McLaren Servicing - What a shambles....
Discussion
Matty3 said:
As it's not actually your experience - do you not consider it rather a tad risky to post this video?
I was there for basically everything which was described in the video, and would not have said anything which I did not personally know to be true. Yes there's a risk, and I've almost certainly shut myself off from some potential avenues of videos in the future but I decided that I just didn't want Manchester to get away with this and fortunately my friend and his father both supported that decision.
jayemm89 said:
I was there for basically everything which was described in the video, and would not have said anything which I did not personally know to be true.
Yes there's a risk, and I've almost certainly shut myself off from some potential avenues of videos in the future but I decided that I just didn't want Manchester to get away with this and fortunately my friend and his father both supported that decision.
Maybe you could explain what this "knock sensor" business was all about. As far as I am aware, a knock sensor is fitted to the engine and associated with the ECU. Not sure why this should fail because the car was left out in the rain.Yes there's a risk, and I've almost certainly shut myself off from some potential avenues of videos in the future but I decided that I just didn't want Manchester to get away with this and fortunately my friend and his father both supported that decision.
There's not much more to explain really. We were told one reason the cars took a while to prep is because the knock sensor on the 720 failed. Apparently, if the car is left outside in the rain and not moved, the sensor fails. I don't know the specifics of the how or the why, but that's what they said. I can only imagine that eventually with time and rain and wind, water is getting somewhere it shouldn't be.
They also told us the 570 is the same, and they're "fine as long as they're not left for long without moving"... which of course is every car at most McLaren dealerships.
They also told us Woking don't see it as a warranty item, and that they have to pay for it themselves. Frankly I was surprised that a problem such as this can exist on both 570 and 720 - you'd think as part of the product testing they'd have one outside for a bit.
They also told us the 570 is the same, and they're "fine as long as they're not left for long without moving"... which of course is every car at most McLaren dealerships.
They also told us Woking don't see it as a warranty item, and that they have to pay for it themselves. Frankly I was surprised that a problem such as this can exist on both 570 and 720 - you'd think as part of the product testing they'd have one outside for a bit.
jayemm89 said:
I was there for basically everything which was described in the video, and would not have said anything which I did not personally know to be true.
Yes there's a risk, and I've almost certainly shut myself off from some potential avenues of videos in the future but I decided that I just didn't want Manchester to get away with this and fortunately my friend and his father both supported that decision.
It appears to be fact based. If this was a builder, it would be on the telly / Rogue Traders.Yes there's a risk, and I've almost certainly shut myself off from some potential avenues of videos in the future but I decided that I just didn't want Manchester to get away with this and fortunately my friend and his father both supported that decision.
jayemm89 said:
I have had many dealings with Hatfield, lovely people there, no complaints. Same goes for Bristol thus far.
As for the document being "dealt with", Woking are well aware of it and I believe have already had words with Manchester about it. They were very coy about what exactly happened, but I suspect somebody went nuclear with them- it doesnt exactly look good for McLaren does it?
I thought long and hard about whether to mention it, or even to make the video at all. In the end, I just thought that any dealer who would come up with that kind of document would just keep on acting in a substandard and poor way unless their behaviour was called out. I've probably wrecked my own chances of ever having a relationship with Woking as a result of the video, but I genuinely believe creating it and starting the discussion is the only way they might ever improve. I've been a Lotus owner and I dont want to see McLaren wind up in the same boat as them. It is very hard to undo a bad reputation.
You were right to mention it. There is something fundamentally wrong in an organisation which:As for the document being "dealt with", Woking are well aware of it and I believe have already had words with Manchester about it. They were very coy about what exactly happened, but I suspect somebody went nuclear with them- it doesnt exactly look good for McLaren does it?
I thought long and hard about whether to mention it, or even to make the video at all. In the end, I just thought that any dealer who would come up with that kind of document would just keep on acting in a substandard and poor way unless their behaviour was called out. I've probably wrecked my own chances of ever having a relationship with Woking as a result of the video, but I genuinely believe creating it and starting the discussion is the only way they might ever improve. I've been a Lotus owner and I dont want to see McLaren wind up in the same boat as them. It is very hard to undo a bad reputation.
1. Produces a document like that.
2. Allows it to be written by someone with only a passing knowledge of the English language.
If they're getting that so wrong, it's unlikely to an isolated matter. Your experience seems to bear that out.
This seems to be across 2 threads now, but here are my thoughts anyway. It sounds to me like a operation where the Dealer Principal and the Department Heads are just not managing their teams properly. Am I wrong in thinking that in most decent customer facing operations, the initial problem(s) would have been escalated very quickly and senior staff would have been all over every subsequent customer contact? I worked for many years in a utility company, a monopoly with 2.5 million plus customers. That is how we dealt with customer complaints. It doesn't matter how much the customer spends with you, they are entitled to good quality service. The fact that the customers here spent £400k+ makes the lack of a proper, joined up response from the top even more astonishing.
