4x4 funny business

In our age of instant communication, I can not understand why there is such confusion and lack of information regarding the delivery of a 4x4 van. Who does MBZ hire to get their product from the loading dock to the dealer? Are they at all literate? Incapable of letting the dealer know where they are with the delivery? Or, are there so many defects once delivered to USA that an army of mechanics must converge on the van to fix everything wrong before it is delivered to the dealer? Is it a problem with the dealer when they say you should have your van by tomorrow and it doesn't happen (3x)? Are the dealers at the mercy of the delivery truck driver? Come on Mercedes-Benz, my ancestors worked at Daimler-Benz in Stuttgart for generations. This is an insult.

I was feeling the same way as I was waiting for my 4x4 as well. Dealer didn't have a clue when or where. It didn't seem right in our age of technology, but I got to thinking about it and what happened to patience? I/we have become so use to instant gratification and have spread the expectation so deeply into our lives that we become twitchy and miserable if we don't get what we want when we want it even if it is information (guilty myself at times). In my opinion it is a sign of social decay that has spread amongst generations and unhealthy for business relations. I'm no treehugger, but think selflessly and try to focus on other things until your van gets here. Because when it does you will be so stoked!!!!!! Don't ruin your stoke by getting bound up! And remember your ancestors used to write letters and wait weeks to get a reply. Have a good one!

Patience is a better quality when you are not mislead.

Whenever we are interested in something we sniff the bait. If it is really interesting we take a taste, if it is totally intriguing we swallow the hook and then we're on for the ride. Enjoy the ride, hopefully your dealer won't take out a gill when they let you go. You'll be glad you took the bait in the end. These vans are bitchin!!!!

Some salesmen make promises they can't keep.
I just picked up my 4x4 yesterday. Ordered Dec 31. The salesman kept me informed throughout the process - production dates, ship transit, train etc. The information is all in the system. Car manufacturers know exactly where their inventory is.

I'd go check the lot every now and then to make sure it doesn't get sold out from under you.

My salesman is a good guy, we share mutual friends. It would not make sense for him personally to sell the van I ordered in December out from under me from a normal rational perspective.... If I was building, shipping/transporting and selling vehicles I would be able to find that vehicle every step of the way (as Checkmax pointed out). It's not like "Fargo", but maybe it is. Something is fishy here (funny business) and I don't know why. The real world- down-in -the -dirt problem is that the '12 Sprinter goes away in two days, having timed the sale based on the second failed delivery date. If the new Sprinter doesn't show up in a couple days, it is going to get real inconvenient to move large item A to point B in the two seater. I know the van is off ship "Divine Ace" but that was the end of it. It was lost after that.

hansenrig,
Do you know which voyage # your new 4x4 Sprinter was on the M/V DIVINE ACE and which port of call
it was supposed to be off loaded at?
The DIVINE ACE departed Bremerhaven (where USA Sprinters are loaded in Germany) on July 1st.
It wasn't due in Charleston, SC until July 15th...(Charleston is nearest the Mercedes Benz VPC in Ladson, SC).
If you are on the west coast, DIVINE ACE arrived in Long Beach, CA on July 30th.
Long Beach is the closest port to the new Mercedes Benz West Coast VPC in the Ex McDonnell Douglas aircraft plant
in the Long Beach/Lakewood area.
Here's the Vessel's Schedule for Voyage 0024A:
DIVINE ACE 0024A 0024A Bremerhaven 01 Jul 15 06:00 02 Jul 15 15:05
DIVINE ACE 0024A 0024A Halifax 10 Jul 15 08:00 10 Jul 15 16:00 (All Canadian Sprinters are normally offloaded here)
DIVINE ACE 0024A 0024A Brunswick 14 Jul 15 07:00 14 Jul 15 16:35
DIVINE ACE 0024A 0024A Charleston 15 Jul 15 08:00 15 Jul 15 18:15 (Closest to Ladson VPC for both RO/RO and LO/LO Sprinters)
DIVINE ACE 0024A 0024A Panama Canal 20 Jul 15 09:55 21 Jul 15 19:55
DIVINE ACE 0024A 0024A Acajutla 24 Jul 15 05:55 24 Jul 15 06:45
DIVINE ACE 0024A 0024A Long Beach 30 Jul 15 08:30 30 Jul 15 20:50 (Closest Port to new MB West Coast VPC)
DIVINE ACE 0024A 0024A Port Hueneme 31 Jul 15 09:00 31 Jul 15 16:20
Then she departs for the Orient!
Now that we can see the timing, it makes a whole lot more sense to leave the
West Coast bound Sprinters on the RO/RO Ships as it only takes 15 more days
to transit the Panama Canal and arrive in Long Beach.
These ships are completely air conditioned and humidity controlled so much
better than shipping Sprinters across the country on trucks or by rail.
Hope this helps,
Roger

Precisely. Sixteen days sitting in Long Beach with dealer a day away. Or, something else.

