Jakpro1

Long story short I am living in hell over here. Purchased a pretty loaded GL550 3 weeks ago and my dealer had it shipped from New Jersey.

It's been on the truck for weeks and we were scheduled for delivery last Friday......no truck.....then I am told Monday of this week.......then Wednesday....then today (Thurs) and this pm I was told the delivery truck blew a clutch and they don't even know where the hell the truck is. Literally...no idea....no idea when the Gl will ever be delivered. Just......nothing.

Can you believe this sheet!!???

Anyway, taking the law into my own hands and it dawned on me that if I activate MBrace, they offer a feature of "locating your car". Yes I know it's for the mall and small parking lots, but this brings my question.....

Will it locate the car Nationwide?? Meaning I am in Utah and they claim it's in Wyoming. Can I track it in Wyoming with the Mobile App Car Locate.

Thanks for any help. Just drove to the dealer tonight and sure enough...no GL still.

JonMBZ

not sure if this is a joke or not, but teleaid/mbrace is used for the location of a stolen vehicle so it will work nation wide if activated, which I doubt it is if it's new?

JimBarnhart

The mbrace function of locate my car won't work. I've tried it before when my wife was driving a few hundred miles to meet me. I used the locate on my smartphone but it came back and said the MB isn't close enough to perform that function.

They do have the ability to locate in the case of it being stolen on the mbrace call center.

Jakpro1

Oh yeah, it's red hot comedy.

(me on stage)

"So the other day folks,l I bought a 110K truck and now......the dealer has no f'in idea where the delivery truck is AND has no clue when I will receive it"

(crowd erupts with laughter and applause)

"but seriously folks, tip your waitresses"

Thanks for the input though you guys. Gonna call MBrace now.

Axxlrod

Not sure if that will work for you or not. I know I tried to locate my escalade once, and when I called onstar, they said that they can def track the vehicle but would only give the info to police, not me. Even though it was my car.

Curious. Who arranged for the transport? You or the selling dealer? If the dealer, drop this in their lap and have them handle it.

sraza

this is absolutely unacceptable- whether its a 110k truck or an item off ebay. heck you can track almost anything in the mail- ofcourse they can find out where it is.. i'm not sure how well you know the dealer but its really their job to make sure you the customer is informed- i would call mb corp in NJ- 'and' email them off the website - they will get back to you and are pretty good with addressing issues rather efficiently- some of the dealers- i'l tell ya- ' dont really care' once the deal is done- but hey- you already knew that...
good luck! hopefully you'l have it soon..
my cousin bought a car from cali - came on a truck half way round the country- he knew where the car was the entire time until it came on a truck on his driveway- so yea- its def possible to know where the car is...

fabbrisd1

Clarify some things here - mBrace is not activated until setup with a user account.

If your dealer had arranged to get a GL550 from another dealer - then that is a dealer-to-dealer transaction and has nothing to do wit MB Corporate.

That said - your dealer would have arranged the pickup/transportation - and that has nothing to do with MB's contract transportation.

Since your dealer arranged and is responsible for the transportation - your dealer has direct access to the borker or transportation company.

If this in fact was coming from NJ to Utah - then your dealer is responsible for locating your GL - quite often a long trip like that can actually be broken up into segments - with trucker #1 transporting from A-to-B, then handing off to trucker #2, etc.

It your dealer contracted with a broker - then the broker can reach the company that has it now - and that company can contact the driver directly by cell...

Keep the beat !

Jakpro1

Update


Loser trucker still won't call my dealer so we are going to report it stolen.

Then Benz can track it and we can hopefully get a response.

What a nightmare. Thought the dealer was pulling a fast one on me, but they turned out to be really cool in this. They said transport companies are nearly all run by losers.

Case in point, look at these wonderful members of the human race doing donuts with a customers car fresh off the transport truck. Truck is visible first part of the video. Thank God this isn't mine.

cookstar

Its in Mother Russia which does not surprise me one bit

fabbrisd1

Go find anothewr GL and put this behind you.

First, it's not your truck. your dealer had completed the transfer from the other dealer when that truck had been picked up - so technically it's your dealers truck - and that is his loss.

The dealer does NOT normally have direct contact with the trucker - for a NY pickup to Utah delivery - dealer has contact with the broker or transportation company that took the order - that borker/transportation company will be responsible to the dealer.

All that said and done - go get another GL - this one has been a nightmare for the dealer - not you - if the story is truthful.

Transportation is in general reliable and straight forward - ALL cars get transported...

Jakpro1

Thank Fab!

Just filed the police report and MBrace is tracking it shortly

WOW is my life a trip sometimes.

