McLaren in Northern Ireland - madness?
Discussion
As the Belfast-residing owner of an R8 v10 (previously a couple of 911 turbos) I'm very tempted indeed to take the McLaren route next. Probably MP4-12C The current and previous cars have been essentially trouble-free but obviously I have a dealer locally to hand if a problem arose (rare).
The obvious problem with contemplating a McLaren is the lack of any McLaren dealer on the island of Ireland. My nearest is Glasgow, not hugely far but a ferry trip nonetheless. Fine for an annual service but hardly practical for every minor ailment on the car. It wouldn't be a daily driver like the other cars I've referenced but used regularly all the same. I'm not the sort of person who takes a car back for every squeak or rattle and can put up with a bit of minor annoyance in a car.
Am I mad countenancing this? Obviously any Irish based owners (past or present) would be particularly welcome though if the rest of you close your eyes and pretend you might still be able to tell me how you'd feel about it!
Thanks in advance.
The obvious problem with contemplating a McLaren is the lack of any McLaren dealer on the island of Ireland. My nearest is Glasgow, not hugely far but a ferry trip nonetheless. Fine for an annual service but hardly practical for every minor ailment on the car. It wouldn't be a daily driver like the other cars I've referenced but used regularly all the same. I'm not the sort of person who takes a car back for every squeak or rattle and can put up with a bit of minor annoyance in a car.
Am I mad countenancing this? Obviously any Irish based owners (past or present) would be particularly welcome though if the rest of you close your eyes and pretend you might still be able to tell me how you'd feel about it!
Thanks in advance.
12c's should be all sorted now. Early teething problems should of been corrected by previous owners. If you have a specific car in mind you maybe able to get McLaren dealer to look up the warranty records. The recall, campaigns and updates should of all been done if serviced at the main dealer properly.
As long as the car isn't a 5 year old garage queen with 2,000 miles on it I think it should be relatively trouble free now if maintained correctly
As long as the car isn't a 5 year old garage queen with 2,000 miles on it I think it should be relatively trouble free now if maintained correctly
http://www.glasgow.mclaren.com/mclaren-preowned/20... .
Like this one in ...drove it last week ,a nice car but the colour was not to my liking
Like this one in ...drove it last week ,a nice car but the colour was not to my liking
RamboLambo said:
12c's should be all sorted now. Early teething problems should of been corrected by previous owners. If you have a specific car in mind you maybe able to get McLaren dealer to look up the warranty records. The recall, campaigns and updates should of all been done if serviced at the main dealer properly.
As long as the car isn't a 5 year old garage queen with 2,000 miles on it I think it should be relatively trouble free now if maintained correctly
RL's spouting rubbish again.As long as the car isn't a 5 year old garage queen with 2,000 miles on it I think it should be relatively trouble free now if maintained correctly
McAscot & McBrum both refused to give me warranty history on my own car and likewise wouldn't give me copies of previous service invoices quoting 'Data Protection' (The fact that my V5 details the previous owner, and when I bought the car the previous owner's V5 gave details of the owner before him, is presumably irrelevant)
When I was booking my car in for its 4th service McBrum were adamant that they'd need it for at least a week, possibly longer, as *all* 12C's *always* need additional warranty work - their words not mine!
All McLaren's irrespective of age/mileage can require a fair amount of non-routine maintenance which is why many people would not contemplate owning one without warranty cover.
The problem you will face living in Ireland is that the warranty does not cover the cost of getting the car back to a dealer in England/Scotland. McLaren also do not offer any assistance to garages outside of the dealer network so other than the straight forward repairs a local garage may well struggle.
RL will no doubt attest that his McL's have all been faultless but statistics prove otherwise. Extended warranty prices have recently been increased by something like 50% due to the claims history as a whole.
McLaren's policy of not assisting Indies is a major cause of concern to owners and a significant own goal on their part. It has affected residuals which in turn has had an adverse affect on new car sales. McLaren ownership in Ireland (north & south) is extremely low for the very same reason.
They are a couple NI Mclaren owners in the facebook owners group, as well a few cars on the IOM.
Mclaren's do tend to through up errors, most are amber (drive on but get it checked out), in my experience every 6 months.
I know of a couple owners who have bought code readers, so they can get more detail (about the error) and in some cases clear the error - my last two were loose hoses - so needed to go back to a Mclaren service centre (fortunately for me less than 10 miles away from my home).
My car came from Charles hurst in NI, they had it a couple months and even through it was reasonably well priced, they didn't have a single serious enquiry on it, probably for the same reason you are a bit cautious - little local support.
I'd say if it not a daily driver, crack on.......great cars and currently great value..........interesting point above about recovery not covering NI, mine has factory warranty (just extended) and it explicitly lists European wide recovery.
Mclaren's do tend to through up errors, most are amber (drive on but get it checked out), in my experience every 6 months.
I know of a couple owners who have bought code readers, so they can get more detail (about the error) and in some cases clear the error - my last two were loose hoses - so needed to go back to a Mclaren service centre (fortunately for me less than 10 miles away from my home).
