Why do many owners not actually use their cars?
Discussion
Looking at the 12c and other models for sale, it seems rare for a car to reach 10k miles in 3-4 years. Why? I did 7,000 miles in my TVR in the first year. A trip to The Alps takes 2-3k miles. What is everyone doing? Sitting looking at them? They are not Italian you know 😄 I intend to use mine for around 10k miles p.a. possibly more.
Targarama said:
Looking at the 12c and other models for sale, it seems rare for a car to reach 10k miles in 3-4 years. Why? I did 7,000 miles in my TVR in the first year. A trip to The Alps takes 2-3k miles. What is everyone doing? Sitting looking at them? They are not Italian you know ?? I intend to use mine for around 10k miles p.a. possibly more.
I think it's actually the opposite......there are a lot more 15k and 25k+ cars out there than the equivalent Ferrari's for example......the McLaren Facebook group as circa 150 owners and there is a LOT of activity with Pure McLaren Track days, Euro tours and UK stuff......one guy has in a 570s has had it about 5 months and has done enough mileage for it need servicing already.......I used to ask myself that same question as I use to clock +10kmiles on my toy cars...but nowadays with 2 babies at home priorities change, and my Stradale has only done 1kmile this year over 1 wkend, even though she's sitting right in front of the house most of the time.
She's started once a month on the odd nursery run to please my son, but otherwise just sits there for the eyes of the pedestrians.
And the fact that we have another 2 cars (G55 and 300SL R107) gives it even less chances to be started. Even the R107 is more practical than the Strad, especially in Central London.
I can only guess my story is a very common one.
Therefore, I don't ask myself that question anymore, but rather embrace it as when you end up buying one of those supercars second hand it's a low miler
She's started once a month on the odd nursery run to please my son, but otherwise just sits there for the eyes of the pedestrians.
And the fact that we have another 2 cars (G55 and 300SL R107) gives it even less chances to be started. Even the R107 is more practical than the Strad, especially in Central London.
I can only guess my story is a very common one.
Therefore, I don't ask myself that question anymore, but rather embrace it as when you end up buying one of those supercars second hand it's a low miler

McLarens are definitely not so mileage sensitive as Ferrari's. Quite a few Mclarens are doing 5,000 or 10,000 miles + whereas the average Ferrari seems to do less than 2,000.
You will always get a few low mileage garage queens as its not really a 1st or 2nd car for most owners despite the fact its more than capable of being a daily driver and is probably the most accomplished supercar out there.
I don't like leaving cars unused for long periods of time despite trickle chargers, dehumidifiers and heated garages so try to spread the miles over my 4 cars and use them at least once a month.
That said I did struggle to do a 1,000 miles in the F355 GTS in the last year as I did 4,500 in the 650s spider
You will always get a few low mileage garage queens as its not really a 1st or 2nd car for most owners despite the fact its more than capable of being a daily driver and is probably the most accomplished supercar out there.
I don't like leaving cars unused for long periods of time despite trickle chargers, dehumidifiers and heated garages so try to spread the miles over my 4 cars and use them at least once a month.
That said I did struggle to do a 1,000 miles in the F355 GTS in the last year as I did 4,500 in the 650s spider
Don't kid yourself that Mclaren aren't mileage sensitive. Any car in that price range always is going to be. Just try to sell a 20k mile 12c/650 vs a 10k one especially to a dealer. Perhaps they aren't as much as Ferrari but that's due to low mileage cars having fallen a truckload anyway so the spread is smaller.
OP, for what it's worth my 12c has 33k miles...
OP, for what it's worth my 12c has 33k miles...

