clarst

We ordered our GLC on July 25 and have been waiting (somewhat) patiently now for four months. It was at the port in Germany on 10/1, left on 10/17, and finally arrived at Long Beach on 11/20.

We have been in touch with our SA and he said it cleared Customs and was on its way to the dealership today.

We were beyond disappointed to find out the our loaded GLC was not built with the Sport Package and Night Package we had ordered--and it has little 18" wheels. It has everything else (P03 package, Burmester, HUD, Panorama Roof), but not having the appearance packages is really a bummer.

Has anyone else heard of such a thing? Should the dealer have known this before the car showed up? I can't imagine that info was not available earlier in the process and suspect that they just didn't examine/confirm the build until now. (I do think it was ordered correctly, but messed up on the factory side due perhaps to parts shortage.)

It is infuriating to wait four months to get a vehicle the way we wanted it, only to find out when it arrives that it is not what we ordered.

We could order it again, or try to at least get them to find 19" tires/wheels to put on it. I'm not sure if I can bear the thought of waiting another 3-4 months, but living with a car for perhaps 10 years that isn't what we wanted is unpalatable as well.

Aargghh.

LilFazzl

Sorry about that, that must be really frustrating. If the rest of the car is up to your likings, and you don't want to wait for a new one, then I think you should keep it.

The main thing the sports package adds are the 19" wheels. The minor design tweaks in the front/rear bumpers are extremely minor. I'd see if the dealer can give you a discount on the 19" wheels or if they can order them for you. Same with the night package. I've looked into wrapping the chrome trim on my car to look like the night package and it's around ~700 for the whole car and can look OEM.

HotRodW

After a 4-month wait, you have every reason to be upset. It's bad enough that it wasn't configured correctly, but MB and/or the dealership not informing you is completely unacceptable. If your situation doesn't require you to have take delivery immediately, I would demand that they make it right by finding or building what you ordered, or by offering you a cash discount large enough to live with something other than what you were expecting.

A few years ago I ordered a BMW that was missing a key feature that was listed on the build sheet. I was livid, but I decided to accept the car anyway (along with an insultingly small parts/service credit). I always regretted the decision. Not only did I enjoy the car less, but the relationship between myself and the dealership was permanently damaged, as was my opinion of BMW customer service. (The car living in the service department for one issue after another didn't help matters.) 2-1/2 years later on, I still cannot imagine a time when I would ever own another BMW.

My wife's GLC300 should be built and awaiting transport. We also ordered the Night Package, and I'm wondering if we could end up in the same situation. Our Sales Rep is already on shaky ground because of his ****-poor communication skills. If MB had to change our build and we weren't informed, it is quite possible we'll walk away from the deal altogether.

Sigp232

That's terrible clarst. I got the same exact packages like you did and my dealer informed me today car has been built and waiting for ship to be assigned to. Be in Long Beach beginning of January. Now you got me worried.
Dang I would probably walk away or see how long it will get them to order a new one the way you want it with a bigger discount. But another 4 months to wait that's hard.
Im pretty sure dealer new or must of got some kind of paperwork when car got built what was on the car before it left Germany. Bottom line if your not happy and at peace inside don't accept it.

URBassman

As I've posted elsewhere, MB seem to be a shadow of their former selves re general efficiency and customer relations. You could tough it out and refuse the car but would you be shooting yourself in the foot?. I feel your pain.

muhco3

be firm with the dealer and don't accept their lies , please don't play with the new car with retrofits even OEM at the "dealership" it is your right to have a vehicle customized to your liking .
Don't accept it and order another one or change the dealer this is my advise , because you will regret it later , at the beginning you might be excited to have a new car , then you will get bored quickly .

edofloat

Not saying the factory sometimes make a mistake, the chance the dealership made the mistake is about 99%+. Did they show you a build sheet and ask you to sign off?

Having ordered thousands of cars (in the past) I had only one problem with a sold order for a customer and it was my fault. Thankfully, I had forgotten to order different wheels, easy to correct, although expensive.

Does the dealer (or a different dealer) have another allocation the can change that is about to be built? I would get the car you want as you may be keeping it for a long time.

TestnDoc

Mistakes happen, and everybody makes them. I would order another vehicle, and get exactly what you want.

dejongj

Oh No I can't being to imagine the frustration it causes.

Only you will know whether you are happy with it, and what the alternative for the interim period for a new factory order will look like for you.

I'd find it hard to believe that the factory build it wrong, but that is easily checked as if it has the options listed but not put on then they were wrong. My money is on the order though, I suspect it is the car dealer. I'd double check the order for the build spec. The dealer absolutely should know the build. Mine confirmed it with me prior to the order, after the order was placed, and when it was on its way.

