We nabbed a 1st decade of June build date for our 43. How long do these cars take to deliver, and what build dates did you guys secure?

 

If you have your order slot confirmed - then your dealer should have already given you their "estimate" for delivery date.

If you want 3rd party "delivery estimate" - there are two things...

1. 1st Decade June Build by June 10th - assuming prompt loading will be at East Coast US Port in 3 weeks - West Coast Port about 4 weeks. So you know there is currently a 4-7 day backlog at Port that would move that back

2. Production will be held at the VPC for your region - stacking up a bit pending formal "US Release" of the 2018 model yr - once 2018's are "released" they will be shipped from out from the VPC's to the dealers.

The 2018 GLC release date has yet to be announced - with short 2017 GLC inventory in the US - release date "could be" as early as mid-July - or "probably" end-July/1st-August.

Does that match what your dealer told you ?

 

So there is a release date that would prevent the cars from leaving the VPC? That kind of sucks. Also, since you're a salesman, let me as: has Mercedes ever overwritten an order to include VPC options? My salesman told me that MB added on VPC options to meet a quota. Any truth?

 

I ordered a 2018 GLC300 4matic in early April. It was scheduled for production the 1st decade of June. I called today and they reported that it is in production, status B3, estimated completion date June 9. He said the status will change to B4 and then B5 (completed) over the next few days, after which time the shipping information should appear.

When I ordered, they said the "official" launch is in August but customer-ordered cars are typically shipped immediately. He said not to be surprised if it arrives in early July. Apparently they sometimes hold cars for nationwide launch if they're a new model, but since the GLC is a carryover he said they will most likely release it from the VPC to the dealer without delay. We shall see.

 

Great to hear. I have a second decade June build on a 2018 coupe and have been quoted a late July delivery. Would love it if that moves up a bit.

 

Car may make it to VPC but may be held at VPC until model year release so cars may not get to dealer until August.

 

My build date is end of August and delivery early October. Long wait.

 

Mercedes Production Order Changes - As printed on the build-spec sheet - Mercedes reserves the right to change specifications and prices without notice. On a new/new model MB production "might" ship that has new/new without a ordered feature because that feature is not available - and production "can" change package/bundled options ongoing as a change from that package when it was shown at time original order was placed - but I have never seen Mercedes production "add VPC options" and "quota" is bullsh*t. Most likely you dealer might have forgotten to do the full order change work for your build - that can happen. If you want to "push" the issue - have them print out the VII order history on this PO for your MB.
In addition to the "added" VPC options - there will be a $250 VPC charge that will not show on the spec sheet.

Bullsh*t #1 " has Mercedes ever overwritten an order to include VPC options? My salesman told me that MB added on VPC options to meet a quota."

2018 Models - ALL new 2018 models are held at VPC until National Launch Date - and dealers don't know launch date until they see new models released from VPC in the system - Mercedes sometimes will email dealers that day of release - most of the time Mercedes does not email notification - the sh*t just shows up rolling. 2018 CLA's and GLA's just starting showing up last 10 days - "released"- and frankly none of the dealers heard anything from MB

The Bullsh*t - "the "official" launch is in August but customer-ordered cars are typically shipped immediately. He said not to be surprised if it arrives in early July. Apparently they sometimes hold cars for nationwide launch if they're a new model, but since the GLC is a carryover he said they will most likely release it from the VPC to the dealer without delay."

 

Had an early August build for two 350e's with everything except memory.. Rescheduled to late october because of Night Package. Not possible to order NP with Titanium 20" multispoke wheels either..

Should've bought E-classes instead..

 

Question.....I ordered my MY17 GLC 300 4Matic on 3/29/17 and it showed a 1st Decade of June build. As a note, MY18 orders were just being allocated and accepted at the time I ordered my '17. I got a copy of the MB PO and build specs when it was ordered and it showed MY17.
Yesterday I got the VIN from my dealer and when I gave it to my insurance agent to confirm the coverage I would want when it is delivered, she said "so that's a 2018 MB GLC300?"
After reading some explanation of VIN numbers, it seems my VIN is associated with a MY18. The 10th digit of a 2017 model is H. Mine is a J which indicates MY18.
Sooo, will the 2017 GLC I ordered actually come in as a 2018?
As long as they honor my pricing, I'll be tickled to death with my 2018 GLC300!!
Of course, that begs the question, since my car is in the MB system as a MY17 "SOLD" order, will it be released to me or held as Dieseldoc suggest above?

 

A car ordered on March 29 is a 2018 model. You may have wondered why your car's production would be delayed until June instead of being built in April. That's why.

