BigBoeing

Chris,

That's a beautiful car! Very nice. And thanks very much for the info on the ADBlue fix. Sounds like they're on it. I'll be curious to hear about the Interior Ambient Lighting package too.

Enjoy that thing!

Jim

balticgreen

The interior ambient lighting is not the multi-color ambient lighting from higher classes of cars. It is one color only and that color is Almost-Can't-See-It Yellow.

Here's a picture I just took in my garage with the flash off. Look closely. It's kind of sad.



There are also tiny LED strips in the recessed areas of the door handles and faintly light up the handle. Those are on while stopped or driving. The footwells only light up when you open the door (or maybe after turning the engine off?? I wasn't paying attention to when they came on); they're not on while driving. Supposedly there are rear seat reading lights but I didn't notice any. Granted, I wasn't in the back seat nor was I actually looking for them.

107123210

My dealer told me more or less the same thing. They had received similar message from MBCanada and will only apply patch to cars with the problem.

What is VPC? OK Google to rescue!. I don't know what we have in Canada. Cars arrive in Halifax and then get shipped. But to where?

BigBoeing

Chris,

Oh well, look at the bight side (no pun intended): the Interior Ambient Lighting wasn't an expensive option. You never know when those rear seat reading lights might come in handy.

Regarding the Lighting Package, what's the function of the line of lights along the top of each headlight assembly? Are they additional running lights? Any chance for a photo of those too?

The Appearance Package wheels sure look nice. All in all, a great looking car!

Thanks Again,
Jim

balticgreen

Thanks!

Yes, the ambient lighting wasn't expensive. I almost didn't get it but once you're pushing $60k, you look at a $300 option and say, "Sure, why not?!"

Here is the headlight with the thin running light strip lit up. These are on whenever the car is on. They are in addition to the white LED running lights near the bottom of the bumper.



The strip of led lights above the thin running light is the turn signal. This is a picture with the signal flashing.

BigBoeing

Chris,

Great job and thanks for the excellent photos showing the Lighting Package features. Please feel free to fill us in on any other "nice to know" stuff you've discovered with your new GLK250. It's all sincerely appreciated!

Best Regards,
Jim

Alex Bel

The GLK Sales by month show interesting picture. The first GLK250 sales appeared in August report month based on Mercedes reporting. Diesel trend is up.

MONTH MAKE MODEL SERIES VOL
201308 MEB GLK 250 178
201308 MEB GLK 350 2,135
201309 MEB GLK 250 302
201309 MEB GLK 350 2,131
201310 MEB GLK 250 351
201310 MEB GLK 350 2,389

BigBoeing

Alex,

Thanks very much for presenting the latest GLK sales data. If my public math serves me well, the GLK250 was 8%, 12% and 13% of total GLK sales for August, September and October 2013 respectively. Those figures are much more in-keeping with the MB sales projections I read earlier this fall. As best I recall, MB had projected the GLK250 would eventually represent about 15% of total USA GLK sales.

Best Regards,
Jim

BigBoeing

Folks,

Here's the January 2014 Consumer Reports review of the MB GLK350. CR gave it a "Recommended" review. I've broken the review in to two pdf files in order to comply with forum attachment size limitations.

Best Regards,
Jim

BigBoeing

Folks,

Here's the January 2014 Consumer Reports review of the MB GLK350, Part #2. Part #1 is in the post above.

Best Regards,
Jim

107123210

For what it's worth, my dealer told me that GLK250s order today would only be delivered in April 2014. he said there is huge demand. This is in Canada.

BigBoeing

107123210,

Your profile shows "GLK250 (on order)." When is your GLK250 scheduled to arrive? What options did you purchase on your vehicle? Do your local dealer(s) have any GLK250's on the lot?

Thanks,
Jim

107123210

My car is at the dealer. It arrived late Thursday.

We bought the most basic car. Only option was trailer hitch. I didn't want any of those electronic devices built in that only the dealer could service. Did buy a new Garmin instead of Nav package

After owning two Benzes with sunroofs, I didn't want one of those either.

We did buy the extended warranty (6 full years plus 1 yr power train). After owning two relatively modern Benzes, we learned that this was important.

Once we get the car, we still need to address the lack of a spare wheel and we may also look at a rooftop carrier. Maybe mudflaps too although on another SUV we owned, the attachment point collected salt and dirt.

BigBoeing

107123210,

Congratulations on the arrival of your new GLK!

I've bought 6-year extended warranties on the last two vehicles I purchased. Do you mind my asking what you paid for your 6-year plan, and what the warranty does and does not cover? Is it a MB or third-party warranty? Is it transferrable should you decide to sell your car before the warranty expires?

I completely agree with you on extended warranties. They've served me quite well in the past, and have added significant resale value. All it takes is one significant repair and the extended warranty pays for itself...

Best Regards,
Jim

107123210

The extended warranty is something MBCanada offers directly to buyers (No 3rd party involved). List price was C$2800 (may now be $2950) The warranty extends full coverage for 2 years. Same coverage as first 4 years. The 3rd year covers power train. However, some emission related items are covered by the original warranty for 8 years (it is surprising how many items fall in this category).

The warranty can be transferred to a new owner. It can be bought any time during first 4 years. There is a significant dealer mark-up on the warranty, so it can probably be included at lower cost if bought up front. If leasing or financing, the additional monthly cost can be minimal.

When in USA, US dealers will not honor the extended warranty. Owner must pay, then submit invoices to MBCanada via their Canadian dealer.

I had extended warranty on my E320, but not on the smart car that we recently sold.

