12C, 1 week of ownership, major problems!

[MLW88]

So I picked up my first McLaren last week. 12C Coupe, 64 Plate, 4,000 miles, just been serviced etc etc. In other words as good as a used car is going to be.

First noticed a couple of days after collection that when in manual mode and upshifting from 2nd to 3rd it would jump straight to 4th instead as soon as 3rd is engaged.

This happened occasionally to begin with but now seems to happen every time in manual mode

I since then noticed that it is often very slow to shift up when driving at normal speeds in manual mode. As in when driving away normally from lights in first gear you tap the paddle to move into second and there is a 2 second delay to shift up into 2nd. This was confusing me straight away as the 12C gearbox is hailed as being so quick, but it was far slower than my F430.

I am then finding occasionally that I press to upshift and it doesn’t actually give me the gear and I have to press again.

On the way home tonight the car was feeling sluggish at normal speeds and I eventually got a warning light “High Clutch Temperature”. This is following normal driving and normal speed not in ‘active’ modes over a circa 8 mile journey.

The final lights before my house it was almost not able to pull itself off the line and made a huge shudder when auto mode made its way through the gears.

This is obviously far from ideal after spending £140k last week on the thing. Does anyone have any ideas or has anyone heard anything like this before? I'm toying with giving the car back as if this has been missed by the dealership what else have they missed?

Was loving my first McLaren and really don't want to see it go but this is far from acceptable.

Help please!

[MLW88]

Thanks for responses so far guys. It does seem strange, I have searched the internet and no mention any where of clutch problems like this.

McLaren break down have been pretty good so far. On the case and collecting the car at 8am tomorrow morning.

It's making me think about giving the car back and just buying a 458 instead but everyone seems to be saying the 12c is very reliable and this is just a one off. Maybe I should see how they get on with it and give it a second chance!

[MLW88]

Update from McLaren Manchester today is that they think the water pump may have failed. Just awaiting confirmation from MTC.

Is it common for a Water Pump to fail so early into the cars life? Also could this be the cause (assuming it failed gradually over time) for the gearbox being a little tricky sometimes?

Hopefully the issue will be resolved in the next day and I won't be forced to give them the car back!

[MLW88]

LordHaveMurci said:

Any mechanical part can fail, just bad luck if it fails so early in it's life.

Is it bad luck though? Or is it poor build quality?

I don't know if I would dismiss any major mechanical failure on a 6 month old £200k car as bad luck.

[MLW88]

Geoff Stilwell said:

Any update on your troubles?

Hello Geoff

Well, it's not been ideal if I am honest and getting to the point where I am thinking of giving them the car back.

It went in for the usual tests, they initially thought it was a water pump failure but in the end MTC told them to put a whole new gearbox in! I was advised this was a precaution rather than necessity just so they could be absolutely sure the problem was fixed.

I picked the car up on Monday and to my bafflement its exactly the same as when they picked it up! Actually not the same, a little worse, as occasionally when in manual and in 4th gear it has started just dropping down to 2nd on its own accord at maximum revs sounding like it is going to explode!

It's now starting to make me question other aspects of the car. Everyone raves on about the suspension/ride but if I am honest it feels just as firm as my F430 and I can't tell any difference between normal and track. Should it be noticeably and impressively soft/smooth/supple in normal mode? If so, it isn't, and this is another problem that needs fixing!

Not a great start to McLaren ownership!