Hey everyone!

(Sorry for the delayed post!)

So my wife and I took delivery of our shiny new 2017 GLC300 4Matic on ... Valentine's Day! Glistening in its gorgeous pearlescent "designo white," and fully optioned up to the gills (and stuffed with the opulent designo black interior), the whole event was a dream come true, the factory tour and delivery experience -- even dropping the car at port in Hamburg -- all of it, truly something we'll never forget... and something we can't wait to do again!

Some quick logistics tips and points for anyone thinking of doing this:

First, stop thinking, and just do it. There's ZERO reason not to. ZERO.

FRA --> Stuttgart travel is stupid simple: the high speed ICE train does the direct run in about 1hr20 mins or so, with only 1 brief stop en route. Stuttgart is final destination, so you can't get lost, either. Cost us about €130 for the 1-way journey, purchased on the spot, 10 mins before departure. Allow at least 30-45 mins from your gate to the train station at FRA; optimally at least 1 hour.

Stuttgart: the Steinberger Graf Zeppelin hotel -- Mercedes' first of two recommended places -- is fantastic in every way -- if a bit "business-y" -- except for the climate control in the rooms: no ACs -- fans only -- coupled with the painfully dry winter air meant that rooms became unbearably hot; fortunately, opening the windows (even though it was just about freezing outside) did the trick. Honestly, will next time try the other recommended hotel, which name eludes me at the moment....

Delivery Day:

Taxi to factory: taxi vouchers worked like a charm; we got to the center at 9am. As it turns out, even, though our hope was to arrive between 8am-830am, this was no problem at all....

Arrival at factory: quick check in at the front desk followed by an appetizer voucher -- meaning drinks and snacks -- while we browsed the genuinely decent gift store, and frantically worked to battle jet lag until our 10:30 factory tour...

Factory Tour: in two words? Mind blowing. Having experienced the Boeing factory tour two years ago, I already (thought I) had a vague notion of what a factory tour would -- could -- be like ... but this was at another level. We were so close to the assembly robots that we ducked to avoid welding sparks at one point. No joke. Our tour guide was fantastic, the entire thing lasted a bit over 1.5 hrs, and was absolutely unforgettable. It should be noted that there weren't a lot of people there that day; in fact, we were the only ones on the tour -- it was literally a private tour for us.

Post-tour lunch: €62 voucher went towards lunch which was unexpectedly incredible. Really, genuinely delicious -- and huge. We had the venison. Sadly, jet lag wreaked havoc with our appetites, as it's wont to do, but enjoyed it thoroughly, along with a delicious German beer, and of course, a requisite glass of champagne.

Best for last, getting our car: by this time, it was about 2pm, and at last it was time to get our car. A few last paperwork checks, and presently we were greeted by a gentleman who walked us into the delivery lot, an immaculately clean indoor hangar bay of sorts, with new vehicles awaiting their new owners, seemingly scattered about like so many matchbox cars. And it was then that we eyed our GLC at last -- glistening like a little jewel. We walked over, did a brief 15 minute inspection and overview of its various systems, were advised what to keep in the car when shipping it off -- and what we had to keep if we wanted them, e.g., the safety triangle -- and then we were bid farewell on our journey. Drove through the electronically opening double doors, and just like that, we were off!

Next morning, Mercedes Museum: words cannot explain. By far the most astonishing museum experience ever. A literal "walk through the evolution of transportation," beginning with "the horse" -- no joke -- you start at the top of the spectacularly designed building, and slowly spiral your way down its various levels -- five or so? -- all the while, enjoying photos and descriptions of other events in the world that correspond to the cars your seeing, meanwhile enjoying the subtle acoustics of period-relevant music and vehicle sounds. Breathtaking.

Stuttgart --> Hamburg: 6 hours, allow a 1 hour stop in charming little Würzburg and its "wine bridge," as we call it, having been there twice, and eat at the famous restaurant immediately adjacent to the bridge (where they sell the wine); then add another hour for the requisite, ubiquitous German road works ... so give yourself 8 hours (also allows time for bathroom / snack / leg stretching breaks). All in all, it's about a 500 mi drive (so roughly San Francisco - San Diego). We left the Mercedes museum around 2pm, lunched in Würzburg for an hour or so, arrived 10:30pm at our Hotel in Hamburg. For those with previous autobahn driving experience: the drive will not disappoint, obviously, with many derestricted zones to enjoy and stretch your new car's legs, but, compared to previous drives through Germany, I have to say, this was a relatively less straight bit of freeway, and, although topping out at 180 km/h (110mph) was plenty quick enough, I'm fairly certain straighter bits of road would have allowed a 10-20 km/h more without feeling overly strained.

Hamburg port delivery: easy 30 min drive (though our GLC's satnav got confused due to massive ongoing road construction, and we had to rely on Google) coupled with about 30 minutes meeting with two cool guys at BLG Logistics who helped us with the final shipping paperwork and performed a final check of our car. And then, a quick call to the taxi, and we were on our way, but not before being introduced via email to a contact who would provide us tracking info and delivery estimates.

And just like that, our Euro Delivery was over! And now we begin the painful wait, but at least we have dates: car shipped out the 25th on the Ruby Ace; arrives Long Beach the 28th of March; should be in our hands 2-4 weeks thereafter!

