cte430

I just received a call from My MB sales rep. Here is the offer: $2,000 back for my trouble or a new car. Pretty easy choice if you ask me. MB has told the dealer that they will start building immediately for the people affected. The car will be an '03 by the way. My rep thinks it will take a little longer than they are saying even though MB says they have a "build plan" for the approx. 1000 cars affected. My rep is telling his customers late May - June. We talked about options that I did not get initially, that I may want to consider. Some of his customers have hinted at upgrading the car entirely i.e. one guy has asked for price on a SL 500. MB will make out on this deal in the end. Some good PR by offering new cars,(the 2K offer shows just how much margain is in these things) some people will upgrade cars (if I had cash burning a whole in my pocket, I'd probably get an E55), and i'm sure many people will add options. So in the end, not bad for MB. It looks like the saga has finally ended. I'm sure you'll be getting calls very soon as well.

nyca

i have been trying to follow this Nav thing on these threads, its like a soap opera.

So you pre-ordered Nav but didn't get it, right? So now they are offering either $2000 to re-imburse you for what you didn't get, or a new 2003 E500 with Nav at what price? An even trade for your current E500?

pogotango

DAMN i shoulda pre bought the nav to so i can get a new car. DAMN

Brav

DAMN I want to believe this is finally over. Now I can place an order.. but I'm definately not going to hold my breath. Good luck to all of us...

clembo

My sales rep called today as well, he said MBUSA will be offering a cash refund or the choice of a new car. He didn't give me the details on either plan, he said that the buy back option is a little tricky based on mileage and condition of the car. I got the feeling that he wanted to keep me informed and he was also trying to guage which option I would choose. He said that I will get all of the details by next Thursday.

I explained that I was a bit frustrated with never recieving the car that I paid for, and the fact that every Japanese manufacturer can figure out how to install a great Nav system but MB can't. He is very concerned about the perception of how this will play with customers like me(us). I believe that there will be room for negotiation and MB and the dealers will do what it takes to satisfy their customers.

I also voiced my frustration with the simple failure of the steering wheel controls to change the radio stations to the pre-sets. He feels that this is a problem caused by the change from Bose to Harmon Kardon and it is probably related to the entire failure of the NAV, Voice Activated Phone, CD Changer issues.

Let's all hope for a good resolution here.

cte430

interesting comment about your rep mentioning the condition of the car, miles etc. My rep mentioned nothing of the sort; seemed like it made no difference. Now, let's see how many different stories we can get on the trade out

pogotango

if you chose the buy back option its this is how you will get your money back (total price of car)*(toal miles driven/120,000)

monakh

Well, it so happens that I was pissed off enough today to walk into the Axis of Evil TM offshoot of American Service Center, otherwise known as MB of Alexandria, and demand of my original saleperson what the heck was going on with the Nav.

He told me that there *may* be a buyback (and to not hold him to it if it doesn't happen), he said that a MBUSA agent was there today noting how many people had pre-ordered the Nav, and he also told me that one of his old clients cancelled an '03 E55 order (for which he had put $5000 down) claiming that he needed Nav. He finished by saying that whatever they offer is gonna be good. Offering to buy back my car is good. A measly two grand for my trouble is NOT. To hell with that. I mean we are talking about a car that is (at least in my case) almost 73K with taxes. On TOP of that, I have to pay a few thousand dollars in personal property tax to own this fine vehicle in the fine Commonwealth of Virginia.

Whatever the case may be, it seems like the saga is coming to an end, finally. It it too bad, though, that even in the end, MBUSA refused to communicate with its customers. To hell with that, I am buying the first ugly 545 that comes off of the lot and probably cancelling my '04 E55 order based on this extremely shi**y experience. Besides, I can't wait to see what the M5 brings.

Long live the Yugo!

carcrazy

It's not over yet, called 1 800 for Merc tonight and they still have not heard anything from Mercedes in Germany, but are very very sorry and frustrated too. The buy out of $2000-3400 versus new car seems to be the consistent byline though I have only heard it from my brother's dealer in Philly and on this site. Mine in Dallas has not heard yet. They do have a marketing nightmare on their hands and I really believe they will make good on their screw up.

bmms8

its kind of sad that they cant even deliver a MY04........but overall we expected, nothing something to be joyful about, unless i could get a MY04

jl88

i'm happy to see that MBUSA is doing the right thing

monakh

We don't know what the hell it is they are doing, this is still speculation--we still have no official communication from MBUSA. That is what makes this all the more frustrating.

drb

Unofficially, the story above is what an MBUSA rep told me a few days ago. What the story does not say that the rep explained, is the trade in for a new car will include a $0.15/mile charge on the car's milege, and that MBUSA will send a letter directly to each MB customer who preordered the nav prior to 1JAN03.

reb13

When discussing the new car option, did your sales rep say that it would have nav? If so, I wonder whether that means they are going to start building them now (end of 03 rather than wait for 04). That certainly would be yet another change from what we've been hearing lately. Sounds too good to be true.

monakh

While that isn't set in stone, it appears to be a consistent message. The new car ideas being tossed around are all being referred to as '04s.

skymast

I didn't get the Nav but if MB will take your car back OR buy your car back for the miles @.15, this is an unbelievable deal.