My car came from Charles hurst in NI, they had it a couple months and even through it was reasonably well priced, they didn't have a single serious enquiry on it, probably for the same reason you are a bit cautious - little local support.
I'd say if it not a daily driver, crack on.......great cars and currently great value..........interesting point above about recovery not covering NI, mine has factory warranty (just extended) and it explicitly lists European wide recovery.
100 IAN said:
RL's spouting rubbish again.
McAscot & McBrum both refused to give me warranty history on my own car and likewise wouldn't give me copies of previous service invoices quoting 'Data Protection' (The fact that my V5 details the previous owner, and when I bought the car the previous owner's V5 gave details of the owner before him, is presumably irrelevant)
When I was booking my car in for its 4th service McBrum were adamant that they'd need it for at least a week, possibly longer, as *all* 12C's *always* need additional warranty work - their words not mine!
All McLaren's irrespective of age/mileage can require a fair amount of non-routine maintenance which is why many people would not contemplate owning one without warranty cover.
The problem you will face living in Ireland is that the warranty does not cover the cost of getting the car back to a dealer in England/Scotland. McLaren also do not offer any assistance to garages outside of the dealer network so other than the straight forward repairs a local garage may well struggle.
RL will no doubt attest that his McL's have all been faultless but statistics prove otherwise. Extended warranty prices have recently been increased by something like 50% due to the claims history as a whole.
McLaren's policy of not assisting Indies is a major cause of concern to owners and a significant own goal on their part. It has affected residuals which in turn has had an adverse affect on new car sales. McLaren ownership in Ireland (north & south) is extremely low for the very same reason.
Jesuse Christ Ian..............bad day!?!?!?McAscot & McBrum both refused to give me warranty history on my own car and likewise wouldn't give me copies of previous service invoices quoting 'Data Protection' (The fact that my V5 details the previous owner, and when I bought the car the previous owner's V5 gave details of the owner before him, is presumably irrelevant)
When I was booking my car in for its 4th service McBrum were adamant that they'd need it for at least a week, possibly longer, as *all* 12C's *always* need additional warranty work - their words not mine!
All McLaren's irrespective of age/mileage can require a fair amount of non-routine maintenance which is why many people would not contemplate owning one without warranty cover.
The problem you will face living in Ireland is that the warranty does not cover the cost of getting the car back to a dealer in England/Scotland. McLaren also do not offer any assistance to garages outside of the dealer network so other than the straight forward repairs a local garage may well struggle.
RL will no doubt attest that his McL's have all been faultless but statistics prove otherwise. Extended warranty prices have recently been increased by something like 50% due to the claims history as a whole.
McLaren's policy of not assisting Indies is a major cause of concern to owners and a significant own goal on their part. It has affected residuals which in turn has had an adverse affect on new car sales. McLaren ownership in Ireland (north & south) is extremely low for the very same reason.
100 IAN said:
RL's spouting rubbish again.
McAscot & McBrum both refused to give me warranty history on my own car and likewise wouldn't give me copies of previous service invoices quoting 'Data Protection' (The fact that my V5 details the previous owner, and when I bought the car the previous owner's V5 gave details of the owner before him, is presumably irrelevant)
When I was booking my car in for its 4th service McBrum were adamant that they'd need it for at least a week, possibly longer, as *all* 12C's *always* need additional warranty work - their words not mine!
All McLaren's irrespective of age/mileage can require a fair amount of non-routine maintenance which is why many people would not contemplate owning one without warranty cover.
The problem you will face living in Ireland is that the warranty does not cover the cost of getting the car back to a dealer in England/Scotland. McLaren also do not offer any assistance to garages outside of the dealer network so other than the straight forward repairs a local garage may well struggle.
RL will no doubt attest that his McL's have all been faultless but statistics prove otherwise. Extended warranty prices have recently been increased by something like 50% due to the claims history as a whole.
McLaren's policy of not assisting Indies is a major cause of concern to owners and a significant own goal on their part. It has affected residuals which in turn has had an adverse affect on new car sales. McLaren ownership in Ireland (north & south) is extremely low for the very same reason.
They are quite correct not giving you previous owners details due to DPA but there is nothing stopping them providing you with Warranty history.McAscot & McBrum both refused to give me warranty history on my own car and likewise wouldn't give me copies of previous service invoices quoting 'Data Protection' (The fact that my V5 details the previous owner, and when I bought the car the previous owner's V5 gave details of the owner before him, is presumably irrelevant)
When I was booking my car in for its 4th service McBrum were adamant that they'd need it for at least a week, possibly longer, as *all* 12C's *always* need additional warranty work - their words not mine!
All McLaren's irrespective of age/mileage can require a fair amount of non-routine maintenance which is why many people would not contemplate owning one without warranty cover.
The problem you will face living in Ireland is that the warranty does not cover the cost of getting the car back to a dealer in England/Scotland. McLaren also do not offer any assistance to garages outside of the dealer network so other than the straight forward repairs a local garage may well struggle.
