I was hoping to understand how others are being treated by their sales folks at their Mercedes dealership. For me, I've been on the waiting list for the SLK 350 since early March. My sales guy refuses to tell me where I am on the list, he tells me little information when I've asked him about the car, he laughed at me when I told him others had their order in Netstar a couple of weeks ago (didn't believe me) and I get the overall impression that he's doing me the favor of talking to me. I've only talked to the guy three times since March so it isn't like I'm calling him everyday.
I know that I'm like everyone else in the US who is anxiously awaiting the launch date but I expected a little higher standard of treatment from MB.
My main question is whether or not the dealers are disclosing your place on the list and if this sort of question dodging/vagueness is standard operating procedure for a new vehicle (or SOP for MB in general)
In the morning I plan to call the Dallas dealership to see what their waiting list is like. I doubt theirs will be better than the Fort Worth dealership (especially one month to launch) but who knows.
I have found that the sales experience varies from dealer to dealer and from salesperson to salesperson in the same MB dealership. My current salesman is fairly cooperative. I started out 2nd on the waiting list, and when the first customer bought a BMW instead I was advised that I moved up to the first slot. My Netstar record was created on 21-Apr-2004 and I received a copy of it in the mail. Of course, this turned out to not have much value since Ohio dealers are way down the list when it came to the first wave of allocations for cars bound for the US.
In a few days (11-Aug) I expect to get a full report (except pricing) on the status of my order and a good estimate of the delivery date for a Launch Edition which currently stands at 10-Sep. The second round of dealer allocations is supposed to occur on 11-Aug.
Wow fgwinn, that's awesome and what I would expect. The salesperson is the internet sales manager so it would be nice if I were to receive updates from time to time even if it were through email.
Hoss96, sorry to hear about your uncooperative dealer. Your dealer seems to be the worse kind anyone can have... I can understand when a dealer is uninformative when there isn't much information on this car to pass yet but in my opinion, they at least owe it to you as a customer who has invested their own hard-earned money in the form of a deposit, disclosure of where you stand in the waiting game. Sounds like shady business going on at your dealership unfortunately. I would assume the only reason they (or any dealer) would not disclose such information is if they recognize the demand for this new model release and have "evil" intentions on capitalizing on it for their own profit at the expense of the customers. Or perhaps, you are so far down the list that they're trying to avoid telling you that for fear that you will turn around and go elsewhere. Shady business.
I have had the misfortune of having to deal with that kind of crap with several dealers in my area. Like fgwinn said, it varies from dealer to dealer and salesperson to salesperson. However, I for one will not stand for this kind of thing. The minute I sense any dealer dishonesty, or anything less than courteous service and mutual respect, I am out the door so fast that I will not even hear another BS sentence come out of their mouths. It took 3 visits to other MB dealers until I came to settle with one I like. So far, I am #1 on the list for a 55, my Netstar printout has been mailed to me, and my salesperson calls me once a week every tuesday to say hello whether or not there is any new information to pass. Nice guy... seems more excited about the arrival of my car than even I am (if that's even possible).
I am near Pittsburgh PA and I have talked to 2 different dealers. One made me feel like I was at Walmart (no offense intended) and acted like I should just "give me the cash, if you order today, you will be number 36 and shut up" and that was the begining of July. The one that I ended up going to is very nice, they don't have alot of info yet, but I WAS 4th on the list, one cancelled and now I am 3rd, for an SLK 350.
This allocation thing has me confused though, what that means is a mystery to me. The dealer I am with also spoke in Mercedes speak on the "third decade of August" issue of build dates.
I have no Netstar printout or anything, but I do trust this dealer and they are very, very nice.
Just to let yall know- most dealers do not know yet when they are getting theirs. As of right now- I do not know how many we are getting- MB sent us a letter in early spring saying that they will base how many units are allocated depending on how many 04's sold. So dealers that sold more 04 SLK's will get more 05's. As far as having people from out of my area come to me to buy...well MB has some rules that pertain to that. One is I have a 100 mile radius I can sell to. I can not sell more than 30% of my inventory/allocation outside of that. If I do, it will hurt future allocation of that vehicle. AS of right now- we have 3 in line. I'm starting to tell most of my customer that it may be the first of 2005 before they see any. That's me being realistic with my customers. Hoss, I'm very sorry for the way your salesperson is treating you. If you feel you can get better service, there is nothing wrong with asking for another sales person. But keep in mind- there is a lot we do not know- and even some info i share get's changed. I will do my best to keep this group informed on any updates I hear of. Before you get totally ticked at your sales person- give him a chance. He might be new, or not as in the know as I am (if there is such a thing) If you do wish to still talk to me. You can call me at my dealership 850-432-9903 is my number ext 247.
I just got a call today from my salesperson...MB pulled my order and it is being built as we speak (proverbially of course - I doubt they are working on saturday). He told me it will take longer to ship it than to build so I shouldn't expect to see it until mid to end of september...
slk350cjl - Could you post your VIN #? It would be interesting to compare it to others who are being advised of present production as they are likely in sequence.
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