For what it is worth, I had a very poor experience with the same garage, albeit a while back in April 2018. I had made a Monday appointment to visit and test drive a car, maybe two weeks in advance. I called the sales person on the Friday before, to check that all was still OK. It was a 130 mile trip, we had other appointments on the Tuesday and Wednesday, and had hotel accommodation booked. I was told quite pointedly that they now had an event on, and unless I could be with them by 10:30h at the very latest then they couldn't see me. I actually had the patience to explain that it was 130 miles, the roads would be busy, and I might not get there on time. At this point the sales person suggested that it might just be better to cancel the appointment. They wondered if I would like to re-arrange for another day? That didn't take much thinking about.
Perhaps I am just not a McLaren-type customer either!
For what it is worth, I had a very poor experience with the same garage, albeit a while back in April 2018. I had made a Monday appointment to visit and test drive a car, maybe two weeks in advance. I called the sales person on the Friday before, to check that all was still OK. It was a 130 mile trip, we had other appointments on the Tuesday and Wednesday, and had hotel accommodation booked. I was told quite pointedly that they now had an event on, and unless I could be with them by 10:30h at the very latest then they couldn't see me. I actually had the patience to explain that it was 130 miles, the roads would be busy, and I might not get there on time. At this point the sales person suggested that it might just be better to cancel the appointment. They wondered if I would like to re-arrange for another day? That didn't take much thinking about.
Perhaps I am just not a McLaren-type customer either!
This is copied from Mclaren life, cost nearly £3k to fix
So once again I called the garage for an explanation. He said “due to the car being stood out in the rain and not moving for some time this fault had developed from that and the knock sensors have got wet and corroded and need replacing”
So once again I called the garage for an explanation. He said “due to the car being stood out in the rain and not moving for some time this fault had developed from that and the knock sensors have got wet and corroded and need replacing”
Rocketreid said:
McLaren Manchester are Sytner, probably the worlds worst dealerships.
American owned but as dishonest a company as you will find !!
The customers on the video have had a truly awful experience at McLaren Manchester, where the problems seem to run deep. But I have to speak up for Sytner on the back of my own experience at other Sytner owned dealerships, in particular Graypaul Nottingham and MB Teesside. Both an absolute pleasure to deal with, whether buying or getting my car serviced. American owned but as dishonest a company as you will find !!
jayemm89 said:
I have had many dealings with Hatfield, lovely people there, no complaints. Same goes for Bristol thus far.
As for the document being "dealt with", Woking are well aware of it and I believe have already had words with Manchester about it. They were very coy about what exactly happened, but I suspect somebody went nuclear with them- it doesnt exactly look good for McLaren does it?
I thought long and hard about whether to mention it, or even to make the video at all. In the end, I just thought that any dealer who would come up with that kind of document would just keep on acting in a substandard and poor way unless their behaviour was called out. I've probably wrecked my own chances of ever having a relationship with Woking as a result of the video, but I genuinely believe creating it and starting the discussion is the only way they might ever improve. I've been a Lotus owner and I dont want to see McLaren wind up in the same boat as them. It is very hard to undo a bad reputation.
Bloody hell are Lotus crap too?As for the document being "dealt with", Woking are well aware of it and I believe have already had words with Manchester about it. They were very coy about what exactly happened, but I suspect somebody went nuclear with them- it doesnt exactly look good for McLaren does it?
I thought long and hard about whether to mention it, or even to make the video at all. In the end, I just thought that any dealer who would come up with that kind of document would just keep on acting in a substandard and poor way unless their behaviour was called out. I've probably wrecked my own chances of ever having a relationship with Woking as a result of the video, but I genuinely believe creating it and starting the discussion is the only way they might ever improve. I've been a Lotus owner and I dont want to see McLaren wind up in the same boat as them. It is very hard to undo a bad reputation.
I'm not trying to sidetrack the thread but its a bit upsetting for all that is English
Davislove said:
slight thread resurrection, but has anyone successfully had their car serviced by an independent yet? What would be the situation with getting genuine parts etc?
I think many people get their car serviced by Thorney with official parts.I don't know of any other Indy's, although I expect there are a few that are not so well known.
Davislove said:
slight thread resurrection, but has anyone successfully had their car serviced by an independent yet? What would be the situation with getting genuine parts etc?
Many of the main dealers are a lot better now. I use Bell & Covill, AKA McLaren Guildford, prices are very reasonable, no waiting and a courtesy car if you need it. If you are near Thorney then that's a great alternative but the issues that started this thread around 3 years ago seem to have been resolved and there is plenty of capacity & choice. As far as I know for service & repair items only OEM- genuine exist and they can be obtained from McLaren. Supercar Service do McLarens as well.
https://www.supercarservice.co.uk/
Raj Singh is the proprietor and knows his onions inside out.
https://www.supercarservice.co.uk/
Raj Singh is the proprietor and knows his onions inside out.
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