W213 SE Estate Delivery

[shane63]

Hi All,
I have just joined the forum after taking the step to get my first Mercedes. I have always had company cars and my current vehicle is a Jaguar XF.
However when my car was due for a change I decided to go for the new E Class estate.

As soon as the order book for the estate was opened (1st August 2016) I placed my order with the lease company (220d SE estate no optional extras apart from Selenite Grey).3 Days later I received the order conformation from the lease company with a delivery date of 25/11/16.

Three days before delivery I contacted the Lease Company to be told that the delivery would be delayed until 06/12/16 due to shipping delays from South Africa ( Left me a bit dubious as I believe the E class is still manufactured in Germany). But, so what 2 weeks will make no difference, again 3 days before delivery contacted the lease company to be told vehicle is not in UK stock and delivery will now be 19/12/16.

Again 3 days before delivery contacted the lease company, to be told vehicle has not landed at UK port but will be expected on 20/12/16. Due to Christmas my new delivery date will be 03/01/17. Tried contacting the lease company today, but my account handler is off until 03/01/17.

I am not sure if this is the lease company's fault or Mercedes Benz, but so far my experience is not one I expected from either party. My Jaguar XF was actually delivered two days early.

Has anyone else has this sort of experience with MB, or can you let me know of any similar experiences. So far this is taking a bit of shine off of the experience.

 

[shane63]

In addition to my previous post : Apologies firstly for the over use of experience !

To just add a bit of frustration I was in London a week before Christmas and parked outside my hotel was a 220 SE estate in black, had Mercedes Corporate branding on the number plates and was a licenced taxi !.

Does anyone know if Mercedes Leasing get priority in the ordre books !

prehaps the expectation of getting a quality vehicle is causing my patience to wear a little thin

 

[SamW]

Sounds like they've over promised and under delivered.

You would have been assigned a build slot/allocation from the factory early on, the car would've then been built and they can track it out the factory, on the boat, to the port and then to you.

The car must exist and any delays must be from the port. My guess is the lease company messing around but I'm cynical. Lease companies are notorious for messing around early on all the way through to this stage. In turn it then gives MB a bad press.

 

[shane63]

Hi Thanks for the reply.

Unfortunately going through a well known large multi national leasing company they are extremely reluctant to give me details of the dealership.

If I could get their details, I could at least get a straight story from someone. It would be nice to have confidence in a delivery date given to me, but at the moment I am sceptical on any information from the lease company.

 

[Maxi4]

Hi Shane63 - My experience ordering a GLA for my wife last year was nothing but positive. Ours got delivered ahead of schedule IIRC. Ordered end of Oct and delivered on 31/12/15. We were supposed to have taken delivery in Jan. We however ordered at my local dealership. Not sure how that works with leasing companies. Hope you get yours as planned on the 3rd without any more delays.

Best

Pete

 

[shane63]

Hi Pete,

Gets better, I have just contacted the lease company as I had heard nothing (Big Surprise That is ). My car is now due at the dealership on 31/01/17 !. I asked the lease company for more information and a situation update as to where the vehicle is in the supply chain.
If this date is correct it would appear that the car has not even been built yet, despite the fact that I have an email from the lease company (Dated 09/12/17) that the vehicle has been built, not yet in UK stock. But due at the UK port on 20/12/16. This is now the 4th delivery date I have been given, and every time I have had to chase them for an update.

I have now got the dealerships contact details and asked them for an update and present situation, between the two hopefully I will get a true status.
The frustrating thing is that I placed my order as soon as the order books opened for the estate for a standard 220d SE and in the past two weeks I have seen 3 on the road.

Looks like the shine is really coming off now, but maybe if the dealership comes back to me I might be able to see through the fog. For certain the lease company need a big lesson in customer service, if only to keep their customers updated.

Best

Shane

 

[Delayed Steve]

I ordered my c class coupe last Christmas, as soon as the dealer had one in, it was delivered six weeks later from Germany. Maybe it's the spec you've ordered, mine was the same spec as the demonstrator..
I've brought my car and ordered it locally. I would imagine leasing companies screw the price right down and maybe get pushed back by the dealer who can make more money off other customers.

 

[shane63]

Hi Steve,

Unfortunately due to a corporate agreement between my company and the leasing company all company cars have to be ordered through them, that does restrict me somewhat. It would not surprise me if I have been 'bumped' by the dealer. Having a delivery date missed three times does not bode well.

I ordered a standard spec 220d SE, with Selenite Grey paint, not too much off piste. I am certainly going to be making a few calls when the world gets back to work on 3rd January. Will not do much good I fear, but will certainly let the lease company know about their p*** poor customer service !

