600LT v 720S

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Discussion

Rocketreid

Original Poster:

655 posts

79 months

Wednesday 5th February 2020
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No excuse for covering this topic again but in light of the recent McLaren PCP deals thought it was time to review.

PCP does seem a good way to getting into a Mac but I personally prefer to pay cash. So :

There are a quite a lot of 600LT’s and 720S,S available and for different reasons I am unable to decide which I prefer.

Owned a 570s which I tracked regularly and would want to again, although also have a Lotus for this purpose.

In that respect a 600LT, although perhaps against the clock not as quick as a 720S, would probably be more fun to track but reverse on the road. Tried both on road and preferred 720S.

One issue is both have CCB,s with a set of pads close to £2,000 and the Rotors are the price of a new Hatchback !!!. 600 LT at 75kg lighter should wear a little bit less and overall cheaper to run. I’m aiming to do 6,000 pa and keep 2 years or so.

I prefer the looks of the 600LT, but this is subjective and 2018/19 model 720S aren’t greatly more expensive.

Depreciation on both models is probably going to be similar at £15,000 or more per annum, so PCP has its attraction.

Not a 3rd World Problem but still a dilemma !!

RBT0

1,540 posts

126 months

Wednesday 5th February 2020
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I think there was already a thread on this?

You're the only one can make the right decision.

As daily, I'd say 720S

As week end special toy, 600LT

I am told on track, LT is better than plain 720S (not tracked mine yet)

From your analysis, it looks like you give more pros to LT?

Edited by RBT0 on Wednesday 5th February 20:42

dazmanultra

443 posts

99 months

Wednesday 5th February 2020
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Rocketreid said:
Depreciation on both models is probably going to be similar at £15,000 or more per annum
I think most owners would love to only lose £15k a year. I think actual figures are probably closer to double that.

I found bid/offer spread on McLarens somewhat wide as well.
I loved my McLaren but I would personally never pay cash for a McLaren again - I'll do PCP and then know my exact cost of ownership over x years.

IMI A

9,665 posts

208 months

Thursday 6th February 2020
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dazmanultra said:
Rocketreid said:
Depreciation on both models is probably going to be similar at £15,000 or more per annum
I think most owners would love to only lose £15k a year. I think actual figures are probably closer to double that.

I found bid/offer spread on McLarens somewhat wide as well.
I loved my McLaren but I would personally never pay cash for a McLaren again - I'll do PCP and then know my exact cost of ownership over x years.
I sort of understand this if dd but to pay say 2000 per month or whatever it is for a 720s most people will barely use just seems nuts. Fine if you plan to use all the mileage allowance. How much is a 720s on pcp over say 2 years? I can't think of a better way to buy at the moment than cash personally if these 100k discounts you read and hear about are real.

AndrewD

7,592 posts

291 months

Thursday 6th February 2020
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The other thing is that the 600LTvhas a conventional suspension whereas the 720 has that self levelling hocus pocus McL setup that doesn’t have ARBs - which I personally find a bit alien. Horses for courses but I would suggest driving them both and seeing if this is an issue for you.

12pack

1,593 posts

175 months

Thursday 6th February 2020
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AndrewD said:
The other thing is that the 600LTvhas a conventional suspension whereas the 720 has that self levelling hocus pocus McL setup that doesn’t have ARBs - which I personally find a bit alien. Horses for courses but I would suggest driving them both and seeing if this is an issue for you.
I'm just the opposite - that hocus pocus makes the car great to drive aggressively using all four corners as intended on normal roads - and isn't really obtrusive on track. Cosmetics aside, I would indeed see this as the biggest difference between the two (sheer straight line speed not really relevant - 600LT is quick enough). Indeed a couple of good back-to-back drives recommended to settle your own preference.

ferdi p

1,521 posts

179 months

Thursday 6th February 2020
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If you really think you'll do 6k miles pa then the 720 would get my vote.

The 600lt is a phenomenal 'occasional' car imo, not sure I'd want to drive one daily tho.

Like others have said, go drive both, pretty sure that'll sort it...

Bispal

1,710 posts

158 months

Thursday 6th February 2020
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Just get a 675LT, its a lot closer to the bottom of its depreciation curve and a lot rarer. Much better proposition with cash. Almost the entire car is CF, 60% of the car parts are bespoke to the 675 as are 50% of the engine components. It gives the feeling of a real road racer. Dynamically its razor sharp and the quicker you go the better it gets. Under 100 coupes & spiders in the UK.

