Only buy from Thorney Motorsport?

[jamesgareth]

I've got a Lotus Emira right now - love the thing never had quite such a wonderful car.

But. You know.... there's always that thought. For another £30K I could probably get myself into a McLaren. Looking at them all I'm thinking a 570GT. For the fact that I'll use it as a daily (so I don't need the hard core suspension etc) - love the fact that it has a sunroof (I miss that on my Emira) - and the interior (if you get it in that ivory/grey...). OK so not everybody's cup of tea but heck it's a free country right?

Thing is..........

I bumped into the chap who runs Thorney Motorsport - not in person I mean watching a few of his videos - and he seems to give me the impression - apart from the fact that he has a tonne of relevant experience with this brand..... that the only safe way to buy any kind of McLaren - is by buying through him.

How accurate is that?

He sounds so confident......

The cheapest 570GT he has is £88K - which is a little more than I'd like to spend - but how much of a risk is it buying from somebody else?

He tells stories of people bringing him cars they've just bought - that turn out to need a LOT of work to get them up to scratch. I'd very (very) much like to avoid that experience.

Anybody have any thoughts?

Cheers.

James.

Picture of my Lotus because - well heck it's a pretty car....

[CountyLines]

Popcorn.

[kevinpsw]

Thorney prices at the top of the market because of the piece of mind he provides. You can, however, get good cars at lower prices.

I bought my 12C privately over 3 years ago without a pre-purchase inspection although it had been at a Main Dealer just 4 weeks earlier for a service. While I ve had no problems apart from paint corrosion and tired accumulators (which I believe the 570 doesn t have) I wouldn t advise doing the same, not now I know more about the cars. I actually did know about the paint bubbling but I didn t know that McLaren had reduced their warranty cover for this from 10 to 5 years.

I d say buy from wherever you like but do get an expert inspection before you part with your cash.

Thorney has an excellent buyers guide video so you can eliminate cars with the more obvious problems (especially paint if on multiple panels) from your shortlist before paying for an inspection.

I suggest that a warranty is likely to be of limited value unless with McLaren or Thorney. Actually, with good independent experts like Thorney, V-Engineering (who I use) and others, maintaining a McLaren is not especially expensive, at least for what it is. And depreciation on the older cars might prove slower than on a nearly new Lotus.

Good luck.

[mikey k]

He is not factory trained or ex dealer.
Don't believe everything to see on the interweb.
I'm 10 years in to McLaren ownership and I'm in my 3rd McLaren
My 675LT has been more reliable than my brand new 992 GTS. One of the most reliable cars out of the 63 I've owned.
It has been serviced by THE most experienced UK Indie,
V Engineering, for the last 4 years.
Cheaper to service there than an M car at a BMW main dealer.
Be warned they are very very busy so don't expect them to drop everything for you.

[JerryEXE]

I’ve no experience of Thorney so cannot comment there. However, Alastair Bols has a great reputation and may be worth talking to. He’s not just selling P1s and LTs and often has some of the “lower end” stuff for sale. We used him to sell our GT at the end of last year and, based on that experience, if I were getting back into a McLaren I’d be giving him a call.

[jamesgareth]

kevinpsw said:

Thorney prices at the top of the market because of the piece of mind he provides. You can, however, get good cars at lower prices.

I bought my 12C privately over 3 years ago without a pre-purchase inspection although it had been at a Main Dealer just 4 weeks earlier for a service. While I ve had no problems apart from paint corrosion and tired accumulators (which I believe the 570 doesn t have) I wouldn t advise doing the same, not now I know more about the cars. I actually did know about the paint bubbling but I didn t know that McLaren had reduced their warranty cover for this from 10 to 5 years.

I d say buy from wherever you like but do get an expert inspection before you part with your cash.

Thorney has an excellent buyers guide video so you can eliminate cars with the more obvious problems (especially paint if on multiple panels) from your shortlist before paying for an inspection.

I suggest that a warranty is likely to be of limited value unless with McLaren or Thorney. Actually, with good independent experts like Thorney, V-Engineering (who I use) and others, maintaining a McLaren is not especially expensive, at least for what it is. And depreciation on the older cars might prove slower than on a nearly new Lotus.

Good luck.

Very helpful - thanks.

