McLaren Servicing - What a shambles....

[flemke]

DT398 said:

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.

Of course, but the point is that McLaren is not one's only choice for this sort of purchase; Ferrari is a standard alternative. But if, when scrutinised, the situation with Ferrari is no better than it is with McLaren, the after-market service issue would not be a differentiator between the two brands, and indeed might be intrinsic to this kind of car (production scale nowhere near large enough to make possible Toyota-type uniform quality control, but cost not extreme enough to justify true hand-built TLC).

[RamboLambo]

DT398 said:

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.

Just making the point its not an issue exclusive to McLaren. It equally effects other cars out there but not everyone screams and shouts about it.
What McLaren should be doing is sorting out these issues more effectively and as a priority so not to pee people off

[Ferruccio]

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

Blimey - if you'd rang the Lamborghini factory in the 1980s, in August, for a part like this, you’d have got a better, quicker response.........

[RamboLambo]

Ferruccio said:

Blimey - if you'd rang the Lamborghini factory in the 1980s, in August, for a part like this, you’d have got a better, quicker response.........

Yeah and they are shut for the month

[Ferruccio]

RamboLambo said:

Ferruccio said:

Blimey - if you'd rang the Lamborghini factory in the 1980s, in August, for a part like this, you’d have got a better, quicker response.........

Yeah and they are shut for the month

That’s my point obviously.

[jamieo]

DaveGB said:

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

I am/was in the same position but did the opposite and just in process of buying a 2k miles 650S. I’ve had Porsche’s for many years and you could be put off by the endless RMS, scored bore, etc internet tales. You hear the worst on such forums and I’m happy to take my chances for what seem to do fabulous cars.

[Matty3]

This thread is not putting me off McLaren ownership whatsoever - having owned a few Lotii over the years and dabbled with Ferrari on 2 occasions i've come to expect that 'issues' go with the territory these cars exist in and perversely is part of the experience - some buyers expect different tho' and are not slow in coming forward with their views - shame - the vociferous minority again

[RamboLambo]

jamieo said:

I am/was in the same position but did the opposite and just in process of buying a 2k miles 650S. I’ve had Porsche’s for many years and you could be put off by the endless RMS, scored bore, etc internet tales. You hear the worst on such forums and I’m happy to take my chances for what seem to do fabulous cars.

Congrats.
Had 3 1/2 years trouble free motoring in my 650S spider and it was by far the best supercar I've ever owned and I've had a few.

Not only did it look like a supercar with dihedral doors, single wiper blade, active aero and hydraulic suspension etc... it performed like a hypercar and was rock solid with excellent build quality.

Maybe these teething issues we hear of are confined to early launch cars as all 3 Mclarens I have owned have been spot on.

Enjoy your new car and don't forget to come on here and tell everyone how good it is to restore some balance to the debate.

[breadvan]

flemke said:

Of course, but the point is that McLaren is not one's only choice for this sort of purchase; Ferrari is a standard alternative. But if, when scrutinised, the situation with Ferrari is no better than it is with McLaren, the after-market service issue would not be a differentiator between the two brands, and indeed might be intrinsic to this kind of car (production scale nowhere near large enough to make possible Toyota-type uniform quality control, but cost not extreme enough to justify true hand-built TLC).

Your right of course and I know niggles are expected with this type of car but this thread is more about the lack of dealer investment rather than the cars themselves.

I wonder what the ratio of cars v dealer ramp capacity is between the marques?

[100 IAN]

breadvan said:

I wonder what the ratio of cars v dealer ramp capacity is between the marques?

How many Left says there are 15k Ferrari's and 2k McLaren's in the UK. Back in 2011 (when the 12C was launched) there were approx 9k Ferrari's.

If you own a Ferrari you have a choice of 14 Ferrari service centres (some of which are VERY big, much bigger than any of McLaren's service centres) and numerous Indies.
If you own a McLaren there are 5* fully open McLaren Service Centres and NO Indies** .

'* In addition Leeds has 1x ramp until Jun/Jul 2019 and Hatfield 2x ramps until end of 2018.
'** not because established business's don't want to do McLaren work, but because McLaren steadfastly refuse to release diagnostic info.

Edited by 100 IAN on Monday 20th August 23:25

[Jon666]

Matty3 said:

This thread is not putting me off McLaren ownership whatsoever - having owned a few Lotii over the years and dabbled with Ferrari on 2 occasions i've come to expect that 'issues' go with the territory these cars exist in and perversely is part of the experience - some buyers expect different tho' and are not slow in coming forward with their views - shame - the vociferous minority again

Rambolambo? Haha.

[Boshly]

Jon666 said:

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.

I'm just renewing my warranty on my Sep 64 car and its £3890 all in? which dealer are you with?

And as someone else has pointed out 15% Vat???

