I got the Supercar blues ........
Discussion
Don't post on here often, but been lurking for years. Thought I'd relate some recent experiences and maybe drink a little from the fountain of knowledge that is PH.
I'm just turned 55 and it's suddenly hit me that after a lifetime of expensive car avoidance (doing boats planes and bikes) it's "now or never" as far as supercar ownership is concerned.
Much research and thought later I decided that it's a McLaren for me. Initially a 12c but later expanded to include 540c, 570s with an ideal price range of £80 to £90k. I'd already saved up, so cash buyer and able to complete a deal within 24 hrs.
To be fair, I'm a little picky in what I'm willing to accept. My car would have to be subtle (Silver / Grey / Black at a push) and I hate Black interiors (so Brown / Tan / Cream etc). Car would have to be under 25k ish miles, sensible service history, no major faults etc. With lots for sale and talk of a buyers market I thought it would be easy
...... How wrong I was !
Day 1 was set aside to look at 4 cars, I travelled, turned up on time in 2 places .... and never clapped eyes on a Car !. Lesson 1 - Traders don't always actually have the cars they advertise (I'm thinking either they are "bait" ad's or the car is really on consignment)
More research for a couple of weeks then
Day 2 - Went to a MCL dealer. Cars to be seen & sat in, polite friendly staff ..... But everything at least £10k and mostly more like £20k more than specialist independants or private. Got a quote on a new car - they emailed me someone else's quote and financial details by mistake ... then a slightly threatening email warning me not to disclose details & delete it.
Bottom line - Cant bear to contemplate losing £40 to £50k on a new one in circa 24 months. ALSO getting worried about buying a £90k asset that apparently needs a £2 to £4k warranty every year ..... It's a CAR for gawd's sake, and a low mileage one at that.
Change Tack
Days 3 and 4 - More travel to view 2 540c's. Both '16 & < 20k miles, both ............. wait for it ............ RUSTY (!!!). Front wheel arches on both cars, 2nd one on door and rear wing as well.
Lots of fob offs "McLaren will fix under warranty by fitting new panels" (actually quite true I've since found out ... but 4-6 weeks away once they have the parts in stock (unspecified lead time). Not sure where I'd be with the £4.5k paint protection film job that would need re applying either. No "DIY" option as MCL will NOT release paint codes it seems.
More thought followed
Went to see a 3rd 540c - Perfect colours, bit miley and quite a few owners and also RUSTY (front wing again). In fairness not asking top dollar and I really liked the colour so I went back again and made an offer of 92% of asking price.
...... NO REPLY, Chased 3 times over 7 days and still NO. REPLY.
Not even "No", or even a counter offer. I was not rude, aggressive or negative about the car.
Hey Ho, "breathe in, breath out, move on" or so the saying goes.
Day 7
Went to see 3 cars, 2 at a well known chain, 1 at MCL dealer.
Car 1, 540c .... RUSTY and the sales staff hardly knew a thing about it
Car 2, 12c Nice car, good spec but older and interior too bright ... and the sales staff did'nt have a clue again
Car 3 570s. Nice car, slightly odd interior carpets but well presented. Radio not working, had had 3 rusty panels replaced by MCL. Best salesman I've met so far - willing to explain, honest about car history, actually let me have a test drive for a few miles. Got back next day with a sensible offer. I was actually very tempted, but slightly over budget and the cars history & niggles were off putting.
So here I am. 7 full days spent, about 1000 miles travelled, 11 cars looked at, 1 offer made, 1 short test drive had. ......... No deal done.
The last time I found it this hard to buy a decent car I was 18, and looking for a non rusty mini on a tight budget.
I'm genuinely not a tyre kicker or test pilot, I'm courteous and respectful, I've got the cash and I've put quite a lot of effort in. I do want value for money and I do want the right colour / spec / condition.
What the hell am I doing wrong ?.
I'm just turned 55 and it's suddenly hit me that after a lifetime of expensive car avoidance (doing boats planes and bikes) it's "now or never" as far as supercar ownership is concerned.
Much research and thought later I decided that it's a McLaren for me. Initially a 12c but later expanded to include 540c, 570s with an ideal price range of £80 to £90k. I'd already saved up, so cash buyer and able to complete a deal within 24 hrs.
To be fair, I'm a little picky in what I'm willing to accept. My car would have to be subtle (Silver / Grey / Black at a push) and I hate Black interiors (so Brown / Tan / Cream etc). Car would have to be under 25k ish miles, sensible service history, no major faults etc. With lots for sale and talk of a buyers market I thought it would be easy
...... How wrong I was !
