2011 12C retro upgrade clarification needed

[foxsasha]

Ive been offered an Oct 2011 12C but cant find the definitive guide as to what FOC upgrades were offered to the 2011 cars. Can anyone shed any light please, I want to see what has been done to the car already and what could still be done to improve it further.

Ive found mentions of:

Active aero software
Update to the IRIS software
25bhp upgrade
Transmission software
Revised exhaust sound software
Bluetooth and nav software
Modified radio antenna

Was all of that applicable to the 2011 vehicles?

I see that McLaren offered a "IRIS Upgrade with Satellite Navigation & Meridian Surround Sound System" optional upgrade at £4250. The car Im looking at has sat nav, does that mean it has the IRIS upgrade and if so what did the upgrade actually consist of?

Whats the difference between these two systems, is one the IRIS 2 and the other (without logos on the top two buttons) the original IRIS?

Thankyou in advance

Edited by foxsasha on Monday 3rd October 20:11

[foxsasha]

So the car should have had the power and transmission upgrades? I can't find any mention of them in the various Platform upgrades.

Found these details

Platform 12:

The most noticeable changes of this software are;
o New procedure for Oil level acquisition.
o Odometer back-up to improve robustness.
o Chinese language is now supported in the instrument cluster menu.
o Improved Suspension Displacement Sensor Calibration Sequence.
o New PCCU Sequence Airbrake Contamination Cleaning.
o DTC added for Real Time Clock.
o Improved Engine cover and Luggage compartment Latch drive logic.

Brochure regarding Platform 13 upgrades:

http://www.mclarenebrochure.com/2014/12CTechUpdate...

Platform 14 is reported to have:

"1 - more features on NAV including a XM option. But when you click on it, it saw "No Tuner" found. Maybe McLaren is now going to install satellite tuner????
2 - Radio is much louder and sounds better
3 - Bluetooth better
4 - temp control screens on doors brighter.
5 - more app feature"

From here:

http://www.mclarenlife.com/forums/mclaren-mp4-12c/...

[foxsasha]

It's a private sale so I can't just phone the dealer. The details are coming through from the owner but in the mean time I'm gathering as much knowledge as possible with regards to the specs and upgrades so I have some clue about what I buying into Been hankering for a 12C for a while now, would fit in well with my plans for 2017.

[foxsasha]

No warranty left on the car but the seller says McLaren will put a year on it for £3.5k, as you say. I need to know what happens when that year extension runs out, can it be renewed when it's nearly 6 years old? My understanding is that a year extension is £3.5k, two years is £6k? If I buy now then the car will have little use before winter closes in and the car gets put away until next spring. I wonder if I could start the warranty next year ready for the new season rather than paying for cover on a car that's laid up. Questions questions. I will speak to a dealer tomorrow.

Edited to update. McLaren won't put a warranty on the car.

Edited by foxsasha on Friday 7th October 22:07

[foxsasha]

Ok, thanks. Being Yorkshire based we see a bit of salt Dec through to April. The car will only be used as a fair weather toy, for club events, track days and for longer Euro jaunts so it will stay nice and snug if it's damp and miserable outside.

SELON said:

The current owner should be able to get the details for you.
Alastair Bols has a few for sale should yours not got through. He's well regarded by the guys who've got Mcs already and is a fount of a lot of knowledge about the cars. Once you've got it, join us on Facebook. There's an active group on there with a load of knowledge about the cars, history and people. Nice guys also with quite a few meets and drives.
In the meantime McLife is your friend.

Good luck with the purchase!

Sorry, missed your post. I shall have a look at Alistairs offerings. My very next question was to see if there was an active owners group!

Edited by foxsasha on Monday 3rd October 22:45

[foxsasha]

SELON said:

If warranty is key for you, Would advise getting Mc to confirm they will extend for your car before you buy or better still get it on the car before you buy. There's a small (£50 or £90 I think) transfer fee. Caveat Emptor and all that.

The plan is indeed to make sure a warranty is available before purchase. Hopefully it can be instigated next year but it's no big deal if it's put in place via the current owner as part of the service the cars about to have. I wouldn't be comfortable without a warranty for at least the first twelve months as I don't know the car and wouldn't have dealer support to fall back on should I have an issue.