Will keep you updated.

Look for a GL550 loaded with everything but Designo flying from the cops on Fox News tonight. LOL

wamochi

i don't understand - is it new or used? if it's new, how can it be yours if you haven't even taken delivery yet? and how would you have activated mbrace without being the registered owner?

in any case, hope you get it resolved soon. like Fab said, i'm not sure i'd want that particular vehicle anymore and would search for something else.

snail45

Not sure if you got my email or not, but I ended up going to that Sagebrush place and they haven't seen it. They said there was only one other place in town that does clutch work so I will check that place in the morning. I will check a couple of wrecker places that I know of as well.

fabbrisd1

I have no comment - auto transport is actually a intranet - if transport is arranged thru a broker or master transport company they post the pickup-delivery then books the segments - if a truck breaksdown on a segment - they post the location of the breakdown and another truck picks up the slack.

Originally I had thought this was a new GL550 - arranged by MB dealer thru "dealer trade" - more - title transfers upon delivery/payment.

To me, with information available, and more this sounds like a indie "dealer" or "car broker" who set something up to source a pre-owned - payment changes hands to secure the vehicle - but in this scenario ttile still transfers upon delivery.

wamochi

the saga continues ...

Axxlrod

There seems to be more to the story here...

Jakpro1

Well it's official. The delivery guy/company has stolen our truck. Dealer said it's the first time ever for this to happen to them. Officer called MBrace Emergency Response but the truck won't ping back which means it's either chopped up in bits or battery is disconnected. Must have been some type of elaborate setup to gather enough cars and then snag um. When they pulled my GL550 on the truck, they must have started cheering like they won the Superbowl. What a chop shop dream!

Guess she's a goner. What a friggin trip!!! Heading down to dealer tonight to see what they intend to do about getting us another truck.

Bottom line....DO NOT USE OPEN TRANSPORT!! I was shocked when they told me they shipped it open transport and my shock was right. Honestly I just don't know what they were thinking going open transport. Yes Benz ships cars from the factory open transport but that is quite different from the dregs of society that drive and operate open transport companies.

More as we find out.

JimBarnhart

Jakpro,

First, what a bummer. I can't imagine.

How did you buy this vehicle? Was it a MB dealer to MB dealer transfer? Is the vehicle new and untitled or has it been titled before? I know answers to these questions don't really help you, but it might help others in watching for warning signs.

Jakpro1

So just back from a meeting with the GM and Sales Manager. So it looks like the truck was LOADED with higher priced cars. Some P cars and Bimmers on as well. The insurance company is having to deal with all of these losses and is tripping out they said.

Benz corporate came out today and discussed this as well.

They said that GL550s and 450s are RED HOT in Asia and "Export Theft" is the new "in" thing.

We all kicked around what we think happened and it really came down to 2 options.

1) Crime guys (Russian Mob etc) perhaps spotted the truck and let's just say it didn't end well for the driver. The guy was an 11 year driver and the company HAD full insurance and good references. Could a crime company go THIS far to setup a heist?? Seems like something happened to the driver in my opinion and they swiped his semi and my GL is on a real "slow boat to China"

2) The whole company was setup in wait of "the dream load" which he got a month ago.

Cop said there is always a 3rd option of the truck off the road in the mountains or desert. For those that don't live in the West, it's a whole other world in the boonies out here. See this story

They gave me their word that I would have an exact same truck with either same options or better so all is good.

Won't post much more until I hear an update on the truck which may be never.

fabbrisd1

So you are saying this was a "dealer trade" arranged by Ken Gaff - and KenGaff has told you your GL550 in Designo went stolen during transfer from NJ - am I correct ?

As a result - you are not out-of-pocket but have to "wait" for either another Designo GL550 to be arranged by "dealer trade" or for a new GL550 to be built to your spec - am I correct ?

If it was me - I would choose to upgrade to a GL63 for early January build - why hold yourself back now ?

wally AMG

Jakpro1

Sniff sniff....look, I even had a Mercedes Owner Online account.

Now I just look at it and stare.

Hope the guys that stole it burn in hell!!!

Axxlrod

What happened to the transport driver? What does he say?

doctorG

Wow this is a trippy story!!!

Should I be worried about my car when we finally get it? Will me or my wife be held up by the Chinese or Russian mafia in the mall parking lot?

mirroredimages

First of all, let me say that I'm sorry to read about your experience & I hope you're able to get a new set of luxury wheels quickly. Our new GL 550 is being transported this coming week from NJ & I was already concerned about this. Now, I'm gonna have nightmares everybody until the day it arrives in my driveway! What dealership did you buy from? Best of luck.