Living with a McLaren 650s Spider as an (almost) daily
Discussion
davek_964 said:
An unexpected conclusion to this thread. Car was declared total loss by the insurers yesterday.
I don't want to go into details so won't discuss that any further here, but since I no longer own a McLaren I thought it would be a useful end to this thread to give my final thoughts on McLaren ownership.
Firstly, there are a few issues - which are pretty well known. Paint bubbling is surprisingly common and if it affects you, it's a big negative. McLaren won't fix it now unless the car is under 5 years old, and although a repair and repaint is a fraction of the cost of replacing panels, it is a real pain for owners. Not least because matching some colours can be a challenge, and McLaren still don't release paint codes which means you either trust a body shop to match, of use official McLaren body shop.
Stress cracks in glass is another, although I think that happens less with 12C / 650 than later cars.
So, the cars are not perfect. But then, very little is.
My 650 was brilliant. It was excellent as a daily car - incredibly comfortable, very easy to drive. And was also proper supercar when you wanted it.
I had the alignment done by V Engineering (highly recommended) a few months ago, which transformed the car - just with stock settings. Finally handled the way I wanted it to.
Mine was mostly problem free in 3 years / 19k miles. Last issue I had was an intermittent door switch. An hour at V Engineering found a broken wire in the door, and fixed while I waited for the grand sum of £160.
When I bought the car, I was genuinely concerned about running costs. But servicing at official McLaren service centres was costing me less than it cost me to service a 360 at Indy's a few years ago. It was actually a surprisingly reasonable car to run.
The best summary I can give of my ownership experience is this :
If I decide to use the insurance money to buy another supercar, the only car on my list at ~£100k is another 650 Spider. Nothing else tempts me.
Even if I increase the budget to £200k, I think the list would still be McLarens - maybe with the older Aventadors on there somewhere, although I'm quite sure I can't afford to run one of them!
Considering my trepidation 3 years ago when I decide to try a McLaren, this is quite a shift. But it was a good decision, and the 650 really was a car that was very good in 99% of situations.
Whether I will replace the 650 or not, I don't yet know. Few life changes mean it may actually be handy to have one less car for the next 6 months so I may do nothing and see how I feel over winter. But if I do decide I need a replacement, it's very likely to be another 650 spider or a 720.
As a general final point : there are people who have / had a McLaren, had major issues and will never own one again. But that is equally true of all marques - my 360 top end self destructed due to a design flaw but it hasn't put me off Ferrari. Many owners have a very positive experience. Many owners replace their McLaren with another, some even own multiple. Many owners run them without warranty, and find they are cash positive - including me for the last year.
Don't believe all the negative crap, most of which is from people who heard it / read it from somebody else rather than first hand experience. They are awesome cars.
sorry to hear - thanks for the commentaryI don't want to go into details so won't discuss that any further here, but since I no longer own a McLaren I thought it would be a useful end to this thread to give my final thoughts on McLaren ownership.
Firstly, there are a few issues - which are pretty well known. Paint bubbling is surprisingly common and if it affects you, it's a big negative. McLaren won't fix it now unless the car is under 5 years old, and although a repair and repaint is a fraction of the cost of replacing panels, it is a real pain for owners. Not least because matching some colours can be a challenge, and McLaren still don't release paint codes which means you either trust a body shop to match, of use official McLaren body shop.
Stress cracks in glass is another, although I think that happens less with 12C / 650 than later cars.
So, the cars are not perfect. But then, very little is.
My 650 was brilliant. It was excellent as a daily car - incredibly comfortable, very easy to drive. And was also proper supercar when you wanted it.
I had the alignment done by V Engineering (highly recommended) a few months ago, which transformed the car - just with stock settings. Finally handled the way I wanted it to.
Mine was mostly problem free in 3 years / 19k miles. Last issue I had was an intermittent door switch. An hour at V Engineering found a broken wire in the door, and fixed while I waited for the grand sum of £160.
When I bought the car, I was genuinely concerned about running costs. But servicing at official McLaren service centres was costing me less than it cost me to service a 360 at Indy's a few years ago. It was actually a surprisingly reasonable car to run.
The best summary I can give of my ownership experience is this :
If I decide to use the insurance money to buy another supercar, the only car on my list at ~£100k is another 650 Spider. Nothing else tempts me.
Even if I increase the budget to £200k, I think the list would still be McLarens - maybe with the older Aventadors on there somewhere, although I'm quite sure I can't afford to run one of them!
Considering my trepidation 3 years ago when I decide to try a McLaren, this is quite a shift. But it was a good decision, and the 650 really was a car that was very good in 99% of situations.
Whether I will replace the 650 or not, I don't yet know. Few life changes mean it may actually be handy to have one less car for the next 6 months so I may do nothing and see how I feel over winter. But if I do decide I need a replacement, it's very likely to be another 650 spider or a 720.
As a general final point : there are people who have / had a McLaren, had major issues and will never own one again. But that is equally true of all marques - my 360 top end self destructed due to a design flaw but it hasn't put me off Ferrari. Many owners have a very positive experience. Many owners replace their McLaren with another, some even own multiple. Many owners run them without warranty, and find they are cash positive - including me for the last year.
Don't believe all the negative crap, most of which is from people who heard it / read it from somebody else rather than first hand experience. They are awesome cars.
what did you mean by this? "maybe with the older Aventadors on there somewhere, although I'm quite sure I can't afford to run one of them!" - are they particularly costly to run/how?
