PSims

Wanted a discussion for those expecting a 2025 E450. Due to the MY crossover in July and those who originally ordered a 2024 and now are getting a 2025, it will be interesting to know your experience with projected dates, from production, to build, to getting your VIN, to shipment, and delivery.

I have a PO and projected “production completion date” of August 13. I plugged in other potential milestones and estimated I will have my 2025 E450 in my garage late September to early October, even though my dealer rep said late August or early September. His projection doesn’t pass the sanity test based on real world experiences from others.

petee1997

My 25 E450 showed going into production the last week of June with a build date of July 19th. The dealer got a VIN on Monday. I assume the car will be completed tomorrow. I live in Ontario, 1457 kms (903 mi) from the VPV in port of Halifax. The car will then be shipped by rail to Montreal and then by truck to Ottawa. The whole journey should take 6-8 weeks. I should get the car sometime in the first two weeks of Sept.

PSims

Getting the VIN is a major milestone! Hope all else goes smoothly.

L1Wolf

My order for a 2024 turned 2025 E450 had a production date of July 1st. On July 8th, I was given the VIN is and told that the car is at the shipping port. I assume Bremerhaven but my dealer does not know and says the order status just says it's at the port of departure. It's supposed to ship to Brunswick GA before making it's way to me over land. The ETA from the dealership is late Aug or early Sept but that is only a guess based on a typical 6-8 week timeline. Once it's loaded on a ship you should be able to determine what ship it's on either through the dealership or if this site works, you can enter your PO for the "CUST REF NUMBER". If your car is on a ship, it should tell you but until then, it just keeps saying "no record". From there you can track the ship using this Vessel Finder site. Until then, you just have to wait with very minimal updates. I've used this RoRo Vessel Search to try and determine what ship it may eventually be on by searching for ships that will stop in Bremerhaven and then sometime later stop in Brunswick GA. I thought (hoped) that my car would be on the Morning Calypso since it arrived in Bremerhaven on July 14th and departed on July 16th. A full week after my car was reported to be at the shipping port. Sadly, my dealer says it's still at the shipping port. Next opportunity for it to leave port is on a ship called Arc Commitment which is in the Bremerhaven port now and scheduled to leave tomorrow July 19th. After that, it looks to be a ship called Carmen scheduled to arrive and depart Bremerhaven July 22nd. I've heard that others had their cars wait at the departure port for several weeks. Looking at the satellite map of the Bremerhaven port, that's not surprising. It's enormous with endless parking lots of cars.

ua549

There is a lot of export processing that takes place at Bremerhaven. My experience is a week to 10 days. Repeat upon arrival at Brunswick.

PSims

Great info with excellent insight on what to expect. Getting the VIN is crucial because it signifies the beginning of the end. Now it’s a matter of shipping, VPC, transport to dealership, dealer prep, and picking up your new E-450.

PSims

. Have you confirmed that you can use the PO number as the Customer Reference Number to check if your vehicle is on a certain ship?

L1Wolf

Not yet as mine is not on a ship yet. Hoping that when it is on a ship, I get something other than no record found.

I was told last Friday that Mercedes-Benz is holding the car at port until they officially release the 2025 model. No word on when that will be but I'm told my car will still be delivered in Aug. If correct, I expect that others with a 2025 that has been built will have their car held at the port until the official release date.

PSims

I did an internet search for 2025 MY E-450 and found one dealership with 4 “in transit”. Perhaps MB release the 2025s soon!

L1Wolf

How did you do that search? I looked at https://www.mbusa.com/en/inventory and filtered on 2025. After doing that, there are no E-Class option to select which would mean there are no 2025 E-Class vehicles available according to MBUSA. I also just looked at the configuration/build page for the E-Class and it's still showing the 2024 MY.

petee1997

Just got word from my dealer. My E450:is built but no ETA showing yet. As far as release date, if cars are held back, the are normally held at VPC rather than shipping Port. There is really no reason to hold the car since the car has been out for a year. This is not a new car today.

