After chasing for an update, finally received a callback from MBUSA today. I was told vehicle delivery date pushed back to MAY! Called dealer immediately afterwards requesting deposit refund. Best of luck to all.

 

Rookies.........Good things come to those who wait.

 

I thought I seen a post that a member got notification that his GLE was delivered to the dealer today (to his surprise, also confusion) and he was going to pick it up tomorrow. I couldn't find the post again though. I doubt many people would wait that much longer either. I have to assume mine will be built when they say it will. If it is not available to be shipped like yours and they know of this now, it would make many change brands.

I have heard about the 48 volt battery problems, but no longer hear about them. I heard about the seat belt issue several times, but not many posts now either. I seen here that the seat belt fix was to basically wire tie the middle belt to another belt to prevent it from sliding into the seat. I can't imagine this would hold up a car from shipping for almost 5 months.

I feel bad your time was wasted. What are you going to be looking for now?

 

Multi Contour Seats are still a big problem. My GLE 53 took two months after the build waiting for something...the pile of bolts/etc in the center console looked to indicate a battery. They must have used new parts. My rear seats are perfect but both fronts will need to be replaced. The seats are bad enough that Mercedes had to know but probably decided to “kick the problem down the road” and get my car delivered. Since it’s cosmetic from a poor sewing job, I’m OK with getting new seats some day while I put wear on the old ones. Happy to have the car after a 6 month wait.

 

I thought seatbelt issued had been resolved as well. Poor / lack of communication and the fact nobody (dealer or MBUSA) can give us a straight answer is alarming. Shopping for a BMW X5 M.

 

I bet you can find one faster but it stays in the service center more. I’d do what I can to hold out.
Good luck.

 

Wow this is super-scary. My 53 is supposed to be build 1st decade of Feb. I want to call MBUSA to check, how do I do that? Do you have their number/extension? Where in USA are you? Is it a regional issue?

 

Unfortunately, MBUSA was no help and would refer us back to the dealership. The dealership would inform us it was out of their hands and point the finger at MBUSA. After +3 months of waiting and no definitive answers / moving dates, thought best it was time to move on. I hope you have better luck than I did.

 

The dealers themselves can only get limited, if any, info from MBUSA. They cannot call Vance (or any other factory). They can call distribution but can in no way influence production dates. Or even get information other than "this is the schedule."

 

Got some bad news today. Because all of the GLEs have to go back to the factory to be fixed, the GLE is delayed even longer to the point that distribution is not giving my dealership a time frame of when it'll be here. They told me it could take about 30 days, maybe sooner maybe longer, but at this point I will end up with the Rona vaccine before my GLE arrives.

 

Does anyone think this indicates a potential recall on vehicles already delivered?

 

Do they know what’s involved? A load at my Dealer(including mine) has the lower trim between the front and rear wheels misaligned. My theory is that it was not available at production or was left off for the 48 volt battery install. Do you have a 350 or 450, running boards? I had a pile of body bolts in my center console that probably weren’t used if the trim was not installed on the line. They also left the passenger wheel trim loose at the bottom or broke the tabs. So much for the Flagship AMG production line. My 450 body had perfect fit & finish.
Maybe it’s time for the plant to shut down for 2 weeks so that parts and quality control can return. Anything done after leaving the production line can be more problematic with less QC. The cost, resources, Dealer disruption and customers pi$$ed need more consideration. It’s bad enough that you wait, get dates reset only to find that it’s back to the Dealer for stupid mistakes when you finally take delivery. Spring 2019 all over again Mercedes. My wife keeps reminding me that I could have been driving a trouble free Audi SQ 8 three months sooner. Trouble free maybe not...

 

Is this from experience?
As of now I haven’t been told of any delays on mine. But I haven’t checked on it since last week. If it has to go back.......I may lose my........!

 

There are some issues and delays noted on the Audi Forum but maybe not as bad or ongoing as those with Mercedes. My wife’s SQ 5 was ordered as a new Gen. build at a new factory in Mexico. It came wrapped in protective film on an enclosed truck and was/still is about perfect. In 3.5 years it needed a new thermostat (bumper & radiator removed) and a window seal was tight that was replaced. She likes to tease me... I had her car in for service recently and was told that they also have long delays-ongoing.

 

I have a 350, AMG/Night packages, no running boards. I agree, they should put their top priorities into fixing the GLEs that are already built and get them shipped out and then close the factory to get parts and QC in line. I have a feeling once mine actually makes it to the dealership I will probably have to have them fix some stuff on it.

I'm almost at that point, but for some reason it helps when I have Autotrader open exploring my other options.

 

The SQ7 dealer has actually become a good friend.
Ive got an email into my dealer asking about delivery this week. I shall see.
Good luck everyone!

 

Chip shortage... https://www.wsj.com/articles/ford-ot...ge-11610280001 MB not mentioned but who knows.

 

Here’s a link if you want to look over the Audi Q8 forum. https://www.audiworld.com/forums/audi-q8-227/

When I looked at the SQ8 they were very nice looking and 500hp. The low step in, ergonomics and the throttle response wasn’t to my liking. I didn’t get into the Tech much. As I recall, there is no match for EQ Boost or the electric Turbo and the price for my build was about $15k+ higher. I really like the linear throttle on the Mercedes.

