tery

My dealer is telling me that for Canada, it seems like all E-ABC will not be deliver until further notice. So the E-ABC turns into an advertisement option now. You go in pay your deposit buy the car couple of days later they tell you can’t have it. Oh we have couple other model on the lot you can pick one up right away. Good job MB that’s a great way to trick customer.

bob01

!! I hope that he's wrong.
Waiting for 2 - one w/ E-ABC ordered last year and a 350 ordered last month - will be interesting see which gets here (Richmond Hill) first.
Ordered several vehicles in the past - this has been the first real fumble, starting to get more than slightly inconvenient - hope it gets sorted soon.

Ron.s

Something very serious has happened with E-ABC, IMO. Remember the early orders were first scheduled to build in February, ahead of mine with Airmatic. We may never know but my guess is that Mercedes had to change suppliers. Another possibility is that a major component had to be redesigned. There are lots of possibilities but no Company wants this kind of bad customer relations and Mercedes least of all. I’m not a Mercedes fan boy, have never owned one before this one. On the other hand if I hadn’t changed my mind and changed to Airmatic, I would be very upset too.
Mercedes needs to step up the timeline and give a firm date for those waiting or give you an option to change to Airmatic and in either case offer a decent discount of at least $1000 for your trouble. I can understand why they need to be careful with disclosing the details for the delay....there is always an attorney waiting to file a lawsuit over stock prices and disclosures that affect the price.

subroc

How long does it take from "Production Complete" to the car showing up the dealer typically? My sales guy told me 2 weeks ago mine had the production complete tag assigned, but can't give me any updates other than it'll be here "soon."

Ron.s

Mine took 3 weeks, some closer to a VPC have been sooner. The toughest part of predicting is that the transportation timeline can vary.

subroc

If I'm in Texas, it should be pretty quick right?

Ron.s

One would think....it should go to Brunswick Georgia and then by truck or maybe by train.

venkyszone

My production date has been moved from May 3rd decade to June 3rd. And my SA said they don’t have VIN yet. By When would we be knowing the VIN number so that I can check on the internet...??

GregW / Oregon

The VIN is assigned when production technically starts, though mine was 44 days from then to complete. You cannot check status on the internet, unless you order in Germany, then I think it's only for German production.

venkyszone

Thanks for the info Greg. I saw they were a couple of websites online which showed the car config MBDECODER.com being one of them based on VIN. But that’s just vehicle information and not timeline of production.

tery

VIN means nothing, I had my since feb still B4 for couple months.

GregW / Oregon

Wow, that's pretty complete, 5 pages worth - even has the PO number! Hadn't seen that before. A few of the descriptions are slightly off, like has model year as 2019, and RWA wheels as "5-twin-spoke" style. Mine:

Skizz

I agree. My SA called today to say that my truck has actually been built, but its been pulled for "lack of parts" for final assembly, supposed to happen by June 5 when the "parts" are scheduled to be available. No VIN has been assigned as, according to SA, MBUSA doesn't want to answer too many questions. I dunno. VIN or no VIN, the whole thing stinks. Just completely bungled, and instead of taking steps to make it better, are continuously making it worse. Like I've said, why bother caring when they know they will sell every one they build.

GregW / Oregon

I find it hard to believe they would really start production until every part was on hand. They go down a line and the assembly process is fixed. Certainly can't build it without a transfer case, or E-ABC, then finish it. Even something like interior trim would be totally disruptive to come back and do later.

I think they assign a body shell that has been produced then gather parts until they are all on hand and run it down the line.

Skizz

Like I said, completely bungled, to the point of just making up excuses to string buyers along. My SA is a decent guy, so I don't think he's making it up. I think it is what some of the MBUSA people are actually telling their dealers to keep them in the dark too. I've been a long time MB client and proponent, but this is souring me on the brand. I get that stuff happens, and can live with it. Just give me some straight dope and let me decide if I want to keep the order or let it go. Well, actually, I guess they are letting me decide. I could go take a hike right now and it wouldn't register a blip on their radar. Love the feeling of wanting to plunk down almost $100k cash with a company that couldn't care less if I do or not.

tery

It’s very surprising to me the size of the company they can’t even build the car. I mean you cant just have one supplier right ? Like tires, you put different brands on to avoid recall or defect. I am sure they are experience enough to do that. This leads me to think some engineering problem with the system. Last min blue print change.

And I agree that someone top up don’t really give a damn right now. They think their customer is just stupid and they are bring money to MB.

