FireTheGlutes

I have a $5k deposit down with a local dealer for a '19 E63S wagon. It's been 3 weeks since I agreed to the price and put down the deposit, and I still don't have a build slot or production date or anything like that. Is that normal? This is my first Mercedes, but 3 weeks for a car that isn't limited production volume seems long, especially compared to other brands I've dealt with in the past.

Does anyone have any insight? Is this a normal amount of time in other's experience?

FWIW, I'm super excited for the car. I've had several wagons in the past, most notably an '85 Puegot 505 (beat it to death as a kid) and a tuned '02 WRX bug eye. This AMG seems like the natural progression for a wagon aficionado!

mmmamg

I would interpret this as dealer took abnormally high deposit without having allocation and now trying to find allocation for a wagon.

E63guy

At the very least I'd call around to other dealers to see if they have an allocation on which you could place a deposit.

Dunga

My understanding is that Mercedes is artificially limited production on those wagons. Shahul is a forum dealer and has a lot of info on allocations and how many actual changeable builds for the US are available so I’d check with him.

6G Schnell

i’ve had a similar experience: paid deposit and no build slot for few weeks...
Luckily was able to find another dealer that had allocation and got my deposit back from the first one....

Caveat: depending on your state laws it may be illegal for dealer to take deposit for the car they don’t have, so check on this before placing the new order!

E634Me

If you're looking for a wagon, you should check out 24 hour's new 2019 Wagon. It is here in the states brand somewhere (long story) new, never driven and available.

FireTheGlutes

Thanks for the info... was afraid of something like this. The situation seems very Porsche GT car-like, which are limited production. I guess AMG knows they have a winner, and want to keep supply:demand favorable. My problem with just pulling deposit and going to another dealer, is that this dealer agreed to my very aggressive offer. Seemed too good to be true, and apparently it is.

Carac

If they don't have a build slot, they HAVE to trade to get one since allocations aren't just given when asked for. The dealer I bought from had to do a 4 way trade with a dealer halfway across the country for a couple AMGs and still only asked for $1k down. The local dealership I usually work with begged their regional sales guy for two months for an allocation and never got one until the following model year (9 months after I asked and 3 months after I had taken delivery of my '18). So, if they can't give you a build day they don't know when or if they'll get one without trading...and most dealers are reluctant to trade given the scarcity. I had a sales guy track me down after he saw my wagon in service because he has a customer wanting a wagon and asked what it would take to get me out of mine. It gets even harder if you want CCBs since they only make 2-3 E63s with them a week (sedans and wagons combined).

Michael Khan

That is really high for a deposit. I put down $1500 for my deposit. But you should look around in the area and see if anyone else has a slot. I put my deposit down in July for a December Slot, they swapped out a S63 for my E63 that they were ordering. Ask them for a confirm build slot and if they dont provide one request your deposit back. The longer you wait the later the build slot will be. Most people I know dont want to wait. Especially what happened last year was just insane.

FireTheGlutes

My dealer agreed to 10% off final MSRP. The closest and most convenient to me only offered 2% off MSRP, so I looked around. Dealer I settled upon agreed to the 10%, and has been an absolute pleasure to work with. Of course, having $5k of my money in their pocket and no purchase order would make any dealer happy. Worried I’m gettting screwed, and too naive to realize it...

FireTheGlutes

What happened last year?

FireTheGlutes

So, the dealer needs to obtain any AMG build slot, not necessarily one specific to an E63 Wagon? Sorry for the basic questions, I'm just trying to figure out how this all works...

Carac

A decent number of late 2018 builds became 2019 builds and all of 2019s were held until the end of the year at the VPC, some for ~5 months. Mine was originally scheduled for the second week of January, eventually got built mid-April. I think they’ve got it cleared up but don’t be surprised if any builds past May are 2020s and will sit until Nov/Dec to go on sale.

Carac

.

