[ADo89]

Hi Guys!

So I ordered my CLA45s in March and was told that I had the next available CLA45 build slot in Hungary and would be ideally with my for June, this then turned to July, July to August, on and on until I had an Oct 20th date.

The dealer confirmed around Oct 10th that this 20th was still showing and 'should' be accurate as my car has been assigned both a Chassis and Engine number.

I got an email around Oct 12th notifying me that my car was now showing 'No ETA' and that's remained up to this date, the only thing my dealer can tell me is that majority of other orders have since changed to 2022 ETA's and the fact mine is still showing 'No ETA' is apparantly a good thing and is saying I should be good for the car this side of Christmas...

What I wondered was if anyone else here has had open 2021 UK CLA45s orders that have been fullfilled recently or still pending? Unsure as what to do as my dealer is just saying Mercedes wont comment on specific builds. Worryingly he's also said that since my order in March he's not seen another CLA45s come into the dealership but presumably its not a frequently ordered car.

Fully appreciate the impact of the pandemic and the chip shortage but its crazy majority of other manufacturers can give solid build slots and delivery dates (albeit long 6-7+ months) and hit them whilst I've been continuously strung on each month.

I've asked my dealer to check if he can see any other recent CLA45 orders come into the UK at all just on the off chance there might be some production issues at the factory affecting all CLA45s?

 

[Crester]

Some of your story sounds believable but some sounds fishy. So I can understand the delays in production times as production stopped and started thru the year as parts were available. It's also true that some orders changed from 2021 to 2022... including my own... because over the summer they switched from 2021 production to 2022 production. There was a new production run that started I believe around mid-September... which is where a lot of people who are waiting to receive their cars now (including myself) had their cars built. So all this part so far is believable.

The part that sounds weird tho is... I don't understand you now being told there's no dates assigned to your car. Do you even have an order/build slot? I wonder if the dealer is just BS'ing you. This guy AB Auto on YouTube is in the UK and he just picked up his CLA 45. His car was part of that end of September/October cycle I mentioned above.

Can you check with another dealer to see what they say? Sadly in my City dealers have just stopped taking orders for CLA45... so I'm lucky I got my order in when I did.

 

[ADo89]

The part that sounds weird tho is... I don't understand you now being told there's no dates assigned to your car. Do you even have an order/build slot? I wonder if the dealer is just BS'ing you. This guy AB Auto on YouTube is in the UK and he just picked up his CLA 45. His car was part of that end of September/October cycle I mentioned above.

I'll double check with him but every message since 12th October has been my car now no longer has any ETA in terms of date, not 2022, nothing. There's an order slot and I believe it was the build slot that kept getting pushed back. He tells me the system now shows my order has an assigned engine and chassis no which in his opinion means its all ready to be built... it just isnt?.

Im at the point where I may just cancel the order, my dealer keeps telling me everyones in the same boat and there's nothing he can do to get me a firm date but seeing a few CLA45s being delivered makes me feel a little unsure. I've been happy to wait as I get its an industry wide problem but when I can't even get a date then I dont even know what to do...

Obviously being told 'No ETA' is a good thing rather than a 2022 ETA is nice to believe in my situation but not sure thats realistic and don't want to get my hopes up on something thats not true. He has said they've had orders with no ETA which have just turned up randomly at the dealership which again is probably true given the worlwide shipping issues but then again I dont know how good their tracking system is and what depth they can see!

Congrats on the car btw! Stunner.

 

[wavedalsh]

I had kind of the same. Ordered in early May - was originally told September, then suddenly 'no date showing' and no idea of a slot. Called this week to find out they 'hope' although cannot guarantee early January 2022.

To be honest, if I'd known it's such a long lead time, I would have never have bought. It's been abysmal.
I don't think there has been full upfront honesty from MBUK.

And whilst they can blame chip shortages, emissions, pandemic and sunroof technicians and whatever else that they throw out - that's not my concern. I simply wouldn't have bought. I'm super bored of the wait - feels like a busted flush.

