C350e anyone considering one?

[Driver15]

Don't panic. I ordered a C350e in April and was told delivery should be expected late July / August. I was then told, accompanied with a big apology, that I should now expect delivery late September early October.
I have no reason to expect that date to change. I asked the dealer if he was aware of the reason for the delay and he replied no, we are not told

Ordered Mid march - due late July / August ..... then Sept, .. pushed back further now due Dec.

Was advised they wont my many C350e around till end year in the uk.

Good luck

 

[JBD]

cool.. question for you JBD, Do you know it is taking them so long though? Surely they expected high demand and forecasted this when launching the car ? Is it the same with all new models to market do you know ?

Have there been any techincal memos detailing reasons rather than just factory stock.

Thanks

That's all it is. I was told that they purposefully made less in the first year, God knows why. I just hope they increase production enough

 

[Driver15]

I would try and wait for the C350e, the interior on it makes it worth it alone.

I have been looking at used MLs and maybe a new GLE, however, the new GLC has the C interior and that is making me think as it is so much nicer than even Mercedes own big brother.

what I am saying next is something that concerns the GLC but probably the C350e too?

If the GLC 350e was available I would order now, but that has been pushed back and is now said to be up to 18 months away.
This would be OK, but the new £40,000 tax limits will make it a strange choice, probably better to just order a GLC 250d instead.

I think Mercedes are going to have to have a serious rethink on these option packages too, keep them, but they need to allow you to spec individual items again.

On the GLE Sport I would choose Harman Kardon, ambient lighting and that is it, maybe comand (it comes with Garmin Nav as standard on the sport).

Problem is if I want ambient lighting I have to have prem plus with Pano roof (really don't want pano roof again) and all sorts of other options I am not interested in for £3000.
This pushes the car to £41k!

This would make it £450 a year to tax, if I could just choose ambient lighting (£300) the Harman (£600) Comand (around £1200 as a premium over the basic nav) it would be around £39,800 and would make it £150 year.

Not so worried about it myself, but in 4 years time when I sell it and get probably £16k for it will that buyer be happy paying £450 a year on car tax?


Probably not an issue anyway, as there is not GLC 350e in the UK yet and probably won't be before the new £40k tax limit either, so it might be the 250d and order now.

Regarding the ved, it's only going to be at the higher price for 5 years and then drop to £140, so if you sell at 4 years old, just expect the price of the car to sell for £450 less than the asking price

 

[gIzzE]

But if you sell at 2 years, or 3 years, will someone think "Oooh, panoramic roof on that one, that is worth another £1020 in tax over the next 3 years over that one without the pano roof"??

I think it is going to put loads of people off.

 

[350e]

Isn't it the case that manufacturers list price is used for calculating the proposed higher VED charge ? Similar in fact to the rules relating to BIK ?

 

[gIzzE]

Yeah.

My point is, Mercedes have gone from an A La Carté menu for options to making you choose packages recently, USA style.

This is in theory good for residuals as a car with Premium Plus will be worth more than a basic car come resale, however...getting £4000 worth of options in a package for £3000 sounds good, but if it pushed the car over the £40k threshold and there is only £1800 worth of options you actually want in that package it makes it all a bit pointless.

You end up paying an extra £1700 in tax over the next 5 years.

 

[gIzzE]

Just add, it made perfect sense before the budget, however, they now need to relook at it.

Not being able to add individual options that the buyer think are essential, is just dumb.

 

[350e]

So are you saying that the options if added takes the invoice, as opposed to the list price, over £40000 and the new rules apply ?

 

[Driver15]

i know we are going off topic.... but..

Is this going to go on the RRP or the price paid as the RRP is totally different to the price paid figure....

Is so.. how is this going to be managed with the DVLA correctly ?

 

[gIzzE]

So are you saying that the options if added takes the invoice, as opposed to the list price, over £40000 and the new rules apply ?

Yep!

 

[gIzzE]

i know we are going off topic.... but..

Is this going to go on the RRP or the price paid as the RRP is totally different to the price paid figure....