I just had the same dilemma and discounted the 600LT as it doesn't have the active aero / suspension, does not have many bespoke parts and is unlimited production. Plus (in my eyes and I know this is subjective) its not as attractive as the 675. That's not to say I wouldn't have one. If the 675 didn't exist it would be my choice. The 720 while being ballistically quick & comfy & an awesome machine is the standard production car in much the same way the 12C & 650S were and doesn't have the appeal, to me, that a ltd production 'special' car did. Plus 675 has a huge analogue rev counter, that's the icing on the cake.

Being a fellow 430 CUP owner I know you appreciate cars that are designed to be the pinnacle of the range and are rare & unique. Combine this with a cash purchase and I think a 675LT is where you should be looking. I am very pleased with mine it has the engagement & connection that the 430CUP gives me that is missing in all other paddle shift cars I have driven.

Good luck with the search.




PompeyReece

1,536 posts

96 months

Thursday 6th February 2020
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dazmanultra said:
I think most owners would love to only lose £15k a year. I think actual figures are probably closer to double that

I found bid/offer spread on McLarens somewhat wide as well.
I loved my McLaren but I would personally never pay cash for a McLaren again - I'll do PCP and then know my exact cost of ownership over x years.
A 720S is £150k now, £30k a year depreciation will make then £90k in two years? Really?

650spider

1,476 posts

178 months

Thursday 6th February 2020
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The pcp deals seemed out of this world.

I don't know how they have managed to get them underwritten with gfv's at the £175k mark after 2 years when the likes of top555 and redline have very very low mileage napier green 600LT spiders with fantastic specs at less than that price now on their forecourts...

As been mentioned by another poster its either a monthly payment being made on something you won't own or a massive depreciation each month on something you do own...either way your as well buying what you will use very regularly in order to get your moneys worth.

My previous sporty car was track biased and i couldn't be bothered with it after a very short period of each drive due to crashing over potholes and road surfaces and generally being too uncomfortable...my current McLaren has the 'magic' suspension and its a revelation...i use it for every possible journey, even picking up take-aways etc.

I doubt i shall track it so there is no point in kidding on that it interests me that its 2 secs slower on a lap than a track focused McLaren.

So i guess you can determine from the above what category your requirements fall into with regards to 720 or 600...everyone is different.


MDL111

7,167 posts

184 months

Thursday 6th February 2020
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Bispal said:
Just get a 675LT, its a lot closer to the bottom of its depreciation curve and a lot rarer. Much better proposition with cash. Almost the entire car is CF, 60% of the car parts are bespoke to the 675 as are 50% of the engine components. It gives the feeling of a real road racer. Dynamically its razor sharp and the quicker you go the better it gets. Under 100 coupes & spiders in the UK.

I just had the same dilemma and discounted the 600LT as it doesn't have the active aero / suspension, does not have many bespoke parts and is unlimited production. Plus (in my eyes and I know this is subjective) its not as attractive as the 675. That's not to say I wouldn't have one. If the 675 didn't exist it would be my choice. The 720 while being ballistically quick & comfy & an awesome machine is the standard production car in much the same way the 12C & 650S were and doesn't have the appeal, to me, that a ltd production 'special' car did. Plus 675 has a huge analogue rev counter, that's the icing on the cake.

Being a fellow 430 CUP owner I know you appreciate cars that are designed to be the pinnacle of the range and are rare & unique. Combine this with a cash purchase and I think a 675LT is where you should be looking. I am very pleased with mine it has the engagement & connection that the 430CUP gives me that is missing in all other paddle shift cars I have driven.

Good luck with the search.
keep looking at McLarens on and off and the 675 is still the one I'd most like to own. Would probably be a long term keeper.

The problem with buying a car and selling again after 2 years might be the bid-ask spread on these if you buy from a dealer and then sell back to one. I also suspect the UK economy might not be doing so great in 2 years time, so who knows how much demand there will be then. Sports Series will probably also have been replaced by then I assume, so the 600 would be the old model, which might also have a negative value impact.

davek_964

9,292 posts

182 months

Thursday 6th February 2020
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MDL111 said:
The problem with buying a car and selling again after 2 years might be the bid-ask spread on these if you buy from a dealer and then sell back to one
Unless you're trading in for something newer, good luck trying to get a dealer to even bid. That's always been one of the issues with owning one.

