sunfiresd

I went to a local dealer in South California and finally reached a deal on a GLC 300. I had to do factory order because they did not have in-stock with the options I want.

So in the day I put $1000 deposit for the factory order. The dealer did not give me any contract or agreement with the price information at the day. Now ten days passed. I still have not received any order confirmation from the salesman.

I sent several emails to the salesman and he never replied until I called his cellular phone. His explanation was that he is checking the factory to see if there is any ordered vehicle by dealers that he can work on to change the options to my desired ones. Last Friday I contacted him that if he could not provide the order confirmation from MB, I will cancel the order with this dealer. Then he told me that he had submitted the order to the system already and everything was ok. But still he did not send any confirmation paperwork to me.

The salesman promised to give me final confirmation today. I sent another email to him for reminding at noon. He replied that he is working with his manager to get my paperwork done. But now is 10:00pm I have not received anything from him.

So can folks tell me what process is for factory order? Would it be able to submit the purchase request to the MB system right away or I have to wait more than 10 days for the order paperwork with official confirmation and price information?

Is the salesman playing game with me?

Kaewen

i had my order built list from Germany with all the options i wanted before i signed the confirmation and paid my deposit

TJGLC300

Find another dealer. You should have a complete build sheet with pricing before it is submitted to the factory and before you put a deposite down. That was my experience.

What reputable dealer would ask for a deposit without giving you a contract telling you what the deposit was for?

GSOTXL

When I ordered my 2016 GLC, back in October 2015, the dealer input the order right in front of me (referencing a printout I made of my desired configuration from MBUSA's website)...didn't give me any build sheet or anything, though, but also did not ask for any kind of deposit.

mleun481

Go somewhere else. Until you meet with the F&I guy and sign the papers, the deal is not done so you can still get your deposit back. What "paperwork" is he working on?

I ordered mine at end of January and also gave $1,000 deposit. I got printout of the build sheet with purchase order #. My dealer did everything in front of me and showed me the expected production in last 10 days of March (MB calls it 3rd decade). He also showed the other vehicles on order and explained how to read the status of those orders.

dieseldoc

Go somewhere else. When I ordered my car, I was given print out of order with PO from Netstar. I had to sign it. I was given a build date and paid a deposit. It was all done by my Salesman.

rihallix

He should be able to send you:

1) a screenshot (it's a gray background) of the build screen showing the decade the car will be built

2) a scan of a typed or handwritten receipt clearly noting the deposit amount (it's always refundable - I backed out of a $500 deposit) what the deposit is for (a GLC) the date and the dealers name

VET11B

When I ordered my Z I didn't get an order sheet and the dealer pretty much didn't do squat. My mistake on that. When I called 45days later to inquire they then started scrambling to source a car stateside. It worked out but I wasn't too impressed. Any how...This time I got an updated order from my REP even though they're not building 18s yet. Has my name, a PO number, and estimated build decade, etc. Your guy should be able to shoot that over to you even if he's not computer savvy enough to do a screenshot, he can take a photo and text it to you.

SawyerB

I would go to the dealer in person and insist on paperwork like mentioned above or get your money back. You have lots of choices in California and deserve to be treated fairly. Building a new MB should be a wonderful and exciting experience. It sounds like your dealer is not able to order your GLC and is searching and trying to trade with another dealer to build the car you want and is having problems doing so since 10 days have past. Each dealer has a certain number of new builds they are allotted. For example I wanted a new build GLC43 and all of the builds were already allocated and my local dealer finally found one in about 3 days but had to trade with another dealer and do some computer - paperwork to get that new build in his dealership and in my name. All this happened a few weeks ago and new build starts in June. Also check the inventory at other dealers - if you're willing to have an option or 2 more or less you may find a GLC on the lot.

VET11B

I wonder how accurate MBUSA's inventory is on this. I occasionally log on to see if something appears that I'd be willing to compromise on so that I can get into a 17 sooner.

SawyerB

I found that by doing a google search like 2017 Mercedes Benz 2017 GLC AMG43 for sale you have some pop up or you can see a lot that are on sale at the car gurus web site. You can do advanced searches by color. etc. One of the local dealers in AZ just got a GLC43 in black with black leather, prem 3, advanced parking and 21 inch wheels. The 21 inch wheels really look amazing and make the car stand out even more if that's possible. It was very close to the build I wanted, but I ordered saddle interior and a few other things, but this one was so close that I almost decided to buy it, but am waiting on my build.

Chrisk03

This! Allocations are pretty much done at this point for MY17 and builds/orders have to be in by end of this week (Mar) from what I'm told. If a dealer doesn't have one in their system to change to your specs, they basically have to try and search out a dealer to "trade" with.

As stated, go in or call sales manager...quickly.

sunfiresd

Appreciate all you guys great inputs and suggestions.


So the build confirmation from MB factory should show my name, the PO #, and the decade of the car, right?


This means, if the dealer did not sign any contract with me, it would not be possible for them to submit a factory order to MB because there are no my information and PO#. Is my understanding right?


