First time poster. Glad I found this forum.

I will be taking possession of a 2011 E350 I leased from an out-of-town dealership. They will be transporting the car on a truck to my address. ETA is Monday or Tuesday. This is the first time I have a car transported to me so I'm not sure how different the process of taking possession of the car will be compared to the usual process that takes place at the dealership. Obviously I will be going over the car with a comb looking for damages etc. Is there anything specific to the E350 that I should be checking for? What happens if I do find something I deem unacceptable? Should I simply refuse to sign for the car? Am I technically "in possession" of the car even before I sign for it since it has already left the dealership lot?

I would appreciate any advice or comments on above issues or anything else you guys can think of. Thanks.

 

I had a previous Mercedes trucked directly to me. The paperwork that came with the car included a condition report at origin and one for me to complete upon receipt of the car. Fortunately, the car was immaculate upon receipt (except for road grime).

Regardless of any advice you may receive otherwise, I would go over the car very carefully and write down on the shipping document any damages that you can detect before signing anything.

 

Will do. Thanks for the reply.

 

Myared,

I was curious about your experience with the outside dealer. What was the process you went through up to this time? Did you negotiate entire deal online or on the phone? Do you have photos of the car they are sending? Is the car being trucked in an enclosed truck or open? I was considering doing this myself. Thanks!

 

Well, I had solicited quotes from multiple dealerships (by email) and then narrowed my choices down to the best 2 quotes. All the dealers were calling my cell phone and leaving me voice mail messages. I did not want to engage in any phone conversations until I felt a deal was possible, so I answered all messages by email. I then got on the phone with the dealerships offering the two best quotes. You will have to do that at some point as they will need to charge a security deposit on your card and you really don't want to give your card information in an email. The car I ended up leasing is listed on the dealership website with plenty of photos. I am waiting on them to mail me the paperwork that I will have to sign and mail back to them before they put the car on a truck. I have not asked if it's enclosed or open, however. That's a good question. I'll let you know.

Overall I find this process the most effective way of getting a good deal on a car. I did the same when I leased my X5 about two years ago. You need to shop around and with the internet this is so easy to do. The most difficult part of the process was sending the initial solicitation emails to all those dealers. I sent 26 and it took me a couple of hours. This was over the weekend. The next Monday I received an avalanche of emails and phone calls (which I did not answer). I then picked the best two quotes and called the dealers and basically played them against each other. The initial $579 deal did not include delivery of the car. But I had another quote for the exact same car for $581 and complimentary delivery of the car. I simply called the first dealer and told him about that deal. He immediately agreed to transport the car to my address for free.

Just for the record, my local dealership refused to go below $720 a month on the same car! The guy said he simply does not believe I will be able to do better anywhere else. I cannot wait to drive the car I got to his dealership and show him my $579 a month contract!

 

Your experience is very helpful. I will try that approach when I go to buy my next car. My local dealer has the same unwillingness to deal on cars. Thanks!

 

Yes, very informative and would seem like an effective way to negotiate. I wonder if you could have the same type of success with a purchase instead of a lease

 

I don't see why you couldn't use the same technique for a purchase. It's the same concept. Get as many quotes as you can. Chose the lowest two or three. Start playing them against each other. Once you have what you think is the best deal you can get online, take it to your local dealer and see if they would match it. Be ready to walk out the door if they say no. Simple and effective.

 

I am in the automotive advertising industry and we have our own separate transport company. Definitely ask about open vs. enclosed. Big difference in that the car will arrive much cleaner, depending on weather between the dealership and your house.

When you get the car, go over it just as if you were at the dealership. The driver's paperwork should have a condition/inventory report showing anything he found "wrong" with the car when he picked it up, i.e., chips, dings, scratches, etc. As it's a new vehicle, there shouldn't be anything wrong with the car. If you do find something not listed by the condition report, insist that it be noted on the paperwork, have the driver initial/sign it, along with you noting the "damage."

As the dealership is shipping the car for free (not sure how far a distance you're talking about), the difference in his cost for shipping open vs. enclosed is going to be a lot. I would bet that the car will be shipped open. There are more open than enclosed carriers available, they hold more cars at one time, etc., making them cheaper.

FYI, Mercedes Benz ships their cars from the Vehicle Processing Centers to the dealerships using open carriers.

We have one open and three enclosed carriers and handled hundreds of cars every year without any incidents. It is really up to the driver and how careful he is in 1) checking the car at the time he picks it up, and 2) how careful he is in the loading and unloading process. I personally have loaded, transported and unloaded just about all the high end cars, up to and included Bugattis without incident.

 

Video the entire delivery and inspection, this way there will be no argument the damage (if any and hopefully none) was done prior to you taking delivery. Are they using an enclosed trailer and if so who? I used Horseless Carraige before and they were great.

 

[quote=ChuckinTucson;4723976]I am in the automotive advertising industry and we have our own separate transport company. Definitely ask about open vs. enclosed. Big difference in that the car will arrive much cleaner, depending on weather between the dealership and your house.


I'm thinking of shipping a car from Denver, Co to bay area CA, and I was just wondering if you know a great transport vehicle company that you can recommend? Thanks.

 

General what is the cost difference between open and closed? Let's say from NY to DC? Is it 2X the cost?

 

I have had new cars being transported by truck from dealer to my driveway, and from an out-of-state dealer to my local dealer.

I think other forumers have given (and will give) some good advises to you.

Just want to add one more note from my experience -- It is not unusual that after the car being strapped down on the truck and gone through hundreds/thousands miles of transporting on public roads, the wheel alignment of the car would be affected a little.

After you took delivery of your new car, if you find that the wheel alignment is a little off, like slightly pulling to one side when driving on the freeway, no sweat.

Just bring the car to your local dealers, and they will re-adjust the alignment for you, free of charge. (I forgot what is the new car adjustment period of Mercedes, yet usually during the first month / 1K miles ownership, I am pretty sure it would be fine.)

This just happened a few weeks ago when I took delivery of my 2012 E350 Coupe. Its alignment was a little off during the tranpott, and my local dealer did a full alignment on the car for free.

Hope it helps, and congrats to your new Mercedes,

Regards,