Nope, they need to find a dealer that has specifically a wagon build slot to trade for...a build that doesn’t already have a buyer. There’s no office numbers but based on the past and what I’ve heard about production and allocations, they are making ~100 wagons a year. Last gen they only made slightly more than 200 for the whole production run. It’s the rarest road car AMG makes.

FireTheGlutes

Lowering my expectations for the car in hand this summer in 3,2,1...

Carac

If they find an unclaimed allocation it's getting close to the cutoff for changes for a 2019 build, but still possible, you'd probably be one of the last '19s delivered. But yes, this "late" (funny to say considering the '19s have only been on sale for ~4 months) in '19 production, it will be hard to find. Your options will either be getting lucky and finding a late build that's on schedule at a dealer willing to trade (or just order it through them if you can get your deposit back) or a car in production that matches close to your desired spec. One of the sales guys on here could look on STAR and see if any dealers have a changeable wagon order without a buyer code attached.

Carac

In your situation I'd find a helpful sales associate at a dealer without a horse in your race to look at open orders. The dealer you have a deposit with isn't going to tell you "we found an unclaimed order at a dealer in _______ but they aren't willing to trade", they're just going to keep that to themselves, keep your money, and just sit waiting for an allocation, which could be 6+ months when if you had that information you could just get in contact with the dealer yourself and start talking. I didn't find an allocation until the 4th dealer I called and they had enough volume to trade for a wagon.

Michael Khan

I agree with Carac, look around. Let them know I am sure once they find out they might try to get a allocation sooner. Makes sense why they gave you that % discount with out a allocation. I had this happen to me with my normal dealership and another one I went to, my dealer that my family has been going to for over 18 years did not want to give me a discount, so I went to another dealer and they gave me a really good 8% off msrp but they did not have a allocation. I told my dealer about what I got and they ended up working out but there was drama after that once the car landed lol but that is a story that has been posted. There are dealers out there that want your business, just look around. It will be tough to get your own spec E63 by the summer at this point. I think you only have the end of this month. But the other guys might have more information on when Mercedes usually locks in the builds.

Dunga

Yeah the discount you got is incredible to be honest but is flipping useless if they can’t get you a car. What options and colors are you looking for? Maybe it’s best to go after an existing build? The car I bought had been specced by someone else but they walked from the deal and it was the right color interior and exterior, and misty equipped how I would do it. I’d probably have considered the CCBs and deleted some options on it but ultimately it doesn’t matter since it was mostly a good spec for me.

Check with Euro Germantown they’re a forum dealer. I was talking to them about a wagon last year but the numbers on my trade didn’t work. They’re super nice people. Shahul is the contact and he’s a forum dealer. If anything he can give you solid info on availability of changeable build slots for the US. There’s also a member here trying to get out of their brand new wagon as someone else had mentioned but if it’s not the right color and kit then it wouldn’t work.

Good of luck and keep us posted.

Wassaby

10% off for a car that they cannot even build. They probably waiting for a miracle to get a slot. By the time they get a 2019 slot, 2020 is on the way.

Right now the scheduled not produced cycle is for May-June which means delivery in August and there's just 23 for the whole country.

BACnMercedes

Wow 10%! I thought average was about 5-6%. I finaly got a build date about 3 weeks after I placed the order with only $1000 (still undeposited check) down.
Good luck!

steelerguy

Was in the same boat as you, waited a little over a month and finally said screw it and found a dealer with a changable order. I think my local dealer was happy to just hold onto my $2500 deposit and sit around with their fingers crossed. You can keep your deposit with your dealer, but I'd start looking for someone who already has allocation if I were you.

Deanchen1993

New to this forum and I just started looking into buying an E63s wagon. From a few calls to various dealers, I understand that there is no chance of getting a CCB of the 19' model. So I'm looking into the 20's. I know this is slightly off topic but since there gonna be a facelift and the new MBUX system on the 20's normal E's, when would you guys say is a roughly estimated arrival time for the 2020 E63 wagaon?

TugboatBill

I too will likely be ordering a 2020. Any ideas on when MB would have their site updated with the 2020 build pages? June?

steelerguy

June sounds about right...of 2020.