720s Luxury - why not?
Discussion
I'm planning to swap out of my futuristic, environmentally friendly but actually not all that fast or involving i8 Roadster into a 720s while we're still allowed to own and drive such things. I've found one I like the look of - 2018 720s Luxury in Saros with cream upholstery (I like a light interior). Word on other forums appears to be that no-one buys the Luxury version (which would explain why this one is surprisingly affordable) but why not? I have to say I'm not terribly concerned with resale - I always assume I'm going to take a massive pill on anything I buy anyway - but am I missing something? It's the same car in all other respects as far as I can tell.
NB: this is a road car. I have a GT3RS for track days, so I'm not interested in whether the seats provide the ultimate in cornering grip and so forth.
NB: this is a road car. I have a GT3RS for track days, so I'm not interested in whether the seats provide the ultimate in cornering grip and so forth.
biondi said:
How does the Luxury differ from others? I don't see why it would be worth less?
Leather as opposed to alcantara on the seats, wheel etc. Also (in this case at least) heated electric memory seats instead of carbon buckets. But I have carbon buckets in my 911, and while they are amazing on track I'd rather have a warm backside and proper adjustability for road use. And frankly alcantara steering wheels become disgusting over time if you actually use the car. On track I'm wearing gloves, so it's fine, but again, for road use, give me leather.Streetbeat said:
964Cup said:
heated electric memory seats instead of carbon buckets
Isnt it just the track pack that has carbon buckets, i thought the performance just had normal manual seats?gbrown2014 said:
I've been mulling a 720 too after getting fed up of Porsche games. Are later cars free of the gremlins that plagued the early cars, I remember reading some bad press a few years back but not much recently
My impression, and that's all it is, is that software updates have fixed most of the gremlins across all cars. There appears to be some suggestion that 2019 model year cars have an updated ECU, but I can't find any confirmation of that or any details on the purported differences. Certainly build quality seems a bit variable, but you'd hope a 2018 car would have seen most of that fixed by now under warranty or at service; it appears to be trim and glass rather than mechanical. I also read that actually using the cars helps, and it's well known that they are very sensitive to letting the battery run down.There are videos on YT lamenting cars that have spent most of their time at the dealer, combined with lambasting McL customer service, but there also seem to be plenty of happy owners, so I guess it's also a bit of luck and perhaps a bit of attitude.
I guess I'll be finding out whether aftercare has ironed out the glitches in the earlier builds if I buy the car I'm looking at - I'm not in the market for a more recent build given the revived strength of the used market, the number of expensive toys already in the collection and the need to remain married. I'm going to get Thorney to give it a going over if I do buy it, so I can take advantage of the warranty to have anything McLaren's own approved used inspection has overlooked.
Cheib said:
Love an old porker with bucket for the driver and comfort seat for the passenger, I’ve just bought a period bucket seat for my car. Must be rare on a 964 ? Good luck with the 720 
Ta. It was the oddest thing. I had a '90 C4 that had been ordered with one of each; I didn't even notice to begin with. In my defence I was young and ignorant, it was my first Porsche and I bought it from a dangerously able salesman (and thereby hangs a long and involved tale I should tell sometime, having first run it past my lawyer...). It was a C00 car and apparently the chap's wife had something of an appetite for Wurst and found the sports seat too confining, so mix'n'match was the only way to get her over the line on the purchase.RSbandit said:
Saros Blue really is the best colour for the 720S shows off the curves and creases so well...and silver wheels on top v classy! The light interior wouldn't be for me but the exterior is spot on.
Blue with tan is slightly "old man" colours, but then I'm a slightly...And I've had it with coal-scuttle interiors. It's fine on the GT3 - that's basically a racecar pretending to be roadworthy - but if I'm going to sit in traffic or on long motorway journeys, I want a bit of light and warmth.
Silver wheels is a must. The i8 has black wheels and I hate them. I'm too old, square and boring to drive around looking like a drug dealer. I could change the wheels, but why not just change the whole car?
SJL85 said:
I actually went to look at the car you a looking at, McLaren Manchester is 2 minutes from my house. It's a lovely thing, the interior is very nice, condition was great and the Soros looks very good against the cream interior, I'm not a huge fan of the wheels on it, prefer the 10 spoke, but I must say they do suit that spec. Leeds also have a nice black one for similar money, I actually had a deposit on that car but went with the newer one from Glasgow.
Good to hear the MCR car appears to be as described. They're offering me what I think is a fairly decent deal on it; here's hoping it stands up to inspection on Monday...It arrives on Friday. I may even be moderately excited.
The test drive was hilarious - I was on the A1 heading out of N London to find some actual (and terribly surfaced) roads and there was a panda car (are they still called that?) hanging around behind and next to us. To begin with I was concerned, even though we weren't speeding (both restraint on my part and London traffic); more so when they pulled up next to me at the lights and wound the window down. The long-suffering (and very pleasant) salesman who was sitting in the passenger seat wound down his window in turn, to be greeted with a 30-something copper grinning like a small child and asking if he could "hear the car". So I gave it a stationary bootful, got a thumbs up and a wave from plod, and went on my merry way.
This hasn't happened to me since 1996. And that was in France. Yellow TVR Griffith; I'd been giving it all the leptons on the A4 towards Strasbourg. Got pulled; was somewhat concerned - the lepton count had been substantial - but the flics just wanted to look under the bonnet, ask me how fast it went, wink at me when suggesting that I must have verified this on a track rather than their autoroute that very morning and then wave me off. I thought those days were gone, but perhaps its something about cars made in Britain?
