12C at Ascot / London

[TallMark]

I've lusted after a McLaren for a while now, only to watch them climb in price in the last couple of years. But after a weekend out with my son involving lots of car activities I've started trying to persuade my wife and I'm back on the classifieds...

I'll be restricted to the earlier cars in terms of budget, and total cost of ownership is more important than sticker price (within reason). Any opinions on this car in the dealer network?

http://www.autotrader.co.uk/classified/advert/2017...

Any recommendations for others I should look at or places to avoid? Very surprised just how many are outside the network already which makes me wonder if McLaren dealers are being too aggressive with their spreads? Also surprised its still only a 12m warranty included which seems tight.

[TallMark]

anissut said:

What's your budget and do you need finance? I know of a private car for sale that is a tad more but much better spec and lower miles.

I don't have a set budget and not decided on taking finance or not yet, it will depend on a few factors.

I have my name down for the new TVR and hope that will be ready in about 15-18 months based on some estimates of where I think I am in the queue and whether they are on schedule. The 12C would be to bridge the gap until then. Hence cost of ownership is key.

If I bought a 12C today and sold the same car tomorrow back to the dealer, would £15k loss sound about right or would it be more than that?

[TallMark]

Sarnie said:

TallMark said:

If I bought a 12C today and sold the same car tomorrow back to the dealer, would £15k loss sound about right or would it be more than that?

When it comes to selling it, sell it via Alastair Bols and save yourself £11k or so of that spread!

For reference, I bought a 12c last year (via AB) and made £10k when I sold it.........good cars are sought after!!

Hi Sarnie, I spoke to Alastair a few months ago when I was dipping my toe in, but looking at his site now he doesn't have anything quite right - all the cars that I like are starting to push the budget too far. How much have prices moved since you sold?

[TallMark]

baronbennyt said:

I bought my dark blue exterior and tan interior approved pre-owned 12C from McLaren Ascot in December 2016. It is a 2011 model and had one previous owner on 17,000 miles. The sticker price was the same as the one you're looking at. I got them to knock £1,000 off list price (big deal!). The car came with one year's official warranty (an absolute must in my opinion) which was to pay dividends when in April 2017 it blew a coolant hose at the Nurburgring. Long story short - after many emails to Ascot and Woking they fully repaired the car under warranty (I had also taken out a pre-track inspection at Ascot) but it did take them an age to fix. It seems they are good at selling cars but no so good at servicing and repairing them without significant advanced notice. I also paid for IRIS 2.0 infotainment, a reversing camera plus a 3/4 paint protection film to be installed. After the break down I fell out of love with the car but since I collected it again we've made up!

The 12C plus points and minus points for me are as follows:

+: speed; power; acceleration (when you really go for it the car is like a bloody rocket-ship); grip; exceptional ride; braking (carbon discs); air brake; gearbox in manual mode; seating position; visibility; practicality (to a point); scissor doors; looks (subjective); "special-ness" (subjective); and, they seem to have bottomed out price-wise / very slowly appreciating so you shouldn't lose a bucket load of money.

-: post-purchase dealer servicing and customer care just not up to scratch yet; synthetic; perceived fragility/unreliability; engine note low down in the rev range (sounds like an almighty 4-cylinder and not an 8-cylinder); some light turbo lag; gearbox in auto mode (from time-to-time); IRIS 1.0 infotainment (I upgraded to IRIS 2.0 which has made a big difference with bluetooth and music streaming but the radio is still poor); the car's superior ride comfort does give the sensation that you are floating somewhat over the road rather than keyed into it; rattly turbine air vents; and, I'm still trying to get the hand of the bloody swipe mechanism for the doors!

Still, I would recommend one if you're prepared to accept the odd hiccup or two.

Thanks - that was very useful. I've had a few TVRs and got used to a somewhat less polished approach at different dealers & indies across the country but I was hoping a premium brand like McLaren would have got this all sorted by now.

[TallMark]

I've had the insurance quote which was reasonable, but still can't make my mind up if this will be a well-timed great buy or lead me to financial ruin! I seem to have a special knack of buying good cars at the worst possible time, or passing on cars that would have gained significantly (reference a Sagaris I turned down at £38k which was a dream car at the time and now worth double). Basically if you want to be financially savvy with cars then follow me and do the opposite.

I've been made aware of a private sale which looks really nice, and just noticed this one in the classifieds which also looks good:

https://www.pistonheads.com/classifieds/used-cars/...

Does anyone know that car and its history?

[TallMark]

M838T said:

If you are thinking about buying a 12C the Owner's Group have a helpful buyer's guide available covering all the things to look out for.

http://www.mclarenowners.org.uk/ Scroll down the home page.

Thanks, I had a good read. I would still want someone to help me inspect the car though. Alastair Bols does that I think, do you know of any others?