[davek_964]

Boshly said:

And as someone else has pointed out 15% Vat???

flemke said:

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.

[Boshly]

100 IAN said:

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.

.......

I think there's a slight difference in debates here, 100 IAN (OP) started this thread highlighting that there is a problem with service capacity - and it would appear there may well be. This is a separate argument and OP is presenting his argument factually. This obviously needs addressing; the simplest way being to support and assist a few good Indies!

Others are complaining of reliability issues (and in some cases of sub-standard loan cars) and I think this is where RL is pointing out similar issues with the main McLaren alternative, Ferrari, and that, as is typical, people don't post success stories and there will be far far more people with reliable cars than those with problematic cars - it may well be that McLaren (or Ferrari or Porsche) have more than most and that needs addressing of course but it isn't every car. Mine is another that has been very reliable in the 10k I've driven it and I know that the OPs hasn't been too bad in that respect

As has been mentioned this thread is about service and repair capacity

Lastly, biased obviously but amazing amazing cars - blows the socks off my last Ferrari, a 16M

[DeltaOne]

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.

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

I quite like some of what RL says, but comments like that end up making the thread more about him and less about the post itself.

I don't think I'm a usual suspect, from memory think I've had more McLaren's than the Chair of the McHappy Owners Club (i say that not to show off but to make the point that I continue to support the brand), but have had LOADS more problems with McLaren than with many more Ferrari's Doesn't mean I don't still like the brand, doesn't mean I won't still buy future cars, just means I think they need to sharpen their act.

[100 IAN]

Update on repair situation.

After 2 weeks of being worked on I get a call from Leeds telling me my car is being returned 1/2 repaired........

The car has had new suspension actuators & 4 new sphere, plus a new rear suspension spring - just one not a pair (I'm told by someone who knows McLaren's that its imperative that springs are replaced in pairs not just singularly???) and I should drive it gently until it goes in for a service in a few weeks time as the suspension geometry needs resetting but Leeds don't have the equipment to do it.

Well i'm booked in to do a Track day at Spa on 4th Sept and the following week will be doing a EuroTour. The car will do 3k+ miles before it goes in for its service and i "have to drive it gently" in the meantime......

The car is clearly not fit for purpose until the suspension geometry is done (yes I know I can get it done elsewhere but McLaren returning a car 1/2 repaired just isn't acceptable)

Other items they haven't fixed - a/c only works on full hot or full cold, nothing in between
Seat memory adjustment has a mind of its own and sometimes works sometimes doesn't
Radio tuning is woeful, it only works manually and RDS etc is inoperable.

Really galling thing is McLaren confirmed in writing that everything would be attended to and it was the technician who I spoke to who said he was told to ignore the other items!!!!!!

[cayman-black]

Wow, that really is unacceptable.

[Jack-flash]

993AL said:

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?

They aren’t prepared to allow the car to leave in case when car is under pressure it may go and then cooling is everywhere , Been onto McLaren and a great gut called lorvinio has managed to get one for this Thursday,so far should be back with me on wed making it 8 weeks -1 day

[Taaaaang]

I think, and I could be wrong here, that the guys that are more sanguine about this stuff are older guys who are long in the super car tooth and perhaps used to old school supercar experiences (my father had to drive to Italy for a part in the 70s for his Lambo!).

My concern for McLaren are the younger buyers like myself. I'm 36 and people of my generation and younger just expect a) things to work and b) for the vendor to sort everything out quickly and without a fuss if there's a problem. Customer service is very important.

I recently bought a 458 from a Ferrari dealer after a disastrous experience with a Cali which was sorted in impeccable fashion by the dealer...I had considered a McLaren to begin with, but didn't even bother to go and look at them in the end after casting around for info on the aftersales and reliability.

I wouldn't and couldn't stand for some of the insanity I've read on this thread. It's just totally unacceptable and unless something drastically changes in the next 12 months I won't consider them for next year's new summer toy.

Of course I'm just one buyer but it doesn't take long for that reputation to spread (the people in my city who can afford a supercar aren't exactly in huge numbers or unknown to one another) and end up costing a serious amount of money for the brand.

[RamboLambo]

Cars are mechanical and occasionally can go wrong, I think most people would accept this provided the problem is then dealt with swiftly and efficiently.
Here lies the problem with McLaren it seems. Ok the dealer network is small and stretched it appears but someone at senior management level really needs to get a grip on it.
I would love to go toe to toe with the national after sales manager if it came to it but surely it does not need to get to that stage

I hope those adversely effected have been as vocal to McLaren itself as they have been on this forum. Personally I don't see the point of slagging the manufacturer off on here and would make my feeling well know at board level of the company and not on some forum where it provides trolls further ammunition

Edited by RamboLambo on Wednesday 22 August 10:57