McLarens & Reliability
Discussion
There seems to have been a lot of discussion recently on McLarens and reliability. We have owned 7 over the past 7 years with 3 still in the garage.
From the recently article on karenable , our history is:
McLaren #1 – 2013 RHD 12C Spider: This is the only McLaren we have owned that had steel brakes. I made the mistake of washing it once and putting it away with the brake discs still wet. The right rear caliper froze on the disc and we had to flatbed it to the service center to get it released. Also upgraded the infotainment system from IRIS v1 to v2 as the v1 was pretty useless. Only other time this 12C saw the service center was for its annual service.
McLaren #2 – 2012 LHD 12C Coupe: The only issue I ever had with the 12C Coupe was a faulty left front tire sensor. I had to take the car in twice before it was finally rectified. For most of my ownership, this 12C lived in Germany and spent many high-speed hours on the autobahn.
McLaren #3 – 2014 LHD 12C Spider: The only issue we ever had with our final 12C Spider was a temperature sensor that needed replacing. The car was out of service for a day. Other than that, it only saw the dealership for its annual checkup. This 12C Spider was my daily driver for a bit over a year.
McLaren #4 – 2015 P1: We had two issues with the P1, a loose rear side turn signal light and the IRIS Infotainment System failed and needed to be replaced. Other than that, it was just routine annual service.
McLaren #5 – 2015 650S Spider: This car has been my daily driver for the last 3 ½ years. No issues and only time it has been back to the dealership is for its yearly service.
McLaren #6 – 2016 675LT Spider: This car has done a few 1,500 miles road trips and been driven hard up in the mountains. Never had a single issue and it only has seen the inside of the workshop for its annual services.
McLaren #7 – 2018 720S: Never had a single problem and it just had its first completely routine annual service.
From the recently article on karenable , our history is:
McLaren #1 – 2013 RHD 12C Spider: This is the only McLaren we have owned that had steel brakes. I made the mistake of washing it once and putting it away with the brake discs still wet. The right rear caliper froze on the disc and we had to flatbed it to the service center to get it released. Also upgraded the infotainment system from IRIS v1 to v2 as the v1 was pretty useless. Only other time this 12C saw the service center was for its annual service.
McLaren #2 – 2012 LHD 12C Coupe: The only issue I ever had with the 12C Coupe was a faulty left front tire sensor. I had to take the car in twice before it was finally rectified. For most of my ownership, this 12C lived in Germany and spent many high-speed hours on the autobahn.
McLaren #3 – 2014 LHD 12C Spider: The only issue we ever had with our final 12C Spider was a temperature sensor that needed replacing. The car was out of service for a day. Other than that, it only saw the dealership for its annual checkup. This 12C Spider was my daily driver for a bit over a year.
McLaren #4 – 2015 P1: We had two issues with the P1, a loose rear side turn signal light and the IRIS Infotainment System failed and needed to be replaced. Other than that, it was just routine annual service.
McLaren #5 – 2015 650S Spider: This car has been my daily driver for the last 3 ½ years. No issues and only time it has been back to the dealership is for its yearly service.
McLaren #6 – 2016 675LT Spider: This car has done a few 1,500 miles road trips and been driven hard up in the mountains. Never had a single issue and it only has seen the inside of the workshop for its annual services.
McLaren #7 – 2018 720S: Never had a single problem and it just had its first completely routine annual service.
LotusJas said:
720S. As I've said, I have had zero instances of the alarm going off, zero limp mode, zero warning lights, zero electrical issues or even temporary glitches. No window issues, no soft close issues. Just nothing going wrong. No reliability issues whatsoever.
Even the iPhone Bluetooth connection has been rock solid, which is a lot better than in my BMW.
One thing that occurs to me is that mine is a 2019 car however (silver ticks, not red, and "K" VIN) as that might be one reason based on discussions amongst American owners. (2019 model cars started to be delivered in summer 2018.)
Our 720S was delivered in Q4 2017 and also have had zero issues with it.Even the iPhone Bluetooth connection has been rock solid, which is a lot better than in my BMW.
One thing that occurs to me is that mine is a 2019 car however (silver ticks, not red, and "K" VIN) as that might be one reason based on discussions amongst American owners. (2019 model cars started to be delivered in summer 2018.)
