spinaltap
Active Member
- Joined
- Dec 31, 2008
- Messages
- 299
- Location
- Chocolate-Central
- Car
- A180 Avantgarde (2009) A180 Avantgarde (2012)
After 13 years of largely trouble-free W169 Avantgarde ownership, we have chosen to replace it with a GLA 250e AMG Premium Line. I had tried in vain to persuade my Wife to buy an EQA instead, but she isn’t completely convinced by the technology. She wants the reassurance of ICE power.
Compared to last time we purchased, the buying process has changed for the worse. Then, all the dealerships seemed to be solely controlled by Mercedes rather than different third-party franchises. Then, our local dealer did not have the precise variant in our preferred colour. No problem: they simply swapped stock with another dealership. Not so, today. Our chosen Car was awaiting delivery at a rival/competing dealership in the neighbouring County. Even though the Car was awaiting a delivery date from Mercedes UK, my local dealer was not permitted to divert the delivery to my convenient local outlet.
It wasn’t enough to secure the Car online. We were required to unnecessarily visit the next County dealership to complete the initial paperwork. Even then, it wasn’t until we returned home that Mercedes UK sent the contract for us to sign via email. We will have to visit this very friendly and accommodating dealership again before we then take delivery of our new Car in 2 weeks time.
We chose the hybrid variant because it was £100 cheaper per month via PCP compared to the wholly ICE variant. That is, 0% APR compared to 5.9% APR. When we thought it wasn’t possible to source our chosen model brand-new, we looked at buying an ex-demonstrator model instead. I located a 5 month old GLA 250e AMG Premium Line with just 1,800 on the clock from another Mercedes dealership. Sadly, it’s 11.9% APR PCP would have resulted in twice the monthly expenditure compared to buying brand-new at 0% APR!
Back in the day, you could opt to buy whatever was on the Mercedes system, or identify a soon to be built model from the factory. Today, your choice is a rolling lottery of whatever model variant Mercedes decide to offer precise dealerships at a set price. There is no haggling to be had. The price is set in stone. You cannot even see any variants that might be in the pipeline.
I checked online daily/hourly. You have to act quick. Earlier in the week, I lost out on securing a GLA 250e AMG Executive because my preferred local sales agent was on his day off (not his fault). Two days later, 3 Premium Line variants appeared at 3 separate dealerships from across the country. 2 of them were located over 100 miles away. Between confirming that I wanted the Car online, and separately with an agent at the actual dealership, it was a nervous 2 hour wait before an actual sales representative returned my phone call to confirm that we had secured the vehicle.
Apparently, dealerships can’t get their hands on enough 250e variants. An hour after I had secured the Car, a further 2 potential customers had visited the showroom in a vain attempt to buy the same vehicle.
Compared to last time we purchased, the buying process has changed for the worse. Then, all the dealerships seemed to be solely controlled by Mercedes rather than different third-party franchises. Then, our local dealer did not have the precise variant in our preferred colour. No problem: they simply swapped stock with another dealership. Not so, today. Our chosen Car was awaiting delivery at a rival/competing dealership in the neighbouring County. Even though the Car was awaiting a delivery date from Mercedes UK, my local dealer was not permitted to divert the delivery to my convenient local outlet.
It wasn’t enough to secure the Car online. We were required to unnecessarily visit the next County dealership to complete the initial paperwork. Even then, it wasn’t until we returned home that Mercedes UK sent the contract for us to sign via email. We will have to visit this very friendly and accommodating dealership again before we then take delivery of our new Car in 2 weeks time.
We chose the hybrid variant because it was £100 cheaper per month via PCP compared to the wholly ICE variant. That is, 0% APR compared to 5.9% APR. When we thought it wasn’t possible to source our chosen model brand-new, we looked at buying an ex-demonstrator model instead. I located a 5 month old GLA 250e AMG Premium Line with just 1,800 on the clock from another Mercedes dealership. Sadly, it’s 11.9% APR PCP would have resulted in twice the monthly expenditure compared to buying brand-new at 0% APR!
Back in the day, you could opt to buy whatever was on the Mercedes system, or identify a soon to be built model from the factory. Today, your choice is a rolling lottery of whatever model variant Mercedes decide to offer precise dealerships at a set price. There is no haggling to be had. The price is set in stone. You cannot even see any variants that might be in the pipeline.
I checked online daily/hourly. You have to act quick. Earlier in the week, I lost out on securing a GLA 250e AMG Executive because my preferred local sales agent was on his day off (not his fault). Two days later, 3 Premium Line variants appeared at 3 separate dealerships from across the country. 2 of them were located over 100 miles away. Between confirming that I wanted the Car online, and separately with an agent at the actual dealership, it was a nervous 2 hour wait before an actual sales representative returned my phone call to confirm that we had secured the vehicle.
Apparently, dealerships can’t get their hands on enough 250e variants. An hour after I had secured the Car, a further 2 potential customers had visited the showroom in a vain attempt to buy the same vehicle.
