Bobby4919

I ordered my E300 toward the end of August and just got notified that it's being built now.

The salesman sent me a screenshot of the car specs and despite going over the order multiple times with the salesman, the natural brown ash wood trim got swapped to the aluminum trim. Too late to change the order at the factory, so my options are:
1) cancel this car and reorder, getting a February or March delivery.
2) Take this one with the aluminum trim.

If I take this one, what kind of accommodations should I expect from the dealership (automation) for their screw-up.

Anyone know of pictures of a Macchiato beige/black car with aluminum trim? The MBUSA build tool doesn't even show it as an option.

ua549

Go here and select the interior of your choice.

mjsbenz

It is a personal taste and you will need to make the decision. I think the Aluminum Trim goes nicely with Black. If you are not happy, just reorder the car and wait another 3 months. The dealership should compensate you by lowering your payment by $25 a month (which is what happened to me when the wrong interior color arrived).

HBerman

Personal taste, but I don't like the horizontal trim with that expanse of aluminum. It does look nice on the doors. I would reorder the car with the trim that you originally wanted. I have my E300 in Burl Walnut which looks stunning. I also think that the Brown Ash looks nice as well.

Bobby4919

I decided to re-order. now waiting on a January build, late Feb delivery.
Autonation dealer was very accommodating after a bit of discussion.

ultra63

Was the dealer in the 407? If so was a nice build but aluminum is not in the online build site though it is in the Canada build site.

c4004matic

If the trim is real aluminum I would avoid it. Aluminum trim is easily dented with small impacts such as keys, zippers, etc. It also scratches. After a couple of years, even with a lot of caution, it looks shabby and worn. In the C class there are a lot of people that describe all sorts of trim as "aluminum", in fact, its all plastic. Despite of being a cheaper material, unlike the real thing, it is lighter and more durable. I suspect that the Eclass "aluminum" trim is also plastic. Its the same as when people call the shiny stuff on plastic bumpers "chrome" in fact is just shiny plastic tape.

Streamliner

I would not walk away from an Autonation dealership, I would RUN! My experience with this company is that they are just too big for their own good. It's a huge, corporate mess with the accent on bean counting and not on customer service. There are many, fine, independently owned MB dealerships and I'd find the best reviewed one in your area. I'd even drive a few hundred miles if I had to.

ua549

+1

Out of the 4 MB dealers in town, the Autonation dealer is the worst - poor deals and worse service!

ultra63

My experience is that AutoNation has a poor idea of what cars are in inventory at its dealerships. AutoNation accounts for 10% of all Mercedes sales in the United States!

Bobby4919

I've been satisfied with the sales and service at my Automation dealership. And yes, it's in 407. The only thing we can figure out on the aluminum trim is that the car that was already in the queue was modified for the additional items I wanted and somehow it had been configured with aluminum trim and didn't get changed. Errors happen.

Dealership was quick to make amends and get a new car on order.

The one with aluminum trim is at the dealership now if anyone's interested. P3, dual 12.5 screens , leather interior... just about every option.

ultra63

Aluminum is the base trim in the UK with any wood as an extra charge. It seems most P3's have the panoramic roof here which has some disadvantages. The UK seems to almost all diesels though.