Awaiting delivery/collection

[Koi]

Hi all, My new C320 CDI has been on order since October & I still haven't got a date when it will be delivered... or when I can collect it (which I am very interested in doing).
When I placed the order I was told Jan 1st to Jan 21st delivery, a few weeks ago I was informed it has slipped to Feb 1st, possibly as late as Feb 8th.
Now I'm being told Mar 11th if I collect it & possibly later!

Are these delays normal?

Can't wait to get it, hence this is a frustrating time for me. Can't even book the time off work to collect it without a firm date.

Has anyone got any really good routes back from Stuttgart they could recommend, with some interesing places to visit or stay along the way?

Finally (for now) is there an auto remote garage door opener than can be fitted to the new C class?

 

[whitenemesis]

Auto remote? Yes!

I feel for you, it must be frustrating....

There have been many posts regarding delays, apparently MB are having problems with supplies of certain options.

You could do worse than challenge your dealer for some extras on the car for your inconvenience

 

[st13phil]

I sympathise with your frustrations. As whitenemesis says, MB are struggling to keep up with demand for the new W204 and many customers are suffering extended delivery delays. Indeed, I ordered my own C220cdi at the beginning of September and finally collected it on 17th Jan from Stuttgart. All I can say is that now I have the car it was worth the wait!

If you're interested in Factory Collection, I wrote up my experience and posted it here. In terms of routes back/places to visit, if you give me a few clues as to how long you want to spend getting home and what sort of things interest you then I may be able to offer some suggestions. One thing to bear in mind is that unless you make special arrangements through MB Personal Collection (and I don't know if this incurs extra cost), the car has to be back at your supplying dealership in the UK on the 4th day after you collect it from Stuttgart.

 

[jon cash]

As st13phil has said there is a considerable waiting period for the new W204 especially diesel models, also there is delays with sports models, when the 204 was launched i ordered a sport and it took nearly seven months to arrive, the wait is up to 4 months now for petrol and 5 months for Diesel

 

[verytalldave]

Oh how I would love a new W204............

But sense and sensability kick in and I would cringe at the depreciation in the first 2-3 years..............

All I have to do is wait about another 2 years or so........

 

[Koi]

Auto remote? Yes!

Where would I purchase the auto remote from? My dealer says Mercedes don't sell one for the C class.

If you're interested in Factory Collection, I wrote up my experience and posted it here. In terms of routes back/places to visit, if you give me a few clues as to how long you want to spend getting home and what sort of things interest you then I may be able to offer some suggestions. One thing to bear in mind is that unless you make special arrangements through MB Personal Collection (and I don't know if this incurs extra cost), the car has to be back at your supplying dealership in the UK on the 4th day after you collect it from Stuttgart.

We've already read it thanks.... great write-up, added to our desire to collect!
We will probably try to arrange something similar to what you did, i.e. book the flights ourself. Then have 2 nights hotel accomodation on Mercedes, either at the same hotel in Stuttgart or just one night there and the second night somewhere on the way home.

Ideally, my partner & myself would fly out on Tuesday, look around the museum once we had settled in (assuming flight times are early enough to enable this), look around the factory on Wednesday morning & collect the car late morning/early afternoon. This will then allow us to immediately try the car out whilst heading towards home.

Brussels & Brugge look interesting, Strasbourg & Charleroi too. We obviously can't go everywhere we would like to in 4 or 5 days but it would be nice to travel on some good roads, experience some nice scenery (we love mountain & lake views) & get the chance to wander around one or two quaint/picturesque towns or cities, either as a brief stop enroute or where we stay overnight.

We would want to be home (Bolton) by Saturday lunchtime(ish), so would need to be spending our last night somewhere close to Calais (probably on the UK side of the channel).

As st13phil has said there is a considerable waiting period for the new W204 especially diesel models, also there is delays with sports models, when the 204 was launched i ordered a sport and it took nearly seven months to arrive, the wait is up to 4 months now for petrol and 5 months for Diesel

I've ordered the Elegance, so hopefully the delays won't be as bad as they could have been!

Oh how I would love a new W204............

But sense and sensability kick in and I would cringe at the depreciation in the first 2-3 years..............

All I have to do is wait about another 2 years or so........

Yes, I know what you mean, I'm currently trying to sell my Mazda RX8, which I paid £27k for nearly 3 years ago, & I'm struggling to get £12k for it now.
In order to mitigate the losses on the Merc. I plan to keep it for 10 years.
The most I've ever had a car before is 4 years & usually it's 3 or less, but I've now come to realise that I've been painstakingly looking after all my cars for someone else to benefit from... i.e. well looked after car, not high mileage & half the price!

 

[NewMB]

I did the factory collection as well. Although from Bremen as mine (the C Class Estate) are produced there.

Brilliant experience and great service.

I got lucky and where the only one doing the english tour of the factory.... done by an Irish guy!! Also got to see some areas not normally included in the tour.

 

[st13phil]

Being in Bolton, I’m guessing that you’d want to fly from Manchester? Unfortunately, that could put a fly in the ointment regarding a Museum visit on the Tuesday because there don’t seem to be any direct flights MAN->STR. I made a quick check and it looks like even an early morning indirect flight out of Manchester won’t get you to Stuttgart until mid/late afternoon and so makes a museum visit impossible that day. One alternative would be to stay somewhere near Heathrow on the Monday night and get the 07:10 BA flight like we did and then the museum visit on the Tuesday is easily doable; another would be to travel out on the Tuesday from MAN, spend two nights in Stuttgart, having the factory tour and collection on Wednesday morning followed by a museum visit in the afternoon.

As far as routes back are concerned, your options will largely depend upon whether you’re going to come back on the Shuttle and drive home from Folkestone (approx 5hrs driving time) or perhaps get an overnight ferry from Rotterdam to Hull?

Assuming you’re coming back via the Shuttle then my advice would be to stay in France on the Friday night – I can recommend a good Logis de France hotel in St-Omer which is about 45 mins for the Shuttle terminal – as it’s both cheaper and more pleasant than places on the UK side. It also has the advantage that you gain an hour as you cross the channel, so if you caught an early morning train you could be almost at Birmingham by 11:00am.

If you like lakes and mountains then I’d suggest heading for the Vosges / Alsace region across the border in France, but you'll need to check the weather for the mountains in March, because the last thing you need is to get snowed in! From Stuttgart follow the motorway network to Strasbourg and then head southwest for about 20 miles and you’ll be in some fantastic countryside with chocolate-box pretty villages and fantastic roads. Strasbourg itself has plenty of sights but is popular and can be quite congested. Just about any of the Col’s are a hoot to drive (get yourself a large scale Michelin map!) and the castle at Haut Koenigsbourg near St. Hippolyte is very picturesque and worth a visit. You can pick just about any of the small hotels in the region for a comfortable stay, but if you fancy staying in a town then Colmar is pleasant enough, with good hotels and enough sights (including Petite Venice) to keep you occupied for an evening.

From that area I’d either head towards Nancy and pick up the motorway network (Metz/Reims/Arras), or if you fancy a cross-country drive then take D- and N-roads via Epinal and Neufchateau to Bar-le-Duc, and then either head north to Verdun on the Voie Sacré (the N35 or NVS on maps) and pick up the motorway there, or continue on the D-roads skirting north of Chalons-en-Champagne and pick up the motorway just outside south-east of Reims. If you have the time and do decide to go via Verdun the Cemetery and Ossuaire at Douaumont (just north of Verdun) is one of the most moving places I’ve ever visited.

No doubt others have suggestions too, but that’s mine!

 

[Koi]

Thanks for the advice Phil, I think your right about the flight times... no biggy, we'll just stay 2 nights in Stuttgart.
I'll study your suggested route, sounds very interesting, & I'll let you know the route we end up on.

It would be nice to return via Hull, to save having to travel the M1/M6 or A1, but I guess the cost is much dearer than the Shuttle.

Was confused about your train to Birmingahm line.... how's my lovely new car going to get home?

Cheers.

 

[David Nock]

Thanks for the extensive information Phil, it's woken me up to what's possible if you collect. I'll probably be raising the issue again in a year or so when we're ready.

