98indypacer

I was supposed to pick up my 55 toady but I just returned from the dealer without my car. The car was shipped from Germany on 6/29 and received at the VPC in Baltimore on 7/12. It was assigned to a carrier and was to be delivered to the dealer on Thursday 7/14 or today 7/15. The dealer is only 2hr drive from the VPC.

The dealer called this morning to inform me that the vehicle was no longer assigned to a carrier and was returned to “processing” status. My first thought was the car was damaged in shipment or damaged when being loaded on the auto carrier. The dealer didn’t know anything else at the time but was following up on what happened.

I stopped by the dealer on the way home from work and was told that MB put a hold (I’m assuming quarantine) on SLK 55 AMG’s at the VPC. Dealer did not know why vehicles were put on hold but promised to call as soon as he received more information.

Now what? What issues did MB discover? I’m concerned that there may be some serious problem.

Anyway, the salesman at the dealer has done a great job of keeping me informed of what is happening and I hope this gets resolved so I can get my car without worries.

Regards, Ed

bloflin

You should not necessarily worry.

Could be as simple as they were out of stock of your AMG floormats.

Or it could be transportation damage (my front bumper was scratched, and they had to install a new one, cost me 3 days at the VPC).

Or could be an "EC" (engineering change) came in to check or change a part they have been having quality issues with.

If it's more than a day or so, your dealer CAN find out the reason. He just has to make some phone calls.

northbenz

Apparently others have already received their 06 SLK55's, so it is more likely that something was caught on a quality check related to your individual auto. Don't worry though, I understand the VPC has a body shop capable of rebuilding it as long as the VIN number remained identifiable. :v

98indypacer

Just what I wanted to hear. Ha ha.

Seriously, how would you know if your car had significant repairs at the VPC?

northbenz

That is an excellent question. One would hope there is some required disclosure. I recall someone had posted that there was a mismatched color hue between their door and body which led to a lot of questions, although I don't recall the outcome. I tend to agree with those above though that it is probably something minor that is being replaced whether just to your car or an entire batch.

Keep us posted.

northbenz

My reference to a faulty sensor was just a wild guess. On the other forum I see one of the dealer's has identified the problem as being a sensor. Sounds like it is a sensor tied in with the EPA emissions system so likely is a problem unique to the US model SLK55.