McLaren Servicing - What a shambles....

[jamieo]

MrGrump said:

jamieo said:

I feel for people on this thread. A question, what’s been the situation say with a Ferrari that has needed time at the garage, anyone with first hand experience to compare?

When I’ve had a Ferrari go back in, always been put in another Ferrari, last experience with them had a California when a 458 went back. Porsche very similar through experience. Range Rover’s go wrong but they always bring another out. BMW wouldn’t put you in a Corsa that’s for sure.
I know that due to the size of Mclaren Automotive there aren’t going to be cars stock piled waiting to be brought out but surely the minimum level of replacement a customer could expect would be a 991 Carrera S, Merc E63 Coupe, Audi R8 ? Something of similar elk would soften the blow and keep people on side. Not being in the a Mclaren you have paid for is always going a disaster but I didn’t for one minute think I needed to ask these questions. With previous experience just assumed there would be decent back up, i know a 570 isn’t 488 money but its still a shed load of cash.

As I said, I feel for people’s McLaren experience I sympathise and I’d feel the same.

I have no experience of Ferrari. I’ve never had a remotely decent or comparable car from and BMW or Porsche main dealer, although to be honest I was younger back then and maybe that was a factor. Mostly been dealing with indys in recent years.

For an extended, or repeated, time away, I too would want a decent replacement car.

[RobDown]

I’d want a half decent replacement car for anything major- nothing focuses the mind of a dealer in getting the repairs expendited than an expensive loan car

[isaldiri]

Jon666 said:

Extended warranty on a 650S is 3980+VAT = 4776 (my post says 4700). Everything I have posted, critical and positive, is accurate.

Vat isn't applicable on the extended warranty. There's a seperate insurance tax but it is iirc rolled up into the overall cost as per quoted.

[Jon666]

isaldiri said:

Vat isn't applicable on the extended warranty. There's a seperate insurance tax but it is iirc rolled up into the overall cost as per quoted.

I’ve double checked - it’s listed as 15% VAT on invoice so 4577inc for 1 year Mclaren warranty on 650S.

[isaldiri]

Jon666 said:

I’ve double checked - it’s listed as 15% VAT on invoice so 4577inc for 1 year Mclaren warranty on 650S.

Ok interesting. That's definitely changed from the time I renewed the 12c warranty oddly enough as I never had vat added on both times I did so.

[RamboLambo]

slarti650 said:

Wow. Ok. I'm on my 2nd McLaren, will be on my 3rd later this year (12c, 650, 720). No issues over 4 years expert for minor niggles. Ascot McLaren are ste , All other dealerships do a better job of service. I did have corrosion on a front wing. They ordered a new wing and had mine replaced when it arrived. Easy.

Warranty is not 5k it's 3.7k. Unlike a Ferrari power warranty (2k) it covers everything. There is a an Indy warranty option that I will likely go for soon.- that's 2.8k and is from thorney- a well respected Indy.

I own Ferraris too and my 355 has cost a lot more than my McLaren over 3 years.

There seems to be a snow balling of McLaren criticism and it's mostly not accurate.

I agree completely.

I'm on my 3rd McLaren over 3years and not had a single issue. Servicing is booked in advance and a weeks lead time is fine with me.
Likewise recently my tracker needed resetting as it was in hibernation mode after the car had been stored for 18 months and the dealer booked it in within a week FOC on warranty and lent me a 720S for a few hours whilst it was being fixed.

When my last Ferrari was off the road I got a lift home, so not even a Volvo. I didn't make a big issue about it as I had other cars to use and just wanted the Ferrari fixed asap.

The usual suspects are just jumping on the band wagon to do some good old scaremongering and McLaren bashing. I guess its a natural reaction to having the status quo of the supercar market or their own status threatened.

So there seems to be half a dozen incidents and how many cars did McLaren sell last year. The other 5,000 owners are not on here praising the product with the same enthusiasm as those with an axe to grind.
Ok McLaren are not perfect and have a lot to learn but as usual with the internet 90% is pure nonsense

[davek_964]

RamboLambo said:

The usual suspects are just jumping on the band wagon to do some good old scaremongering and McLaren bashing. I guess its a natural reaction to having the status quo of the supercar market or their own status threatened.

It's not though is it? It's people who own or have owned the cars.

Where you have more than one previous owner who's commented that they're glad / relieved they sold the car that's a very bad thing. Especially for something that's supposed to be class leading.

[993AL]

Another satisfied McLaren customer here. On my second car and heading for a third.

I’ve had some small niggles but nothing to get too upset about. Only one of the niggles, a coolant leak, required the first car to be recovered which, when you call the recovery line automatically gets you an Enterprise car which was no big deal to me. The other times when I drove the car to the dealership I always received a McLaren courtesy car and great service.

Are there quality issues? Yes, I’ve seen a few that shouldn’t be there and they’ve been sorted out promptly but cars released from the factory should be near perfect, they shouldn’t have to be dabbled with at the dealers. That said, I’m happy to buy a third car because they’re amazing to drive, better than anything I’ve had before bar none.

[anonymous-user]

davek_964 said:

RamboLambo said:

The usual suspects are just jumping on the band wagon to do some good old scaremongering and McLaren bashing. I guess its a natural reaction to having the status quo of the supercar market or their own status threatened.

It's not though is it? It's people who own or have owned the cars.

Where you have more than one previous owner who's commented that they're glad / relieved they sold the car that's a very bad thing. Especially for something that's supposed to be class leading.

I admire Rambo's dedicated defence of the brand but adding comments like he does just weakens his argument.

Some people are obviously having a bad experience, others are not. Those are the facts.

[RamboLambo]

davek_964 said:

It's not though is it? It's people who own or have owned the cars.