SELON said:

Very active group. From racers to new owners to buyers of the first 12Cs. All sorts.

That's good to hear. Are there many owners in the group that use their car on track?

[foxsasha]

Thinking it through its illogical to start the warranty from next year as the car might have an underlying fault that's not spotted until the pre warranty inspection so I'll have it done by the current owner as McLaren presumably won't issue the warranty if they find any faults with the vehicle.

SELON said:

Track? Plenty. And they make use of the pre and post track Mc checks as well.

Any idea of the cost of the checks?

[foxsasha]

Mmmmm, OK, food for thought. Thanks.

[foxsasha]

TISPKJ said:

If you do the Pure McLaren days whilst expensive they do include the pre and post checks as part of the day.

Regarding the warranty, get the current owner to sort and negotiate the cost etc, don't forget you would more than likely have an inspection on any car of this kind pre purchase anyway, so again a negotiating point.

The Pure days sounds fantastic, Ive contacted McLaren for further information. Thankyou. I'm expecting the UK owner drive days to cost around £1500?

The purchase is slightly complicated and there is little to no incentive for the owner to do anything over and above handing over the keys in exchange for the payment so I can only push so hard. I'm sure the warranty issue is surmountable though

[foxsasha]

TISPKJ said:

Think I paid £850 for Brands GP and £1000 for Silverstone, as expected OTT but a proper day pre and post inspection all the breakfast tea coffee and cakes you want all day and lunch with Senna.

Just bear in mind as an owner I have realistically 2 options if I want to sell,

1)ensure my factory warranty is in place and give to Alastair Bolls who will act as a broker for the car, when sold the remaining warranty can be transferred from me to new owner for a small fee.
Don't know exact cost but circa £4k

2)Give to McLaren main dealer to sell on my behalf (SOR)they will want considerably more commission and have to put a new £3500 warranty on the car etc etc ..... circa £8k

3) bend over and take a trade bid of 90 - 100k if current sales are to be believed

Is the pre/post inspection done at the track or at a local dealer?

Those prices are surprisingly reasonable, less than I expected.

I note that some of Alastair Bols cars have surprisingly little warranty on them, ones only covered until Jan 2017. Its encouraging as the market evidently has sufficient faith in the cars that they don't need more warranty than that to sell.

[foxsasha]

Xpuffin said:

The way it was explained to me at a local McDealer is as the car is an Oct 2011 car and purchased outside of the McDealer network they WILL NOT offer an extended warranty product on the car as things stand at present.

The car hasn't been purchased outside the network? It's true that McLaren won't put a warranty on it through.

[foxsasha]

Sarnie said:

You said;

"It's a private sale so I can't just phone the dealer."

Thats purchasing it outside of the dealer network...............Eg you aren't buying it from a McLaren dealership.

Purchasing, not purchased. There's a difference. It hasn't happened yet. I wanted the current owner to extend the warranty.

[foxsasha]

Sarnie said:

Makes no odds........you still would not be buying it from McLaren.

There is some misunderstanding. Isn't your point that McLaren wouldn't warranty the car as the purchase is direct rather than via a dealer? I'm not sure why you think that relevant as I wanted the current owner to put a warranty on it?

It's a mute point as the cars too old.

What is of interest is more info with regards to warranties down the line on cars purchased outside the dealer network. Can you shed any more light or is that all that was said, didn't buy from a dealer, no factory warranty?

Xpuffin said:

foxsasha said:

I wanted the current owner to extend the warranty.

Question, assuming that's not going to happen would you still be keen to buy without warranty at the agreed price or do you feel an adjustment would be appropriate.

I'm still interested and am going to view the car tomorrow.

Edited by foxsasha on Saturday 8th October 11:24

[foxsasha]

That's great, thanks. That's one aspect of no McLaren warranty, I can do as many track days as I like without the pre and post checks and, based on what you've just said, save a minor fortune in doing third party £250 track days rather than £1000 McLaren ones.

There's always a silver lining!