Thinking of buying 540

[celticstevie]

Hi - I live 2 miles from Mclaren GLas and drool every time I drive by. My car history has been lotus Elise and Evora, Porsche 996 c4s, 997t and currently a 987 R. Also had a brief ownership of a 4.7 vantage

I had a call from somebody wanting to buy the cayman at good money, I really like the car though.

Anyway popped into mc GLas last weekend for a browse and had a go in a 540 and it felt like a mix of a grown up lotus with good build quality and a torque rush like a 997t.....

Seriously got me thinking and I’m getting tempted very tempted.
The guys in Glasgow have a used 540 sitting and others in pipeline. I thought my next move would have been Ferrari or GT3. I don’t see much better all round for the money.

Questions are:
1. What spec recommendations would you make or seek?
2. Why did you choose a Mclaren over a Ferrari or Lambo?

[Jack-flash]

I chose my 570 over a Fezza because iv had 4 previously and thought it was time to see how something else would feel , and to be honest I’d struggle going back to a prancing horse , the mvlaten simple does it better imo

[RamboLambo]

Get past the prancing horse badge and premium for it and you get a better car for the outlay.
Not that it means ownership costs are less which is where McLaren need to address the residuals and dealer network.
For the money the others don't even come close and I've had several Ferraris, lambos and McLarens
TBH with the doors and exclusivity of McLarens it feels and looks even more car than it is

[Jon666]

From my personal experience and that of friends I would say - any Mclaren will have issues, the car will spend a lot of time with Mclaren getting fixed, other issues will quickly materialise. It’s just the constant irritating cycle of Mclaren ownership.

Tracking the car will quickly result in a 5 figure brakes bill (the pads are made of chocolate and the discs aren’t much better).

And Glasgow one of the worst for waiting times for work.

Great car but Ferrari and Porsche just win in the real world.

[LotusJas]

celticstevie said:

2. Why did you choose a Mclaren over a Ferrari or Lambo?

I've had Lotus cars, and also Ferrari & others.


Reason I bought a McLaren this time was that it is simply better than Ferrari and Lambo. I prefer the F badge to be honest, but the McLaren is just so much better. Carbon tub, lighter, stiffer, quicker, cool doors and looks. Looks are subjective of course.

[993AL]

Jon666 said:

From my personal experience and that of friends I would say - any Mclaren will have issues, the car will spend a lot of time with Mclaren getting fixed, other issues will quickly materialise. It’s just the constant irritating cycle of Mclaren ownership.

Tracking the car will quickly result in a 5 figure brakes bill (the pads are made of chocolate and the discs aren’t much better).

And Glasgow one of the worst for waiting times for work.

Great car but Ferrari and Porsche just win in the real world.

My experience has been the total opposite.

I'm on my second 570S totalling 11000 miles and have had two minor niggles both of which were dealt with within a day by McLaren Glasgow. Service work also done within a week of calling them.

[RamboLambo]

Had 2 McLarens which have been pretty much faultless.
Battery on key fob of my 650S ran out and when changed it stopped communicating with car - replaced and reprogrammed in 2 days under warranty
Passenger door latch on the 570S wouldn't work a couple of times. Intermittent fault but dealer replaced it under warranty. Took a week to get part.

Other than that both cars have been fantastic.
The build quality on the 650S in particular has far exceeded any of my other supercar brand cars.
The Ferraris in particular always felt fragile and temperamental
Will be on my 3rd McLaren shortly and have no concerns over the reliability or build quality scaremongering on the internet.
Yeah I'm sure there are 1 or 2 rogue cars out there but not the epidemic some with other agendas like to portray

[sparkyb999]

There is a lovely spec'd 540 on auto trader at the moment in MSO grey, low mileage.

I phoned the guy up, and was on the phone to him for ages, he is a really nice guy and will listen to sensible offers!

I went for a different model in the end as I stretched my budget, but I would have bought this from him, a top chap!

[Infinity Resource]

What specs would you be looking at for a 540 if you were to get one?

OEM Contacts give discounts.

[justin220]

I also got my 540C from McGlasgow. And I've came from a history of V8 Vantages, Evora etc.

McGlasgow have been superb be with me. They are highly recommended on the McLaren owners group aswell, better than some of the other dealers going by some posts.

I chose McLaren for the reasons mentioned above, the badge is more special than Ferrari for me, it's unique, the power, the looks, the doors. Superb bit of kit. Ferrari seems a bit 'default choice'

I'd say front nose lift is a must have, the car is very low. Interior carbon pack is nice with the extended paddles

[celticstevie]

I’m on holiday for a couple of weeks so will have a look at specs etc. Quite keen to keep my cayman r. Spoke to Mclaren and Santander are doing some sharp finance deals so may need to take on a lease purchase to keep the cayman as well (a first world problem) Quoting me a rate of 4.9 apr seems reasonable ?

[Jumpingjackflash]

I was going to buy an ex demo 540c or 12c. I bought the 12c.

[ferdi p]

Jumpingjackflash said:

I was going to buy an ex demo 540c or 12c. I bought the 12c.

