twilightround

The "European Delivery Specialist" at my local dealer (El Dorado Hills, in California) has been useless (does not answer questions, does not return phone calls). Based on recommendations from this site, I tried the dealership in Escondido, California. Again, pretty much the same result. I was trying to order an E AMG 63S station wagon. I wanted to find out whether it was available for European delivery and whether colors available on the coupe could be special ordered at extra cost on the wagon. This is a car that costs well in excess of $100,000, and I naively thought someone would be interested in selling it. Apparently not. Either Mercedes is not talking to Escondido or they are not talking to Mercedes. I am told it will take at least six days to get an answer to these pretty simple questions. My questions to the forum are: (1) does anyone know anyone at Mercedes who can answer these questions, and (2) has European delivery become a negative priority for Mercedes, and (3) is there a dealership that might be more interested in customer service?

Forty9

Did you talk to Herbert Haemmer at MB of Escondido?

twilightround

Thank you for the reply. My purpose in asking the questions was not to make this about individuals, as I don't know what problems any one of them may be having, but to inquire whether Mercedes dealers, and Mercedes itself, have decided the European delivery program is not worth the trouble. My own experience with now four dealers suggests that they are not eager (to put it very mildly) to respond to customers interested in European delivery, at least when it comes to the AMG 63S. One dealer, about 100 miles from me, said they had lots of experience with European delivery and that if I wanted a color available on the coupe but not listed for the wagon, it would cost about $2500, but told me that I should order from another Mercedes dealer (under a different owner) nearer to my home in northern California. That closer dealer does not even return calls about the 63S. Another dealer as much as told me they could make more money ordering the car for sale here (I think because they want to sell them for over the list price). One dealer told me that they had one at the dealership that I could drive, but when I got there after a thirty minute drive on the same day, it turned out the sales person I spoke with had been "misinformed". I called one dealer on a Tuesday and spoke to a sales person who said he would see what he could find out, but he was not working on the following day, so he would call me on the following Thursday. I said that would be fine. When I didn't hear hear from him by 5:00 p.m. on Thursday, I called him. He obviously had made no effort to find any answers. He said he would get back to me, but that he was also taking Friday off, so it would have to be the following week. Apparently, there was no one else at the dealership who could help during his Wednesdays and Fridays off. I can imagine that reading this, members of this forum might well infer that there is something about me that causes dealers to shun me. I'm in my seventh decade, retired, can pay cash, fully insured, with a perfect driving record, and have never had similar problems buying any other car. I will try today to reach someone at Mercedes USA to see if they know the answers to my simple questions. Does anyone have a phone number there that might get me a human?

seascape

twilightround, I checked with the San Francisco area dealer who handled my EDP earlier this year, and the E AMG 63S station wagon is indeed available in the EDP program! However, instead of the standard 7% EDP discount, it is 5%. The dealer wasn't sure about the color ordering, but can check Monday or Tuesday if you're interested.

twilightround

Thank you. The 5% is significant on that car. I'll call.

SB_NYC

Sadly, many dealerships do not understand the program sufficiently. They also see the workbook and paperwork and act like they are doing corporate taxes. The process is actually extremely simple and straightforward. I suspect dealerships are also less inclined to assist because they get paid their commission on the day of the delivery, which in many cases is several months away.

A dealership gets paid 10% commission of the ED price, which is MSRP minus delivery charge ($995) minus 7% (or 5% for AMG's). They will offer you 7% (or 5%) off as well, but you should be able to negotiate more--usually up to an additional 3-4% off of MSRP. On top of all of this, it does not go against any dealership allocation, so it's purely extra money/sale for the dealership. The sale also counts towards any sales volume bonus for end of year, end of month, etc.

For example, lets say a new car's MSRP is $100k:
Set MSRP- $100,000
Set ED Price- $93,000
Set commission paid to dealership by corporate- $9,300 (Car invoice to dealership- $83,700)
Scenario 1: You, the buyer, accept the standard 7% off, so you pay $93,000 and dealership profits $9,300
Scenario 2: You, the buyer, negotiate 10% off, so you pay $90,000. Dealership profit: $90,000, that you pay - $83,700, what they pay = $6,300 profit for dealership

To figure all of this out, most sales reps have to open the workbook and run the numbers. It may sound silly, but many of them don't even bother. It is important you find yourself a knowledgables sales rep. who preferably has done this in the past, or better yet, for him or herself. At the very least, educate yourself on the process and potential savings and gently ease on the knowledge to your local salesperson and work together to both get a great deal.

24Hours

I hope you found Herbert to be helpful. I am using him now for the same purchase: E63S wagon. We are slated to p/u just before Easter. But I will say: this is a massive PIA to do even though I am an enthusiast, a multi-time AMG owner AND a person who has done factory delivery (via Volvo) in the past. I cannot imagine how frustrating this is for first-timers.

And you are also 100% correct about the lack of incentive for regular sales people to help promote or facilitate the factory deliveries. I bought a 2014 E63S wagon at full sticker from a salesman in Greenwich and provided him with EXPLICIT guidance to inform me on my intent to get the W213 AMG wagon and that I wanted to do the factory delivery. He acknowledged this in phone calls and emails and then when numerous people in the AMG chat had mentioned orders placed, etc I called my SA guy and asked WTF... he admitted it fell off his list as he doesn't get paid for those sales. Now, I know that is BS as I was told so by someone else... it just pays less than a full MSRP sale. TBH it is a terrible disservice to customers. But onward and upward.

Good luck.