Skizz

Maybe they are just trying to not put a faulty product out in the market, and they are taking the time and effort to get it right. I dunno. Like I said, I understand that things go wrong, especially with redesigns; its just the way they've handled it. I'm sure this isn't the first time this type of thing has happened for one of their roll outs (although not on the orders I've placed before), and eventually, it's in their rear view mirror. If they loose 100 customers, not a biggie in the grand scheme to them. For me, it's just on kind of a personal level as a business owner. I have a way I look at my clients and how I feel about their respect and loyalty. It drives my business decisions, forming my integrity and honesty. I'd never dream of behaving so foolhardy and arrogantly with my clients. It feels like the old ask forgiveness instead of permission logic. I hate that. It seems as MBUSA is thinking that they'll do whatever makes it easier on them and assume we'll love them anyway. My SA says that MBUSA has no plan to offer any kind of concession or incentive for anyone who hangs in there with them, to the customer or to the dealer to keep the customer from bolting. I know I'm an idiot, but I actually want to see someone at least act like they think my business and loyalty, and +/- $100k, is worth something.

I went to Rover and Porsche over the weekend. At least they kind of act like they want some business, especially when I told them why I was there again.

tinman831

Porsche has their own delays with the Cayenne right now. Good luck getting the Cayenne hybrid before the year is up. The other models are about two to three months out the last I checked for a custom order. I was originally told in April my order should be completed by July. I don’t have much hope for that ETA.

Skizz

Wouldn't do a hybrid, so not an issue. There are plenty of cayenne builds on lots now that I would likely not need to go custom route. Was told 6 to 8 weeks for a base or S custom build, and that they've been cranking them at that pace for a while now. I'm sure that doesn't include delivery. Rover is just rolling over to the 2020 MY with the new I6. Their new DOG is out and dealers will be taking orders for those within the next week or so, I'm told. They are generalizing a late July delivery, but with a new engine line up, who knows. Plenty of 2019 inventory available, and their packages aren't as screwy so, like with Cayenne, can probably take off dealer inventory, or at least a swap, which I'm told is doable.

DaveD9

Sometimes a business gets so big they can lose control. Not that this happened here but I can relate a story.

I had a major customer that manufactured a significant blood testing system. The manufacturing process was so complex for the perishable specimen carrier that when they bought the company from another they left the manufacturing plant in place and kept the employees. I discovered the repair of a very expensive part of this process was being subcontracted out. Following the money trail I learned that the repairs were being done in a residential home basement by a guy who was in jail every weekend. He was on work release at home M-F and calibrating this device at night with an ankle bracelet on! Not to mention he had over $3,000,000 of this companies equipment in his home.

So essentially $250,000,000 in annual sales came down to the responsibility of one guy on work release. I brought the information back to the directors and changes were made, heads did roll. Bottom line, they did not know. Could have been a diaster.

JoeMa

Many of you on this forum know I ordered a fully loaded GLE 450 the day after Greg. The MB sales manager I was working with emailed me today that it is still not built and when he called distribution they would not give him an ETA. And he has a buyer lined up. I'm so happy I jumped ship and bought the X7 (we love it). I would be going crazy by now. I've been tracking order-to-delivery timeframes for the X7 and some buyers are reporting getting theirs in 60 days!

GregW / Oregon

I’m glad you are happy with your move. I’m glad I stuck it out, but I may have had some divine intervention. For most of us here the X5 would be the comp, but I know you were coming from a GLS. Do you have kids?

jahummel

I am one of those who jumped ship recently. The wife really wanted the GLE but with supply issues, we decided to move on. I have had such a great experience with my Audi sedan and the service center nearest me that we bought a 2019 Q7, fully loaded that includes some features that our GLE order did not have. A dealer swap was required for one in port that had everything we wanted and we are picking it up today. We got the 3.0T, which is supercharged (last year for that) and the mileage is rated 21 combined, just like the GLE 450. Here is an exterior photo of our color and trim, though not our vehicle.

AustinV

I was also considering Q7 as it's such a great car but it's currently up to a mid-model refresh starting next year so I decided to rather go with GLE which is going to stay current for at least next 4 years. I hope you got a decent discount for it. As for me I am not going to get mine until September so at least you are enjoying a new car already!

jxl007

The production delay that we are experiencing with the GLE. Is this normal and expected for a custom build? This is my first time ordering a custom build GLE, or, a Mercedes, if you will so am just curious. I'm in no rush but at the same time, ordering end of April, and not expected to take delivery until September (if I'm lucky) is a rather long wait.