 

[ADo89]

I had kind of the same. Ordered in early May - was originally told September, then suddenly 'no date showing' and no idea of a slot. Called this week to find out they 'hope' although cannot guarantee early January 2022.

To be honest, if I'd known it's such a long lead time, I would have never have bought. It's been abysmal.
I don't think there has been full upfront honesty from MBUK.

And whilst they can blame chip shortages, emissions, pandemic and sunroof technicians and whatever else that they throw out - that's not my concern. I simply wouldn't have bought. I'm super bored of the wait - feels like a busted flush.

Nice to hear someone in the same boat albeit a shitty boat.

Agreed MBUK seem to be a total shit show lots of other manufacturers can confirm a build slot and meet it, yes it might be 7 months but atleast in 7 months you get the car not 7 months later - "ahh yeah not sure when you'll have it now matey "

Where did you order from?

 

[wavedalsh]

Nice to hear someone in the same boat albeit a shitty boat.

Agreed MBUK seem to be a total shit show lots of other manufacturers can confirm a build slot and meet it, yes it might be 7 months but atleast in 7 months you get the car not 7 months later - "ahh yeah not sure when you'll have it now matey "

Where did you order from?

Yeah unfortunate - but at least some update of sorts. If I'd known the market was this bad, I would have gone second hand if not ordering something else new.
I'm in London - but I got mine from Bury SE.

 

[Crester]

Will the dealers let you pull your orders?

 

[ADo89]

Yeah I can cancel but I've waited like 7/8 Months for absolutely fuck all in that case...

 

[Taz]

Hi, I'm sorry you are having order difficulties. 😢 I order my CLA45s in May 2021 and just took delivery in November. Similar time line to you. Has the dealer spoken to you about the spec changes and the compensation? Also do you have the driver assistance pack as that is a sticking point for many orders. I hope it happens for you but one minute I was waiting for a slot, then it was built and being shipped. All within a few days with little advance warning. You might find it just turns up out of the blue. Hope this helps?

 

[ADo89]

Hi Taz, nothing as yet mate.

What point did the dealer notify you of the changes and compensation?

Was that well before it shipped? Appreciate the response

 

[Taz]

Hi ADO89, I can't recall exactly but my car had some bits removed. Things like Augmented Sat Nav, TrackPace and wireless charging. I got a letter which detailed the drop in spec and stating that I would be compensated by my first service free. I'd say it was a couple of weeks before but I don't believe they are correlated.

I had a scheduled build date of 1st October, which moved to a week later. When I chased I was told the car is built and at the dock waiting to be shipped over. 2 days later it was here!

 

[ADo89]

Weird, I've still not had any correspondence.

I dont think i've ever had a firm build date either it just keeps moving for some reason, until its now unknown ETA....

Im gona chase the dealer this week, issue is they just keep fobbing me off and saying "it should be soon"

 

[Crester]

Actually if it makes you feel better... my Canadian CLA45 status says it was scheduled to be built mid October but as of today the schedule hasn't changed! It's November 11th and the last update is still that the car should be built mid October. No shipping date... no date saying it left the factory... nothing.

So I have no idea what this means?!?!?

 

[Alex316]

Hi Crester,

Where are you from? I'm from Quebec, Canada. I ordered on May 1st 2021 a CLA35 2021, the 2021 became de 2022 production and the "production date" went from August, to September, to October...

Right now I'm in the same situation as you. My ETA is 24th November, my build date was mid october, but there's no update. I really don't think that I will get the car on November 24th.

What is your ETA?

Let's keep us updated! If we get our car before 2022, it would be amazing!

 

[Alex316]

Hi Crester,

Where are you from? I'm from Quebec, Canada. I ordered on May 1st 2021 a CLA35 2021, the 2021 became de 2022 production and the "production date" went from August, to September, to October...

Right now I'm in the same situation as you. My ETA is 24th November, my build date was mid october, but there's no update. I really don't think that I will get the car on November 24th.

