c350e - day to cancel or not

[Driver15]

Today is the day.. Need to give notice today if I am going to cancel..

At present i can't decide..

If I cancel I will not be able to reorder the car again.

My lease car will have all the merc connect me services disabled. Therefore preventing timed charging, pre heating , charge status etc

Car would be on a 4 year fully maintained lease.

Option to cancel, order something else, i.e., fully loaded skoda superb estate, passat Gt estate, new Audi A4, 3 series tpuring, 5er, or in fact any car playing Bik game.

My c350e car realistically will not arrive before the new year now following delivery etc. ordered in March.

Advantages if changing:-
May get a new car sooner
No hassle of ev charging without the right connect me tools.
Would go for a estate for max space
Could get a good spec other car
Could Order an another car a 2 or 3 year lease now rather than 4 which is appealing

Fact is, if I cancel I won't be in a c350e for a long time if ever...

What would you do???

ps.. when i ordered back in March (in good faith) car was due next week.

 

[Mrhanky]

I would cancel based on the derails of your post. Fancy the connect me being disabled!

 

[JBD]

Doesn't sound like it's the best lease company. I can't believe they would have the connect me services turned off.

 

[Driver15]

Doesn't sound like it's the best lease company. I can't believe they would have the connect me services turned off.

It's one of the biggest lease companies in the uk

The reason for disabling is the geo location services (data protection act / tracking) with the who is responsible for safe guarding the data stored and how it is used and with the car under a fully maintained contract with breakdown it's disabled to prevent the car noticing merc if breakdown / service etc.


Bonkers if you ask me

 

[Driver15]

It's one of the biggest lease companies in the uk

The reason for disabling is the geo location services (data protection act / tracking) with the who is responsible for safe guarding the data stored and how it is used and with the car under a fully maintained contract with breakdown it's disabled to prevent the car noticing merc if breakdown / service etc.


Bonkers if you ask me

This post from a member gives a good insight into the reasons companies are restricting data.

It might be that the use of the Connect Me feature will be blocked for many owners / keepers if these people don't get their way


Connected vehicles - driver and vehicle data | BVRLA

 

[stevehg]

At present i can't decide..

It's not exactly a hard decision, and I'm sure if you focus you can manage it on your own.

 

[Hatchie]

It's one of the biggest lease companies in the uk

The reason for disabling is the geo location services (data protection act / tracking) with the who is responsible for safe guarding the data stored and how it is used and with the car under a fully maintained contract with breakdown it's disabled to prevent the car noticing merc if breakdown / service etc.


Bonkers if you ask me

I do hope the company in question is not 3 letters and ends with an x, as that is who mine is with, I have asked but no reply as of yet.

I am in the same position ordered march , however car ETA has been brought forward (yep I know that's a 1st for a C350e) from Jan to November so I am going to sit tight and go for it.

Re pre heating etc I believe it can still be manually programmed via Command so worst case will have to use that.

Good luck

 

[harvin1975]

Hi Driver15.

You list a lot of advantages of cancelling/changing car. (Clearly the lead time of an alternative car would need to be factored in.)
You haven't listed any advantages of not cancelling.

However, sounds like there's teething problems with the new 350e and you cannot get the car imminently.
With that in mind I would cancel and order something you can get in sooner.

There's always something better round the corner. eg. If you're not getting your 350e until, let's say next March - you may start thinking about holding out for the new hybrid petrol e Class models due later in 2016. You need to draw the line somewhere.

 

[Driver15]

Hi Driver15.

You list a lot of advantages of cancelling/changing car. (Clearly the lead time of an alternative car would need to be factored in.)
You haven't listed any advantages of not cancelling.

However, sounds like there's teething problems with the new 350e and you cannot get the car imminently.
With that in mind I would cancel and order something you can get in sooner.

There's always something better round the corner. eg. If you're not getting your 350e until, let's say next March - you may start thinking about holding out for the new hybrid petrol e Class models due later in 2016. You need to draw the line somewhere.

Thanks - the problem is... will it arrive in Dec / Jan...

Every month which goes by is also costing me more cash as the 5% BIK rate is only this year so for every month i dont have it it add it to the term at the end on the higher 16 % rate.

The advantages of not cancelling are:-

Possbile Jan Delivery.
The car v other cars.
EV range - however without the preheat and set timers this could make it less convenient.
MPG on pure EV and cost savings.
Spec of car (rather dampened by no connectivity though)
280BHP

Would having Connect Me disabled also affect live mapping traffic updates ?

 

[Driver15]

It's not exactly a hard decision, and I'm sure if you focus you can manage it on your own.

Spending x amount of money and possibly not been happy is not a hard decision ?

 

[Hatchie]

Would having Connect Me disabled also affect live mapping traffic updates ?

That is a good point, as I use the traffic all the time , although on my current Command it works through the radio, hopefully same tech so not effected.

Are you able to say who the lease company is as it could effect a lot of us.

 

[350e]

Connectivity in vehicles is a fact of life. Any car you choose of a similar quality is likely, in fact most likely, to incorporate the technology. Again, you will have it disabled by the lease company for the reasons in the report that you have linked to by the BVRLA.
You said at the outset that disabling Connect Me was the trigger for cancelling so I am bound to ask what will you have achieved by withdrawing now ?

P.S.It might also cause Mercedes and all other makers revise software to enable partial disablement of some features.

 

[Driver15]

Connectivity in vehicles is a fact of life. Any car you choose of a similar quality is likely, in fact most likely, to incorporate the technology. Again, you will have it disabled by the lease company for the reasons in the report that you have linked to by the BVRLA.
You said at the outset that disabling Connect Me was the trigger for cancelling so I am bound to ask what will you have achieved by withdrawing now ?

There are other factors by disabling it though.. ie, preheating the car to get max EV range on cold mornings, setting up timers for charge cycles, checking charge % remotely, Remote online... all of which with a diesel are not required.

I wanted to do my full commute on EV only, but if getting into the car in winter i then need to use EV power from the outset, its going to impact the range.

Also, i would like to plug the car in and once on the drive and charge when my electric tariff is cheaper if im not going anywhere.. not just plug in and charge.

Just feel its a shame that a car packed with this tech is disabled.

 

[Driver15]

That is a good point, as I use the traffic all the time , although on my current Command it works through the radio, hopefully same tech so not effected.

Are you able to say who the lease company is as it could effect a lot of us.

I have been advised its an agreement between the lease company and company i work for but advised its common across most places.

I advise people check if they feel this would impact them.

 

[Driver15]

Far from a Merc... but this looks nice..

 

[Hatchie]

Far from a Merc... but this looks nice..

lead times are not much better, as my collages VRS took a year to arrive (nice car though)

 

[Driver15]

lead times are not much better, as my collages VRS took a year to arrive (nice car though)

quoting December on the new superb

 

[Bonecho]

But its a Skoda so it will have no street cred and you will have lost the respect of your neighbours.

 

[Driver15]

But its a Skoda so it will have no street cred and you will have lost the respect of your neighbors.

From a badge snob point of view correct, but things have change, its like a Passat... plus 190 bhp 400 Nm not bad.

#limbo

 

[350e]

Yes very nice but will you be allowed this ?
SmartGate Connectivity - ?KODA