Thanks again!

Mr. J

They don't need a signed contract to submit a PO. They a just need an open allocation for their dealership. The PO shows how that allocation will be configured and will have all factory options summarized. The PO will also have an estimated production date.

Usually the PO is loaded and then once confirmed, the dealer should send it to you for review to confirm that the configuration matches what you intended. The PO can be modified up to until 1-3 weeks prior to production.

hifivoice

As nothing seems to be concrete, a deposit is ridiculous in my opinion. I didn't have to put money in a deposit for a fully customised car (in the Netherlands), delivery time is below 4 months (on Thursday, looking forward!). When signing the contract, I got a copy of the order detail report immediately(!), where my name, the name of the dealer, and full transparency on the configuration, and delivery dates. For a dealer, it should be accessible in the Cesar system of Daimler (you could specifically ask for that).

What could be the case is that the dealer tried to trade a factory slot with other dealers (which could create a benefit for you), and the car needs to be moved from dealer. You could ask for transparency on the process/flow he is following to come to a concrete order, and that you expect a pro-active contact point from him if he doesn't meet his own commitments to create clarity. He may be doing his utmost best for you, but it is certainly not transparent in that case.

sunfiresd

Thanks guys!


These are some updates after I drove to the dealer talking to the manager and the salesman.


1. They did not submit the PO to the factory. After I arrived and told them that I am cancelling the order. They apologized and said that they wanted my business. Then they entered the PO right away in the Netstar, and set it as priority 1.


2. They told me that the allocation for MY17 was done by the first week of March. And they arranged to get one allocation for me (I do not know how).


3. In the printout, there is an PO #. The estimate build decade is 2017/06/2D. I asked the salesman what the 2D means, he does not know. From the information obtained in this forum, I guess it is the second week of June.


4. In the vehicle information, there is "MY: 2018-1". Does this mean that my GLC 300 will be 2018 model?


5. My name is printed at the second page as customer name.


6. VPC: Los Angeles. There is a Baumuster #. I do not know what this is for.


7. No ETA, Ship Date, and VIN at this time.


8. They said that they will sign the contact with me once the vehicle arrives.


Once again, thanks to all for your help and advice!

rihallix

There are three decades in a month:
1-10th day
11th-20th day
21st - 31st day

like tge Romans used to have "beware the idea of march"

rihallix

Priority 1 means it has a customer associated with it I believe. Mine was priority 1. Takes precedence over unsold cars going to dealers.

they won't have an eta until its offloaded from a ship and about to be put on the truck to the dealership.

VPC - vehicle port of ??? (Arrival)

as mentioned my car was also priority 1. It was assigned to the first decade of January, it was built jan 16th and delivered march 8th.

the biggest factor affecting delivery time unknown to Mercedes or your dealer is how long your car will sit at the port awaiting getting put on a ship.

About 2 -4 weeks from your build date find out what ship it's on The dealer WILL know and then find out the vessels achedule. Add 2 weeks from the ships arrival date in LA for delivery to clear customs.

the one risk is that cars are put very close together on the ship and can get minor damage en route. They are then sent to the Vehicle Preparation Center (aha that's what VPC must mean) at the port to fix the damage. I had a BMW in VPC delayed 3 weeks but my GLC blew through.

sounds like you sobered the dealer up. Good luck! You'll love the GLC.

rihallix

And yes congrats - you got yourself a 2018!

sunfiresd

Thanks, rihallix.


Seems that July is the time to get the GLC. I wish I could get it earlier. :-)


Yes, VPC is Vehicle Processing Center (from the salesman.)

rihallix

I know - the dealer will only know the ship's name, you will probably need to Google and find out the ship's schedule for when it arrives at Los Angeles, Long Beach (where mine arrived) or Port Hueneme (where my BMW arrived 4 years ago).

There's a bunch of nice vessel tracking apps you can get for your smart phone - there's usually a 1-2 day lag from reported and actual positions.

fabbrisd1

There were certainly a good # of people here trying to help clarify for you.

My personal opinion - as you have a 2018 - you should be aware of two things:

1. The 2018's that will be built - including your's - will "stack up" a bit at the VPC here in the US for all dealers - until Mercedes announces the formal release of the 2018's. So - no one at this moment knows what the release date will be - it may be end-July - it may be 1st or 2nd week of Aug - what you do know is you will have one of the very 1st new/new 2018's

2. Formal pricing for the 2018's has not been released yet by Mercedes - don't sweat that too much - pricing will be "about the same - most dealers will not give you firm price commitment until "official" pricing has been announced - my best guess - mid May/early June

rihallix

My dealer - Mercedes of Rocklin - adhered to 2017 pricing even though I ordered in early December 2016 and took delivery in March 2017. There was a price increase applied in January. I asked for this in January and they honored my request.

Ducatisti

According to my dealer, only vehicles made after august 1st are MY18? He could be wrong, but has worked there 20+ years

fabbrisd1

Your dealer needs to get with it..