The test drive was hilarious - I was on the A1 heading out of N London to find some actual (and terribly surfaced) roads and there was a panda car (are they still called that?) hanging around behind and next to us. To begin with I was concerned, even though we weren't speeding (both restraint on my part and London traffic); more so when they pulled up next to me at the lights and wound the window down. The long-suffering (and very pleasant) salesman who was sitting in the passenger seat wound down his window in turn, to be greeted with a 30-something copper grinning like a small child and asking if he could "hear the car". So I gave it a stationary bootful, got a thumbs up and a wave from plod, and went on my merry way.
This hasn't happened to me since 1996. And that was in France. Yellow TVR Griffith; I'd been giving it all the leptons on the A4 towards Strasbourg. Got pulled; was somewhat concerned - the lepton count had been substantial - but the flics just wanted to look under the bonnet, ask me how fast it went, wink at me when suggesting that I must have verified this on a track rather than their autoroute that very morning and then wave me off. I thought those days were gone, but perhaps its something about cars made in Britain?
Yes, we were going to meet half way but in the end the chap couldn't make it on the appointed day so he offered to come down to me a couple of days later. Put some miles on the car, but was worth it and he put neither purchase nor time pressure on me, which was a pleasant surprise.
I will say that *someone* on here did inquire about the car after I mentioned it (which led to the dealer asking me for a small deposit to demonstrate intent) so props to you for decency.
They stuck to the original deal we had verbally agreed despite the additional interest, so props to them too for keeping their word.
In general it's been a very pleasant purchase experience so far, unlike some other marques I could mention. Many a slip etc, but for now at least I am a happy camper.
I will say that *someone* on here did inquire about the car after I mentioned it (which led to the dealer asking me for a small deposit to demonstrate intent) so props to you for decency.
They stuck to the original deal we had verbally agreed despite the additional interest, so props to them too for keeping their word.
In general it's been a very pleasant purchase experience so far, unlike some other marques I could mention. Many a slip etc, but for now at least I am a happy camper.
HIS LM said:
Congratulations the 720 is epic, I suggest you join the MOC the whatsapp group is very active for meets
Where are you based ?
North London. Not ideal supercar territory if you actually want to use the thing, but it is, as they say, what it is. I plan to dive back into car-related activities this year assuming the pandemic finally effs off. I seem to be accumulating cars faster than things I want to do with them, though.Where are you based ?
supersport said:
Congrats.
If I get this right they brought the car down from Manchester to London for you to check it out, originally without a deposit.
That’s some serious effort on their part.
Indeed. As far as I am aware the deposit only became an issue (some time after they had offered to bring the car down) when someone else expressed interest and wanted to view the car. And I have no track record with McMac or indeed Sytner in general (I must have bought something from them before, but I can't remember what and it can't have been recently) so they had no particular reason to be nice to me. Obvs the whole "can I have a deposit because someone else wants the car" thing is as old as the hills, but that's not how I read their salesman and in any case I'd already decided to buy the thing anyway unless it wasn't as described, so it didn't really matter.If I get this right they brought the car down from Manchester to London for you to check it out, originally without a deposit.
That’s some serious effort on their part.
The oddest thing is that this was pretty much the keenest-priced 720s in the country. I think there was only one marginally cheaper car in the main dealer network, and that's an early '17 (mine is March '18). It's mint, it's got perfectly reasonable mileage (about 14.5k) and no history dramas. I wonder why they felt the need to work so hard - back to the original thread title I suppose: perhaps this is the Luxury vs Performance effect. Anyway, I reckon I got a bargain (relatively speaking).
I'm off to spend a not dissimilar amount of money with Porsche Hatfield on Saturday; let's see how they treat me for contrast. So far they have also been surprisingly responsive and accommodating - did something happen to the premium car dealership industry while I wasn't looking?
Also, holy thread resurrection, Batman! I reread my last post. I was obviously thinking of buying another Porsche at the time, but I'm blowed if I can remember what or why. Or, come to that, why I didn't buy whatever it was. Anyway, I've had two other McLarens since that post, the last one from Hatfield.
I confess to partiality, since I have Macs and Porsches, but not an Aston. I like the look of the new DB12 and the infotainment seems like a step forward, but it's an 1800kg car. The DBS "superleggera" (ha!) is pretty well two tonnes. It's different kind of thing - a GT, not a supercar, even if it is indeed a very fast GT. I will say of the V12V that although they sound epic and look good, they don't seem very fast. On a recent tour I had my restomod 964 cabriolet - fancy suspension, a 3.8 with 300-ish HP, 1350kg - and was in company with a V12V roadster. I was not finding it that difficult to keep up, particularly under braking and in the corners. I suspect the extra half tonne and fairly agricultural suspension design (as the owner, who is on here somewhere, described it) was not helping the Aston. I was not in any real danger of seeing which way my other friend's 720 spider went, though.
The Astons are fast cars. The 720 is bonkers. Properly, properly bonkers. Unless you lose the argument about shoe count (the boot space in the Astons is superior, and in the DB cars you have "rear seats" as well) buy the 720. You can buy the Aston when your age starts with a 6; I plan to. But while I can still stay on top of the McLaren - for a given value of stay on top - that's where I'm putting my "top car" money.
The Astons are fast cars. The 720 is bonkers. Properly, properly bonkers. Unless you lose the argument about shoe count (the boot space in the Astons is superior, and in the DB cars you have "rear seats" as well) buy the 720. You can buy the Aston when your age starts with a 6; I plan to. But while I can still stay on top of the McLaren - for a given value of stay on top - that's where I'm putting my "top car" money.
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