If you are looking to keep it a long time, I would make certain you get it how you wanted it.

Evan Chu

I think my 2017 GLC is on the exact same vessel as yours and I am still waiting my SA to inform me whether it has passed custom or not. Seems that they have passed and I can't wait to see my new GLC. Of course, hopeful it was configured correctly...I, too, waited for around 4 months.

But I am totally with you here. After 4-month wait and now a configuration you don't like is a total bummer. If you were somehow acceptable of the car, maybe you can talk them to cut the price a little?

yavor

Just make them build the right configuration and in the mean time drive the wrong one, just have a nice 4months loaner.

clarst

Thanks to all for your sympathy Still not sure how we will proceed. Not having the Sport and Night packages is disappointing, but perhaps we could live with it if the wheels/tires are larger.

When we went to the dealer and put down our deposit, we were shown the build that was submitted (I have a PDF). It did indeed have everything we wanted, so I do believe whatever change occurred happened later for some reason.

I do find it hard to believe, however, that those changes were not communicated (or available for the dealership to see) in some way prior to the car arriving in Long Beach. If we had known earlier, we could have placed an order for another car at that time, instead of having to deal with it four months down the road.

Evan Chu

@clarst, so did the dealership offer any discount or anything for you about this misconfiguration?

clarst

Not yet...we got a decent deal on the car already, so I doubt if they will want to budge much. They would be able to sell it pretty easily, as we all know it is a fairly hot car right now (although this is a premium/expensive build).

I'm thinking I could try to negotiate a good deal on the 19" tires/wheels, should we decide to go that way.

As it stands, we're awaiting word for when the car is at the dealership--then we are supposed to check it out and decide if we want to take delivery or reject it.

Evan Chu

if you don't mind me asking, how did you negotiate any deal for this brand new 2017 model? Because back when I ordered my GLC (like 4 months back), the reason why I was custom ordering it was because there is no vehicle with similar configurations available on the market.

And since there is no similar vehicle on the market, I couldn't ask multiple dealership to give me a quote on that to counter my dealership's offer.

So here is the estimates given by the dealership, if anyone has any idea on how can I negotiate a better deal? (maybe get a rack cross bar for free? I am so pathetic...lol)

GLC300W4 $41,150
799 designo Diamond White Metallic $1,515
115 Silk Beige MB-Tex
H07 Dark Brown Linden Wood Trim
P03 P03 Premium Package: 115V AC Power Outlet, SiriusXM® Radio with free $7,200
889 : KEYLESS-GO
877 : Ambient Lighting (3 Colors)
815 : COMAND DVD CD Single
640 : Active LED Headlamps
611 : Entrance Lamps in Doors
608 : Adaptive Highbeam Assist
536 : SiriusXM Satellite Radio
531 : COMAND w/Navigation and Voice Control
513 : Speed Limit Assist
502 : Navigation Map Updates included for 3-years
448 : Touchpad
300 : PRE-SAFE Brake with Pedestrian Recognition
30P : Storage Package
271 : PRE-SAFE PLUS
269 : Badging on Dashboard
268 : BAS PLUS with Cross-Traffic Assist
266 : DISTRONIC PLUS with Steering Assist
253 : PRE-SAFE Plus Rear-End Collision Protection
238 : Active Lane Keeping Assist
237 : Active Blind Spot Assist
233 : DISTRONIC PLUS (with PRE-SAFE® Brake)
23P : Driver Assistance Package
U80 : 115V AC Power Outlet
U71 : DVD Coding
U25 : Illuminated Door Sill Panels
P21 : Air Balance
R02 All Season Tires
R31 18" 5-Spoke Wheels
463 Head-Up Display $990
5P6 Control code - scheduling & production intro vehicles
51U Black Roof Liner
6P5 Factory Code
810 Burmester® Surround Sound System $850
873 Heated Front Seats $580
996 996 Advanced Parking Assistance Package: PARKTRONIC with Active $1,550
871 : HANDS-FREE ACCESS
501 : Surround View System
235 : PARKTRONIC (with Active Parking Assist)
P44 : Parking Package (RVC & Parktronic)
P17 : HANDS-FREE Comfort Package

SUBTOTAL $53,835
DESTINATION & DELIVERY $925
TOTAL $54,760

Sigp232

Also try to get a big discount on a extended warranty or service package since it's there fault for not communicating with you on how the built was done. If you decide to keep the car.

dejongj

you seen a really nice chap. As you say they sell easily and like hot cakes. Part of me can't help but think you didn't really get the car you ordered, I can't help but think that the dealer may have sold your nicer spec to someone willing to pay more if you had such a good deal.

clarst

That's an excellent suggestion, as we were considering both the extended warranty and the prepaid maintenance.

jdag

I really would hate to think that's possible, dejongj. But it would not shock me.

