Decision made - pulled the trigger, deposit down!
Discussion
So, put a deposit down yesterday on a Mclaren! So excited. IMy first step into the world of Supercar ownership, spent hours of research, days of time visiting dealers, driving cars and finally made a decision! I've mainly been considering 458's and Hurracan's. It's been really difficult to make a decision. Here is how it went:
458: Looks fantastic, sounds even better, nice interior, love the image, best chance of decent residuals. Downsides? The oldest of the lot so the tech a little less up to date. And they seem very mileage sensitive when it comes to value. A very close 2nd.
Huracan: Loved everything about this car, all of the above with modern tech and no doubt Audi reliability. Replacement parts often a good price as they're Audi. Expect 4wd to mean you can make use of the performance more often. Key downside and the dealbreaker, residuals. The most mass produced, reflected by so many on the market. Being out trumped by the Performante where the prices there are coming down, these will drop significantly over the next few years. I will get one one day!
And the winner.....
570s: This started off as the least favourite, at least on paper/in pictures. Noise: not great.... looks? To me they look nice, but nothing special. Reputation for reliability not great, cost to run, high. So why did I even consider them? Hard not too when they are £30k+ less, which would have meant I could keep my Exige. I happened to be down in Bristol and noticed the local Mclaren Dealer, Rybrook, had a nice one in stock. This one had caught my eye because of some tasteful pinstriping and a nice looking carbon wing. Anyway, I walked into the showroom and there it was, its beauty hit me. If ever there was a perfect example of pictures not doing a car justice it has to be the 570s. The car looks very good in the flesh. I was taken for a drive in a 570s Spider demonstrator, again wow, the acceleration!! I've driven a lot of fast cars but this felt next level. That power, with such little weight and the torque. Really liked the interior too.
That being said, I left there still unsure, thinking this has gone from a backrunner to having a real shot, but still unsure. I couldn't get the noise of the Huracan and 458 out of my head. I spent the next couple of days swinging one way to the other, to the point it was starting to really p!ss me off. I made it worse by finding a perfect spec 458 in my budget. But every time I thought I made a decision I remembered something about one of the others. I had another trip to Bristol planned so thought I'd pop in to the Mclaren dealer again. Here they played a blinder. As I drove down the road past the main showroom, I looked over and caught a quick glance of a gorgeous Mclaren sat out front, as I then turned into their car park it was there in front of me, for that split section I was like wow, that's stunning, just then realised it was the car I was considering. They'd pulled it out front to greet me. Hard to explain but it helped me see it from a different perspective, it looked so good out there in a car park, on it's own. And that was it, I got the butterflies in my stomach that I had been looking for. Desposit down and hoping to collect by the end of the month. They agreed to take my V8 Ftype in as a p/x, which I plan to do. But I'm going to see if I can sell it privately first, at a very cheap price but slightly more than they are offering. So once that's gone I can arrange collection!! Can't wait!! And another plus, Rybrook have been fantastic, really instilled confidence in me that they would support and help me, something that was/is very important to me when I feel like I'm taking a little leap of faith here.
So, here is the car. I negotiated a price I was happy with along with an additional year's warranty, so got 2 in total. It's also going to be serviced and have its first MOT.
https://www.autotrader.co.uk/classified/advert/201...
458: Looks fantastic, sounds even better, nice interior, love the image, best chance of decent residuals. Downsides? The oldest of the lot so the tech a little less up to date. And they seem very mileage sensitive when it comes to value. A very close 2nd.
Huracan: Loved everything about this car, all of the above with modern tech and no doubt Audi reliability. Replacement parts often a good price as they're Audi. Expect 4wd to mean you can make use of the performance more often. Key downside and the dealbreaker, residuals. The most mass produced, reflected by so many on the market. Being out trumped by the Performante where the prices there are coming down, these will drop significantly over the next few years. I will get one one day!
And the winner.....
570s: This started off as the least favourite, at least on paper/in pictures. Noise: not great.... looks? To me they look nice, but nothing special. Reputation for reliability not great, cost to run, high. So why did I even consider them? Hard not too when they are £30k+ less, which would have meant I could keep my Exige. I happened to be down in Bristol and noticed the local Mclaren Dealer, Rybrook, had a nice one in stock. This one had caught my eye because of some tasteful pinstriping and a nice looking carbon wing. Anyway, I walked into the showroom and there it was, its beauty hit me. If ever there was a perfect example of pictures not doing a car justice it has to be the 570s. The car looks very good in the flesh. I was taken for a drive in a 570s Spider demonstrator, again wow, the acceleration!! I've driven a lot of fast cars but this felt next level. That power, with such little weight and the torque. Really liked the interior too.