Day 1 was set aside to look at 4 cars, I travelled, turned up on time in 2 places .... and never clapped eyes on a Car !. Lesson 1 - Traders don't always actually have the cars they advertise (I'm thinking either they are "bait" ad's or the car is really on consignment)
More research for a couple of weeks then
Day 2 - Went to a MCL dealer. Cars to be seen & sat in, polite friendly staff ..... But everything at least £10k and mostly more like £20k more than specialist independants or private. Got a quote on a new car - they emailed me someone else's quote and financial details by mistake ... then a slightly threatening email warning me not to disclose details & delete it.
Bottom line - Cant bear to contemplate losing £40 to £50k on a new one in circa 24 months. ALSO getting worried about buying a £90k asset that apparently needs a £2 to £4k warranty every year ..... It's a CAR for gawd's sake, and a low mileage one at that.
Change Tack
Days 3 and 4 - More travel to view 2 540c's. Both '16 & < 20k miles, both ............. wait for it ............ RUSTY (!!!). Front wheel arches on both cars, 2nd one on door and rear wing as well.
Lots of fob offs "McLaren will fix under warranty by fitting new panels" (actually quite true I've since found out ... but 4-6 weeks away once they have the parts in stock (unspecified lead time). Not sure where I'd be with the £4.5k paint protection film job that would need re applying either. No "DIY" option as MCL will NOT release paint codes it seems.
More thought followed
Went to see a 3rd 540c - Perfect colours, bit miley and quite a few owners and also RUSTY (front wing again). In fairness not asking top dollar and I really liked the colour so I went back again and made an offer of 92% of asking price.
...... NO REPLY, Chased 3 times over 7 days and still NO. REPLY.
Not even "No", or even a counter offer. I was not rude, aggressive or negative about the car.
Hey Ho, "breathe in, breath out, move on" or so the saying goes.
Day 7
Went to see 3 cars, 2 at a well known chain, 1 at MCL dealer.
Car 1, 540c .... RUSTY and the sales staff hardly knew a thing about it
Car 2, 12c Nice car, good spec but older and interior too bright ... and the sales staff did'nt have a clue again
Car 3 570s. Nice car, slightly odd interior carpets but well presented. Radio not working, had had 3 rusty panels replaced by MCL. Best salesman I've met so far - willing to explain, honest about car history, actually let me have a test drive for a few miles. Got back next day with a sensible offer. I was actually very tempted, but slightly over budget and the cars history & niggles were off putting.
So here I am. 7 full days spent, about 1000 miles travelled, 11 cars looked at, 1 offer made, 1 short test drive had. ......... No deal done.
The last time I found it this hard to buy a decent car I was 18, and looking for a non rusty mini on a tight budget.
I'm genuinely not a tyre kicker or test pilot, I'm courteous and respectful, I've got the cash and I've put quite a lot of effort in. I do want value for money and I do want the right colour / spec / condition.
What the hell am I doing wrong ?.
You are looking at the bottom of the market for that car so you may find it harder to find the right car, especially in the 540/570 bracket.
You might be better off putting a wanted add on Pistonheads, so a seller looking to trade in can get in touch with you and hopefully you can give more than a trade in.
Rusty is common on the front wing and yes McLaren will replace it under warranty, if it has PPF McLaren will also cover that, well they did for my friend.
You might be better off putting a wanted add on Pistonheads, so a seller looking to trade in can get in touch with you and hopefully you can give more than a trade in.
Rusty is common on the front wing and yes McLaren will replace it under warranty, if it has PPF McLaren will also cover that, well they did for my friend.
When the 'bottom of the market' is a 3 year old, almost £100k car I'd still expect the majority of them to be decent cars.
This makes me wonder if the corrosion issue is worse than I was aware.
(And before anybody thinks I'm having a dig, I own another marque which is well known for having paint bubbling issues)
This makes me wonder if the corrosion issue is worse than I was aware.
(And before anybody thinks I'm having a dig, I own another marque which is well known for having paint bubbling issues)
justin220 said:
Strange.
I'd advise calling in advance rather than just turning up, not only means you can check the car is actually there but it'll also help you be taken a bit more seriously.
Lots of the market just now so you've got plenty of choice.
i think the line "Day 1 was set aside to look at 4 cars, I travelled, turned up on time in 2 place".. the "turned up on time" would indicate some dialogue prior to travelling...I'd advise calling in advance rather than just turning up, not only means you can check the car is actually there but it'll also help you be taken a bit more seriously.
Lots of the market just now so you've got plenty of choice.
davek_964 said:
When the 'bottom of the market' is a 3 year old, almost £100k car I'd still expect the majority of them to be decent cars.
This makes me wonder if the corrosion issue is worse than I was aware.