 

My build/wants has come pretty close to the 580 price and I’ve found a few on the ground very similar to what I want. I think the 8 is gorgeous but the 7 is more practical. It’s just hard to switch manufacturers after the horrible time I had with BMW. I’m this close and I’m really trying to wait till the car gets here to test drive it again. I’ll also test drive the 7 the same day too. Eventually I will have to cut my losses though.
Plus that Audi forum is not as helpful as this one.

 

I wouldn’t switch either but Audi builds a very nice car. IMO, the Audi is more of a “drivers” car than Merc with most Porsche drive train features available. Even a non Air SQ5 has vehicle leveling in corners and uses braking for Torque vectoring. All wheel steer is now standard or an option on most SQ’s if not all. If my wife would let me trade hers for one I would be tempted. The 7 shouldn’t be a lot different.
One lesson Mercedes could learn from Audi-is to start a new Gen with less than the full suite of options and more packages to simplify assembly until things are running smoothly. Mercedes has too many vehicle models and too much customization to be efficient. That works better with more expensive low volume models than a worldwide distribution of the GLE with Country specific customization on top of all the other choices. This makes supplier issues more complicated and a better chance of other issues...like JIT & quality control.

 

Why do they need to return to factory? Can't they do the fix when it hits dealers? This was a recall on 2020 and the dealers did it in under an hour.

 

I do agree that MB has too many models, however I wish they had more customizations, specifically with colors. Land Rover and Jaguar have a wide variety of paints and trims to choose from whereas I feel like Mercedes has only a handful of the generic colors that you can get across the board. The G wagon is an exception because they offer all the colors on that but not on any other car. Also I think grouping things in packages would help make customization more efficient.

I was told that a part of the rear seatbelt had to be changed. It’s doable at the dealership, however MB doesn’t want to release the cars to dealerships. Makes no sense to me because from what I was told the part can easily be changed at the dealership.

 

All consumers want unlimited ability to pick and choose options but that doesn’t necessarily make it best in the long run from a vendor cost or cost efficiency. More colors might require more paint booths or maybe days longer between colors being scheduled. One raises costs the other delays the production of some colors.
Take Lexus or Acura for example. A model will have limited colors and only a few package options. They introduce a new Gen. and make very few changes during its 6-7 year cycle unless safety related. Mild refresh in 4th year. I don’t like it but that’s the way they do business and they normally have good quality ratings and Lexus outsold Mercedes last year.
In a single facility, Mercedes builds the GLE with different options and accessories in several European Countries not to mention left right driver position. Multiply that with at least 6 GLE models, Coupe/SUV and all of the different options, colors, upholstery, engines, batteries- now relying on all of the vendor JIT contracts, etc. etc. All these parts and pieces from numerous vendors funneling into a single location and you begin to have a bottleneck. Then factor in any disruptions with supply and things can get out of control. The factory has to perform efficiently to be cost effective. Even as described it’s probably much more complicated.
I’m no expert so this is me giving an example of why I made the previous statement. We like more customization but we don’t like delays and we want competitive prices too. A lot of today’s issues are Covid related but tomorrow it might be a Hurricane, earthquake, war, Vendor going out of business, the Economy tanks.... Also more Vertical or more Horizontal integration both have downsides as demand rises and falls.

 

We went to Audi yesterday and re-drove an SQ7/8. It was the main contender before we drove a 450 with E-ABC. Cayenne was 3rd, hampered by seating and switchgear.
I was surprised at how badly the SQ7 compared..
Throttle response is worse than a 450 or 580 - no EQ boost. And the "supercharger" and 48v system are afterthoughts. 48v is attained by a DC-DC converter, not a 48v ISG or even a hang-on generator. The "supercharger" is hung off to the side of the intake tract, hampered by long intake lengths and the "afterthought" engineering. I think Range Rover uses a similar remote "supercharger"(?)
I was surprised at how much lag there was with a V8. My first impression (last fall) was that there was a nice boot in the rear when the power kicked in, but I didn't realize until yesterday just how slow that response was, compared to the 450 or especially the 53. The LOUD factor hid the lag.
Without the SQ7 Power Pack ($5900) - which includes active sway bars, a diff lock and red calipers - the handling is almost as bad as a plain Q7, which is worse than my old ML350. Oh, ant the massage function was weak, even with intensity adjusted to the max. I like the standard rear wheel steering, though. I have not driven a 7 with the Power Pack.
An SQ7 similarly equipped to the AMG53 is +$15-18k. That's 63S territory.

 

So did BMW, who took the lead in luxury cars for 2020.
Mercedes sales were off 27% YOY in the 4th quarter, hampered by COVID supply chain interruptions. Including hostile purchase of M-B's battery supplier by Tesla, who then fired the former CEO, when he insisted that their development/supply agreement be honored. https://electrek.co/2020/01/24/merce...ry-production/
Shipping also entered into M-B's slow deliveries, both to the Factory, and to the Dealers.