Well done, that's lovely!

Enjoy...

[tyrrell]

Yes that looks stunning enjoy

[Jumpingjackflash]

I was going to buy a ex demo 540c or 12. I bought the 12c.

[RamboLambo]

Jumpingjackflash said:

I was going to buy a ex demo 540c or 12. I bought the 12c.

Lot of car , peformance and nothing else like it on the road for the money.
That's what I like so much about McLaren is you get a superior more exclusive product without paying a brand premium despite the general public perception that McLaren is top of the tree

[MadMacMcMad]

I bought a 540C from new.
Gorgeous machine and goes like nothing I have owned before. I am from Caterham/Noble/Aston and the Mac wins hands down on everything apart from the constant issues. Minor they maybe, but if paying £130K+ for a car, I expected perfection.

I sold the car after 18 months due to issues.
6 new panels due to corrosion. Air con never really worked, hall senor failures on windows preventing them closing. Parking brake failed on and lots more.
So own one, but know that you will have issues and they will take an age to fix (2.5 months for one particular remedial session) and know that you must take out the £4K extended warranty.

For me, never again!

[The Surveyor]

MadMacMcMad said:

I bought a 540C from new.
Gorgeous machine and goes like nothing I have owned before. I am from Caterham/Noble/Aston and the Mac wins hands down on everything apart from the constant issues. Minor they maybe, but if paying £130K+ for a car, I expected perfection.

I sold the car after 18 months due to issues.
6 new panels due to corrosion. Air con never really worked, hall senor failures on windows preventing them closing. Parking brake failed on and lots more.
So own one, but know that you will have issues and they will take an age to fix (2.5 months for one particular remedial session) and know that you must take out the £4K extended warranty.

For me, never again!

Sorry to hear you had issues, but why did you have to pay £4,000 for an extended warranty on an 18 month old car?

[davek_964]

MadMacMcMad said:

I bought a 540C from new.
Gorgeous machine and goes like nothing I have owned before. I am from Caterham/Noble/Aston and the Mac wins hands down on everything apart from the constant issues. Minor they maybe, but if paying £130K+ for a car, I expected perfection.

I sold the car after 18 months due to issues.
6 new panels due to corrosion. Air con never really worked, hall senor failures on windows preventing them closing. Parking brake failed on and lots more.
So own one, but know that you will have issues and they will take an age to fix (2.5 months for one particular remedial session) and know that you must take out the £4K extended warranty.

For me, never again!

I often find myself browsing McLaren classifieds. And having seen a few at the Supercar Event at Rockingham this weekend, I fell in love with them again and started browsing them again. But each time I'm tempted, I see posts like this and decide I'm better to stick with what I've got.

My car is not in the same league as a McLaren - I'm well aware of that - and relatively speaking is ancient. But it is still fabulous to drive, perfect balance of power / speed for UK roads, has appreciated by about 50% since I bought it 5 years ago - and more importantly has been extremely reliable in that time. I'd love a McLaren - but even if I could stomach the warranty cost (which I do believe is a must have) - all that really protects you against is the cost. Having a car that is frequently broken just wouldn't work for me.

[Targarama]

davek_964 said:

MadMacMcMad said:

I bought a 540C from new.
Gorgeous machine and goes like nothing I have owned before. I am from Caterham/Noble/Aston and the Mac wins hands down on everything apart from the constant issues. Minor they maybe, but if paying £130K+ for a car, I expected perfection.

I sold the car after 18 months due to issues.
6 new panels due to corrosion. Air con never really worked, hall senor failures on windows preventing them closing. Parking brake failed on and lots more.
So own one, but know that you will have issues and they will take an age to fix (2.5 months for one particular remedial session) and know that you must take out the £4K extended warranty.

For me, never again!

I often find myself browsing McLaren classifieds. And having seen a few at the Supercar Event at Rockingham this weekend, I fell in love with them again and started browsing them again. But each time I'm tempted, I see posts like this and decide I'm better to stick with what I've got.

My car is not in the same league as a McLaren - I'm well aware of that - and relatively speaking is ancient. But it is still fabulous to drive, perfect balance of power / speed for UK roads, has appreciated by about 50% since I bought it 5 years ago - and more importantly has been extremely reliable in that time. I'd love a McLaren - but even if I could stomach the warranty cost (which I do believe is a must have) - all that really protects you against is the cost. Having a car that is frequently broken just wouldn't work for me.

Sounds very unlucky. You tend to hear about bad experiences more than good ones.

For balance my 570GT is coming up to 1 year old, 8,000 miles. It goes in for its first service in 2 weeks time. List of niggles and issues? Zero. Just service it and update the software/check everything please. The only issue I had was a reverse lamp connection problem, this was not caused by McLaren, rather by the removal of the rear diffuser without disconnecting said lamp when fitting a Larini exhaust (which is awesome btw).

FWIW, I sent the car back to McLaren thinking it was their fault, they just charged me an hours labour for fixing the wiring and had no issue with the exhaust change warranty-wise.