Whenever you change options that are the responsibility of the manufacturer in a vehicle specification (not solely factory-fitted options), Autoline Showroom attempts to connect to CESAR. Processes that this applies to include:
Custom Entry Vehicle: Produces a cash or finance proposal based on a new or used vehicle for which you manually enter details including the selling price. Proceed via the Select Payment Method form, to choose a finance scheme, and to the Enquiry Builder.
Note: Custom Entry Vehicle is not displayed if using marketing stocking (that is, no vehicle stock books). It is only available if back office mode is enabled, and typically used only when the Franchise Data and Vehicle Stock books modules are not holding up-to-date information. It is not available to users who can only quote for stocked vehicles.
When you have entered the basic vehicle details in the normal way, the enquiry has been created in offline mode. The Cash estimate form is displayed, the vehicle not yet having been validated by CESAR.
Enquiry Builder: Selecting the Enquiry Builder option from the Showroom customer enquiries form enables the building of the separate elements of an enquiry independently without having to go through the normal step by step process.
Note: In both the Custom Entry Vehicle and Enquiry Builder cases, when you have selected the options configuring the vehicle, if any of those options are the responsibility of the manufacturer, Showroom launches the CESAR browser. On changing the order details in CESAR, it downloads the order record back to Showroom, which displays the Enquiry Builder (Cash Estimate/Order/Invoice) form and you should proceed as per normal Showroom.
Amending Customer Records: Changing the customer details record can affect any of that customer's enquiry/order records already validated by CESAR. If you clear the customer details, Autoline changes the CESAR validity status of all enquiry records for that customer to status N (not validated). The record is then re-validated by CESAR when it is next recalled. If, in contrast, you merely amend the customer's details, for example changing a house number, the CESAR validity status remains unchanged. The new information is uploaded to CESAR when the customer is invoiced through Vehicle stock books.
Tip: For instructions on using the CESAR internet site, please refer to Mercedes-Benz documentation.
If CESAR is unavailable, you can make the changes using Autoline Showroom in off-line mode, which changes the order record's CESAR validity status to N. It requires re-validation when CESAR again becomes available.
Note: Changing options maintained at the dealer, such as warranty, dealer-fitted options, bonuses and insurance, do not affect the validity of the CESAR offer.
