GusinCA

A few years ago I picked up my E400 Convertible in Germany and drove it around Europe for a few months. Time of my life! But now I'm thinking about buying another car and I don't see anything on the mbusa website, did they discontinue that purchasing option? If so, why? Do Porsche or BMW still have that as an option?
Thanks...

gfmohn

Mercedes European delivery is over, gone, kaput. It happened during COVID, but was planned before. (In other words, was not the result of COVID. I emailed the man who organizes the Mercedes-Benz Club of America (MBCA) tours to Germany. I was hoping MB would make an exception for MBCA tours. He replied. no, the staff have been permanently re-assigned elsewhere. I can't tell you anything about other brands.

GusinCA

That's too bad! On another forum a user was saying it was merely paused because of Covid. Hopefully he's right! It would be strange because the delivery center in Sindelfingen still exists where Germans can pick up their cars locally. It was such a great way to try out the new car...

superswiss

It was paused at first, but unfortunately it got permanently terminated as of November 1, 2020 via dealership communication. See the following thread. It is a shame. I did one in 2019 and spent 2 months traveling through Europe. Just in time before the crap hit the fan. With future cars being electrified in one way or the other, the program was on borrowed time and then COVID happened, accelerating the inevitable. The different charging standards between USA and Europe and the risk of shipping damaged lithium batteries put the writing on the wall. Porsche as far as I know still does it (not for the Taycan, though), but both BMW and Audi have killed theirs earlier. It was phenomenal while it lasted.

https://mbworld.org/forums/european-...ml#post8188113

GusinCA

THAT SUXXXXX!!!!
Oh well, what I have found out is that it's not that expensive to ship your car to and from Europe (certainly cheaper than renting for several months), and that you can drive it there for a year on an American license plate. I will be doing this in April 2022 to October 2022.

superswiss

I'd be curious about what you found here, because when I looked into it it's high 5 figures minimum, at least by plane. By ship it takes weeks to get there and back. I guess if you are going for 7 months then perhaps shipping it weeks in advance and then waiting another few weeks before it gets back might not be a big deal. I'd love to take my car back now that it's well broken in, had some updates to fix loose ends from the factory, and I'm in tune with it. Renting an equivalent car in Europe for a few months is definitely big money. Almost makes sense to buy one in Europe at the beginning of the trip and then sell it at the end. Part of the problem with shipping a US car is that you won't have warranty in Europe, and insurance on a foreign license plate ain't cheap.

ED really was an awesome arrangement. You had warranty and reasonable insurance while in Europe even if staying for an extended time. Altogether I did two 1-2 months trips with two separate cars.

GusinCA

There are some shipping companies in Long beach that will ship 3 cars to a container for about $1,700 one way. It does take a few weeks, but I have several cars and I'm retired so I'll just fly over about when the car is expected to arrive there. After one year apparently you either need to register the car in Europe or send it home.
Spending $4k for up to 12 months of a Benz convertible in Europe seems pretty cheap to me...

KorbinSipes

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