I cannot reiterate the awesome factor of this whole experience; indeed, my wife and I cannot understand why anybody would NOT do Euro Delivery for their car. Remember, it works with leases, too!

Absolutely phenomenal experience. Already looking fwd to doing it again in about 2.5 years....

 

We loved our ED as well, I actually picked up our car yesterday. We dropped it off in Paris on Feb 2, it was at Maryland port 25th. It was in NY march 3rd. This is an unusually quick turn around time - but it is possible

I feel that ED is the best way to get a car and like you, cannot wait until next time

There's only one downside, and this is probably unique to my situation, was with registering the car. Since I went through a dealer in CA, the NY dealer didn't want to help with the registration process "they just got the car, not the paperwork", so I had to do everything on my own - took me a whole day of running around.

 

Sounds like a great experience, would love to have done this too, but not offered here in Australia. I guess they shipped your GLC from Bremen to Stuttgart prior to pickup though? Hope someone didn't drive it

 

How does it work out cost wise for euro delivery?

 

Chops about 7% off the MSRP of the car, or in this case, around $4300 or so.

 

I got another 2% on top of that, I heard that you can get another 1% off if you Push hard enough. The destination fee is also waived ($1000) which is around 2% off.

 

Nice!

 

Congrats on the GLC. Thanks for the info on the train from FRA to Stuttgart, as well. That's probably exactly what I'll be doing as directs to FRA are more frequent where I am.

 

One word of advice about the train - if you have large luggage, don't leave it unattended. I reserved seats in advance (saved a few $ this way). Our seats were at the end of the cart - so there was space behind our seat to keep the luggage.

 

....annnnnd.......... still waiting for our boat to arrive. :P Original ETA was the 28th of March, now we're told 7th of April, + another 10 days until we get our car in our hands. *sigh* She's in port in Guatemala now. Originally, we thought just 1 stop -- Newark -- before Long Beach. Instead, however, we've stopped in:

Newark
Baltimore
Brunswick
(brief anchor outside Panama)
Costa Rica
Guatemala

I can't see any other major ports between Guatemala and Long Beach, though I'd assume a stop somewhere in Mexico...

So figuring 1-2 days per stop, and about 3-4 days to Long Beach from Guatemala, I'm estimating an ETA of April 6th - April 8th.

Thoughts, anybody?

 

ok I'll enter the fray. http://www.wls-usa.com/digital/pdf/en.schedule.pdf has your ship and mine. as rihallix has said there are ship tracking apps and no clue what "cut off" date is on above url

 

Just be aware those ship tracking apps can laaaag. Watch for the date of the update.

Does the ship have a schedule published online for the voyage? They need to adhere fairly close to this or the shipping line can lose money.

Mine was in port on a Monday and ready for delivery the following week on the Wednesday in Rocklin near Sacramanto. Dealers should be able to turn around a car once it arrives at the dealership in 24 hours.

 

"Cut off" just means the the last day/time cargo can be loaded prior to departure.

"ETD" means Estimated Departure day/time

Yes, I know the apps lag -- some way more than others. In this case though, we are indeed seeing it onward to Long Beach, but ETA is now the 9th (had been 7th; had originally been the 28th of March)..... so to your point, yeah, this seems super delayed......

That said, good to know that it only took you 3 days to get your car from port-in to your hands!

 

You need to chill a bit - lot's of life to enjoy - the real trime shipping apps update based on 10min beacons - shown in the app detail.

if you're going to be to focused about this - you could always buy a drone !

 

Agree completely. Unfortunately for us, we're pressed against a hard deadline -- we NEED that car by the 18th; thought our original 2-3 week margin for error would have been sufficient.

If we don't get it by then, we'll need to rent a car; that's why I'm not as chill as you -- and I! -- would like to be.

 

Annnnnnnd......... our car (finally!) made it to Long Beach Now we just keep our fingers crossed and hope shipment up to the Bay Area is fast (like, before the weekend!)

 

And....... still no sign of movement from port..... I do see some signatures on customs forms, but that's about it....

 

OK so I just got an update. It was indeed released from customs on the 10th. Yay! The bad news, however, I've now been told it goes to VPC -- Vehicle Processing Center -- to be checked for any damage, etc, and this takes 10-20 DAYS!!!! ... I really hope this is just a super-conservative estimate. Last year we had a new Volvo XC90 built/shipped from Sweden (eventually lemon'd), and that only took a day or two between arrival in port and shipment to our dealer.... anybody else have any experience here? I know rihallix says it took him 9 days... anybody else with some data points here in California?

 

No scenic picturesCongrats on the car

 

Good point Pictures coming soon......

 

Mine made it thru customs and VPC in two days.

 

^^^^^^ woohoo!! Well that's certainly inspiring And how many days until you had the car in your hands?

 

One week

 

Hah, ok then. Well if it got into port on the 9th, I suppose it's POSSIBLE we could have it by the 17th still

 

For California (not sure where you are) expect delivery about 10 days after the car is offloaded from the ship, unless there's damage from shipping. Those cars are parked very close together on a ship riding rough seas.

cars can go quickly through VPC if undamaged, then they need to await a truck going the direction of your dealership.

had a BMW with European delivery that was delayed 3 weeks in VPC.