The dealer would have known all of this. It should have been listed on the order confirmation when they sent it.

 

Thanks for the reply, mtberman, but my order LOOKED like a MY17 build when submitted. In fact, my dealer had actually gotten an allocation for a MY18 build but couldn't guarantee pricing as it hadn't been released yet. He even gave me the MY18 DOG and the pkgs offered are different...actually a little more flexible. But the MY17 build worked better for me so he swapped his MY18 slot for a MY17 build from another dealer.
My order is priced and shows MY17 pricing plus I'm getting P3 and it's shown correctly and not even being offered as such in MY18.
BTW, and I'm not crazy about this, but the VIN also indicates my GLC is being built in the Valmet Finland plant. So it's being built by a contractor for MB, but they have a long history of doing quality work (in fact they used to build Saab's).

 

Sounds like the usual dealer misinformation problems. Ugh.

The order system was already closed for 2017 orders on March 29. Your dealer would have known this, too. Perhaps they thought they could order a 2018 and then do a dealer trade for a similar 2017.

Also, when you place an order, as long as cars similar to yours are in production and not already sold out or delayed (like for a late- or delayed-availability part), the assigned build date is going to be within 30-45 days. The fact that you got a June build on March 29 should have been a red flag to the dealer. They could not have missed that, either. If your VIN is HVxxxxxx then you did in fact get a 2017.

I'm not sure if/when Valmet switched over to 2018 production but the VIN will def tell you. The last 8 characters of the VIN will be JVxxxxxx for a 2018 Valmet car and JFxxxxxx for 2018 Bremen car.

 

Yeah, I don't know what happened, but as I mentioned above, my VIN IS a 2018 build. It's JVxxxxxx. So I'll take it as long as they built per the order and honor the '17 pricing, unless of course it somehow comes in cheaper! I'm going to check with the dealer maybe Monday to get them to pull up the order and see if it's optioned correctly.
One reason I wanted to order a '17 was they said the Active LED pkg was on BO until Sept or something for the '18's and I didn't want to wait that long.

Anybody have any knowledge of the build quality coming out of the Valmet plant?
All the parts are MB OEM I guess, so they're just assembling it. I'm assuming it will be fine.

 

Cars made at Valmet are no different than BREMEN cars. same exact quality. My dealer has several. No difference.

 

Thanks for that ���� On Valmet, Dieseldoc. I've read lots of your posts and value what you say!
I can't wait to see how they built it given the '17 and '18 DOG's (Dealer Order Guides) are considerably different in the way they offered options. I'll be happy as long as I get everything I wanted on it.
My dealer told me last time I was in there a customers car had just come in and they "forgot" to put the Nav in. No kidding. Said he had to reorder it! Bummer!

 

The ???? above was supposed to be a thumbs up. Guess it came out different when posted.

 

Dealer just emailed my VIN. I'm getting a Valmet car, too.

 

You are welcome. Your dealer can print out a build sheet out of Netstar on your car so you know exactly what you are getting.

 

looking at the 16 vs 17 vs 18, it seems like they totally changed packages for the 17 and now the 18 they are totally changing again - and the 18 packages seems closer to the 16 packages. Odd

 

​​​​​​i have a 2017 valmet which was built shortly after they started making them. I'm hoping some extra quality checks from startup were still in place when mine went through

 

I'm hoping for the same. Valmet has a lot riding on this and maybe they will have the quality control turned all the way up. In any case, now you can tell everyone that your car was Made in Uusikaupunki

 

True! But Bremen sure is easier to say AND spell!
If anyone gets shipping info on their June build car from Valmet maybe you could post it up here and that will give us a line on our June build cars. I know we can get it from our dealer when it's available, but some dealers seem to be more willing to share info than others. Just sayin'!!
Mtberman, my VPC is Baltimore too. I think I saw where you mentioned that was your VPC.

 

If your car is on the Meridian ACE (as my EDP car is), it just left the dock in Bremerhaven.

Note, it is not scheduled to stop in Baltimore, but it will be stopping in Newark (NJ I assume but the schedule only lists port names) on June 27th, Jacksonville (NC I assume) on June 29th, and Brunswick (GA, again this is an assumption) on June 30th. Then onto the Panama Canal and after a couple more ports, finally Long Beach on July 17th.

Here are a couple of photos to provide some small comfort if you are, as I am, getting a little (or a lot) impatient waiting.



Meridian ACE at the dock in Bremerhaven on June 16th.



The Meridian ACE leaving the dock a few minutes ago.

 

Great post, TedJane! I know you're happy your baby's on its way. Us new owners with GLC's coming out of the Valmet plant in Finland are waiting for shipping info on them too!