RL will no doubt attest that his McL's have all been faultless but statistics prove otherwise. Extended warranty prices have recently been increased by something like 50% due to the claims history as a whole.
McLaren's policy of not assisting Indies is a major cause of concern to owners and a significant own goal on their part. It has affected residuals which in turn has had an adverse affect on new car sales. McLaren ownership in Ireland (north & south) is extremely low for the very same reason.
I guess its how you ask them and who you know what you know.
This constant bashing of the brand and scaremongering seems to emanate from the odd disgruntled owner or those owner of a competitor make.
Both my 570S and 650S Spider have been faultless and the 650S is undoubtedly the best put together supercar I have ever owned. Feels absolutely solid in build quality and bulletproof for reliability
Thanks guys.
Would someone with a warranty be kind enough to check if the European recovery option only apply if you have a home address in Great Britain (ie England, Scotland or Wales?) or is it UK (which would include Northern Ireland)?
It may be that they would recover the car if an English owner broke down here. The rationale being that this would be very rare and the owner would be far from home. The corollary is that a car based in NI is likely to experience any problems in NI and would invariably require transportation. One unlikely the other highly foreseeable.
Would someone with a warranty be kind enough to check if the European recovery option only apply if you have a home address in Great Britain (ie England, Scotland or Wales?) or is it UK (which would include Northern Ireland)?
It may be that they would recover the car if an English owner broke down here. The rationale being that this would be very rare and the owner would be far from home. The corollary is that a car based in NI is likely to experience any problems in NI and would invariably require transportation. One unlikely the other highly foreseeable.
As an NI resident I can only ever recall seeing one McLaren on the roads here, an orange 12C. It was definitely a welcome and particularly rare spot! I'd suggest maybe directing your question elsewhere on the forum as well, as there's a few other prestige / sports brands that don't have main dealer presences here - thinking in particular Lamborghini and Rolls Royce.
AndrewMontgomery said:
Thanks guys.
Would someone with a warranty be kind enough to check if the European recovery option only apply if you have a home address in Great Britain (ie England, Scotland or Wales?) or is it UK (which would include Northern Ireland)?
It may be that they would recover the car if an English owner broke down here. The rationale being that this would be very rare and the owner would be far from home. The corollary is that a car based in NI is likely to experience any problems in NI and would invariably require transportation. One unlikely the other highly foreseeable.
Email me and Ii will send the PDF of the warranty book to you....the recovery is by AA, so its their terms and conditionsWould someone with a warranty be kind enough to check if the European recovery option only apply if you have a home address in Great Britain (ie England, Scotland or Wales?) or is it UK (which would include Northern Ireland)?
It may be that they would recover the car if an English owner broke down here. The rationale being that this would be very rare and the owner would be far from home. The corollary is that a car based in NI is likely to experience any problems in NI and would invariably require transportation. One unlikely the other highly foreseeable.
it explicitly excludes the cost of a ferry ??
these are the words in an email to me
"The McLaren Extended Warranty policies include roadside assistance, free hire car and recovery which includes Europe wide cover (Pay and claim with restrictions – please read the policy). "
Other than door locks in the first 2 weeks of ownership, my 12C has only been to the dealer for services and any minor warranty work carried out at the service. Get one, you won't regret it for one moment. 2 years on and I still bloody love the thing, I may sell, but only to buy another one. On the other hand I might just keep the one I have, it has been pretty reliable for me.
BelfastBoy said:
As an NI resident I can only ever recall seeing one McLaren on the roads here, an orange 12C. It was definitely a welcome and particularly rare spot! I'd suggest maybe directing your question elsewhere on the forum as well, as there's a few other prestige / sports brands that don't have main dealer presences here - thinking in particular Lamborghini and Rolls Royce.
I'm bringing my 570s over to Belfast on the 8th March for a run down to Waterford, back on the Monday! keep your eyes peeled.... 
Thanks to the kindness of Wilmslowboy I have gone through the warranty. It covers the whole of the UK (so NI is covered). Relay is provided for an immobile vehicle but as he correctly noted it expressly excludes ferry costs. So that would have to be paid but it seems the remaining transit costs would be covered though I'd clarify that directly in advance with them.
Query what an immobilised vehicle means as it is not defined. The problem is that in real terms it can take very little to immobilise a car. I had very few issues with my 911 turbo but on one occasion the side window cable snapped with the window half down. Car is undriveable in practice in most circumstances if even a chance of rain (hardly rare here) and because you simply can't leave it anywhere unaccompanied. Doubt very much McLaren would count that as immobile though!
Query what an immobilised vehicle means as it is not defined. The problem is that in real terms it can take very little to immobilise a car. I had very few issues with my 911 turbo but on one occasion the side window cable snapped with the window half down. Car is undriveable in practice in most circumstances if even a chance of rain (hardly rare here) and because you simply can't leave it anywhere unaccompanied. Doubt very much McLaren would count that as immobile though!
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