What is your ETA?

Let's keep us updated! If we get our before 2022, it would be amazing!

 

[Crester]

Hi Crester,

Where are you from? I'm from Quebec, Canada. I ordered on May 1st 2021 a CLA35 2021, the 2021 became de 2022 production and the "production date" went from August, to September, to October...

Right now I'm in the same situation as you. My ETA is 24th November, my build date was mid october, but there's no update. I really don't think that I will get the car on November 24th.

What is your ETA?

Let's keep us updated! If we get our car before 2022, it would be amazing!

Sounds like we are in exactly the same boat. I understand the earlier delays... production shut down due to lack of parts. Then it got switched to 2022 because over the summer they switched to 2022 production.

But what worries me now is that there just is no update! I had my production bumped later by two weeks in October and the Netstar system updated to show that! But why is it now suddenly not showing any progress? 😥

I'm hoping our cars got produced per schedule and are on the way to Canada... and that for whatever reason the Netstar system just didn't get updated. My estimated delivery date is also end of November just like you. Do you have B5 status?

 

[Alex316]

Hi Crester!

What is Netstar? Is it a program that the client can see the updates on the production?

If I want any updates, I need ton call or e-mail the dealership (Mercedes Benz in Montreal, Quebec) everytime.

For the B5, what does it means? My ETA says B6-10.2

The informations that I have on the screenshot the dealer sent me is "Planned Delivery Date", "DEC-SCH-DATE : 21102", "PLN-SCH-DATE : 21093", "PROD_ACT-DATE : 20211011" and "PHASE_DTE : 20211026".

SHPT-DATE, FINV-DATE, WHSLE-DTE are "0000000"

And I also have my VIN!

Do you know what all these numbers means? Is it the same situation as you?

Sorry for my english, my first language is french!

 

[Crester]

Don't worry about your English... I knew you were proper Quebecois when I saw your autocorrect type stuff such as "de". 😜

B6 apparently means "Factory Invoiced" which is probably why you have your VIN! When did the dealer give your VIN? Yesterday?

I'm at B5 which is supposed to mean the car was produced... which is a step behind you. Hopefully we do actually get our cars by December!

This is a link to the Netstar codes: Bill's Den: NetStar Production Codes

 

[Alex316]

Oh thanks for Nestar codes!

If I check my emails, on October 18th it was B5 and on the email I received on November 2nd it was B6. I have my VIN since November 2nd (B6), VIN wasn't availablewhen it was B5.

Right now I doesn't have any updates because the sale-person (I don't know if it's the right word haha) is on vacations until November 17th. I'll give you updates!

Do you have AR + Keyless + Mercedes App + Burmester?

These 4 features will not be on my CLA35 2022, but when I ordered it back in May 1st, it was supposed to be on the car... What I read on the forum is that they give like 250$ or 500$ in credit (maximum) for things that cost a lot more. I think the Burmester system upgrade on a CLA250 was 1000$. Will you try to negociate or did they already told you what was missing?

The "credit" ($) for missing options, I think it's a part that MB is not really negociable, because they know that if you refuse the car, they will sell it (maybe at a higher price haha) to someone else!

 

[Crester]

I don't know what I have yet because I don't have my VIN. I'm expecting already to not have Augmented Reality navigation because no new Mercs have this. Using your foot to open the trunk I also know I won't be getting because it got removed from my latest build sheet.

Mobile communications I'm not sure about... I know there was a period where Mercs were missing their communications module but I don't see anything to state that I should NOT be getting it? It's on my order sheet.

Burmester... I also don't know what to expect. It's on my latest order form... but I know it's getting pulled from some cars. If I don't get the Burmester I hope I atleast get the advanced stereo that still has a subwoofer in the trunk. Guess I'll have to wait to get my VIN to check.

In regards to discounts... I agree with you. I don't think there's much room for negoatiation... because if we don't take these cars they will be able to sell it for over MSRP to someone else.