Counsel

Just got back from talking with my dealer. While I was there he called MB Regional and the Comand deal has changed as of this morning. FOR PREPAIDS... MB has reserved May/June production for the replacement cars (they will be putting in a decision deadline); MB will pay all taxes, license fees, etc. for a straight swap; you CAN change color, options, etc. (except you must take Comand) and will be responsible for costs of any additions plus any additional taxes that result.

BigBohn

Sounds good. Hope it holds true.

Rock72

i'm satisfied with the way they are resolving this. but with that said...

i'll believe it all when i get delivery of my new car.

and sure, it'd be nice to receive a wood wheel or something like that as a gift for our hardship but to me, that's gravy. a swap out for a new car is good enough for me.

Rock.

monakh

There is a thread on the front page with almost 80 posts on it, instead of starting a brand new thread it would be useful to put this info there. No point in this, it just divides traffic needlessly. Thanks.

monakh

Sorry, I had to just say that. The Nav topic has everyone on edge. Welcome to the Forum.

drb

Thanks for this post. I called my dealership with the news. They did not know of it, but called their contact. About 15 mnutes later, the dealership called back to reveal the situation is true. They took my changes and called them in. I changed to platinum blue (no longer an additional charge) and added keyless go.

khiemvy

I am going to add keyless go to my car as well. how much did they charge you?

thanks

tbone

I called my dealer (Stead Motors in Walnut Creek, CA). They deny knowledge of the "letter". I even faxed them a copy of the letter. The letter states an even trade for all those who prepaid. Unfortunatley, at Stead, they put the nav on the initial sales order, but did not collect money. Now the dealer states they are not sure if the letter applies in this situation. Is anyone else under the same predicament?

Rock72

Did you receive a letter? Since Stead didn't collect money from you for navigation, I think it means that you are not a prepaid navigation customer ($1625) so it may not apply.

The dealer was supposed to send MBUSA a list of all of their customers who prepaid for nav. If you were left off that list, you may be out of luck.

Rock.

tbone

rock, i did not prepay, but was supposed to pay when nav "arrived". It was, however, noted as a $1625 dollar option to be added later on my sales contract. This also applied to my wood steering wheel, as it was backordered when I placed the order on my car. It was written as a $500 option to be paid upon receipt, which I did. I spoke to my salesperson, Reg Claytor, who said Stead did send in a list of all Nav Retrofit customers. He said I was on the list. I don't know what to do now.

tbone

Got your pm Counsel, thanks for the info. I will contact the sales manager and/or service manager. I also feel that the dealership is in a neutral cash flow situation. It's just frustating that my dealership is not as proactive as some others. The reason I went to Stead in the first place was for their "service". It's so ironic as things have turned out. I thought i had the better end of the deal when I ordered my car, not having to pay upfront for my nav or wood wheel. Sometimes it's funny how things turn out...

Zandorf

I am in the same exact position as you Tbone. My dealer didn't know that he had to charge me early for the nav. but he apparently put me on the list too. I better be able to do an even trade for another car with nav.

drb

I think is was about $1k. The keyless go is done at the factory. The wood wheel (free) is to be done by the dealer. The platinum blue is a special order on MBUSA, but the dealer said that was no longer true, no charge for the color.

skymast

A new car ....great news!

nyca

how many cars fo they need to make, how many prepaid Nav buyers were there? they need 2 months production for this? the supply of cars for the non prepaid Nav buyers, and for dealer stock, is going to be frozen for 2 months. i guess this isn't a good time to buy...

drb

Something like 1,000 prepaids in the USA. Concluding the prepaid replacements are the only cars to be built in the two month period may be erroneous.

RJC

Will MBZ end up selling all the returned cars to the dealers to be part of their courtesy fleets or to start a courtest fleet for delers that don't have MBZ courtesy cars.

steveyoyo

I prepaid for Nav. but have not received a letter yet. Have all of you who prepaid received a letter yet??

e500

I have not received a letter yet. According to 1-800-MB they were sent to the dealers and the dealers were to send them to the customers. They said to call the sales manager at the dealership.

pogotango

how about the non prepaids, where the sales person told me to wait until it comes out

drb

We tend to discover what MB is doing before the dealers due to this forum. I suspect those of us with solutions have them because we did not wait for the letter, but called the dealerships and requested action. I'd call your salesman or sales manager and if they do not have the letter, ask the manger to call MBUSA, get it, and fax it to you.

steveyoyo

Thanks drb!

Counsel

What I was told is they have "reserved" production slots for the replacement cars in May and June -- no where near the entire production. Plus, the replacement cars are front loaded so that when the order comes in it goes to the top of the production list. Their goal is to produce all the replacement cars before the 04 changeover. To accomplish this they will likely be setting a deadline for ordering the replacement car.

No, I had not. Supposedly, the prepaids were sent the two-option letter and those who had expressed interest were send the voucher letter. The Sales Managers were sent copies via email. However, its obvious not everyone got letters yet.

At least in my region, the Regional Manager wants the dealerships to call people.

If you've PREPAID, I'd suggest: a) waiting to hear from your dealer, or b) stopping by the dealer and talking to the Sales Manager. If the Sales Manager doesn't know what's going on, ask him to call the Regional Manager for the details. All the Sales Manager needs to do is input your replacement car order using special coding. It's actually a very simple process for them. However, it's more difficult for you -- you have to go through all the angst of deciding if you want colors or options changes!!!

johnroden

I bought from Mercedes Benz of San Diego. They also put NAV on the order but didn't collect money. The dealer says that they haven't heard anything official from MBZ and won't speculate until they hear.

Those of us in this situation should get together as a group and make our voice heard. I'll keep you posted.

tbone

I really don't understand what difference "prepaying" for the nav makes. The bottom line is that Nav is part of the sales contract, correct? Whether the dealer decided to collect money upfront or at time of receipt I think is irrelevant. The fact that our contracts states we want to purchase Nav at $1625 should be the dictating factor. Can we not walk into the dealership and drop $1625 down if that is all MB wants???