C280 SPORT
9/20/2008 1:09:33 PM
Has anyone ever done the European Delivery Program?
uptime
10/10/2008 6:24:21 PM
quote:
ORIGINAL: C280 SPORT
Has anyone ever done the European Delivery Program?
I picked up my 2007 E-320 at Stuttgart last year (2007). Best way, ever, to buy a new car. The 7% discount offset my trip expenses in adition to getting a factory tour & visit to the fantastic MB museum. I spent a week driving my car there before I turned it back in for shipment home.
C280 SPORT
10/10/2008 7:19:13 PM
Thats good to hear. My wife and I are really looking to do it sometime in a couple years. Where did you stay? What countries?
uptime
10/12/2008 8:19:42 AM
My wife & I chose to handle our own travel in Germany rather than taking the road tour (saved a few bucks also). Mercedes put us up in the Graf Zepplin in downtown Stuttgart for a free night and some meals. I worked out a deal with the Graf Zepplin to stay there the remainder of the week for a special price below their normal expensive rate (but did not include meals). As it turned out, most of our travel around the region was by local train. They have a special rate of 12 euro/person for unlimited travel by train and you can get anywhere within 200 or 300 yards of any destination. My fear was that I would damage my new Mercedes in the traffic even though MB provided full, no deductible, coverage insurance for two weeks. Keep in mind that there is virtually no "free" parking in Germany so the train made it much easier to get wherever we wanted to go. Stuttgart is a pretty large city (about 500,000 pop.) and has plenty of interesting things to do.
The Stuttgart airport is the best place to travel into the area. There are international flights between most major US airports. MB provides free train passes to travel from the airport to the hotel as well as free cab fare from the hotel to the factory in Sindelfingen (about 10 miles away). You get free breakfast and lunch at the factory restaurant. The free lunch ticket provides more food than you and your wife can eat so, ask the waitress to give you the remaining value for a couple of bottles of wine. Before you leave the factory with your new car, ask the technician to program your navigation unit for your hotel, airport, drop-off place (shipper, EH Harms), etc. This way, you can drive anywhere without worrying about getting back to the hotel and then when you are ready to get back to the hotel.
We found that meals in small restaurants were priced reasonably well and a fraction of that charged in the hotel. Choice and quality of food was excellent!
A key part of picking up your new car is to schedule a late-morning pickup. This way, you can take the cab to the factory, have breakfast while you watch other people pick up their cars, and then have lunch and visit the factory accessory store. Don''t skip the factory tour. Only car buyers can take the tour. Each hosted tour group has about 15 people. Don''t take your camera because they will not let you take it in. Then the next day, leave your new car in the hotel garage and take the train out to the MB museum. and spend at least 1/2 day there. Cameras are allowed in the museum.