 

[shane63]

Right, latest update after an hour on the phone. Called the lease company, they said that the vehicle was delayed due to 'Transport Delays'. I said for 4 weeks!, yes they said it was down to the large numbers of orders Mercedes have received. Mmmmmmm ! does not ring true, so I asked them to find put exactly where my car is; at factory awaiting dispatch to port, at port ? etc. Because just remember you told me via e-mail in mid-December that my car is built and is in the transport system.
Then more interestingly the dealership who I contacted before the New Year got back to me. Well my vehicle is due at the dealership 31/01/17, but it is not due to be built until the end of this week. Mercedes allegedly have a huge backlog of orders for the E class and all deliveries are going to be delayed for the foreseeable future.

I was not really surprised, because I have got to the stage where I take everything I am told by the lease company with a big pinch of salt. Still the conversation I am going to have with my Account Holder at the lease company is going to be very interesting when he returns my phone call. (if he does)

 

[shane63]

Had a telephone call back from the lease company. Their story is; The car was completed just before the factory Christmas shut down but not dispatched to the port. The vehicle is now due at UK port on 18th January. the dealership has said to the lease company that they can deliver on 31st January. This date is giving them a bit of leeway after the PDI inspection.
So Dealership is saying vehicle will be built at end of this week, Lease Company is saying vehicle is built but not yet dispatched.

Well lets see what happens, but still no real confidence in getting new car by the end of January.

 

[Gene]

Had a telephone call back from the lease company. Their story is; The car was completed just before the factory Christmas shut down but not dispatched to the port. The vehicle is now due at UK port on 18th January. the dealership has said to the lease company that they can deliver on 31st January. This date is giving them a bit of leeway after the PDI inspection.
So Dealership is saying vehicle will be built at end of this week, Lease Company is saying vehicle is built but not yet dispatched.

Well lets see what happens, but still no real confidence in getting new car by the end of January.

It is a very sad state of affairs. This seems to be the trend at Mercedes Benz.
They appear not to be able to handle the demand they have stoked up.

 

[SamW]

I don't think this is an MB issue, I've had cars tracked from build slots right thru to seeing the transporter turn up outside the dealers!

MB will share this info and it has been wrongly communicated. The lease company need to share the 'build date', confirm its then left the factory and is now at the port etc.

It's daft of them to quote the delivery date to dealer, when it hasn't even gone in the factory yet and got a VIN number assigned.

For what it's worth, I think it's the lease company blaming the manufacturer.

Hopefully you'll get an accurate update soon!!

 

[shane63]

Not really sure who to believe. I think I have to take the most pessimistic view and take what the dealer has said.
Vehicle will be completed at the end of this week and with the dealership at the end of January.
That means, I should think that I will be getting delivery in February.
Not a good state of affairs, inaccurate information from both sides. I have a feeling that the lease company have been taking a flyer and making guestimates !. Unfortunately as I have said previously all of our company cars are obtained through this one leasing company.
Watch this space for updates as I get them (or not as the case may be !)

 

[Dippo]

Why not ask the dealer to send you a screen dump of the order?

 

[shane63]

Good Shout Thanks I will do that.

Best Regards

Shane

 

[shane63]

Update,

Thanks to Dippo's suggestion I appear to have had some sort of result. As he suggested i asked for a copy of the order. An hour after my request the copy turned up on my e-mail with notification that my car is now due in port on the 12th January and ready for delivery 8 working days after that. So it looks as if i may be getting my car before the end of January, lets hope so.

 

[sc3992]

Update, Thanks to Dippo's suggestion I appear to have had some sort of result. As he suggested i asked for a copy of the order. An hour after my request the copy turned up on my e-mail with notification that my car is now due in port on the 12th January and ready for delivery 8 working days after that. So it looks as if i may be getting my car before the end of January, lets hope so.

Sorry to hear of your delays and being messed about, it can take the shine off the delivery of a new car, if you can excuse the pun.......

 

[Delayed Steve]

Is this normal behaviour from leasing companies? My neighbour had a similar experience with BMW, he thought it was the dealer messing him about..

 

[shane63]

I don't think this is normal, I have always had company cars and they have always been leased by the company that was employing me. This is the first time that I have had this amount of delays. I have experienced one or two days, but was always kept informed. In this case I have always had to do the chasing, communication from the lease company has been poor in this instance. At first I was not sure if it was the dealer or the lease company, but am now convinced that the lease company is under performing (Or at least the individual at the lease company).

This is the 3rd company car I have had while with this company, first was delivered on time, second was 2 days early. I am now under the opinion that it is the person you are dealing with at the lease company. Since I was able to get the contact details of the dealership supplying the car they have responded to my queries very quickly. When I asked for a copy of the build order not only did they send me a copy of their order to Mercedes, but they also sent me a copy of the lease company's order to them.

So I know exactly what the lease company paid for the car, the discount they achieved was no where near what I thought it would be (A lot lower and very very close to what a strong negotiator could achieve if they were buying privately).

Now just counting the days down to my new car arrives !!! Only going to be around two months late

 

[sinewave]

Might as well postpone till 1st of March now and have a 17 Plate lol