Think about it -- 1) the discounts that recent buyers are getting seem to be quite large; 2) Even if you put 10K miles on it, that's only $1,500 to get a brand new 2004 car; and 3) your 2003 has depreciated $5,000++ since you bought it. You need to make sure that you are not getting dinged on the sales tax again though.

If the offer is an 03 and not an 04, you are still in good shape but better off holding out to make your decision. Why? 1) they will stop making the 03's soon and 2) if they have to find you an existing car, you will likely get some extra options for free...it's the fully load cars that are available at the end of the model year!

MB will likely up the anty on the cash offer....The $2,000 cash is a joke. If you go this route, at least ask them to through in a 100K extended warranty.

drb

The first note of this thread is very clear...." MB has told the dealer that they will start building immediately for the people affected. The car will be an '03 by the way."

There is no mention of an 04 model in that post.

Brav

I dont beleive they will wait for 04 build.. I'm sure if they have it resolved, they will start chucking the units into the assembly line asap, as they know they are it luke-warm to hot water. A select, but signifigant crowd is very angry and upset- enthusiasts spread the word.

Chris

drb

Can you ask for the name and MB affiliation of the MB person talking to the dealer? A phone number would be helpful. We can then call this person and all receive the same information.

monakh

Since when does having something in a thread make it TRUE? No one knows anything for sure. That is the ONE true thing in all this. The thread may be clear on the note on the '03s but that is not what I have heard. We have all been hearing 'MB told the dealer this' stories for months. I myself had a story from my dealer yesterday.

Also, MB has not figured out how to retrofit or put it on new MY03s according to most reports. It makes far more sense to go into '04s for this. If this was not the case, MB would take orders for '03 builds with Nav right now, or starting soon.

Whatever the case, something does not compute. Who knows, we will know soon enough. Personally, I don't believe we will ever see any MY03 cars in the US with Nav.

If I were a betting man, I would place a bet on that one.

drb

Can you get the name and phone number of the MBUSA rep your sales rep is talking to? We all need to hook up our dealerships with this individual.

cte430

How is this still speculation? My dealer, the agent for MBUSA contacted ME, and simply relayed MBUSA's position and solution regarding this issue. I'm sure there will a letter sent to us; perhaps my sales rep was trying to do the right thing and give me the "verbal" message since he knows I have been waiting for an answer, and not have to wait any longer and read about it in a letter from someone I never heard of. Quite frankly, I appreciated his initiative. He called last night, and the MB rep was at the dealership yesterday. That's customer service.

monakh

Don't get me wrong, I am not questioning your word or the that of your dealer. However, this fiasco has been mishandled with regards to communication, as I am sure you will agree.

Lest we forget, many of us have 'official-looking memos' from MBUSA stating that we will have Nav retrofitted in our Es by the end of the first quarter.

And we have been hearing dealers tell us conflicting stories for months.

So forgive me, if I don't believe anything I hear. I will, of course, be the first to jump on anything that remotely resembles official communication from MBUSA.

rayscar

I agree. I want to see it in writing before i get too excited about it. Until then, we won't know for sure. I do thjink it is a good sign that some dealers have contacted customers about this settlement. If they were not pretty sure it was true they are really setting themselves up by telling customers this information. My dealer did not tell me the info in this thread but he did tell me recently that there would be no 2003 E's with Nav in the US. I suspect it will be an 04 too, IMO

cte430

You've already seen something in writing, and that was telling us that NAV would be retrofitted to our cars. How did that work out? LOL Monakh, of course this whole thing has been a joke regarding the lack of communication. Maybe that's why I took the call from my rep so positively, since he has given me NO info. to this point, because he simply did not know, and did not want to mis inform me. since it seems like i'm not the only one who has been contacted, there has to be some merit. As Rays said, could you imagine how much they would be setting themselves up if not true! In my defense, I did close my original post with a caveat about the info. we're surely to get about this news