drb

I changed from brilliant silver to platinum blue. My last 3 MBs were silver. Keeping the charcoal interior.

ctouhey

Well, MB of Greenway here in Houston has for the most part got its act together. I heard from them just now and they were going to order my replacement when I got off the phone. I didn't really want to change anything; I like the car I have just fine. They would allow additional options to be purchased; deletion of any current options would not result in any type of credit.

Unresolved issues:
1. LoJack
2. Extended warrenty (I purchased a 3-year)
3. Wood Wheel (I purchased - full retail - while waiting on delivery)

He said he would have to research it and get back with me on the unresolved issues. I'm the first one at the dealership that prepaid for navigation, so they had not thought through these issues...

NavNut

Oh, drb,

Now you've got my curiousity... I also like the Plat blue with Charc interior combo... I have to talk to my salesguy this week since I'll be putting in a new order, but I am now WAY curious about this...

I am assuming that your original car has a factory-deemed interior/exterior color combo and did not have their infamous "Special Order Charge" of $1150 on your original order... now that you've picked a Plat Blue/Charcoal, which would trigger that SOC, I am assuming that your dealer had the good taste to not ask you to pony up the SOC... Is this correct?

I've always felt this SOC was a pure bogus way to add another $1150 to the profit... like the painting robots give a damn what color the interior is...

I can understand if you order a custom mixed color... or change the wood trim type... but color combo's??? What a rip.

-NavNut

monakh

By the way, rays, you did order from the wrong dealer but not because you did not order from ASC in NoVA. As I have mentioned in the past, ASC is really no better than HBL. drb has been good in his negotiations, or perhaps he had a caring salesperson.

My car is from ASC, the other branch, and today my salesman called me said, 'Hey man I got this done for ya'. And I questioned him on what 'this' was.

He responded by saying, I got your interior changed to charcoal. I said, what about the keyless go, and he said, that would be a no go and that he doesn't know if 'they' (Evil Empire TM) will let him do it. Hahaha...He made it look like he had really come through for me and as if I really should be grateful at that one concession.

So, at best I have been able to get the interior changed from the bland gray to charcoal. My E is brilliant silver.

While I have no plans on keeping the car when it arrives, I have been thinking of may be trying to change the exterior color. Just in case. Anyone have any ideas?

Don't know if 'they' will let me do it, though.

drb

You are correct, no SOC. I was told the SOC did not apply, twice. The original car had brilliant silver metalic/charcoal i/e color combo and no SOC.

drb

It is odd that the branches are so different. I wonder how much influence the Arlington Branch has with the Alexandria Branch. They are both ASC. The sales manager at Arlington (murray) might be able to shed some light. I changed from silver to platinum blue.

bmms8

alright.......we talked to our sales manager, and sales person today. they told us the thee options, 2000 back, which we didnt want....awap for a new 03, what we might be considering, or option 3, 3250 towards a new 04 purchase. so is option three basically saying that we get to trade in our car, get back what we paid for it, and wait for a 04, and basially get 3250 off? or are they going to pay us the value of the car, like 5, or 6 grand depreciation? does anyone know? thanks

drb

I was told the trade would be market value, then buy the 04 and subtract $3250. I think it is better to take the 03 and trade it in @04 with low miles, but I might be wrong. I trade my low milege car every 2 years, and receive a good trade in. The car is also immaculate (no dings, scratches, dirt, etc.) which also helps.

wesam

Drb,

Did you pre-pay for your Nav? The sales manager at my dealer said only those who didn't pre-pay were offered the $3,250 voucher.

I thought the voucher was an option for me..but I was mistaken.

e500

drb, make sure you wont be charged the SOC. I too have silver/charcoal and am thinking about plat. blue. If I go to the MBUSA site and build one and choose plat blue, it adds SOC if I select charcoal but removes it if I choose ash, stone or pacific blue. The salesman even confirmed this. Ultimately the order guide should answer this.

e500

I'm in central PA. I'm leasing and the nav is included. I never received a letter. Called the owner and told him everything I had read on the web. Then the salesman contacted me last Friday and said their rep would be in Tuesday 5/6. He called me back today and said everything was as I had read. Even swap w/no cost whatsoever to me. If I want I can change colors. I can add options if I pay. I told him I wanted to add the panorama roof and wanted only to pay dealer cost for all the hastles with the delay. Plus I don't think they should profit from this trade.
Since I have the sport package and MBUSA says it comes w/"high performance" W rated tires, I will also want them to swap tires if the new one comes with the Conti Touring H rated tires. I have those now and they suck.

NavNut

That's what I'm saying... in the brochure or on the website or on other sites which do automatic pricing (msnauto.com, kbb.com), Silver with charcoal interior is a factory standard color combo, but Plat. Blue and Charcoal is not. It is claimed to be a special order combo, and a special order charge of an additional $1150 kicks in... this is annoying...