(And before anybody thinks I'm having a dig, I own another marque which is well known for having paint bubbling issues)
Pretty much every car he has seen has had corrosion, its a common fault but is rectified by McLaren under warranty. When referring to the bottom of the market i meant owners, mileage, spec, etc. This makes me wonder if the corrosion issue is worse than I was aware.
(And before anybody thinks I'm having a dig, I own another marque which is well known for having paint bubbling issues)
apologies if this is slightly off topic... but I just came across this car, absolutely beautiful... does anybody know the car?
https://www.autotrader.co.uk/classified/advert/201...
OP I appreciate you may only want to spend 80/90k, but if you could stretch a little further you could get yourself a beautiful, newer car. (hopefully without corrosion)
https://www.autotrader.co.uk/classified/advert/201...
OP I appreciate you may only want to spend 80/90k, but if you could stretch a little further you could get yourself a beautiful, newer car. (hopefully without corrosion)
m4tti said:
i think the line "Day 1 was set aside to look at 4 cars, I travelled, turned up on time in 2 place".. the "turned up on time" would indicate some dialogue prior to travelling...
Indeed - I'd phoned first, said I was interested and been told they were open 9-5 weekdays, so "any time". On the day I went by Motorbike with 8am start so no call ahead. I retrospect it was a little short sighted, but I wanted to see it was dry before setting out that morning.What really got me was the excuses .... "Ah we sold that one yesterday" (twice). The owners taken it back to Hong Kong (48 hours earlier) and "It's gone away to be serviced"
In both cases a big push was made to get me interested in what they actually DID have.
swatches said:
Why aren't the current owners or dealers getting the panels fixed under warranty before putting on the market?
Methinks it's because there's a 4-6 week body shop turnaround @ MCL Authorized and that's if they have the required new panels in stock (I got the impression this was not always the case). 6 weeks from now and we're into September ...........
speedick said:
swatches said:
Why aren't the current owners or dealers getting the panels fixed under warranty before putting on the market?
Methinks it's because there's a 4-6 week body shop turnaround @ MCL Authorized and that's if they have the required new panels in stock (I got the impression this was not always the case). 6 weeks from now and we're into September ...........
May chop it in, well cheesed off only had it 12 months as a year old vehicle !!!
Nomal said:
Well..... I reported corrosion on the 31st March 2019 got to the middle of May for the parts to come into stock. Dropped the car off on the 7th June with 1st July collection scheduled now been told August as the body shop found more corrosion so - 2 fronts wings both door appliques and both rear wings , Oh and a total respray as its MSO paint!!!
May chop it in, well cheesed off only had it 12 months as a year old vehicle !!!
Really?! It's going to come back absolutely minted...May chop it in, well cheesed off only had it 12 months as a year old vehicle !!!
355spiderguy said:
Really?! It's going to come back absolutely minted...
Yes but this is the 2nd time in 12 months , I found corrosion the first time I washed it a week after I purchased the car, so then lost the car in July for 4 weeks . At least then they gave me a car , this time nothing at all good job I’m not reliant on the Mac as my only form of transport.In total of 12 months of ownership by the time it comes back to me it has been in aftercare for a total of 4 months with other warranty work as well, I just hope I have been very unlucky!!
Nomal said:
In total of 12 months of ownership by the time it comes back to me it has been in aftercare for a total of 4 months with other warranty work as well, I just hope I have been very unlucky!!
Be interesting, as a matter of law, whether a court would award 4 months’ depreciation?I’m not a practicing lawyer but founding a claim along the lines of “as a result of the manufacture’s negligent manufacturer of the car, you have been without it for 1/3 of your period of ownership.”
An informed view from a learned friend?
Nomal said:
Yes but this is the 2nd time in 12 months , I found corrosion the first time I washed it a week after I purchased the car, so then lost the car in July for 4 weeks . At least then they gave me a car , this time nothing at all good job I’m not reliant on the Mac as my only form of transport.
In total of 12 months of ownership by the time it comes back to me it has been in aftercare for a total of 4 months with other warranty work as well, I just hope I have been very unlucky!!
Shocking !In total of 12 months of ownership by the time it comes back to me it has been in aftercare for a total of 4 months with other warranty work as well, I just hope I have been very unlucky!!
Sorry to hear this
Has anyone at McLaren got to why these paint issues keep happening ?
Must be costing them a fortune.
Am looking at purchasing one soon. How long does the McLaren paintwork warranty cover you for. I assume even if the car is out of its 3 year warranty the paint work will still be covered for a number of years....
Must be costing them a fortune.
Am looking at purchasing one soon. How long does the McLaren paintwork warranty cover you for. I assume even if the car is out of its 3 year warranty the paint work will still be covered for a number of years....
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