Dealers tells me 4,000 4x4s will be produced...

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snowcruiser

Member
Went to my dealer today to find out about the VS30 4x4s. He told me only 4,000 will be produced and that they have no idea on timeframe. He also said the 2019s coming in so far (non-4x4) are still coming in from Germany and the South Carolina plant, which he recently visited is almost online but is going to be backed up with an order of 20,000 VS30s from Amazon. He said the last 2018 4x4 he ordered took 10 months to arrive at the dealer and not to get hopes up.

Went down the road to chat with Ford about Transits, and their commercial guy said the Mercedes Dealers are all pissed because Winnebago is getting most of the 4x4s being produced for 2019 to turn into Revels. The truth lies somewhere in the middle but thought I'd share.

On another note the VS30 4x2, drives very nice but I prefer the 2018 myself. Really don't care for the shifter on the 2019 myself.
 
battleborn

battleborn

Member
Mercedes really **** the bed on the way they have handled the Sprinter - with huge demand they totally cut the supply off for the 4x4 - I have personally talked to four dealers on the west coast and it’s the same storey- basically their sprinter sales department is “closed” due to no product to sell... and a good luck on finding your van... I can only guess what that means to the bottom line long term...
 
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zmoseley4

New member
So I was going to order a 2019 4x4 144 Crew Van as soon as my dealer is ready for it. I don’t mind waiting, but from what I am seeing here, it almost seems like it’s a lost cause. I’m trying to stay positive, but these things are so hard to find, and very little info is out there about them!
 
Matt Foley

Matt Foley

Down by The River
snowcruiser said:
Went to my dealer today to find out about the VS30 4x4s. He told me only 4,000 will be produced and that they have no idea on timeframe. He also said the 2019s coming in so far (non-4x4) are still coming in from Germany and the South Carolina plant, which he recently visited is almost online but is going to be backed up with an order of 20,000 VS30s from Amazon. He said the last 2018 4x4 he ordered took 10 months to arrive at the dealer and not to get hopes up.

Went down the road to chat with Ford about Transits, and their commercial guy said the Mercedes Dealers are all pissed because Winnebago is getting most of the 4x4s being produced for 2019 to turn into Revels. The truth lies somewhere in the middle but thought I'd share.

On another note the VS30 4x2, drives very nice but I prefer the 2018 myself. Really don't care for the shifter on the 2019 myself.
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I'd take that with a mountain of salt. No dealers know what the mothership is really doing or going to do. Period. Production is based on estimated sales and private orders. They will produce as many as they can sell during the model run. They may be German, but they're still very much capitalists.

This is basically a rumor thread.
 
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Mikayla

New member
I talked to the dealer in my area ( central Florida ) and both times he told me 12 months for a 4x4. I came here today hoping there is a way around that. This is disappointing. I don't know what to do now. That's a long wait and I doubt they will guarantee that.
 
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Mikayla

New member
Matt Foley said:
I'd take that with a mountain of salt. No dealers know what the mothership is really doing or going to do. Period. Production is based on estimated sales and private orders. They will produce as many as they can sell during the model run. They may be German, but they're still very much capitalists.

This is basically a rumor thread.
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My dealer told me there will be a limited number of 4x4's and that dealers are only allotted a certain amount, varying by location/ need. The way I understood it is that a dealer in the mountains or up north will have access to more to sell. I will contact a dealer in WA and see if they get more and how long it will take.
 
Matt Foley

Matt Foley

Down by The River
Mikayla said:
My dealer told me there will be a limited number of 4x4's and that dealers are only allotted a certain amount, varying by location/ need. The way I understood it is that a dealer in the mountains or up north will have access to more to sell. I will contact a dealer in WA and see if they get more and how long it will take.
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It doesn't matter what your dealer tells you about future production. They do not have that kind of information. Mercedes will make production decisions based on the actual market. If 50,000 people order a 4x4 they'll try and produce 50,000 of them.


A dealership is not a branch of MB the company. They are a franchise. They're just there to sell the cars and if you ask 10 different dealerships you will get a wide array of answers. It's all just speculation.

The conversation you had with your dealer is an example of Scarcity Marketing, which MB is clearly employing on 4x4 Sprinters. Once they have serious competition in the market things may change. Rolex does the same thing, for example.
 
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enjoitheride

New member
A dealer by me just got an ‘18 in they ordered 11 months ago. It’s where I bought my 4x4 from. He just got back from the SC plant. He was doing a one week tour and training. He said, the 4x4 is going to be really limited. He said orders will take probably the same amount of time to get as the current one; 10-12 months. Also, Amazon has priority right now with their 30k orders.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
 
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Mikayla

New member
That's it, I'm done playing around, I'm sending in Nurse Knockout!

We'll soon know how fast they can get us a 4x4 Sprinter if they really want to!