That being said, I left there still unsure, thinking this has gone from a backrunner to having a real shot, but still unsure. I couldn't get the noise of the Huracan and 458 out of my head. I spent the next couple of days swinging one way to the other, to the point it was starting to really p!ss me off. I made it worse by finding a perfect spec 458 in my budget. But every time I thought I made a decision I remembered something about one of the others. I had another trip to Bristol planned so thought I'd pop in to the Mclaren dealer again. Here they played a blinder. As I drove down the road past the main showroom, I looked over and caught a quick glance of a gorgeous Mclaren sat out front, as I then turned into their car park it was there in front of me, for that split section I was like wow, that's stunning, just then realised it was the car I was considering. They'd pulled it out front to greet me. Hard to explain but it helped me see it from a different perspective, it looked so good out there in a car park, on it's own. And that was it, I got the butterflies in my stomach that I had been looking for. Desposit down and hoping to collect by the end of the month. They agreed to take my V8 Ftype in as a p/x, which I plan to do. But I'm going to see if I can sell it privately first, at a very cheap price but slightly more than they are offering. So once that's gone I can arrange collection!! Can't wait!! And another plus, Rybrook have been fantastic, really instilled confidence in me that they would support and help me, something that was/is very important to me when I feel like I'm taking a little leap of faith here.
So, here is the car. I negotiated a price I was happy with along with an additional year's warranty, so got 2 in total. It's also going to be serviced and have its first MOT.
https://www.autotrader.co.uk/classified/advert/201...
Edited by AstonExige on Thursday 12th March 17:54
Congratulations and I told you so 
Great cars, I'm on my second in less than 12 months albeit a 600 spider this time, I too have a black car but with blue calipers/stripes. Pain to keep clean but when they are you can't beat black IMHO.
You will love your car and I don't believe you need a louder exhaust, just give it time.
Next I would recommend you join the Owners Club for some great banter, helpful advice and factory visits along with lots of other interesting stuff incl a great FB private forum.
Great cars, I'm on my second in less than 12 months albeit a 600 spider this time, I too have a black car but with blue calipers/stripes. Pain to keep clean but when they are you can't beat black IMHO.
You will love your car and I don't believe you need a louder exhaust, just give it time.
Next I would recommend you join the Owners Club for some great banter, helpful advice and factory visits along with lots of other interesting stuff incl a great FB private forum.
Hi Aston
Any chance you could PM me, I'm a new user so cant pm for 24hrs.
I was due to look at the one you bought, its an absolute stunner with the carbon wing and pinstripe so huge congrats !!!
I've seen another one similar but no wing :-( ha ha
Just have a couple of questions
Thanks
Any chance you could PM me, I'm a new user so cant pm for 24hrs.
I was due to look at the one you bought, its an absolute stunner with the carbon wing and pinstripe so huge congrats !!!
I've seen another one similar but no wing :-( ha ha
Just have a couple of questions
Thanks
Cam555 said:
Hi Aston
Any chance you could PM me, I'm a new user so cant pm for 24hrs.
I was due to look at the one you bought, its an absolute stunner with the carbon wing and pinstripe so huge congrats !!!
I've seen another one similar but no wing :-( ha ha
Just have a couple of questions
Thanks
It won't let me either. Drop me an email marknash99 @ gmail . comAny chance you could PM me, I'm a new user so cant pm for 24hrs.
I was due to look at the one you bought, its an absolute stunner with the carbon wing and pinstripe so huge congrats !!!
I've seen another one similar but no wing :-( ha ha
Just have a couple of questions
Thanks
Congratulations from a fellow 570 and Exige owner. The 570 seems to me to have Lotus DNA in spades but much more advanced. I had similar thoughts to you a year ago but once I drove the 570 the alternatives seemed rather to be some way behind in many respects. 5k miles later I am so pleased with my decision and the dealer experience has been absolutely superb. Every journey is an event - Enjoy 
Thanks for the kind words all. It's interesting the number of current and ex Lotus drivers who have taken this step. Although when you think about it not really surprising I suppose. Anyone who appreciates the driving characteristics that a Lotus brings to the table (and is willing to put up with the downsides ) is going to appreciate a Mclaren. I still can't wait, to the point that I'm considering just throwing the towel in and giving them my FType rather than holding up for a private sale and an extra £2k or so! Need to be patient!!
) is going to appreciate a Mclaren. I still can't wait, to the point that I'm considering just throwing the towel in and giving them my FType rather than holding up for a private sale and an extra £2k or so! Need to be patient!!Gassing Station | McLaren | Top of Page | What's New | My Stuff