mookie

I am the number 6 car order for a SL55 at the second largest dealer in the US, located in New Jersey. They had 1 car delivered already into the owners hands but do not have a schedule for any other production dates for the other cars. Is this possible or am I getting jerked around. I have bought from them before and never had a problem. Does anyone know how the dealers production is set up? I would like to thank all those who write in because it has helped me decide all my choices.

Brillant silver
Black Interior or maybe if I had the ***** and could convince my wife the berry red interior with the aluminum trim looks great!
Parktronic
Vario roof
Ventilated seats
Bi-zenon lights
Keyless go
Tire pressure monitor
Multi spoke wheels (21)
_______________________
2000 S500

blueSL

Looks good to me. Get your MSO to look at the picture Canuck has posted of his car's berry red interior and tell her you want to dare to be different.

I think Mercedes dealers giving you build dates is a bit like dating when a kid. You don't want to commit to a date too far in advance in case you get a better offer. Same for the Mercedes dealers. They don't want give a production slot to you too early in case some guy comes in and wants 100 V Classes as long as he gets an SL55. The only thing these guys care about is making their quota.

BJL

I am assuming the dealer you are talking about is Ray Catena. It is funny that you are having a problem getting a build date b/c I was having the same problem with my dealer in AC and I have the #1 spot there.
What you need to do is: Get your salesman to get the dealer's factory rep/ sales manager to look into netstar to determine when your build date is. Only the field manager will be able to get that info for the dealer.
After a week long of aggravation, got the dealer's owner to call the factory to give me a build date and I spec'd out my car yesterday.
I thought that b/c my dealer was getting low allocation, I needed to start buying form a larger dealer and was considering actually going up to Ray Catena to order my next car.
After hearing your story, I now doubt it is worth my time to drive up to Edison. It seems all dealers are having the same problem.

CME4BENZ

Hi Mookie,

I am sorry to hear about your delay on the SL55. It seems to me that your dealer should be able to give you an idea of his production schedule. In a previous post I confirmed for blueSL that we have delivered 2 SL55s and show 4 more on our production schedule in Oct. and Nov. We have a list on our desk every morning ("vehicle report") listing the cars inproduction for the next 3-4 months. If it is not on that report your salesperson/manager should be able to go into "netstar" and find out when your car is coming.

unfortunately, it is possible that you are getting jerked around.

vraa

u could just wait the time and gimmie the car.. lol

by that time i'll be prime age for a car! lol

Lonman

European low mileage SL55's are now around the 110,000 - 120,000US.......lots around. Buy from here.

Mr. Xristo

Sounds like a deal... but then $4,000 shipping, and $15,000 conversion.

Lonman

$600 and $3000 actually....

Mr. Xristo

No disrespect, but I have imported an SL55 for a customer. Air Cargo freight from Europe is $4,000. Conversion to USA Specifications is $15,000 and takes 3 - 4 weeks.

Richard

Why air-freight it, ship it (4-5 days) ? Or was your customer that desperate for it !

Remember Lonman took his SL55 from UK to US (and back) for the gumball ... and i assume made it legal to drive in the US

Now that the US SL is available, Im sort of suprised at the $15k price tag ..

Isnt it a case of
(a) Suspension height (is this needed)
(b) Door lock pins (are these still needed for US?)
(c) side indicators
(d) Add the seat belt sensor stuff (if its not there already!)
(e) Add the "I got locked in the boot let me out button"
(f) reprogram car to tell it its a US car (and then you get the
correct type of check-engine light and other behaviours)

I presume some sort of expensive government certification is needed, that takes 3-4 weeks minus 2 days and costs $10k ..

R

Mr. Xristo

It takes more than 4 days for it to be shipped on a boat!!
You may visit the USA and import your vehicle. But you are only allowed to keep the foreign plates on it for a year, then you ahve to register it. If the vehicle is not USA Spec'd (i.e., emissions, etc.) you cannot register it.

MOTORISTS VISITING THE UNITED STATES as tourists from countries that have ratified the Convention on International Road Traffic of 1949 may drive in the U.S. for one year with their own national license plates (registration tags) on their cars and with their own personal driver's licenses.

If a vehicle that is not certified to meet U.S. standards is less than 25 years old and entering on a permanent basis, it must be imported by a Registered Importer (RI)
EPA Compliance:
- Installation of electronically controlled emission control system
- Installation of evaporative system
- Installation of fuel neck restrictor
- Installation of catalytic converter

DOT Compliance
- Replacement of headlights
- Replacement of rear lenses
- Installation of door beams
- Installation of seat belt warning system
- Replacement or reinforcement of front and rear bumpers
- Placement of required vehicle identification labels

jco-amg

Aren't the things above already in place?
Do they really have to go in and install door beams?...I would think that most of this already meets the standard.
Isn't just a matter of getting them certified?

Mr. Xristo

One would think it was that easy!!