Here are the full details:
http://www.mercedes-benz.ca/content/...anty.0001.html

I have found MBCanada to be very good about honoring warranty work. And even when out of warranty, they have come through and covered repairs, at least in part, on their Goodwill program. This was a major factor in us deciding to go with the GLK vs one of the many other vehicles we could have chosen from. The diesel option clinched it!

I didn't answer the question about GLKs on the lot. We are in small town, so no new GLKs on lot. Not sure about larger centers like Toronto or Montreal.

BigBoeing

107123210,

Thanks for your very complete answer. And quite interesting that the MB Canada Extended Warranty isn't honored by MB USA dealers. I wonder if MB Canada dealers honor the MB USA extended warranty?

I'd be curious to hear from anybody that's purchased a MB extended warranty in the USA regarding the purchase price, etc.

Our local dealer finally got two GLK250's on the lot, one fairly loaded and the other moderately loaded. Neither have the Lighting Package which was a "must have" item for me. The last GLK250 they received sold almost immediately. We'll see how long these two last!

My GLK250 was supposed to be built during the 3rd build decade in November which as of midnight, has passed. Accordingly, I'm going to contact our salesman tomorrow to get the particulars.

I also want to ensure our dealer orders the front and rear mud flaps in advance so they'll be ready to install as soon as the car arrives. And I too will be curious to hear what the service department has to say regarding the AdBlue/CEL fix on GLK250's! That's been a big concern of mine since ordering the car and discovering soon thereafter this AdBlue/CEL problem existed.

Best Regards,
Jim

107123210

I must have a look at the flaps on some of the pre-owned GLKs. Maybe I will get them but I do worry about them creating salt/dirt traps.

The Adblue thread has been quiet. Hopefully a good sign!

My dealer mentioned that finance/lease interest rates might increase at end of November. Looking at MBCanada site, it seems they have and by a large amount! Hopefully won't affect me, but if it does, maybe the deal will be off

BigBoeing

I've had mud flaps on virtually every SUV/Crossover I've owned during the preceding twenty years and have NEVER had any sort of salt accumulation/rust issue with them. They do a great job protecting the quarter panels, and especially so if you don't have running boards. Some were offered as standard equipment and others were OEM add-ons.

You can view a few photos of the installed GLK250 mud flaps posted by Bob-NC on the first page of this thread.

Thanks,
Jim

107123210

We tend to keep our cars for a long time. Only SUV we owned previously, we had for 12+ years. They put a lot of sand and salt on our roads. I will try to keep the GLK away from that as much as I can.

Instead of flaps, perhaps 3M paint protection film might be an option for the areas where stone chips might occur. Same sort of stuff they put on hoods of some cars. Looks like they have kits specifically for GLK:

http://www.nochip.ca/collections/mer...ction-film-kit

107123210

Thanks again - It is now in my garage. Absorbing all the details on how this beast works will be a challenge for me. And then for my wife!

Luckily, we bought a stripped down version!

BigBoeing

107123210,

A new car safely parked in the garage is a good thing! So, be honest, how many times have you visited your garage so far this evening? OK, only kidding. Rest assured, I'll be doing the same thing!

I was able to download the 2014 GLK250 Owner's Manual PDF file from the MB-USA web site, and will study that as the delivery day approaches. But I'm not so sure my wife will. I'd post that PDF here on the web site however, it significantly exceeds the upload size allowed by the forum.

I e-mailed our salesman this afternoon and asked if he had a delivery update given our 3rd Decade Build in November. He responded saying he expects that info within one to two days. I asked that he please order the MB OEM front and rear mud flaps for installation prior to our taking delivery.

Congrats again and enjoy your new car!

Jim

107123210

Jim,
I can assure you I have not been out there. Parked car in garage at 5:30pm and haven't been out. Have given up trying to upload the manual to my brain. As with MBWorld, there are memory limitations.

Been working on lack of spare. Thinking about a compact Vredestein. Has to be inflated, but seeing many think we will never need a spare, that should not be a problem But they are hard to find.

balticgreen

Mine is the exact opposite and I'm pretty sure that it's about five minutes away from staging a coup.

BigBoeing

Hello Folks,

We spoke with our MB salesman this afternoon and he had all the data on our GLK250. It was indeed built during the 3rd Decade Build of November, more specifically on 29 NOV. It was shipped from Bremerhaven on 04 DEC aboard the RO-RO vessel Grand Legacy. The estimated arrival date in Baltimore, MD is 19 DEC. It was quite interesting to view the history of our vehicle on his computer screen. They had the chronology of everything listed there...order date, date we changed the paint color, VIN issue date, build date, and so on.

Just for grins I attempted tracking the vessel on several web sites, however none seem to be providing time-late and/or accurate data. One even showed the Grand Legacy steaming the Mediterranean, which I highly doubt to be the case given a simple DRT plot for a 19 DEC Baltimore arrival date. Unless perhaps they got lost.

I also spoke with our salesman regarding the AdBlue/CEL problem on the GLK250. This gent has worked at our local MB dealer since the late 90's. Simply stated, he has return customers. He's sold a few GLK250's since September and to his knowledge none have had the AdBlue/CEL problem. He added his customers typically wouldn't be a bit shy in complaining about an issue as significant as this.

Interestingly, during our chat he indicated he'd sold four additional factory order GLK250's since we ordered ours in October. They had a GLK250 on the lot that was fairly loaded, although it didn't have the lighting package. That's the first GLK250 I've seen there since we ordered our car. And they move a LOT of cars.

Best Regards,
Jim

balticgreen

That's great! It will seem like no time at all and then it will be in your driveway just in time for Christmas.

It's in the English Channel now and heading for Davisville, Rhode Island.

http://www.marinetraffic.com/en/ais/...hips/371671000