fabbrisd1

Long Island Ice tea had fortunate timing - end/June delivery works for MB, works for the dealer, and works for him.. and he is not in a position to wait for Sept/Oct for a 2014..

Someone asked if for 2014 models will have incentives - at the start of the new model year, I would expect none.

That said - at end of model year 2013 in July dealers inventory - dealers will be
self-motivated to clear any residual 2013 GL's before arrival of new 2014's end-Aug/beg-Sept.

This will not be a massive sell-off, and will not be the awesome discounts between end-model-year-2012 GL's/old-gen and new-gen-2013's - but a window on residual 2012's (if any) end-July/beg-August.

sam9187

If that's true then a 2014 GL63 will still be the same price since it will be start of a new model year. The only reason to wait may be better availability and possible new features but not the price.

fabbrisd1

Pirce may go up a hair, but days of "massive" 2nd yr price increases are long gone..

sam9187

I was referring to the purchase price and not the MSRP. I was trying to make a point that 2014 model year will probably not bring big discounts or deals on the GL63. Do you think there will be discounts on the 63 delivered in Sept?

cookstar

No significant discounts will be given for a GL63, if anyone is interested in getting discounts on AMG vehicles than go for a CL63, S63, S65 9 (up to 20 k). end of model current gen means big savings $$$.

fabbrisd1

If you get 1st adopter ownership at the beginning delivery of a new model year - you have 11-12 months of ownership before next new model year hits the market and more importantly you have 14-15 months of ownership before your market depreciation takes a full calendar year hit... and for resale/trade-in valuation you are in better position to have better value for 1st adopter ownership early ownership of subsequent model year...

Like the OP said - his ownership runs based on June - 3 months before next model year hits the floor, and 6 months until 1st calendar year hit..

AMG "discounts" of substance are best found in recent model pre-owned, and they do come up with low mileage based on area/national market - there someone else takes a $20K bath (current generation) and 2nd owner saves maybe $15K.. but understand it's rarer (but can happen) that a performance package version appears...

if anyone is interested in getting discounts on AMG vehicles than go for a CL63, S63, S65 9 (up to 20 k). end of model current gen means big savings $$$.

This comment is a real chuckle - "if anyone is interested in getting discounts on AMG vehicles than go for a CL63, S63, S65 9 (up to 20 k). end of model current gen means big savings $$$" - with the new gen S-Class coming out, the AMG version will be another universe of awesome, and over $20K, personally I wouldn't choose to shortchange to drive 2nd best - especially since that new gen will be in-place for a full 7 model years for my future value (facelift expected model yr 3/4) for new gen AMG I would choose to be 1st model year adopter and drive best-of-the-best with max future value for my next Mercedes down the road.

There are a lot of great pre-owned AMG's out there - and in S-Class after new gen gets on the street, those pre-owned will drop another big notch and become even more of a hard core value... like 3 yr old current gen about 50% of original retail - now that's a Big Bang for the buck especially with Mercedes CPO coverage if available.

Keep the beat !

Tomshop

I agree with fabbrisd. Buying an AMG on a last generation car is penny wise and pound foolish. The depreciation is massive and you are driving old technology. Every generation gets substantially better. From my perspective, it is best to be loyal to one dealer who will give you a reasonable discount and priority access to new cars.

sam9187

+1. I am in the market of a S class too but will never buy the current model. I will until the 2014 is announced and released next year. In my area loyalty = MSRP and I am not onboard with that.

cookstar

I dont buy an end of model year vehicles either, my point was simply that if your trying to save money that is the route to go, months ago they were offering 17k with no negotiating for a 2013 S550.

cookstar

your opinion now is completely different and quite laughable than when a customer walks in and talks to you, don't pretend like you don't use every trick in the book to push out the end of current gen vehicles to potential customers.

Tomshop

Those of us on this forum are generally passionate about cars. We aren't the average car customer. Many people would disagree with us and prefer to get a $20K discount off last year's body style than pay list for the latest and greatest. That is pushing E class pricing and depending on inventives lease cost may be close.

cookstar

Marketing Department would be proud

sam9187

I agree. I know many people who opted for a 2012 model year (not MB but other brands) because of savings. I am not one of them.

Hopefully this upcoming week brings us some news on the 63 allocation/build date.

GrnLantern

If only this worked with AMG's (esp. Black Series). The two I was loyal to either refused to help me, one of them, in favor of someone willing to pay $20k over MSRP, or jerked me around claiming they'd get an alloc, when later I found out that allocations were disbursed 2 months before they insisted they had one for me. I got my deposit back, but not before turning down other dealers who were willing to sell me their inbound car. Several of my friends who, almost exclusively, own AMG's also have discovered that MB dealers don't reward loyalty.

Thankfully, in my lengthy hunt for a Black Series, I did find a couple good/honest dealers. Hopefully they won't disappoint.

P.S. Would you mind PMing me the dealership you're loyal to? I'm always looking for referrals to dealers I can trust.

+1

The folks at MBUSA may be a bit swamped thanks to the Detroit Auto Show, but I'm hoping they'll get all the details posted (allocations, build dates for existing orders, and DOG's posted).

sam9187

Does anyone have any update on allocations / build date?
Is the 63 still scheduled for mid Feb production for the US?

