C Class order / delivery times ?

[sylvester]

Hi,

I’ve just placed and order though my company scheme for a C320 am awaiting conformation that its been placed with the dealer and estimate on delivery date.
I’m expecting hat to take another 3-5 days for the paperwork to process before receiving an indication regarding delivery.

Has anyone had recent experience ordering an C-Class and an indication of current lead times ?
Is factory collection (Which is my preference) going to make any difference vs. dealer delivery ?

Also am I right in thinking that all C-Class Saloons are built in South Africa and then either shipped to Germany or direct to the dealer ?

Rgds Mark

 

[splang]

depending on the deal your company has with mb you may be able to pop to Germany for the personal collection which is (apparently) good fun?

C class used to be built in SA (saloon and hatch) I 'think' that the estate used to be built in germany anyway?

Someone more knowledgable will be along shortly to help I am sure.

Congrats on new car though!:bannana:

 

[st13phil]

Hi Sylvester and welcome.

I don't know if the situation has changed since I ordered my W204 last September, but the delivery time then was very dependent upon spec due to various component shortages. This was still the case when I collected my car in January. I'd expect a wait of up to 12 weeks, but you may get lucky.

Personal Collection does not materially affect the waiting time, and is great fun so if you get the opportunity to do it then go for it. However, this may be difficult with a Company Car. You'll need to make enquiries, and the sooner the better as it could take some setting up if you're not the actual purchaser.

W204's for the UK market were, and to the best of my knowledge still are, manufactured in Sindelfingen (Stuttgart). The SA production mostly goes to the USA.

 

[sylvester]

St13phil,

Thanks for the feedback on lead times, I certainly hope they have dropped since the end of last year or that component supply has eased.

Personal collection should not be a problem or so I’m advised. I check with the scheme administrators before ordering and they said although they did not get many requests that it would be possible and just to note it on the order. Guess I will find out for definite when the confirmations come through. So glad to hear that the collection option should make little difference to delivery time. I have read several peoples experiences, so am pretty convinced its an opportunity not to be missed. Not to mention an excuse to run the car in.

It should be simpler as they run the scheme more like a personal lease, so the registration and title will be in my name from day one, even though they then take care of insurance, servicing etc. So hopefully there should not be any complications. Also avoids company car tax liability

On another note, what is the recommendation regarding run in milage and max rev’s etc on the MB diesels ?

Rgds

 

[crockers]

Two schools of thought on running in a car.

1. for 1st 1000 miles no full throttle and keep under 3000 revs

2. Run it in hard to stop pistons glazing etc... increases performance / mpg /

run a search read up the two schools of thought and make your own decision....

I personally thought all engines were pretty much run in before shipping so have just driven normally from day 1.... no problems

 

[NewMB]

Perhaps it has changed now. But when I ordered mine the following was said regarding delivery (all markets):

Saloon's - Made in South Africa

Estate's - Made in Bremen (together with SL)

Hatch - can't remember, but I think Stuttgart.

As a note, due to my spec, I had to wait 5 months for delivery!!

 

[st13phil]

Perhaps it has changed now. But when I ordered mine the following was said regarding delivery (all markets)

That was true for the W203, but not for the W204 - or at least it wasn't for 2007 build.

 

[Mr E]

Personal collection should not be a problem or so I’m advised. I check with the scheme administrators before ordering and they said although they did not get many requests that it would be possible and just to note it on the order. Guess I will find out for definite when the confirmations come through.

This is what my lease company told me too - but the MB said that 'cos they give such good discounts and effectively no delivery charge I wouldn't be able to do it.

I hope you manage to do it as it sounds like good fun.

 

[BTB 500]

Re. running in, there's another choice - follow what it says in the handbook!

Delivery for my Vito was nearly 5 months

 

[oldcro]

Surely delivery time will depend on the number of orders already in the pipeline, parts supply situation and any production problems at the time.

 

[st13phil]

Surely delivery time will depend on the number of orders already in the pipeline, parts supply situation and any production problems at the time.

Correct - to a point. Dealers book a number of build slots into the future for any particular model, and some items on the spec can be changed on those relatively close to the build date. So, if the supplying dealer already has a C320 slot available and the options Sylvester wants are either on it or the spec can be changed to put them on it then delivery can be quicker than it would otherwise be.

The component shortages that were experienced right through to Feb 2008 build were all related to the Sport model, demand for which caught MB a little by surprise. So, if you wanted Parameter Steering on an Elegance as I did, then you had to wait.

 

[sylvester]

Thanks to all for the advice and feedback.
I received order confirmation back via the dealer which while not entirely explicit quotes a delivery date of late august. :bannana:
While not a soon as I had hoped it sounds shorter than seems to have been the case for some.
So a good result overall. No mention of confirming factory collection, so a quick call tomorrow may be in order.

 

[BTB 500]

I bought an '07' registration for my Vito from the DVLA (£399) ... the long wait for delivery meant it was entitled to a '57' reg. by the time it arrived!

 

[st13phil]

I received order confirmation back via the dealer which while not entirely explicit quotes a delivery date of late august. :bannana:

I don't want to dampen your fireworks - rather I want to stave off any future disappointment - but the initial quote for delivery can and will change as time goes on. It may come earlier, or it may drift out later. Your dealer should be able to give you a more accurate picture when the factory confirms that it's finally scheduled for build, which for my car was a month before production. Even then the Personal Collection team won't book flights or hotels: they wait until the car has been built and the factory has released it after final test to do that, which goes to show that there's still an element of uncertainty right down to the wire.

I bought an '07' registration for my Vito from the DVLA (£399) ... the long wait for delivery meant it was entitled to a '57' reg. by the time it arrived!

Eeek!!!

 

[Essexboy]

All w204's are manufactured in Stuttgart, Germany. I had to wait 3 months for mine to be built from order (this was mid 2007). Definately do the factory collection if you get the chance. The salesman told me that the costs to the dealer for UK delivery or collection are the same, so they didn't care which option I took. It is not the dealer that arranges factory collection.

Long live my w204 - drive past it everyday on the Mercedes forecourt on the approved used section :-(

 

[sylvester]

Thanks for the feedback all,

Essexboy, I hope your w204 is not on the forecourt because you were dissatisfied in any way

 

[Dieselman]

Liquidity.

http://www.mbclub.co.uk/forums/showthread.php?t=51496

 

[sylvester]

Ah sorry to have asked, feel a bit of an insensitive prune now. Major commiserations to Essexboy

 

[sylvester]

Firstly my thanks to everyone on the forum for your advice, that helped me select my first MB.

I received confirmation that the order had been placed with the dealer on the 4th June, with an estimated delivery date of late august, so not that bad really given other peoples experience of 12 weeks plus.
I had requested the factory collection option when placing the order (via my company not with the dealer), and decide to just chase that up this morning and see if I could amend the order to have the car debagged.
The dealer was not copied on the factory collection request but agreed to give MB a call and see what they could arrange. Now the really bad news MB said that they could not make arrangements within 4 weeks of the build date which was confirmed as the 4th July. Absolutely gutted that the cut of point was last Friday, my own fault though for not having made time to call earlier.

The brilliant news though is that the dealer expects to have the car ready for delivery around the 23rd of July, so an epic result on overall delivery time , just 7 weeks. My excitement level just ratcheted up another notch or two.
I guess that demand may be falling of or they have really got into the swing of things with the new models and resolved any prior component shortages. Whatever the reason its brilliant news.

Pity about the factory collection though, think I might just have to start planning an independent European trip, purely in the interests of running in of course J:bannana: