Ordered... and now wait...

Jamesmflint19 said:

So, we finally ordered an EQC this week.
We had a test drive for 5 days earlier in the month, and whilst there was a few things we weren't keen on - in particular the running boards! - we enjoyed it enough to go ahead. Ordered this week and just got an expected delivery date...... 31st March 2022!!!! 😫😬😩
I expected a reasonable wait, but certainly didn't expect 7 months!! Thought they'd got through a lot of the earlier long waits. Ah well.

Order is the AMG Line Prem Plus in Cavansite Blue with the Driver Ass. package. Just got to wait it out now I guess!

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That is a long wait.We ordered on 20th April and the car was expected 24th July the normal sort of time delay on our other cars in the past, though the current e class was delayed by 3mths due to the WLTP changes in 2018. EQC has now been built and on its way to us probably around the end of this week ( they come in by train to a central point and then out to the dealers I assume on car transporter though I rarely see any of any make at all) but I am too busy next week to take delivery. Also AMG premium plus and towbar but the awful running boards are thankfully an optional extra here so we will not have to suffer them stupid things which just get in the way and make your clothes dirty and access more difficult. A wonderful example of style over substance. My dealer says the car has all the extras in the package inc the LTE module which some cars are being delivered without for later installation. I will report back once I actually have the car to confirm if it has been downgraded in anyway. I will not be happy at all if anything is missing as it feels like a downgrade from the e class anyway despite its hefty price tag.

I cannot fault my garage. I have been dealing with them since we arrived in France 13yrs ago when I got them to change the number plate on my UK car and even then the service was excellent with them washing the car and charging just the cost of the plaque. There is only one dealership in my Dept (county) and any competition is a minimum of double the distance. When my e class was ordered and delayed they gave me a c class saloon free of charge until the e arrived ( I had upgraded from a c class estate to the e). The test drive for the EQC was over a few days and they had to bring one in from a branch about 150km all done with no drama. Sadly someone hit the rear of the e class when it was just a month old causing a small crack in the bumper they repaired it well but about 18mths after the top coat blistered after some bird droppings got on it but they redid it no questions. The deal was also good and I have always felt fairly treated in any negotiation a win win situation without the usual posturing and game playing of having to talk to my boss etc etc all far more upfront and straightforward. Overall the garage are looking for long term relationships something the french value highly and will maintain so it is another win win. Sorry to hear you canclled but understand why. If the car is fully loaded as hoped makes me wonder if there is some sort of priority sytem going on.

Keentraveller said:

We ordered ours with the same specifications as you. The order was placed with MB dealer on 4th May due to delays by the lease company. Initial delivery estimate was mid-July which kept changing through the months. It has now been pushed back to mid-October but MB have cancelled the augmented reality navigation, wireless charging and energising comfort options due to the global chip shortage. I’m not fussed about the energising comfort but I’m not happy about the removal of the other two options which were built into the PP package.

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Had exactly the same issue…

My wife ordered a new EQC in the first week of April through a work salary sacrifice scheme with Zenith being the provider in conjunction with MB leasing. AMG Premium Line Plus (Black with Black). Estimated delivery time was stated as 15 weeks. A month in she received an email to say that delivery had slipped to September. Subsequent emails have moved that back to ‘Early’ October and more recently ‘Late’ October.

We also had notification a few weeks ago about the exact same missing Augmented Reality Navigation, Wireless Charging and Energising Comfort Options. After an initial reluctance to do anything other than charge her the same monthly amount despite the ongoing delays and missing options, they have now agreed to a gesture of good will payment and a half decent Increase in the monthly mileage allowance.

We are however still extremely frustrated by the delay to the vehicles delivery ( ‘Late October’ will have been 30 weeks! ) and are just waiting for the inevitable email saying it will now be November…

Goes without saying that if we had known it was going to take this long she would not have ordered the car.

Interesting as I ordered mine on the 20th April also AMG premium line in selenite grey. Car was delivered to me 15th Sept 6 weeks late only the augmented reality is temp missing, the camera is there hut no chip and I have been told it will be upgraded when possible so it has not been removed. The phone charger and energising comfort options are also in place. The UN R79 amendments are in place so it will not parallel park or actively change lane in cruise but will still park forwards or backward into car parking spaces, think it might identitfy parallel parking spaces but then you use the camera to manouvere in not sure as I have never used it in this car or the e class estate before. I hate to say this in the rather difficult times we are seeing in the UK but I do wonder if the UK is seeing a delay in orders not only from the chip shortage but also due to import problems mind you things from the EU are not being checked as they cross the UK border but it does not mean there are not difficulties in the supply chain somewhere. Hope you are not left waiting too much longer but it seems right across the piece there are delays. People waiting for Hyundai for example are also reporting long delays inc those waiting for replacement of failed batteries!

Ordered EQC in November 2020. The estimation was for May 2021 during negotiations, but before the signature the contract date was shifted to mid summer 2021. Now I got the info that perhaps I will finally get it in October 2021. One year wait time. As a person with MBA in marketing , I do not understand why MB do not raise prices a bit just to keep wait lines a bit shorter, and use the extra money to get the missing parts earlier, so they can sell more cars.
UPDATE: got it in September 2021. With all components fully functioning. I was happy to get it complete after 11 months - better than getting earlier without some parts. Quality is amazing, it was worth the wait. My advice is just to order well in advance, as the main payment is anyway after delivery, and I realized that I paid noticeably less than current pricing (they listened to my advice and prices went up over 11 month wait time). Overall, I understand the semiconductor supply difficulties, and care/keeping me up with information from local dealer was great. Supply problems do not seem to end soon, prices will go up, so order 9-12 months earlier than you need it, and then get it with current pricing fixed.

They are indeed brand new cars ie they are out of the factory and unused and unregistered, there is no sell by date on cars than moves them into a different category when the time has expired only whether they have been regsitered and until that happens they are deemed brand new.
I do not agree with your cynicism. There is a global shortage of semi conductors well documented affecting all manufacturers of anything using semi conductors and particuarly the motor industry. I read yesterday about Opel who are closing one of their factories until 2022 yes 22, Germany: Opel plant to shut over global chip shortage | DW | 30.09.2021
so it is not an issue of mercedes selling cars and then deliberately reducing specifications to pocket the money as you suggest. The amount of goodwill they are loosing with individual customers is enourmous and even though all manufacturers are struggling and all will be loosing goodwill in individual cases no manufacturer wishes to alienate a customer who if satisfied may return to buy another car or become like me a regular reliable source of income (I am on my 4th car). There is lost opportunity cost in that customer not returning and then finding an alternative manufacturer with whom they become the perfect customer.
Am I disappointed with my car on delivery yes of course I am, I am not happy it will need to go back and have probably not much more than a connector replaced, both for the time it will take going there and comng back but also the fact it will need some dismantling but that is based on irrational emotional obsession about having an untouched “new” car so many of us on these type of forums suffer from. Do I fear the car will be full of squeaks and rattles after no. I am aware of how well the car is engineered and is designed to be capable of being dismantled and rebuilt. My concern is more about small marks made by a less than careful technician but every time my cars have gone in for something they have never been returned than in less than a perfect state (acc damage to the side of one incl the replacement of the rear door neccisitating the stripping of the original door card etc and swapping over to the new and replacement of the wing mirror to the front exisiting door and a bumper repair to another). The camera for MBUX augmented reality is in situ so it is merely the connection and I wonder if it really is a simple bus type connector between the camera and the wiring harness feeding into the main computer harness, but I will research.
I am happy that the 200 was put on the table with no prompting from me simply as the car does not have all that was specified on delivery we wish to give you some compensation. Once MBUX augmented reality is working all I have lost is the automated parallel parking (it still identifies spaces and guides you) which I have never used in my previous cars and the automatic lane change which was ok but I can live without it.
Clearly Mercedes needs to have retail as well as fleet customers and it is not unreasonable that they well share out supply between them as they feel they need to. Mercedes lease too so it is possible for a customer who may use a lease company to approach Mercedes direct and see if they can offer a deal which meets the customers needs from the on line showroom stock.
So the situation at the moment is a mess but to say Mercedes are keeping their share price high and deliberately charging for things they are not delivering is not true. On the french and UK sites there are clear statements that not all options are now available. Did they got caught out yes and it is that mess they are trying to sort out with differing levels of success plus delivery times are now getting longer and longer. But the things not working in my car are just part of several items in a package not expensive one off like apple car play is here in france - if that had not worked I would have just asked for my 450 euro back!
I hope you enjoy the mach 2. It is a shame that this time it has not worked with mercedes maybe once all this mess is sorted and a normality returns you can try again. Re the dealership it does seem to be a big issue all round in the UK and not just mercedes go over to Speak EV and look up the view of people with Hyundai’s and their dealer issues - plus cars being taken to a site in Tilbury to wait for new batteries with waiting times of months!