[jamesgareth]

mikey k said:

He is not factory trained or ex dealer.
Don't believe everything to see on the interweb.
I'm 10 years in to McLaren ownership and I'm in my 3rd McLaren
My 675LT has been more reliable than my brand new 992 GTS. One of the most reliable cars out of the 63 I've owned.
It has been serviced by THE most experienced UK Indie,
V Engineering, for the last 4 years.
Cheaper to service there than an M car at a BMW main dealer.
Be warned they are very very busy so don't expect them to drop everything for you.

Thanks - I've heard many good things about V engineering.

[cgt2]

Personally I would only buy from Alastair Bols. Probably more so than a main dealer. He is passionate about McLaren and passionate about delivering the very best experience in every way. Just the fact he is affiliated with the McLaren F1 tours says it all really in terms of his standing and reputation. No main dealer or anyone else compares and I have experience of all of them.

Inspection and service wise I wouldn't consider anyone other than V Engineering. You'll have to wait for a slot but I wouldn't go anywhere else. They are an exceptional outfit and wherever you are in the UK it is worth the effort. They really are that good. Again, if you walk in there and see multiple P1's and race cars it says a great deal.

[murphyaj]

John Thorne is a businessman, a very good businessman by all accounts, and he knows full well that his youtube channel is a great way to advertise his business. Of course he is going to say buying through him is the safest way to buy a McLaren, he's hardly going to tell you go elsewhere.

This isn't to put down Thorney by any means, I hear they are very good and that their cars are top notch; he trades on his reputation and seems to have a lot of very satisfied customers, but there are plenty of good cars out there to be found elsewhere. However, as others have said, buying without an inspection by someone to really knows what they are doing is a gamble I wouldn't take. I got mine a year ago and had it inspected by V Engineering, who fortunately gave it a clean bill of health. I have had a couple of issues over the last year, but nothing that could reasonably have been picked up beforehand unless you spent a month taking the car to pieces with an x-ray. It's just been serviced and nothing came up, and I'm very happy with it.

[davek_964]

cgt2 said:

Personally I would only buy from Alastair Bols. Probably more so than a main dealer. He is passionate about McLaren and passionate about delivering the very best experience in every way. Just the fact he is affiliated with the McLaren F1 tours says it all really in terms of his standing and reputation. No main dealer or anyone else compares and I have experience of all of them.

Inspection and service wise I wouldn't consider anyone other than V Engineering. You'll have to wait for a slot but I wouldn't go anywhere else. They are an exceptional outfit and wherever you are in the UK it is worth the effort. They really are that good. Again, if you walk in there and see multiple P1's and race cars it says a great deal.

+1 on both counts

[jamesgareth]

murphyaj said:

John Thorne is a businessman, a very good businessman by all accounts, and he knows full well that his youtube channel is a great way to advertise his business. Of course he is going to say buying through him is the safest way to buy a McLaren, he's hardly going to tell you go elsewhere.

This isn't to put down Thorney by any means, I hear they are very good and that their cars are top notch; he trades on his reputation and seems to have a lot of very satisfied customers, but there are plenty of good cars out there to be found elsewhere. However, as others have said, buying without an inspection by someone to really knows what they are doing is a gamble I wouldn't take. I got mine a year ago and had it inspected by V Engineering, who fortunately gave it a clean bill of health. I have had a couple of issues over the last year, but nothing that could reasonably have been picked up beforehand unless you spent a month taking the car to pieces with an x-ray. It's just been serviced and nothing came up, and I'm very happy with it.

Thanks. Very helpful.

What are your thoughts on a warranty? Do you think you need them if say you've bought a car that's been checked out by V Engineering? Thorney do one that I think runs around £3K a year..... I presume V. Engineering do one too.....

Any thoughts on that?

[jamesgareth]

cgt2 said:

Personally I would only buy from Alastair Bols. Probably more so than a main dealer. He is passionate about McLaren and passionate about delivering the very best experience in every way. Just the fact he is affiliated with the McLaren F1 tours says it all really in terms of his standing and reputation. No main dealer or anyone else compares and I have experience of all of them.

Inspection and service wise I wouldn't consider anyone other than V Engineering. You'll have to wait for a slot but I wouldn't go anywhere else. They are an exceptional outfit and wherever you are in the UK it is worth the effort. They really are that good. Again, if you walk in there and see multiple P1's and race cars it says a great deal.

Yes I hear good things about Alastair Bols too - though I think they tend to deal with models a bit above the 570....

[cgt2]

jamesgareth said:

Have a chat with him he has a lot of resources and will do the legwork to find you exactly what you want.