South Ocean1

sam9187

My understanding is that only 32 GL63s have been allocated across the US for a March build. It doesn't sound like any of us on the board have been fortunate to receive an allocation so far.

That number sounds about right to me - if a little low for a month's allocation. That extrapolates out to about 350 to 400 GL63s per year in the U.S. That jives, but is a little low, with the comment in the C&D short take test of the Gl63 where they said 2% of the GLs would likely be GL63s. Figure MB is targeting at least 25,000 GLs sold in the U.S. per year, you get about 500 GL63s per year. My gut tells me that MB will be happy to build and sell more if there are more orders as MB probably makes the most profit on each GL63 sold relative to all other GLs. We just need to get through the initial shortage that comes with a successful new model launch.

Kind regards

sam9187

Thanks for the update. How did you find out the number allocated?
I wonder how MB decides on allocations. Fabbrisd1 thinks AMG PC will have the first dibs. There are 28 AMG PC in the US and based on that logic they all should get at least 1 of the initial 32 allocation. The dealer that I ordered mine from is an AMG PC but my SA did not say anything about them getting an allocation. I guess we wait for April or May. I guess if this continues we may be pushed into the 2014 model year.

South Ocean1

Sam9187:

Dealer simply looked into the MB system and could see those allocations. Dealer could even see (and was straight forward enough to note) that one had been allocated to a dealer in my home state that was not his dealership. So I am not sure why your dealer cannot/will not give you the same information. As to who gets what allocation, I would guess that it isn't a one for each AMG performance center approach. I imagine that the big guns like Fletcher Jones in Newport Beach will get allocated several at a time leaving fewer for the rest of us.

As an aside, I think that MB is handling this process very poorly. I think it would be simple enough for MB to look ahead, allocate the next 40 to 50 for each of April and May to dealers so that prospective customers like you and me can know when our order would be filled. We may not like what we ultimately get for timing, but providing that kind of certainty on timing is helpful by itself and, I think, good customer service. If the newly released Range Rover Supercharged had a seven seat option, I would be over to check it out now rather twist in the wind . . . but then there is no true seven seat competitor to the GL63 on the market right now so I will wait (less) patiently.

Keep us posted on what you hear. I will do the same.

Kind regards

MAD GL63

Curious how many GL63's MB will actually kick out this model year.

They sold 1,660 GL's in Canada last year (roughly 25,000 US with a record year), if you assume that number holds for this model year and 2% will be AMG's we shoud see 33 units in Canada. With the late release I suspect more like 20 in Canada?

Looks like my new SUV will be rare indeed!

My build date remains March 3rd.

fabbrisd1

You know the members of this forum are just so heart warming when some one like So Ocean brings factual information to the table - then the poo-poo-er's step in.

sam9187

I don't know what you are talking about or who this comment is geared towards. No one is trying to "poo-poo" anything. We are thankful to Southocean for posting factual information. We are not MB insiders and have to rely on our fellow forum members for updates. If all our SA were honest in providing factual information then things would be different. For example I called 2 dealerships today - park place and one in NJ - both AMG PCs. The SA at Park place said they have 5 allocations out of initial 32 and the one in NJ said they have 3. I dont have any way to verify this but seems excessive. You have the order system and can decide for yourself but it goes towards proving my point that we as prospective buyers cannot even rely on the MB dealerships for factual information. In the end we are all hoping to get the GL we want.

sam9187

Thank you for the update. The reason why the SA has not returned my call today is because they probably did not get an allocation and are upset. The good thing is that my $5000 non-refundable deposit has now become refundable since they cannot deliver the GL63 as promised. I agree that MB should assign at least April / May allocations so that prospective owners know. I will definitely post updates as soon as I find out more info.

Kind regards

South Ocean1

Just for the record, no offense taken here . . . As Sam9187 said well, I am happy to get insights from other Forum members to help fill in the blanks for those of us who are not MB insiders.

Sam, that was interesting info on Park Place and the NJ dealer. Did you say earlier that there were something like 10 orders lined up for Park Place when you were looking to place your order last year. They filled half if that was the case.

Mad GL63, you lucky dog. You may wind up with the first GL63 on the ground in Canada. You may have mentioned this in an earlier post, but what color combo are you going with?

sam9187

Thanks South Ocean 1. The funny thing about Park Place is the SA mentioned I will be number 8 if I paid them a deposit today with delivery sometime in June. I tried asking about the first 5 getting their build but did not get a clear answer. I am thinking of going to the dealership someday and see what the real story is. I am still in line at the east coast dealership - apparently I am number 1 as someone backed out. I am hoping for some better luck in April or May.

fabbrisd1

For US production orders accepted as of tonight - the #'s - 17 for March 3rd decade production, nothing posted for US in April, and so far 16 for 3rd decade April.. that's total 33 as of tonight....allocations are allocations, factory orders are factory orders, you can end up owning factory orders, you can't own allocations.. accepted factory orders can go up, but allocations are allocations.. some states have regulations stating deposits must be refundable..