paying stupid prices for C7 ZR1s but will they when the market stabilizes? Plus if the GT BS will be highly desired as the last full ICE version is the sort of speculation that plays out in 10/15 years ... other more relevant variables will dictate its market price between now and then.

Anyway, my take is that if you can afford it and really want the car go for it, my sense is that at worse these cars will fall back to msrp so you can have that as your backstop. My sense is also that $75k over is going to be on the low end of adm, and moving forward it is going to push back up quite a bit. But my sense has being wrong on many an occasion, so the reality is I just don't know. I'm glad I don't have to make this decision.

 

I put a deposit down on the car November of 2019 but since the price wasn't released at that point it just had TBD on the contract.