Ridgeback

I ordered an AMG GLE 63 s Coupe 6 months ago and this process has been a nightmare. Below is an email I am planning on sending to the Dealership Manager who has just stepped in within the last 3 days. Everything in my ordeal is described below. Please provide feedback before I send to the Dealership Manager. Thanks!

Dear *****,

I understand when we initially spoke on Friday, I was very frustrated and stressed with my entire experience at Mercedes Benz of *****. But you have to see where I am coming from.
Timeline of events:
• Mid February-Initial contact: placed a request for quote with multiple dealerships
• Mercedes Benz of ***** provided out the door quote of $107,393.94 including taxes/fees
• In person appointment provided quote of $112,440 plus taxes/fees (over $10k discrepancy from original out the door quote)
• The quote discrepancies were apologized for and agreed to a custom order $118,554 including taxes/fees
• Ordered placed February 23, 2016, 12-14 week build period, expected delivery end of May 2016
• End of May, no news of delivery; determined the order had to be moved to 2017 model year, expected delivery September
• An online published Mercedes Benz production and order time line revealed February 25, 2016 as the cutoff date for 2016 productions, dealership delayed in placing the order and missed the deadline
• End of May, manager did search across US for vehicle matching specs for potential transfer, no close matches, decided to wait out the extra 3-4 months to get exactly as ordered
• Contacted end of August, the vehicle was produced and shipped
• Made private arrangement to sell existing vehicle for the same week
• Discovered through an email from the dealership about the converted 2016 to 2017 build that the car in transit has the wrong wheel option, Titanium, vs the “Matte Black”
• Contacted the dealership and was offered to: spray paint the wheels by the “in house wheel guy”, wait 8-12 weeks for new wheels while taking possession of the incorrect build, or re-order the vehicle (With these options given, this means a total of 9 months to receive a custom vehicle from your dealership on my order when initially quoted 3-3.5 months at most!)
On Friday, August 26th, after a 6 month wait, being offered an in house spray job was completely unacceptable. This is not a purchase of a used hooptie, this is a six figure vehicle. The primary reason for the custom build was this wheel color combination. I am a very discerning customer and believe on a custom order at this price point I have the full right to be.
What should from the start have been a simple custom order for an educated customer, has turned into an absolute insult and headache. My request or expectation from a prestigious dealership like yours was to simply execute the order in a timely manner and provide me the vehicle built just like I ordered it. It is that simple. I don’t understand how so many mistakes were made in this process.
So the question is how you can make this right at this point for the time and energy I have invested over the last six months to keep me as a satisfied customer. Because at this point my two options are:
1) to re-order with you with the original negotiated price and your dealership makes sure every detail of this process is followed through at 100% without any errors. In addition, I would expect a few years of car service and/or extended warranty at no additional charge
-or-
2) contact Mercedes Benz Corporate and appraise them of the situation and ask for their assistance in locating a dealership that will deliver the type of luxury experience that is to be expected in the purchase of a $120k AMG vehicle.
I have invested too much time and energy at this point not to fully see this through. I hope this can be made right and you can end up with a satisfied customer after everything that has transpired.

Sincerely,

Isawelvis

First, I am not sure if you will be happy with the vehicle once you get it due to all the run around you have gotten. Secondly, I would go for option too especially if you can get the dealer to throw in a car service or extended warranty. I would expect it would be very hard to find the exact custom order car you ordered to be sitting on a dealer lot.

FatTony001

Wow that is horrible ! 9 months is soo long.
I waited 2 months for mine ML63 and felt like a year lol.
Hope you get what you really ordered !

Dont get that BS spray paint wheels. I'm sure its not the same quality
Has the real AMG paint.

Ridgeback

So I emailed the above message to the GM of the dealership and the following is his response:

"As previously stated, I am deeply sorry for the inconvenience and the delay in delivering your New Mercedes Benz to you as ordered. As I also stated, I would be happy to reorder your car. MB has also agreed to order the black rims in for you without any additional charges. If you would like to exercise your option with a different dealer, I will certainly understand.

To make sure I understand, you now do not want to take this car and wait on the wheels?

Please be clear to me which direction you are going to go. If you want to reorder, I need to cancel the rims that we ordered on Friday."

He obviously didn't answer my question whether he will include extra service and/or extended warranty. I thought that I was pretty clear in the email that there were only 2 options I was willing to proceed with. He either didn't read the email or is avoiding answering my question. What would you guys do at this point?

Mike450

He seems to be kindly telling YOU the options that are available.

Time to find another dealer. Sucks.

Ridgeback

So after sitting down with a cool head and thinking about my options, I re-ordered the GLE with the same dealer. To make it worth the wait, i re-ordered it with the premium Bang & Olfusen sound system. All together, I got just over 10k off the MSRP from this dealer. If I re-ordered with any other dealership around me, the most I was offered was $2500 off MSRP.

So I sat down with my sales rep and went through every line item so that everything was correct. The sales rep then entered the order into NetStar and gave me a copy of the order. So the delivery date is estimated in December...

jchen6

What a headache... Its going to be a long wait but you're going to love it. I'm also jealous you got the B&O system!!!

Richard

Has it arrived yet ?

Ridgeback

I have been enjoying it since end of October. It came over a month early. All the options I got on it are well worth it. Getting the silver strip across the *** end wrapped black. Makes it look thinner and more stealth especially with Obsidian black paint color and night package. May also have a clear bra professionally put on. Although I have not been driving it much the past week bc of the cold, snow, and salty roads up here in Chicagoland. Driving my 2012 Jaguar XFR instead.