Let me explain: A gentleman that claims to own several car dealerships has taken a liking to Nurse Knockout on an online dating site some time ago, and he makes it sound like he can get one right away.
All things considered, a dinner date dressed in a Halloween costume in December in exchange for shaving a few months off the wait time of a 4x4 Sprinter seems reasonable. LOL I'm not convinced yet but I will go with it and see where it goes. I have a sneaking suspicion the only thing I'll get out of this is a good laugh but I will be able to say I tried ( almost ) everything!
I am a good sport so I added a couple of pictures. If this works I will lend the outfit to all of my fellow 4x4 Sprinter van seekers! :)
 
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zmoseley4

New member
Thank you everyone for the responses. I guess it sounds like it will just be a waiting game once I get it ordered it’s just unknown how long! That leads me to my next question. In the past, can anyone remember about when Mercedes started to take orders for new model year vans? My local dealer is saying hopefully in January. I talked to another dealer in Northern Virginia who said he could go ahead and order one now. I’m a bit confused on that. My local dealer says he has ordered numerous 4x4s in the past, so he sounds like he knows what he is talking about. My local dealer said nobody has access to order a 2019 right now unless you are ordering for a fleet, which I’m not. Any ideas?
 
Matt Foley

Matt Foley

Down by The River
zmoseley4 said:
Thank you everyone for the responses. I guess it sounds like it will just be a waiting game once I get it ordered it’s just unknown how long! That leads me to my next question. In the past, can anyone remember about when Mercedes started to take orders for new model year vans? My local dealer is saying hopefully in January. I talked to another dealer in Northern Virginia who said he could go ahead and order one now. I’m a bit confused on that. My local dealer says he has ordered numerous 4x4s in the past, so he sounds like he knows what he is talking about. My local dealer said nobody has access to order a 2019 right now unless you are ordering for a fleet, which I’m not. Any ideas?
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The dealership will take your order and hold it until MB resumes 4x4 production. They are not producing any 4x4s right now because of the model change from '18 to '19.

Once MB starts making them again, dealers will submit the orders and then its a 6-18 month wait.
 
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zmoseley4

New member
Copy. I guess my local dealer doesn’t even take orders until they can be processed by MB. That must be the difference in why one dealer says he can take the order and the other will not. Thanks again!!!
 
Matt Foley

Matt Foley

Down by The River
zmoseley4 said:
Copy. I guess my local dealer doesn’t even take orders until they can be processed by MB. That must be the difference in why one dealer says he can take the order and the other will not. Thanks again!!!
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Yea, its important for people to remember that dealerships are merely privately owned franchises with a sales agreement with the mothership. They're not actually a part of MB the company that makes the cars.
 
Boxster1971

Boxster1971

2023 Sprinter 2500 144wb AWD
Matt Foley said:
Yea, its important for people to remember that dealerships are merely privately owned franchises with a sales agreement with the mothership. They're not actually a part of MB the company that makes the cars.
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True for most all vehicles except Tesla. Since they don't have dealerships, Tesla has been unable to sell cars in some states that block vehicle sales by manufactures.

The dealers in USA have a strong voice in most state legislatures. The dealer - manufacturer relationships in USA are part of our culture.
 
gottahavabenz

gottahavabenz

Member
Well I thought I would try to see what they were telling our friends to the north since I am only 2 hours from Montreal. I built one online and sent it to the dealership who emailed me and said doubtful they will see any 2019 4x4's :drool:, they would know more in April! I bought a 2018 gmc 3500 4x4 and put a Mory cap on it, that will get me through winter here and we will see how it all sugars off in the spring
 
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zither99

Active member
One of the dealers here said 2/month of 4x4’s and had a waiting list of 40. First ones arriving supposedly in May-June.

Oberaigner is supposedly the constraint in the 4x4 production line. He mentioned they’re looking for another version of the 4x4 that’s different from the current setup (oberaigner) but it will be a few years before that happens
 
aksotar

aksotar

2017 4x4 144 Cargo
Isn’t Oberaigner a separate company that basically modifies Sprinters into 4 wd vehicles ? How can a separate company “constrain” the factory production line ??
This doesn’t make any sense to me....
 
marcwestbmw

marcwestbmw

Active member
If you really want a 4x4, place your order and wait. Go to a dealer that has a 4x4 sales track record.

That's your best shot.
 
Cheyenne

Cheyenne

UK 2004 T1N 313CDi
aksotar said:
Isn’t Oberaigner a separate company that basically modifies Sprinters into 4 wd vehicles ? How can a separate company “constrain” the factory production line ??
This doesn’t make any sense to me....
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Because the MB Factory actually builds them as 4x4 from the outset with parts supplied by Oberaigner.

So if Oberaigner doesn't supply parts on time then MB can't build them!

A bit like gearboxes supplied by ZF, if ZF don't supply then MB can't build.

Keith.
 
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Midwestdrifter

Engineer In Residence
Cheyenne said:
Because the MB Factory actually builds them as 4x4 from the outset with parts supplied by Oberaigner.

So if Oberaigner doesn't supply parts on time then MB can't build them!

A bit like gearboxes supplied by ZF, if ZF don't supply then MB can't build.

Keith.
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When Oberaigner started out, they converted vans delivered from mercedes. You would would order a van (T1N at the time), it would be delivered without various drivetrain bits to Oberaigner, and it would get a tag from them on the drivers seat. At some point in the T1N production mercedes brought the process in-house, and installed the parts themselves. Still made by oberaigner. This continued into the NCV3 production.

Like any supplier, mercedes does not make many/most of the parts that go on their vehicles. They may spec them and own the design (in part or whole), but every MFG has limits to what they can supply.
 
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