Was your new 4x4 (delivered in Hawaii it sounds like) on the same ship?

No.
Originally we thought a long beach VPC delivery then it was switched to Charleston, rail to Long Beach, shipped to Hawaii. The long way.

Speaking on behalf of the people who cannot afford a shiny new sprinter 4x4 I must say that these are, by definition, first world problems.

However, congrats on the eventual new van! Little. Bit. jealous.

I confirmed order for 4x4 in late December '14 as well. By doing an East Coast VPC and going the cross country rail route to a ship bound for Hawaii, you received your Sprinter 2250 miles further away on an island in the Pacific Ocean quicker than going directly through VPC in Long Beach and 7-8 hours car carrier delivery to dealer. Bravo to whoever thought that one up.

What difference does it make? My production date didn't change and delivery wouldn't have been much shorter. Cost was the same.(yeah alright maybe rail is bumpier)
You need to steer your anger toward your salesman buddy and ask him what's going on.

I had a similar experience with my 4x4. The dealer called saying it had arrived in the US and was being loaded on a train the following day, and should arrive at the dealer in about a week. The week came and went with no van, and then the dealer could not locate the van. In the end it arrived over month later. The dealer went to bat for me and the others awaiting this shipment and got a higher level MB guy involved who got things moving. The details I got were murky at best, but it seemed that there was in fact no train available to move the vans when they said there would be. I agree with a previous post that this was a first world problem, and in the end I am stoked on my van, but in an age where you can track almost anything you order, it is frustrating that MB does not provide quality information to the purchaser.

After reading all these 4x4 delivery stories, I pat myself on the back for not being an early adopter, and always waiting for something to be so common that I could just go out and buy it anywhere. I'm so smart that I scare myself.

surlyoldbill said:

After reading all these 4x4 delivery stories, I pat myself on the back for not being an early adopter, and always waiting for something to be so common that I could just go out and buy it anywhere. I'm so smart that I scare myself.

Click to expand...

You're so surly...

Normally I would agree with you.
MB has been producing these vans for ~3+ years in Europe and Oz. One would think early adopter risk would be non-existent.

CheckMax said:

You're so surly...

Normally I would agree with you.
MB has been producing these vans for ~3+ years in Europe and Oz. One would think early adopter risk would be non-existent.

Click to expand...

I meant more on the lines that they have to be ORDERED and then you wait for 6+ months instead of just going down to the dealer on a whim and driving home with one. I think the jury is still out on whether these have special new "USA only" parts that might not have much longevity testing. I went camping over by June Lake CA last week to meet up with some other people, and once again they were all salivating over my old 03 van, saying "if only these were 4x4". I told them they ARE available now, but you have to wait 6-12 months to get it after you order one. My T1N did just fine on ATV trails, but there were a few sandy sections that I KNOW if I stopped I would never get going again. SO LUCKY that road hooked up to a packed gravel road instead of dead-ending in the sand...

Mud is ever more so the death of a two wheel drive Sprinter. Renn and Stempy will now deliver my 4x4 by either tomorrow, the next day, the day after that, or maybe Monday but nobody at Mercedes really knows. They report to no man and drive wherever they want whenever they want, spreading fairy dust and unicorn farts all along the way.

surlyoldbill,
A couple of weeks ago there were 2 Sprinter 4x4's available, sitting on the lot.
The reason that people need to wait is for special orders.
I had to wait for my 2014 (about 2.5 months) as I wanted a lot of features/options that
no dealer would likely order for a sell it off the lot Sprinter.
Not a 4x4 or super single, just a super well equipped/optioned 170 high top/short back.
I think the 2 4x4's I know about are still available.
I have the complete dealers option list and can provide the OEM Data card to anyone interested.
One high top 144" wb and One low top 144" wb.
Roger