12pack said:
Nice post. Interesting about the “glue damage” due to the heat. Am from San Antonio, but really enjoying the cool of the North of England (and SF Bay Area). Don’t miss the heat.
And I agree about Emirates and Cathay, and the HK lounge.
Thanks. I will actually be enjoying the Cathay HK lounge in about 20 hours.And I agree about Emirates and Cathay, and the HK lounge.
Edited by 12pack on Sunday 31st March 16:43
garyhun said:
That’s the thing, a McLaren is the super car that can be driven daily. Based on that, high mileage should be expected (some might say preferable) and this should not be as much of an issue as with other brands. Did Ferrari create this mileage myth years ago to ensure that buyers kept upgrading their cars often?
I think the Ferrari mileage myth started several decades ago. Back then you really could not use the cars as daily drivers as they would overheat if caught in traffic, clutches would die, etc. Hence the cars really only got used on weekends and high miles became rare. Porsches on the other hand have always been much more usable and hence mileages have always been much higher and therefore not perceived as an issue. Macs are very useable on a daily basis (I have been using one as my daily driver for close to 5 years now) and therefore hopefully longer term mileage will not be an issue.BlackR8 said:
Nomal said:
Haha , mines worthless then. Just gone through the 20k barrier!!
Having recently started dipping my toe into the Mclaren market, it seems compared to say Ferrari the owners in the most part are actually driving and enjoying them so mileages in the 20's for a say 3 year old Mclaren doesn't seem unusual. I for one think this is great and long may it continue!! As it has basically been another year, I just posted an updated article on our McLarens & Reliability on karenable. In summary:
McLaren #5 – 2015 650S Spider: This car has been my daily driver for the last 4 ½ years now. No issues and only time it has been back to the dealership is for its yearly service. There have been a couple of minor recalls, all of which have been handled as part of the annual service. This year we also replaced all four tires and did a full wheel alignment. Four years of driving around the lunar surface like roads of Dallas had not be kind to either. The only other very minor tantrum the 650S Spider has thrown was over a dislike for 64GB Scandisk USB drives. When I tried to use one with the IRIS infotainment system it repeatedly crashed. Once I swapped the 64GB USB drive for the 32GB drive I had been using prior, IRIS immediately returned to life.
McLaren #6 – 2016 675LT Spider: This car has done multiple 1000+ miles road trips and been driven hard in the mountains its entire life. The 675LT Spider has never had a single issue and it’s only has seen the inside of the workshop for its annual services. Like the 650S Spider, a few minor recalls have been taken care of during the annual visits to the McLaren service center. To date the largest cost has been this year’s windshield replacement. The damage was caused by a rock that flew off the back of a large dump truck in Pennsylvania. It sounded like a gun shot when it hit the windshield.
McLaren #7 – 2018 720S: Never had a single problem and it just had its second completely routine annual service.
McLaren #8 – 2019 Senna: The Senna just arrived in June. So far, it’s had one recall item that was prompt taken care of.
McLaren #5 – 2015 650S Spider: This car has been my daily driver for the last 4 ½ years now. No issues and only time it has been back to the dealership is for its yearly service. There have been a couple of minor recalls, all of which have been handled as part of the annual service. This year we also replaced all four tires and did a full wheel alignment. Four years of driving around the lunar surface like roads of Dallas had not be kind to either. The only other very minor tantrum the 650S Spider has thrown was over a dislike for 64GB Scandisk USB drives. When I tried to use one with the IRIS infotainment system it repeatedly crashed. Once I swapped the 64GB USB drive for the 32GB drive I had been using prior, IRIS immediately returned to life.
McLaren #6 – 2016 675LT Spider: This car has done multiple 1000+ miles road trips and been driven hard in the mountains its entire life. The 675LT Spider has never had a single issue and it’s only has seen the inside of the workshop for its annual services. Like the 650S Spider, a few minor recalls have been taken care of during the annual visits to the McLaren service center. To date the largest cost has been this year’s windshield replacement. The damage was caused by a rock that flew off the back of a large dump truck in Pennsylvania. It sounded like a gun shot when it hit the windshield.
McLaren #7 – 2018 720S: Never had a single problem and it just had its second completely routine annual service.
McLaren #8 – 2019 Senna: The Senna just arrived in June. So far, it’s had one recall item that was prompt taken care of.
