Decided not to buy

Decided not to buy

Author
Discussion

Kid A

54 posts

63 months

Friday 3rd April 2020
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I don't think it scales linearly, but I think that when something costs so much more than an ordinary car (with glossier marketing, fatter profits, and bigger claims), it is easily arguable that it should at least be subject to the same warranty terms as an ordinary car (all non-luxury marques here offer a 5-7 year warranty as opposed to 3 years).

Further, McLaren here markets the 570S as "the ultimate sports car experience. Completely driver-centric and performance oriented, the 570S Coupé is equally at home on the track as it is on the open road."

So if, after doing the usual inspections and maintenance, there was any issue after a track day, you'd go back to the above. Whether or not track use is explicitly included in a warranty. And in fact, the ACL also considers as a relevant factor any representations made by the dealer when selling, about the suitability of the goods generally or for a particular purpose.

Sure, I'm a lawyer and I deal in product litigation so I might just be cynical about corporations, but I see how you could set up a decent case here.

12pack

1,533 posts

167 months

Friday 3rd April 2020
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Kid A said:
Our consumer legislation (the Australian Consumer Law) says that price and marketing are both factors in considering the length of a warranty that is to be implied upon consumer goods. .
Probably set up by a lawyer or a politician who are clueless how about products are brought to market in order to have a viable business in a free market economy.

Superleg48

1,524 posts

132 months

Friday 3rd April 2020
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The Surveyor said:
Superleg48 said:
I run a 2011 LP570 SL Gallardo without any kind of warranty. Bought it back in 2016. Dealer gave me 12 months, but haven’t bothered since. Never had a problem or expense outside of normal routine maintenance (watch it implode now I said that).

I figure that I have saved a few grand and should anything happen, I can offset that saving against any repair cost. I don’t worry about anything happening because the enjoyment I get out of driving it outweighs any concerns about what if, to the extent it never crosses my mind.

Therein lies the crux of it. It is all about your attitude to risk. I have to say, however, if you are looking for a Supercar experience, but with the assurance of 100% reliability then you will be looking a very long time. No marque offers 100% reliability. Not even a Kia.

To be honest, I am not sure why you started this thread. It seems kind of pointless, other than to add to the long line of Mclaren bashers....many of whom have never actually owned one. Yet, they seem to profess to be able to expertly assess their reliability record against their competitor set. All of whom also have reliability issues. See point above.
I pretty much agree with everything you wrote there, including the question to the OP about why they even started this thread.

The only thing to add would be the costs involved with any failure on a McLaren seems to be significantly inflated compared to other comparable marques. This seems to be due to the unique technology, the limited independent options, and the parts supply restrictions rather than any increased frequency of failures with recent cars IMHO, this effects an owners (and indeed a prospective purchasers) assessment of the risk of running with or without a warranty. For me it would do McLaren a world of good to start offering more support to the independent sector.
I agree. Lack of indies for Mc products is a major weakness and father short sighted, I think, especially for older cars/models like 12c, 650S etc.

I flirt with McLaren sometimes in terms of if I ever change the SL (which is unlikely for the foreseeable). I would be drawn to a 650S, which by all accounts is a very sorted car from a reliability perspective and a Super Series, or a 570GT - which is a slightly different proposition - but in both cases with some miles on them on the basis that niggles making an early appearance would most likely have been sorted. I would take the warranty on purchase but once that expired my decision on renewing it would rather depend on my experience up to that point. I see no reason why my current attitude would be any different to my current one.

Major catastrophic failures are rare, most “issues” I read about tend to be relatively minor. Would I spend 3000-5000 per year on additional repairs over and above maintenance? I would think it unlikely, based on my comments above on the specific cars I am interested in.