At the end of the day its a toy not a daily user in most cases.
I get the train to work so that limits to weekends, then factor in our UK weather so that cuts out 4 months of the year on sorn, only the one kid but no good for 3 so that cuts out the 7 weeks holiday a year with summer and half term skiing etc etc.
Its also a bit of a pain to juggle the cars around to get out.
That said I have used this a lot more than my previous toys having done 5k miles this past year.
As said above they are mileage and owner sensitive like any other supercar albeit to a slightly lesser degree.
I get the train to work so that limits to weekends, then factor in our UK weather so that cuts out 4 months of the year on sorn, only the one kid but no good for 3 so that cuts out the 7 weeks holiday a year with summer and half term skiing etc etc.
Its also a bit of a pain to juggle the cars around to get out.
That said I have used this a lot more than my previous toys having done 5k miles this past year.
As said above they are mileage and owner sensitive like any other supercar albeit to a slightly lesser degree.
Oi, less of the Italian bashing! Done 3000 miles in my F430 since I bought her 8 weeks ago. Pretty much my daily driver and every mile, whether sun or rain, has been enjoyed. Not done much for my bank balance re fuel, but hey can't take it with you.
Get your keys and go for some milk - just make sure the supermarket is a long way away down a twisty road
Get your keys and go for some milk - just make sure the supermarket is a long way away down a twisty road

My 355 averaged about 13k miles a year and my FF now averages (1 year so far so small sample) 20k km and i expect this to increase singificantly in the future due to more travel. Can understand why people who have multiple cars average less thoug - given both were/are my only cars this is just the total mileage I did/do in a year, so nothing much I can do to increase it.... If I had another car this would pretty much automatically half / be a third if three cars and so on
This is a nicely used car
http://www.bramley.com/carsales/details/Ferrari/F1...
Have to confess not too keen on the interior colour choice but you can't argue with that mileage. Top man or lady.
Considering the interior and mileage a cheeky offer might get you hand bitten off.
http://www.bramley.com/carsales/details/Ferrari/F1...
Have to confess not too keen on the interior colour choice but you can't argue with that mileage. Top man or lady.

Considering the interior and mileage a cheeky offer might get you hand bitten off.
Why do many owners not actually use their cars?
Because you have to wait 6-8 weeks for a service and then 3-4 weeks for the actual service to be completed and if you're unfortunate enough to need something that's not in stock that's [in my case] another 10 week wait.
I've had my car 8 1/2 months of which 3 1/2 months of that its been residing with McL or there's agents.
They are an engineering triumph and perfectly useable as a daily driver EXCEPT McLaren seriously needs to sort out its after sales service which is truly shocking.
All of McLaren's efforts go into 'getting cars out the door' and they've overlooked the need to offer ongoing support.
This is a serious worry, particularly with 540/570's being aimed at owners of German performance cars, who not unreasonably expect to use their cars day-in day-out.
Sadly this situation is likely to get worse before it gets better, as there's no signs of dealer capacity keeping up with new car sales, or of approval for any Indies.
I do worry that McLaren will look back in a few years time and think "F**K we screwed up there"
Because you have to wait 6-8 weeks for a service and then 3-4 weeks for the actual service to be completed and if you're unfortunate enough to need something that's not in stock that's [in my case] another 10 week wait.
I've had my car 8 1/2 months of which 3 1/2 months of that its been residing with McL or there's agents.
They are an engineering triumph and perfectly useable as a daily driver EXCEPT McLaren seriously needs to sort out its after sales service which is truly shocking.
All of McLaren's efforts go into 'getting cars out the door' and they've overlooked the need to offer ongoing support.
This is a serious worry, particularly with 540/570's being aimed at owners of German performance cars, who not unreasonably expect to use their cars day-in day-out.
Sadly this situation is likely to get worse before it gets better, as there's no signs of dealer capacity keeping up with new car sales, or of approval for any Indies.
I do worry that McLaren will look back in a few years time and think "F**K we screwed up there"
Gandahar said:
This is a nicely used car
http://www.bramley.com/carsales/details/Ferrari/F1...
Have to confess not too keen on the interior colour choice but you can't argue with that mileage. Top man or lady.
Considering the interior and mileage a cheeky offer might get you hand bitten off.
? Is 18k miles considered high..? Not even run in. Ah - in two years tho, pretty good going.http://www.bramley.com/carsales/details/Ferrari/F1...
Have to confess not too keen on the interior colour choice but you can't argue with that mileage. Top man or lady.