Crazy4557 said:
Always enjoy your write-ups so a big thumbs up and keep posting.
I've recently sold my 570S coupe with the idea that I'd like to upgrade to a Spider either 650 or another 570.
What mileage have you done in you DD 650 now?
I'm looking for a low mile example but not too low as to potentially cause issue through lack of use.
The 650S Spider is well into 5 digits on the odometer.I've recently sold my 570S coupe with the idea that I'd like to upgrade to a Spider either 650 or another 570.
What mileage have you done in you DD 650 now?
I'm looking for a low mile example but not too low as to potentially cause issue through lack of use.
Crazy4557 said:
I'm guessing it's been ultra reliable for a mileage from 10k to 99k? If it's high mileage it would be nice to know because being reliable for 'only' 10k doesn't help my research.
Appreciate if you don't want to give away the mileage of your car for personal reasons.
Its certainly over 10K Appreciate if you don't want to give away the mileage of your car for personal reasons.
MAC 720S said:
Loved reading the article > https://karenable.com/mclarens-reliability-update1...
Thank you for putting the effort in.
My pleasure, glad you enjoyed it.Thank you for putting the effort in.
Kent Border Kenny said:
BoxerF50 said:
As it has basically been another year, I just posted an updated article on our McLarens & Reliability on karenable. In summary:
McLaren #5 – 2015 650S Spider: This car has been my daily driver for the last 4 ½ years now. No issues and only time it has been back to the dealership is for its yearly service. There have been a couple of minor recalls, all of which have been handled as part of the annual service. This year we also replaced all four tires and did a full wheel alignment. Four years of driving around the lunar surface like roads of Dallas had not be kind to either. The only other very minor tantrum the 650S Spider has thrown was over a dislike for 64GB Scandisk USB drives. When I tried to use one with the IRIS infotainment system it repeatedly crashed. Once I swapped the 64GB USB drive for the 32GB drive I had been using prior, IRIS immediately returned to life.
McLaren #6 – 2016 675LT Spider: This car has done multiple 1000+ miles road trips and been driven hard in the mountains its entire life. The 675LT Spider has never had a single issue and it’s only has seen the inside of the workshop for its annual services. Like the 650S Spider, a few minor recalls have been taken care of during the annual visits to the McLaren service center. To date the largest cost has been this year’s windshield replacement. The damage was caused by a rock that flew off the back of a large dump truck in Pennsylvania. It sounded like a gun shot when it hit the windshield.
McLaren #7 – 2018 720S: Never had a single problem and it just had its second completely routine annual service.
McLaren #8 – 2019 Senna: The Senna just arrived in June. So far, it’s had one recall item that was prompt taken care of.
I'm late to asking this, but thought I'd try anyway.McLaren #5 – 2015 650S Spider: This car has been my daily driver for the last 4 ½ years now. No issues and only time it has been back to the dealership is for its yearly service. There have been a couple of minor recalls, all of which have been handled as part of the annual service. This year we also replaced all four tires and did a full wheel alignment. Four years of driving around the lunar surface like roads of Dallas had not be kind to either. The only other very minor tantrum the 650S Spider has thrown was over a dislike for 64GB Scandisk USB drives. When I tried to use one with the IRIS infotainment system it repeatedly crashed. Once I swapped the 64GB USB drive for the 32GB drive I had been using prior, IRIS immediately returned to life.
McLaren #6 – 2016 675LT Spider: This car has done multiple 1000+ miles road trips and been driven hard in the mountains its entire life. The 675LT Spider has never had a single issue and it’s only has seen the inside of the workshop for its annual services. Like the 650S Spider, a few minor recalls have been taken care of during the annual visits to the McLaren service center. To date the largest cost has been this year’s windshield replacement. The damage was caused by a rock that flew off the back of a large dump truck in Pennsylvania. It sounded like a gun shot when it hit the windshield.
McLaren #7 – 2018 720S: Never had a single problem and it just had its second completely routine annual service.
McLaren #8 – 2019 Senna: The Senna just arrived in June. So far, it’s had one recall item that was prompt taken care of.
Why so many similar cars? Is it that you've a far larger collection and that this is just the McLaren bit of it?
Also just finished the latest update on the McLarens reliability record.
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