PSims

I found them at this dealership https://www.mbofmassapequa.com/used-...5D%5B0%5D=2025

Hopefully the link works.

L1Wolf

The link worked and showed four 2025 models "in transit" just like you said. I plugged the VIN in mb.vin and found all but one have a delivery date of July 8, 10, and 11th while the fourth has no date. My car has a delivery date of July 2nd and I'm assuming that delivery date means the date the car was made or finished but I'm not sure. I'm also guessing that all of these cars are sitting at the port just like mine. I searched for each of them using the PO and all returned no records found which indicates that they are not assigned a ship yet.

PSims

This process definitely requires patience! We're relying on information from disparate dealerships that convey information in different ways and at different times. Today my dealer rep said my E-450 is projected to "finish production" on August 17. The previous dates were August 15 and then August 13. That's not much of a difference. However, he also said I should have the car in late August or early September. That's not possible unless the car is on a ship right now! My best guess is I will have the car in my garage in mid-October (around Columbus Day) if the production date holds AND it ships two weeks later. As I've said several times before, Mercedes Benz has the technology to update all buyers directly via the app already released to European buyers. Mercedes Benz Dealerships are in an unenviable situation. BMW and other auto manufactures have deployed the technology for buyers to track their orders themselves.

SkipFL.

I also have been told that the car cannot be delivered until an “official” 2025 release date.

PSims

I contacted MBUSA corporate office for information on official release dates. Hopefully they’ll know something and respond. If 2025 MY are being held at port then buyers like us and dealerships have a right to know.

PSims

Learned today that my 2025 E450 now has an "end of production" date of August 17. A slight change, but not significant. However, the same message said, "..and we should expect it here at our dealership within 3 weeks of that date.", making it early September. Don't want to challenge my dealer rep, but at the same time it's hard to see how a car can finish production in Germany one day and be at the dealership within 3 weeks. The shipping schedule for the carrier to the Brunswick VPC shows that's not possible.

L1Wolf

I just heard from my dealer today that my car was loaded on the Morning Linda and is currently underway. He said it's due to arrive in Brunswick on 8/10 but looking at the tracking it shows that it left Bremerhaven on 7/26 and scheduled to arrive in Brunswick on 8/12. It's currently on its way to Halifax and should arrive there on 8/6, then NY on 8/9, and then Brunswick on 8/12. If that's accurate and it takes 2 weeks to be ready for me to pick up once it arrives, I should have it by 8/26 which is the original ETA back when I ordered the car.

PSims

Are you able to track it using your PO?

PSims

MBUSA got back to me. Their email said my dealer rep would contact me, and he did. But neither answered my question! Nevertheless, there are 2025 E-Classes headed this way so.....

L1Wolf

No, I tried using my PO and it still shows no record found. Then I tried the PO and VIN for each of the three options for type of number and got the same result of no record found with each try.

Mayur999

Interesting... From previous posts and threads ( which Im sure youve seen), I thought that once the car is loaded onto vessel it should show up with search for Customer Ref number.

I have been entering mine as well with result of "no records". Was also hoping that I was able to get my car on Morning Linda, but my dealer said that there was a delay getting car onto the vessel so doesnt seem likely for me.

Congrats on the great news though. Hopeuflly the site updates for you soon.

L1Wolf

Yeah, I don't think that tracking site works or maybe the PO is not the correct number to use for Cust Ref Number. Who knows!

I am tracking the ship which just left Halifax and is on its way to NY.

Mayur999

Just an update. I tried again yesterday 6th Aug. The Ship I expected my car to be on left Aug 4th from Bremerhaven. Up until yesterday, I was getting " No Record."

The car did however show up yesterday when I checked with Commission Number for the PO number. So it took abouit 48 hours to update. Car is on Thermopayle ETA in Halifax Aug 13th.

PSims

What is a commission number and where did you get it?