As mentioned earlier, the PCP deals being offered seem very very good right now. The mileage limits wouldn't suit me, and I don't like the idea of "renting" a car - but even so, I reckon if I didn't have a 650 now I could PCP a 720 for 2 years and it would cost me less than my 5 year old 650 will over the same period.

TheAnimal

3,472 posts

200 months

Thursday 6th February 2020
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PompeyReece said:
A 720S is £150k now, £30k a year depreciation will make then £90k in two years? Really?
Fair point. It could be *much* worse.

Also, the new hybrid models coming next year will start with the model number 8xx, in-line with their power output.

Obafemi09

155 posts

106 months

Thursday 6th February 2020
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Are the 600LT deals still available or all cars gone now..? That may make your decision for you...

I think the post above saying about looking at a 675LT makes a lot of sense - probably combines bits of both cars in terms of what yo're looking to get out of them - plus I would imagine (although who really knows) they should be fairly safe money wise purely based on how rare they are and how incredible all the reviews are.

Purple Man

214 posts

80 months

Thursday 6th February 2020
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I have driven both on track, quite a few times, the 720s is faster than the 600LT on every track I went on.
At Silverstone the 600LT is lost.
You need the 720s Performance Edition if possible with the roll cage and harness set up. It can be driven hard and there is a good sense of occasion with the rear wing braking.
On the road it is also a no brainer as the more advanced 720s suspension feels good.

Mclaren have cut back production of right hand drive cars to help the market, only time will tell if this is to late to firm up the prices, but at least it should stop any more excessive depreciation. So a late 2019 car should not drop as much as the earlier cars did, but it is probably a 15K a year drop, which would be fair if people stopped comparing it to a Porsche GT3RS, but to get a GT3RS you need to drop 50k on all the standard cars you buy off them. So in reality there is no difference, but it is a great marketing trick by Porsche.

Upperworks

1,242 posts

159 months

Thursday 6th February 2020
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davek_964 said:
Unless you're trading in for something newer, good luck trying to get a dealer to even bid. That's always been one of the issues with owning one.

As mentioned earlier, the PCP deals being offered seem very very good right now. The mileage limits wouldn't suit me, and I don't like the idea of "renting" a car - but even so, I reckon if I didn't have a 650 now I could PCP a 720 for 2 years and it would cost me less than my 5 year old 650 will over the same period.
I doubled the allowance on my 600LT from 3k pa to 6k pa and it only added £80 pcm. Not sure of their logic as I would suggest after 2 years the difference in value between a 6k and 12k car will be a lot more than £2k.

anonymous-user

61 months

Thursday 6th February 2020
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Purple Man said:
So a late 2019 car should not drop as much as the earlier cars did
I was thinking the same thing a few days ago. I was browsing through PH and AT classifieds and noticed that there are only 5 x coupe 2019 build models for sale. Plenty of 2017 models, which are now dipping into the £140K's, but 2019's look to be holding up due to limited production numbers.

Also, the later facelift models are more fettled since the software was updated and production was refined.

anonymous-user

61 months

Thursday 6th February 2020
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I knocked out 10K in 4 months in my 720S. V comfortable and nothing to complain about ride quality. A very capable GT supercar.

dazmanultra

443 posts

99 months

Thursday 6th February 2020
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PompeyReece said:
A 720S is £150k now, £30k a year depreciation will make then £90k in two years? Really?
How much is a 2015 650S? 90K?

anonymous-user

61 months

Thursday 6th February 2020
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dazmanultra said:
How much is a 2015 650S? 90K?
I'm not sure anyone can predict where the values will be. Trend is difficult to rely on because McLaren, until recently, has significantly ramped up production since inception and are still building heritage (only comes with time) - it's not normalised yet. One thing for sure, there's quite a few peeps on PH who have bought one, so something must be happening. If the bottom end priced cars are being snapped up, supply and demand will come into effect. They have only recently reduced UK output, so at some point, demand should outstrip supply. Values should stabilise and, fingers crossed, should hopfully increase.