-NavNut

monakh

Umm..a bit off-topic...but wouldn't you rather get the beige-y stone with the Platinum Blue? That is a beautiful color but wouldn't it look odd with Charcoal inside? Kinda like brilliant silver with stone?

Us suckers with the sport package get plenty of choices, as long as they come in black (burlwood or whatever it is). I don't think we get many options there.

p.s. Yeah the Contis SUCK! I have those too, I think the dealers are all ripping us off there, I realized it too late to have them swap the tires out.

drb

Turns out you are correct. There is an SOC for platinum and charcoal. That fact did not surface last Friday, when I changed the color. The ordering computer takes what is put in and is not programmed to adjust according to options/prices. I'm back to brilliant silver :p unsure if I'm happy or sad about it. I like the silver, but wanted a change of pace. Paying to change the color now if I end up trading the car in October is a waste of money. Thanks for the tip.

e500

drb, why don't you do what I'm doing. Mine now is silver/charcoal and I have a moon roof. I'm going with ash either in silver or platinum blue metallic and adding the panorama roof. With the roof and ash it should be much brighter inside and a different experience. If you have the HK Logic7 the retail price difference is only $650 and my dealer OK'd the add on @ cost.

ctouhey

I haven't seen anyone on the board comment about how the panorama roof holds up in tropical climates. I briefly thought about it when I placed my order, but since I'm the only one ever in the car (except when taking folks to lunch), I didn't think I'd get much benefit. I asked my salesperson about the option, and she replied that people were complaining that the car just gets too hot with it. Of course, when it's already hitting the low 90s at the beginning of May, the car's gonna get pretty hot regardless of the type of roof. Anyway, it's not for me, at least not now and not here, but I thought I'd pass the observation along...

drb

Thanks for the idea. Charcoal leather hides lots of mistakes, and I need that. Tectite gray and charcoal do not have an SOC, and is probably better than pewter which the saleman advised avoiding. Perhaps tectite is the way to go. What do you think?

NavNut

The charcoal interior with the panaromic roof is why you need the active ventilated seats and the solar panels... and you gotta have the pano roof and charcoal interior... problem solved.

-NavNut

Beltfed

Why did the salesman say to avoid pewter?

drb

He said it is a color people either loved or hated. Last year there was no example. Buying site unseen with a chance I might regret having pewter, I went with yet another silver car. I saw pewter on the lot a few days ago, and it seemed dull. Tectite might workout, but it is not grabbing me. I love a couple of the S class colors, but I do not like the car, and I'd only drop the extra $ if there were no other color I liked.

Beltfed

Pewter looks dull in some light and flat out awesome in others (lots of metallic in the color). If you are afraid of Pewter being dull, don't go with Tectite. Tectite is ultra conservative and while it looks very good indoors (metallic shows well), outside its a rather drab looking color....but I do like it.

e500

When we get the new car and activate the Teleaid, will the free year start over?

craign

Never too late to swap tires! The car is supposed to come with "W" rated tires. Mine were swapped at 6000 miles with no questions asked. I brought it in for service to fix all the same annoyances that everyone else has (engine mounts, front struts, drifting to the right, etc.) and mentioned that the sales brochure and website state high performance "W" rated tires. The service department contacted the MB regional manager for parts and service who looked into the issued and concluded that the E500 sport should come with "W" rated tires and the one he was driving also had the wrong tires. My dealer has replaced the tires on the three affected cars in their inventory and where working with MB on how to deal with the cars already sold. (some of which are being swapped for cars command anyway).

I have Tectite with ash, and I am thinking of switching to Charcoal because the ash is hard to keep clean with three kids. Since I bought the car off the lot this is a great opportunity for me to add the options I really wanted like keyless go, parktronic, tire pressure monitor and wood wheel. I hope the dealer understands that a happy customer is a repeat customer and works with me on pricing.

Any thoughs on charcoal over ash would be apprciated. I am just worried that the charcoal may make the interior too dark.

Beltfed

No doubt, Charcoal is a dark interior (especially if you have the Sport package). If you don't have the Sport package, the Burl Walnut goes great with Charcoal obviously, brightens it up a bit.

I have seen a Tectite/Charcoal E500 at the dealer (Non-Sport) and it looked very good. With regard to the interior though, you're going from one spectrum to another (Ash to Charcoal)....so be prepared for that.

If I had 3 kids, I would have a Charcoal interior.

ctouhey

I have all but one of those options, and they are great. You may want to do a forum search on the tire pressure monitor. The few folks who have it have reported problems. I asked when I placed my re-order, and the inventory manager mentioned an S-Class that had over 12,000 miles before the owner felt it was even beginning to work correctly. I passed on that option given the information I have.