Anyhow, I personally would not accept the vehicle, at least without significant concessions. The Sport/Night packages are very visible changes to the stock GLC, and clarst ordered those packages for a reason. Considering the plan to keep the car for 10 years makes it all the more important to get what was ordered. If it were a 3 year lease, well, then it's not as big a deal.

On the positive/flip side (yes, I am justifying now), if you were to accept the vehicle, it would be ~$3,750 less based on MSRP. And, the 18" tires reportedly ride better than the 19" tires. So it is not all negative.

clarst

Thanks--I am pretty convinced this isn't the case, as they were very transparent and transmitted the VIN, completion date, shipping status, etc., along the way. I do think this is our car, just with the Sport Package and Night Package missing, as it does have the other options we wanted.

As background: the Los Angeles market is a big one for Mercedes and there are A LOT of dealerships within ~50 miles or so. I have monitored the local in-stock inventory pretty carefully online, and the vast majority of GLCs are equipped sparsely. (As a side note, I run/cycle 4-5 times a week, which takes me directly past our local dealership, so I have been able to monitor their stock, and the GLCs disappear from the lot quickly.) An SA I talked to told me the "sweet spot" for these cars is in the low- to mid-$40k range, which is not very well-equipped as the base US price is $39k. I was surprised at this, but he claimed most were leases as opposed to buying outright. My observation of inventory confirmed this, as virtually all of the GLCs that appeared were equipped similarly: $42-$46k.

The reason we ordered ours from the factory was because we just could not find one with the equipment we wanted (very few had Burmester and Driver's Assist/P03, and none with the combos we desired).

Our car was almost $56k--now $2500 less, because of the missing options--which is far more than (apparently) what most buyers are looking for. This surprises me.

Lots of options out there, although we do love the GLC. The Audi A4 Allroad is really nice, although it is more of a "wagon" than a crossover SUV. Lots of space and excellent performance and tech features.

fabbrisd1

So - you did not have a signed spec/order/PO sheet from the dealer on your build?

clarst

I don't see that it is "signed", but I do have a spec/order sheet. I had talked with the SA and he agreed to match the deal I brought to him. He then took one of their allocated cars and changed the configuration to match what I had emailed him.

We went in ~a week later to solidify the order with a deposit, and he presented the order sheet he had modified the week prior. It was correct, except with 20" wheels instead of the 19"s we wanted. We were told that it was too late to change, since this was an allocated car and close to production, but he and the GSM agreed we could swap out the 20's for 19's at the dealer level when the car arrived (for credit).

This was 25 July, and we were told that the build had been scheduled for September, but had been moved up to end of August--which was why the wheels could not be changed. Also, I believe pricing was still not set at that time, which is why the prices are not on the order.

I've attached the order we were given (with dealer info redacted).

Sigp232

Question to experienced members who have ordered...
Will the dealer get a final copy of what has been assembled/packages added on car before it ships out? My car was built last week waiting to be assigned to a ship to Long Beach. Emailed dealer hasn't replied yet. Have my built sheet when I ordered it 4 months ago but would like to get a final copy of what they put on when they assembled it. Not in the mood for a surprise like clarst got when it comes in. Any friendly replies would be welcomed.

clarst

Yes, I am interested in knowing as well. Did the dealer drop the ball because he should have known this config change earlier than when the car arrived in port?
If so, they are more culpable than they are admitting (so far), and should be more forthcoming with concessions to rectify the situation.

CheckStein

some are asking about pricing. we cannot give you a price because every region is different, but i can give you a method to obtain a honest average.

1) find a truecar avg for your area (truecar may not have your exact build, but that does not matter, etc)
2) from the truecar #'s (avg price paid and the $ off from MSRP), obtain a % # for that discount (MSRP is the avg + the discount as shown by truecar, etc)
3) you can then apply that % # as a discount for any build for your area. this would be a honest avg price to pay. below this # you are getting a great deal, above this # you are not getting such a good deal, etc.


as for getting a vehicle configured not as you ordered it, i would have dealer order another and just wait out the 4mo to get it, i would then ask dealer for maybe some free service or something for their goof, but i would not be asking for a price reduction unless within the next 4mo MB comes out with an incentive, because as already stated, people make mistakes.