Thank you for sharing your ownership experience here. As one of those who are very interested in McLaren ownership, this sort of ownership log is invaluable for getting a sense of the highs and possible lows.
I'm sorry your ownership came to an abrupt end; I hope you're not feeling too sore physically, emotionally or financially.
It would be great to hear about your next sports/supercar, as and when you decide to get something else.
dng992 said:
sorry to hear - thanks for the commentary
what did you mean by this? "maybe with the older Aventadors on there somewhere, although I'm quite sure I can't afford to run one of them!" - are they particularly costly to run/how?
It's perhaps an unfair statement. I've seen some scary costs quoted, even for things like clutches.what did you mean by this? "maybe with the older Aventadors on there somewhere, although I'm quite sure I can't afford to run one of them!" - are they particularly costly to run/how?
But I don't think I'd choose one anyway - daily usability is an important thing to me and something the 650 was very good at. I'm not sure I could see myself nipping to Tesco in one of those!
This thread has been a great and interesting read and unfortunately has a sad ending.
At the end of the day it's just a car and you are OK. I'm currently in a similar position after selling my 540 because I got tired of a few issues it had and the time I spent without it. I want/will get another Mclaren when the time is right for me as there is nothing else I really fancy supercar wise currently. I replaced it with of all things a Yaris GR which I've stuck with for a year now but in another 6 months I hope to be back in a Mclaren or at leasst have one in my sights...
At the end of the day it's just a car and you are OK. I'm currently in a similar position after selling my 540 because I got tired of a few issues it had and the time I spent without it. I want/will get another Mclaren when the time is right for me as there is nothing else I really fancy supercar wise currently. I replaced it with of all things a Yaris GR which I've stuck with for a year now but in another 6 months I hope to be back in a Mclaren or at leasst have one in my sights...
justin220 said:
Sorry to read the update, I think the 650S will be a really hard car to replace, but at the same time it's a good chance to try something different. I'd go 720s personally
Initially, I thought there was zero chance of me buying a 720. I prefer the looks of the 650, plus could have a spider for £50k less than a 720 coupe.But it seems I have since decided subconsciously that if I buy another car, it will almost certainly be a 720. It's all I seem to be browsing. I may even go for the spider.
I probably won't decide until early next year though, and I may well still decide there are better things to spend £200k on.
Plus, I am currently in the window of no car and no money - it's been declared total loss but no mention of what the insurers would like to give me in return yet.
davek_964 said:
Initially, I thought there was zero chance of me buying a 720. I prefer the looks of the 650, plus could have a spider for £50k less than a 720 coupe.
But it seems I have since decided subconsciously that if I buy another car, it will almost certainly be a 720. It's all I seem to be browsing. I may even go for the spider.
I probably won't decide until early next year though, and I may well still decide there are better things to spend £200k on.
Plus, I am currently in the window of no car and no money - it's been declared total loss but no mention of what the insurers would like to give me in return yet.
I guess another way to look at it is, a 720S maybe be £50k more, and the Spyder £80k or so more than the 650S.. but you should recoup a significant part of that when you come to sell at the end?! But it seems I have since decided subconsciously that if I buy another car, it will almost certainly be a 720. It's all I seem to be browsing. I may even go for the spider.
I probably won't decide until early next year though, and I may well still decide there are better things to spend £200k on.
Plus, I am currently in the window of no car and no money - it's been declared total loss but no mention of what the insurers would like to give me in return yet.
Babw said:
What put me off the 720s is the abundance of issues compared to almost any other model in the Mclaren range. Good luck with your search though.
Interesting - that is my view too, although I don't know if it's justified. But my impression is that 650s are pretty solid and 720s might have a few more problems - glass cracking at the very least.The early cars seem to have had more problems than the later cars for various reasons but the thrust is that McLaren learned a lot and for the most part have tweaked the cars as time has gone on. Some of those tweaks have made it onto earlier cars through software updates etc. Things like the dash being made by one company and the infotainment system being made by another made for some "interesting" integration problems early in the life of the car.
Of course, some things like the fasteners in the coolant system appear to be completely the same now as the early cars and thus still have issues. My GT has the same 4.0L engine as the 720s (with different turbos ofc) and has had a pretty bad coolant leak so there's still work to do but they are moving in the right direction.
My thinking was to avoid a very early car and also dodge any car with particularly low mileage. They need to be driven to stay healthy and also identify problems to be fixed under warranty. Cars that have sat as garage queens seem to be the ones with the most issues in the long term.
Of course, some things like the fasteners in the coolant system appear to be completely the same now as the early cars and thus still have issues. My GT has the same 4.0L engine as the 720s (with different turbos ofc) and has had a pretty bad coolant leak so there's still work to do but they are moving in the right direction.
My thinking was to avoid a very early car and also dodge any car with particularly low mileage. They need to be driven to stay healthy and also identify problems to be fixed under warranty. Cars that have sat as garage queens seem to be the ones with the most issues in the long term.
Yep, if I do go 720 then I'm thinking 2019 or later and I would want at least 5k miles on it.
I had a coolant leak on my 650, and the solution by Guildford was to fit 720 clamps. I questioned that, since I knew 720s had coolant issues too but they told me that was usually due to hoses rubbing, not due to leaks where the hoses clamp.
I had a coolant leak on my 650, and the solution by Guildford was to fit 720 clamps. I questioned that, since I knew 720s had coolant issues too but they told me that was usually due to hoses rubbing, not due to leaks where the hoses clamp.
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