Re warranty I did not renew my McLaren warranty this year. McLarens are far more reliable than the internet would lead you to believe, I have had several more unreliable German cars. I have confidence that V Engineering can resolve any issues for far less than the warranty cost so see no need. Even the McLaren warranty has quite specific restrictions that don't justify the cost to me.

[jamesgareth]

cgt2 said:

Have a chat with him he has a lot of resources and will do the legwork to find you exactly what you want.

Re warranty I did not renew my McLaren warranty this year. McLarens are far more reliable than the internet would lead you to believe, I have had several more unreliable German cars. I have confidence that V Engineering can resolve any issues for far less than the warranty cost so see no need. Even the McLaren warranty has quite specific restrictions that don't justify the cost to me.

More excellently useful information. Thanks.

[murphyaj]

jamesgareth said:

Thanks. Very helpful.

What are your thoughts on a warranty? Do you think you need them if say you've bought a car that's been checked out by V Engineering? Thorney do one that I think runs around £3K a year..... I presume V. Engineering do one too.....

Any thoughts on that?

V engineering don't offer their own warranty.

I don't have a warranty. There are plenty of threads on here about warranties that run for pages and pages, everyone has their opinion on that subject. Some think you'd be mad not to have one, others think they are a waste of time. Personally I don't have one, as I know that I have plenty in my emergency fund to cover pretty much everything up to and including an engine rebuild. I have had high end cars for most of the last 15 years and if I add up all the money I have spent on repairs in that time (some of them fairly expensive) it would probably come to about 20 grand less than I would have spent on warranties, so I take the long view.

In my opinion what you are buying with a warranty is peace of mind. If you are the kind of person that can relax and enjoy a car that doesn't have a warranty, and not freak out and break out in a cold sweat as soon as you see a warning light, then financially speaking, in the long run, the maths says you are better off not getting one (on average). But if you are not that kind of person and a warranty means you can get out and enjoy the car more then it is worth it for that.

[mikey k]

jamesgareth said:

Thanks. Very helpful.

What are your thoughts on a warranty? Do you think you need them if say you've bought a car that's been checked out by V Engineering? Thorney do one that I think runs around £3K a year..... I presume V. Engineering do one too.....

Any thoughts on that?

V and AB both offer warranties that are properly backed, with clear T&C's, unlike the Thorney one.

[mikey k]

murphyaj said:

V engineering don't offer their own warranty.

I don't have a warranty. There are plenty of threads on here about warranties that run for pages and pages, everyone has their opinion on that subject. Some think you'd be mad not to have one, others think they are a waste of time. Personally I don't have one, as I know that I have plenty in my emergency fund to cover pretty much everything up to and including an engine rebuild. I have had high end cars for most of the last 15 years and if I add up all the money I have spent on repairs in that time (some of them fairly expensive) it would probably come to about 20 grand less than I would have spent on warranties, so I take the long view.

In my opinion what you are buying with a warranty is peace of mind. If you are the kind of person that can relax and enjoy a car that doesn't have a warranty, and not freak out and break out in a cold sweat as soon as you see a warning light, then financially speaking, in the long run, the maths says you are better off not getting one (on average). But if you are not that kind of person and a warranty means you can get out and enjoy the car more then it is worth it for that.

V Engineerings sister company V Management offer warranties on the cars they sell.

[murphyaj]

mikey k said:

V Engineerings sister company V Management offer warranties on the cars they sell.

Fair point, I meant that unlike Thorney you can't go and buy a warranty from V (unless that has changed very recently). They do only sell a tiny number of cars as well.

[jamesgareth]

cgt2 said:

Have a chat with him he has a lot of resources and will do the legwork to find you exactly what you want.

Re warranty I did not renew my McLaren warranty this year. McLarens are far more reliable than the internet would lead you to believe, I have had several more unreliable German cars. I have confidence that V Engineering can resolve any issues for far less than the warranty cost so see no need. Even the McLaren warranty has quite specific restrictions that don't justify the cost to me.

More excellently useful information. Thanks.

[cutting42]

I bought from Thorney last April as a first supercar purchase. I was on the list for an Emira and got fed up waiting for the turbo version so cancelled and switched to McLaren.

I was looking for security and a warranty as a nervous purchaser and Thorney had several cars to pick from. I selected a 650s in Mantis Green with a ton of carbon

I have had it 14 months now and apart from a water temp sensor 2 weeks after purchase it has been perfect. Just done the service (Thorney) and MOT (local) and a recharge of the AC gas (Renn Works). I did not renew the first year warranty either now my confidence is up.

I had a great experience with Thorney and am happy to use them again.