Considering the interior and mileage a cheeky offer might get you hand bitten off.
Edited by anonymous-user on Thursday 13th October 17:22
100 IAN said:
Why do many owners not actually use their cars?
Because you have to wait 6-8 weeks for a service and then 3-4 weeks for the actual service to be completed and if you're unfortunate enough to need something that's not in stock that's [in my case] another 10 week wait.
I've had my car 8 1/2 months of which 3 1/2 months of that its been residing with McL or there's agents.
They are an engineering triumph and perfectly useable as a daily driver EXCEPT McLaren seriously needs to sort out its after sales service which is truly shocking.
All of McLaren's efforts go into 'getting cars out the door' and they've overlooked the need to offer ongoing support.
This is a serious worry, particularly with 540/570's being aimed at owners of German performance cars, who not unreasonably expect to use their cars day-in day-out.
Sadly this situation is likely to get worse before it gets better, as there's no signs of dealer capacity keeping up with new car sales, or of approval for any Indies.
I do worry that McLaren will look back in a few years time and think "F**K we screwed up there"
That's pretty bloody crap to be honest the time you had to wait and completely unacceptable. sorry to hear that.Because you have to wait 6-8 weeks for a service and then 3-4 weeks for the actual service to be completed and if you're unfortunate enough to need something that's not in stock that's [in my case] another 10 week wait.
I've had my car 8 1/2 months of which 3 1/2 months of that its been residing with McL or there's agents.
They are an engineering triumph and perfectly useable as a daily driver EXCEPT McLaren seriously needs to sort out its after sales service which is truly shocking.
All of McLaren's efforts go into 'getting cars out the door' and they've overlooked the need to offer ongoing support.
This is a serious worry, particularly with 540/570's being aimed at owners of German performance cars, who not unreasonably expect to use their cars day-in day-out.
Sadly this situation is likely to get worse before it gets better, as there's no signs of dealer capacity keeping up with new car sales, or of approval for any Indies.
I do worry that McLaren will look back in a few years time and think "F**K we screwed up there"
I'd agree that Mclaren Automotive main (only?) focus has been to push new car sales and they don't seem at all bothered about anything else. Head office can't possibly not have heard of some of these issues with their official dealers and if they don't get that sorted especially with higher volumes now, as brilliant as the cars are to drive, the brand is finished long term if the cars cannot be serviced/fixed within a reasonable time. 1 month nevermind 2 is not imo 'reasonable'.
Targarama said:
Hmm, let's hope the dealer/service network can keep up with demand. My dealer mentioned they are opening a new, larger service centre in a few months time, hope they hire enough technicians and McLaren back them up with good fast parts supply too.
Really? Where?I live a few miles from McBrum and thought that would be great!
Until I found out all the servicing is done completely the other side of Birmingham........
That's still not going to be enough.
12C's and 650S' were originally bought as 3rd/4th/5th cars and only used occasionally.
Subsequent owners are using them much more regularly and putting many more miles on them.
570S buyers (I believe) are very much buying them to use.
Looking at HowManyLeft gives an idea of how the number of cars registered has grown significantly, but the number of service tech's / ramps has no way kept pace.

I'm guessing 2016 figures are only up until end of 2nd quarter (possibly end of 3rd quarter) but a lot of 570/540's are now being delivered after a slow start to the year, so more than double the number of cars on the road than there were last year.
There's no way been a doubling in service capacity. BE WARNED.
12C's and 650S' were originally bought as 3rd/4th/5th cars and only used occasionally.
Subsequent owners are using them much more regularly and putting many more miles on them.
570S buyers (I believe) are very much buying them to use.
Looking at HowManyLeft gives an idea of how the number of cars registered has grown significantly, but the number of service tech's / ramps has no way kept pace.

I'm guessing 2016 figures are only up until end of 2nd quarter (possibly end of 3rd quarter) but a lot of 570/540's are now being delivered after a slow start to the year, so more than double the number of cars on the road than there were last year.
There's no way been a doubling in service capacity. BE WARNED.
Edited by 100 IAN on Thursday 13th October 23:32
Sarnie said:
Targarama said:
Hmm, let's hope the dealer/service network can keep up with demand. My dealer mentioned they are opening a new, larger service centre in a few months time, hope they hire enough technicians and McLaren back them up with good fast parts supply too.
Really? Where?I live a few miles from McBrum and thought that would be great!
Until I found out all the servicing is done completely the other side of Birmingham........
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