 

[st13phil]

Thanks for the advice Phil, I think your right about the flight times... no biggy, we'll just stay 2 nights in Stuttgart.
I'll study your suggested route, sounds very interesting, & I'll let you know the route we end up on.

It would be nice to return via Hull, to save having to travel the M1/M6 or A1, but I guess the cost is much dearer than the Shuttle.

Don't forget that the additional cost of the ferry may be partially or totally offset by the reduction in diesel used from Hull to Bolton rather than the journey up from the south-east (both Rotterdam and Calais are similar distances from Stuttgart), the reduction in road tolls because you won't be using the French Autoroutes and the biggie: you won't need the Friday night's accomodation in France. Why not give MB Personal Collection in Milton-Keynes a ring? They obviously get "deals" from the hotels, ferry companies and the Shuttle, so they should be able to give you a pretty good indication of the relative costs.

Whichever way you do decide to go I'm sure you'll have a fantastic time, and be sure to let us all know how the trip went once you're home.

 

[st13phil]

Thanks for the extensive information Phil, it's woken me up to what's possible if you collect. I'll probably be raising the issue again in a year or so when we're ready.

Glad to have stirred your interest. As I've said to others before, if you can spare the time then I can't think of a better way to start your ownership of a new Mercedes-Benz.

 

[David Nock]

Glad to have stirred your interest. As I've said to others before, if you can spare the time then I can't think of a better way to start your ownership of a new Mercedes-Benz.

Retired.... so time is nothing.
I really, really want to see inside that factory but In truth I'm nervous(?, no better to say I'm more alert), to the fact that I've never driven before in Europe.
Your article has made me realise that I DO want to have a go at this trip before I become decrepit.
Also I'm still a supreme navigator at home, having spent my working life driving everywhere, but never abroad, so I might be asking you for some route planning guidance next year.

 

[st13phil]

David, I remember how daunting it was for me the first time I drove (well, rode actually - it was on a motorcycle) in continental Europe. As with most things though, the imagined problems of doing it far outweighs the reality and now it comes very naturally to me. Over the last 15 years I reckon I've probably ridden a motorcycle more than 40,000 miles on continental European roads, but have driven a car there probably no more than a couple of thousand miles. Most (but not all) driving regulations in western Europe are very similar to our own, and in France especially - outside the big conurbations like Paris and Lyon obviously - traffic levels are so light by UK standards that driving is a real pleasure.

If you want to go and pick up your next Mercedes from Stuttgart in 2009 then you have plenty of time to get some practice in with perhaps a couple of short trips across the channel to France or Belgium. That way you'll get a feel for driving and navigating over there without worrying about your new car at the same time! If you want any advice on route planning or ideas for short trips then feel free to give me a shout. I'll be pleased to help.

 

[Koi]

Spoke to the collection centre today... the completion date has moved FORWARD! to the last but one estimate (28th Feb.).

Funny, but it will now be difficult for me to arrange (work commitments, etc.) before the last estimate (10th/11th March).

I mentioned to the lady that we will probably want to book the flights ourselves & would there be anything from Mercedes in lieu? The lady said NO, we only offer the one package! Hmmmmm, I said I have heard of people who have done this. She said it might have been arranged through the travel agent.... which we would turn a blind eye to.

Help!

 

[st13phil]

Spoke to the collection centre today... the completion date has moved FORWARD! to the last but one estimate (28th Feb.).

Funny, but it will now be difficult for me to arrange (work commitments, etc.) before the last estimate (10th/11th March).

A similar thing happened to me with the completion date moving forward at the last minute and like you I then had other commitments so had to go slightly later.

I mentioned to the lady that we will probably want to book the flights ourselves & would there be anything from Mercedes in lieu? The lady said NO, we only offer the one package! Hmmmmm, I said I have heard of people who have done this. She said it might have been arranged through the travel agent.... which we would turn a blind eye to.

Help!

I don't have details with me of the name of the lady who I dealt with at MB Personal Collection but will look it up tonight and PM it to you (it's not fair to post it on an open forum).