doctorG

Alright guys. . .I know this is really a first world problem, but my wife and I ordered a GL350 6 months ago.

It has designo leather and most other options, so we've been told that the designo leather is what has caused the delay.

We had found one 6 months ago (with designo, etc) in another state, but they refused to trade for it.

Well, a colleague of mine just walked in and purchased one (that had to be traded from another dealership, albeit without designo) no questions asked. . .

Should I be annoyed, even angry or just continue to wait? ? ?

Thanks! Let cooler heads prevail!

cookstar

I hope your talking about a 2014 Model, if not than I would cancel the order right away.

doctorG

Yes, it is supposed to be a 2014 model.

blittle

I would be each of those things…..but, if you have to have designo, then I guess you have no choice but to wait! You have waited far longer than I would…… I would have ditched the designo long before now. My car took the standard 3 months…..to have missed out on having the use of this great vehicle for an additional 3 months and having to have put an additional 3 months of miles on the trade car ( I do 20K a year )….would not have been worth the different look and feel of the leather.

doctorG

I agree with you. They now want to give me $1000 less on the trade in....

Any other advice on ways or points to haggle on??? (ie, freebies, etc??)

JimBarnhart

Before doing anything I would see if Fabbrisd1 can give you any insight. He's a contributor with information from Vance, perhaps he can see you care in the queue.

sraza

whats the ETA per dealer? they can check the system for status.. designo will delay things quite a bit- i'm not a fan of designo and so didt get it..
if its a manufacturing delay im not sure what other freebies/deals you can get.. though if you are trading an other car in- they can honor the trade deal when the order was placed- at least my dealer did- this is not the dealers fault- a delay from the factory is something they cant do anything about unless theres a non pre sold car coming out that they can scoop from the factory and add missing options- though designo is an option which really seems to delay things- remember its not just the seats- the dash and other trim also gets that leather on it and that can delay it..
good luck!

fabbrisd1

I am not a "expert" by any means - but the fact is going into Fall GL350 and Fall GL550 production availability was even tighter than experienced dealers anticipated - meaning production #'s for Oct/Nov/Dec have been so miserly no dealer received production allocation anywhere close to what they reasonably expected their #'s to be - even as compared to last year.

In some part on particular builds it can be the case of specific options - but in larger picture GL350's/GL550's on the production side total #'s were "less" than past year.

Yes - I have seen legitimate customer orders from July - which experienced dealers "reasonably" expected factory to "pick up" that open order for Oct-Nov-Dec production - which have become 1st/2nd decade January production slots.

That said - at this moment for production orders confirmed for November - production on specifc vehicles can be running 10 days to 2 weeks ahead of decade - "boom" all of a sudden a 2nd decade or early 3rd decade Nov GL350/GL550 some have been finished ahead of schedule - and all remainder have been per schedule - no slippage later.

On 3rd decade Oct production orders - some ran into small snag end-Oct where the GL's were completed, in some cases a few days ahead of schedule - but vehicles were held and not released until beginning Nov 3/4 - my guess Mercedes Oct SUV billings to dealers were on or above their corporate - and where last year 3rd decade last-few-days were released/shipped in Oct - this year held back billing/release billing until calendar November 3rd/4th.

Frankly - this year on GL350/GL550 customers have on their side become even more color/interior/spec specific - as a result at this moment there are "some" inventory units around each region - those are not "bad" config's - actually many are good-to-great config's - but not "exactly" what a specific customer may want for their purchase.

Yes - each week approaching Holiday, and ultimately New Year where ALL vehciles other than 2014's birthday another year older - trade-in value will erode, especially since it takes 2-3 weeks for a dealer to process-in/inspect/condition a trade-in for retail sale.

At this time of year - trade-in's can even run by the nature of the season/New-Year lower than book today - because a dealer has to plan saleability 60 days out.

