Rudegar

Here is my issue. I am asking for advice. I put down a deposit of $1,000 on 7/11/03 for a 2004 E500. Of course, I knew that production wouldn’t begin until September 2003 or so. But my build date is Jan 20, 2004. Hmmm, maybe that was a screw-up but here are my two issues: 1) Any and all information I have gotten on the build date has been through painstaking calls and follow-up calls to my sales person. He has been totally unresponsive, and although he's friendly, he comes off as (and may be) a clueless oaf. Should I go over his head? 2) I am being told they cannot get the wood and leather steering wheel with my Appearance package order -- it is backlogged. They will order the wheel and put it on when it comes in. I have the concern that if they cannot give me an expected date for the wheel, there a chance it will never be manufactured and I will be stuck with the leather wheel (which will really tick me off). As a corollary, if I am willing to pay the upcharge for special order items, shouldn’t they be able to put in Burl Oak (v. the std Birdseye Black Maple of the Appearance package) which I prefer anyway and put in a Burl oak/leather wheel. The burl oak is available as an upcharge on the E55 so they obviously have the ability to do it. Thanks for your thoughts.

vraa

I know this is a long strech, but, what options did you get on your W211? I'll go around and check my some of my dealer friends to see if they can get you a car quicker and with exactly what you wanted. Mercedes can do anything, it just takes money and/or pressure.

Salesmen are usually idiots, it's the thru enthusiasts or the upper management that actually gets anything done right the first time.

Rudegar

E500W
723 Pewter
835 Stone
051 Hands free Coomunications Sys w/VCS
220 Parktronic
325 Rear seat package
326 Premium Package
422 Appearance package
475 Tire Pressure Monitor

missing: Wood and leather steering wheel

Thanks

vraa

Okie dokie, I just shot off an e-mail to a few people asking what they can do and if they can get you a car faster then if you could in your current situation!

rgbyhkr

As a salesguy myself, I can't stand unresponsive salespeople. What really irritates me is the old, once they have your business, they're less interested in doing anything for you ASAP. As the customer, it's up to you to make your dissatisfaction known to the guy. Make it clear that you think his timeframe getting back to you is unacceptable (keeping in mind what a reasonable tunraround time may be).

That's an important point because sometimes, customers may put forth a casual or friendly attitude that a salesperson takes to mean that they are in no rush. Also let the guy know that if he gets your message but doesn't have the info you need right then, don't just wait to call when he has it but also call you then to let you know he got the message and is working on it. If after that, the guy still doesn't respond like you think he should, you can certainly try going over his head. Or, even better, you could find another dealership that's willing to take your business. You don't necessarily have to go to another dealer. Sometimes just the "threat" is good enough to light a fire. Be prepared to switch though if you go that route as it may not improve your service with the original guy.

As a side note, I think a lot of people have it in their heads that doing business with a local dealer is the only way to go. For some reason, car sales seem that way. I was just like that until recently, when my local dealer couldn't come through with the car I wanted fast enough. A lot of dealers all across the country have experience selling out of state and may even be able to provide you with better pricing than any local dealer. Just a thought in case you were weary of the idea.

Jeff

kyee

Let me guess - you ordered the car thru Autobahn? Those asses did the same thing to me. I went ahead and got the car thru MarcusBenz. I take delivery of the car in 3 days, on New Year's Eve.

I suggest you contact him and do the same.

vraa

Nice insight Mr. Jeff. Nice to know that buying cars out of state isn't a bad idea after all.

Do you know if there's a limit or allocations a dealer has of cars they can sell out of state?

Mr. Xristo

Usually idiots? How about mostly idiots!!

When I bought my SLK I lucked out with a very knowledgeable and helpful salesperson (he has since retired )

It is amazing to me that car salesmen are the only type of salespeople who do not have to know much about the product they are selling.

It would be nice if car salespeople were as knowledgeable as pharmaceutical reps. They [pharmaceutical] actually have to know what the heck they are doing.

konigstiger

A bit off the mark but nonetheless related. Is it just me or do others see a constant turn over of sales reps at dealerships? I personally witnessed one local dealer go through their entire sales force twice in eighteen 18 months.

drb

Same here at the local dealership. There is only one salesman, the one I deal with, who has worked consistently at the same location since 1992. The only stability at the dealership is the same owner for decades and the service techs. I have had the same service tech since 1985, however, this year he was promoted to general service bay manager, and I was assigned a new tech.

E55AMG99

That's the difference between a bad dealership and a good one. Smyth in San Jose has the lowest turnover I've ever seen. Our salesman has been there 18 years and my service rep 12. Most people have been there over 10 years and some have been there more than 25 years!

kyee

So which dealership was it?

konigstiger

The newest kid on the block.

E55AMG99

Beschoff is struggling but MB is giving them TONS of help. MB wants them to be successful. You need to go higher up inthe food chain and get a better sales rep

konigstiger

Oh, you must be addressing Rudegar.

kyee

Sorry, yes I was indeed addressing Rudegar.

Wanted to know which dealership was the one giving him the run around.

rgbyhkr

Not that I'm aware of but I'll ask Keil (CME4BENZ).

Rudegar

Out of my own sense of honor, I will not disclose this publicly although I will share it orally if you want to email me rudegar3@yahoo.com to set up a phone call. If you don't care enough to go to such ends, I certainly understand.

kyee

I understand you not wanting to post it. However I have no problem listing the name of the dealer who screwed with me - Autobahn.

Beshoff was very good to deal with, even though I ended up taking my business to MarcusBenz. Beshoff was very accomodating, their price matched the lowest I found, they just weren't able to get me the car in the timeframe I needed.

Arnee

I second that.

Mach430

We have a Mercedes salesman on MBWorld. Please contact Keil Powell (CME4BENZ), and let him know you heard of him through MBWorld.

Keil Powell
Mercedes-Benz of Westchester
888.882.2748
kpowell@mbofwestchester.com

Rudegar

Good news. With a bit of prodding the sales person is rallying to the cause. Accurate info seems to be coming through and appropriate responses to my questions have been recieved. I am encouraged. More to come (Jan build date E500)

BoughtaBenz

The sales person that we bought ours off of, was a nice enough guy, but not the brightest bulb on the tree, if you know what I mean. When we bought ours, I'm not looking for a guy to go out and have dinner with, I want someone who can do their job, and if you can't then you should look for another line of work (this, of course, is just my opinion). Thanks to the guys on this forum, I knew more about the car then even their General Manager, and that's a Shame! I know that once we got ours and drove it, the little things with the dealership didn't seem to matter as much!Good Luck with your car!

rgbyhkr

This is a pretty common complaint in many industries. However, while salespeople should know their products inside and out, there will be specific issues where a board like this will contain more information than a sales rep, a GM or even MBUSA has. Keep in mind that members here participate from all over the world while most dealerships here in the US only get their info from MBUSA. We all know how little information MBUSA can pass on when they don't feel like being forthcoming. We get info here from all kinds of sources and the European market is usually ahead of the US one so we hear about things in advance. Sometimes way in advance.

This doesn't excuse the times when you know a rep should know this or that. However, I know that some of us forget that just because we see it posted here it means that its's absolutely true and that this information is widely available to anyone in the industry. Nothing wrong with doing your homework though.

BoughtaBenz

I understand what you're saying and agree with you, but they can follow the boards just as easily as we can. They make quite a bit of money selling these cars, and it'd be in their best interest to stay up to date. I know that if that's how I made my living, I'd want to know as much about the product as I could. Heck, that's how I feel now, and I don't sell them.