Where you have more than one previous owner who's commented that they're glad / relieved they sold the car that's a very bad thing. Especially for something that's supposed to be class leading.

How many Ferrari owners have come on here about cracked manifolds over the years ?

I had it twice on my F430 !! Luckily the engine didn't blow up. I don't go bleating on about it all the time. Just like the peeling paintwork on all the inside door hinges and bonnet. Or the cracked roof brace that they wouldn't replace 1 month out of warranty and I was given short shift on

[DaveGB]

Have been considering consolidating down to just one toy and trying a supercar out. McLaren was on the list as cars seem great value for money, but way too many threads like this just put me off.

Now struck off the list until McLaren gets its act together . Shame

[anonymous-user]

RamboLambo said:

I was given short shift on

Do you man a new gearbox, or do you mean short shrift?

[johnnyreggae]

Jon666 said:

it’s listed as 15% VAT on invoice

At the risk of side-tracking this discussion I'm not aware of a current uk vat rate of 15 %

[RamboLambo]

garyhun said:

Do you man a new gearbox, or do you mean short shrift?

LOl, I think it was actually Papa Oscar or was it Foxtrot Oscar. Either way it was on yer bike son

[Jack-flash]

having been without my car since the 5th july i have just been contacted to say they have found corrosion on a coolant pipe and now the part is on back order and they cannot give me a date when its in , when asked are we talking weeks or longer im advised longer , my thoughts are its a uk based company yet im going to end up without my car for 2-3 months which is summer wiped out to say im pissed right off would be an understatement, i can only recommend anyone wanting a mclaren simply dont do it

[993AL]

Jack-flash said:

having been without my car since the 5th july i have just been contacted to say they have found corrosion on a coolant pipe and now the part is on back order and they cannot give me a date when its in , when asked are we talking weeks or longer im advised longer , my thoughts are its a uk based company yet im going to end up without my car for 2-3 months which is summer wiped out to say im pissed right off would be an understatement, i can only recommend anyone wanting a mclaren simply dont do it

That's a bummer. Is the corrosion right through the pipe or just on the outside? could the car not be used until the pipe arrives?

[100 IAN]

RamboLambo said:

........ The other 5,000 owners are not on here praising the product .......

That's because they simply don't exist, you're making things up and trying [as always] to paint a different picture to reality. Mr Trump would be proud of you.

Facts:

There were less than 2,000 McLaren's of all variants at the end of 2018 Q1 here in the UK. (Total number now just over 2,000 UK cars)
Back at the beginning of 2016 when I bought my car there were 843 UK registered McLarens (close of 2016 Q1 figures)
A year later (close of Q1 2017 figures) there were 1,386 - a very impressive 64% growth
A year later (close of Q1 2018 figures) there were 1,898, or 37% growth in a year (125% in 2x years)

Has the dealer capacity grown by an equivalent amount? - NO, not by a long way.

Are the dealers able to cope with the current demand? - NO, current dealer wait time to even look at a car (not fix it, just look at it) 3 weeks!

Is this situation likely to get worse bearing in mind that cars registered in the last year (37% of the total number) aren't yet due their 1st service - YES

My gripe is simply that McLaren are desperate to sell cars but don't realise that the biggest thing stopping people buying them is their shocking customer service and total disregard for customer care.

Its all very well the "I'm alright Jack" brigade but there WILL come a time when you no longer get special treatment, and even if you do get priority over everyone else its a bit arrogant to stick your nose in the air and be vocal to those less fortunate by telling them that you're OK.

For those passionate about their McLaren's, shouldn't it worry you that the bad experience stories are getting every more frequent(?)

Surely trying to get the problems addressed and properly rectified is better than trying to silence or besmirch others?

McLaren have a BIG problem and need to address it - its damaging their new car sales figures because the ownership experience for many (not all, but enough that it is making a significant impact) is just too painful to tolerate.

[cayman-black]

Jack-flash said:

having been without my car since the 5th july i have just been contacted to say they have found corrosion on a coolant pipe and now the part is on back order and they cannot give me a date when its in , when asked are we talking weeks or longer im advised longer , my thoughts are its a uk based company yet im going to end up without my car for 2-3 months which is summer wiped out to say im pissed right off would be an understatement, i can only recommend anyone wanting a mclaren simply dont do it

Rubbish this cant be true, Rambo says so.

[DT398]

RamboLambo said:

How many Ferrari owners have come on here about cracked manifolds over the years ?

I had it twice on my F430 !! Luckily the engine didn't blow up. I don't go bleating on about it all the time. Just like the peeling paintwork on all the inside door hinges and bonnet. Or the cracked roof brace that they wouldn't replace 1 month out of warranty and I was given short shift on

Just because there have been problems with Ferrari, it doesn’t mean there’s no problem at McLaren. Just a weird defensive deflection response and denial that there’s a problem. Like someone said, these issues are not made up, they are real gripes from unhappy owners and McLarens reputation (£4.5k warranty pa for a £120k car is nuts) and marketing strategy is causing values of each successive model to tank, further putting people off. This is just a fact.

High price? Tick. Ropey quality? Tick. Relatively poor service? Yes sir. Eye watering depreciation? Tick. Not a good combo imho. Ymmv.

[flemke]

johnnyreggae said:

Jon666 said:

it’s listed as 15% VAT on invoice

At the risk of side-tracking this discussion I'm not aware of a current uk vat rate of 15 %

It appears that a car warranty is considered to be a form of insurance and, as such, the cost of it is subject not to VAT but rather to Insurance Premium Tax (IPT). The rates for IPT are 20% if the warranty is purchased with the car (from the dealer) and 12% if it is purchased from an independent broker.