A $5K sedan trade-in will go down $500 - call that 10% - a higher value $20K trade-in may go down $1000 which is 5% - a $50K trade-in that goes down $1000 is 2%. The depreciation hit of $1000 has to be compared to the value level of the trade before making judgement of the dealers proposal -

doctorG

The trade in was supposed to be $10k and they came back at $8.5k. I got them up to $9k, but it still stings. Not a huge deal in the grand scheme of things, but annoying nonetheless.

Anyway, based on your response it sounds like waiting 5 months is not out of the ordinary, right?

I'm just excited we will hopefully have it soon. The salesman showed me the production screen and it shows it is completed, but that it still hasn't "shipped", so no Dealer ETA. I wish there was a way I could access that system and keep tabs on it. Oh well . . . .

blittle

You are getting close by the sound of things and based upon previous experience……hang in there!

a330captain

Made a change to the 350 this morning and it was green,. Dealer called around 7pm and said car is now yellow. He said move up from from 3rd decade in Jan to 1st. That would be like 2 weeks Right?. All we changed is Polar White to Black.

Car has been on order for 2 weeks

fabbrisd1

Vance "lockdown" going into January is a bit father out than "slower" season...

1st decade January means production Jan 1 thru Jan 10 - however note there is a Holiday there.. on the other hand... if there is a corp "push" to maximize calendar year end #'s.. "some" 1st decade vehicles "might" be completed late-late December - but again trucking Holiday...

a330captain

Sorry Don't understand

Vance "lockdown" going into January is a bit father out than "slower" season...

doctorG

I must admit, I am very confused by all this terminology, etc. I'm not sure why it would that difficult to know what your approximate order to delivery time would be.

You'd be luck to get your car that quickly (ie under 2.5 months). Why it has taken our car over 5 months is beyond me (designo or not). . .

When was model year 2014 released? That is what bothers me a bit also is that we are getting closer to model year 2015's with every month we have to wait.

dj128

Correct me if I'm wrong, but I think wait times depend on what options you select (e.g. panoramic roof, designo leather). I heard some options have a longer wait time. Not sure why. I ordered mine Labor Day weekend and am picking it up tomorrow (2 months), but no pano roof (because of the lack of a shade back there, but I hear there's a cover for it now), and no designo leather (young kids). Thoughts?

doctorG

It makes sense to a certain degree. While we ordered designo (with small kids--porcelain at that!! Crazy, I know) and the pano roof, should it really take 5-6 months?? Seems like way to long. . . .

lower14

This is what my wife and I just found out. In the end for us, it was the $160 Anthracite Poplar Wood trim (on a steel gray/gray GL350) that the dealer couldn't find anywhere. There were lots of 350s that were really close to what we wanted in terms of colors and options, but for that kind of money, we decided to wait and get precisely what we wanted.

Placed the order a few days before this was posted - really hoping we get ours before six months. Wow.

Walidtik

The MB tex works really well when u have kids. I have grey interior and that works well.

doctorG

But the designo is so freakin nice. I saw a Bentley with a very similar interior. Absolutely stunning. My wife keeps telling me...It's leather so you can just clean it. ??? I'll let you know if I regret this statement in about 6 months. :-)

Flyingman

I had a similar frustration with my order placed back in March or so. It was suposed to be a 2013 but that got cancelled and became a 2014, but with a later delivery date. I finally got mine in August, almost 5 months.

Was it worth the wait? Yes.

But I was prepared to wait for it so wasn't dissappointed.

Hang in there and just drool over everyone elses for a while!

paomien

Just placed an order for a 14 350BTC last week ... with designo porcelain, pano roof, among some other goodies ... was told early February build; is this going to be pushed back?

jbattan

I've got you all beat. My GL550 was ordered in March 2013 and didn't show up until two weeks ago, December 2013. It had most every option including Designo. Well worth it, I must say, but waiting wasn't easy.

cookstar

Is it a 2014 model or 2013? if its 2013 I would say you got ripped off big time. the 2014's have been out for over 3 months.

asb123

hmm, we will be ordering a truck in 2-3 weeks. Thinking about pano roof and designo. Hoping the truck arrives before may

jbattan

It's a 2014 of course. At least I got free heated/cooled cupholders!