Quandary

[ferk1966]

Been to view a mclaren 540c today 

could this be the end of my 17 year association with lotus ?? 
 

wonderful car , unbelievable power , grace , lookbackability , I am truly tempted …..

should I ? 

[exeterjeep]

Great looking cars, what would put me off is the cost of spares/servicing, and where my nearest dealer was.

Spoke to a guy who had one at a show, he had concerns over them quibbling over things that the warranty should have covered and they wanted not to pay for.  

[Cdm2018]

Need to do your research and ultimately make your decision however when you look at u tube there’s many a disappointed owners review of their car but also network of dealers 

however what’s not disputed is they are fine cars with tech and design to rival other similar brands 

[C8RKH]

40 minutes ago, exeterjeep said:

Great looking cars, what would put me off is the cost of spares/servicing, and where my nearest dealer was.

Sounds like what people usually say about buying a Lotus!

@ferk1966 - go for the McLaren. Do your checks on the car as you would any large car purchase. Several very happy McLaren owners on here. I hope to potentially join you one day.

[jep]

12c or 650 the better car. Suspension system so clever and worth the price of admission. 12c at the bottom of the depreciation curve and about to bounce. 

Warranty available to 15 years old now, 12c a total bargain if it has warranty. McLaren Birmingham have been superb with claims including new panels for 'corrosion' that I had never even spotted. 

I wouldn't buy a McLaren without a warranty, especially if you intend to use it properly. It's pointless owning one if you don't use full rev range, acceleration over 6500rpm is brutal.

McLaren is basically a very fast Lotus...many of the engineers are ex-Lotus.

29,000 very happy miles but will keep my Evora even when 12c goes. 

Justin

 

[electro_boy]

These guys also offer a aftermarket warranty: https://www.thorneymotorsport.co.uk/

[EGTE]

They also do very good pre-purchase inspections for a reasonable price and have various videos with JayEmm about buying.

[Bravo73]

On 31/01/2022 at 15:07, electro_boy said:

https://www.thorneymotorsport.co.uk/

Tread carefully. A leopard very rarely changes its spots. 

[electro_boy]

@Bravo73 can you elaborate? Do they not have a clear record? 

I have never had any dealings with them in the past but seen posts by JeyEmm and others on YouTube and the web recommending Thorney inspections and warranty for McLaren cars.

[Bravo73]

Before McLaren road cars even existed, Thorney were quite big on the UK M3 scene. Particularly e46 M3s. They were a particular ‘forum favourite’ with the main UK forum at the time, www.BM3W.co.uk (I think it was).

My recollection is that Thorney himself was very good at ‘talking the talk’ but not necessarily always at ‘walking the walk’. Particularly when it came to his attempts at racing. My personal experience was that I had my car serviced there. I was less than impressed by the experience, to be honest. But the biggest issue seemed to revolve around a race/track car that Thorney had promised to build for one of his customers. When the customer finally wrote about his experience, it seemed to involve a succession of broken promises, one after another. As often is the case, this story was corroborated by other customers who had had similar experiences.

However, this is now all over 15 years ago so my recall is probably pretty hazy. But personally, if I had a McLaren, I wouldn’t take it to Thorney, no matter how tempting the prices might seem.