Is so.. how is this going to be managed with the DVLA correctly ?

It is by manufacturers list price.

It is ****e!!

Mercedes will happily give 10% off, and many get closer to 20% off, hopefully we will end up with no discounts but reduced list prices in the future.

 

[350e]

It is by manufacturers list price.

It is ****e!!

Mercedes will happily give 10% off, and many get closer to 20% off, hopefully we will end up with no discounts but reduced list prices in the future.

The list price, the relevant number for VED rules and BIK, is £39,470.00 so there is a little headroom before the dreaded £40,000

 

[gIzzE]

The list price, the relevant number for VED rules and BIK, is £39,470.00 so there is a little headroom before the dreaded £40,000

Exactly, but with many getting £5k off they would be better to list it at £36k with no discount available going forward.

 

[350e]

Discount or Grant ?

 

[gIzzE]

Discount.

You can still get it now if you shop around, but they can't guarantee you will get the grant too, so it is a bit of a gamble.

Coast2coastcars......

Mercedes C-Class Estate ESTATE C350e Sport Premium Plus 5dr Auto

Basic Price £35,158.33

Discount £4,219.00

Sub Total £30,939.33
Manufacturer's Delivery Cost £512.50
VAT £6,290.37

Road Fund Licence (12 months) £0.00

First Registration Fee £55.00

ON THE ROAD PRICE £37,797.20

TOTAL SAVING £5,062.80

 

[famousgrouse]

I take my hat off to anyone wanting to order one now, I wouldn't..! Too many unknowns in my opinion with availability, grant money and so forth.

I ordered in late April, due end November as it stands. It was originally going to be latest October when I placed it.

Can't quite believe it's been on order 3 months and not even halfway yet, cripes!

Provided it doesn't slip any further (it hasn't in the last 6 weeks) that's fine- as it fits in with when mine goes.

I try to be the eternal optimist, that there'll be a sudden surge in production and everyone will be happy. I'll keep wishing...

 

[Driver15]

Makes me wonder why orders with later order date than me / others still have a due date before me / others.... luck of the draw i guess, ear marked stock, guess maybe if i would not of chased my due date it would of still said Sept! lol !!

 

[Driver15]

Right... heres a question....

C350e Range on pure EV.

What is the ideal speed and conditions to get the max EV range ?

Just thinking as mine is arriving in winter now..... Headlights on, heaters on, radio on, phone charger, wipers on, heated rear window and mirrors, busy morning slow stop start traffic, uphill... what sort of range are we talking...... ???? if its less than 50% i will cancelling ! lol !

With a flat EV batterty and 1.8 ton, i bet the car wont see 20mpg in them conditions...

Agree or disagree ?

 

[famousgrouse]

As I understand it, dealers were given a certain amount of allocation. So down to how many orders they took before they could mark the order to their allocation when they got it.
Of course, it could be total misinformation, there appears plenty of that around...!


Ideal conditions? Check the EU test cycle. That's what you need to do to (in theory) achieve what they say!
In reality, it's unlikely I'd imagine to ever have zero charge for any length of time. As you'll be charging every time you brake, and of course for every hill you go up, you'll be coming down again.
Things like preheating/cooling the car while plugged in would help a lot too.
Although yes, there's a lot of extra weight, it's still a decent powered petrol engine under the bonnet so I'm sure it'll do a lot better than you're guessing, unless you have an exceptionally heavy right foot.

 

[Moe']

Delivery time

Afternoon all

So today I've bitten the bullet and ordered C350e Saloon Premium Plus in brilliant blue as a company car.

I've been given an indicative delivery date of March 2016!

Still, compared to what other options on our car list, this seems to tick all the boxes, couldn't face getting out of my BMW 335d MSport (privately owned) and stepping in to any thing else that was offered to me on the list (purely based on the engines and spec offered to me and my heavy right foot).


Not driven/owned a Merc before, but been very impressed with my friends C250 AMG line.

Just hope it's worth the wait and I don't get too screwed by the tax changes!