Honestly, how likely is a 570s going to bite me?

[AstonExige]

Hey guys. I'm in the market for my first "supercar" amongst others, I'm considering a 570s. But like most people, I've heard all the horror stories of poor reliability, mouth watering repair bills from Mclaren and poor dealer support.

Is it really that bad? If I need a new battery will I really only be able to get one from Mclaren for £3,000? Are there any examples where Mclaren have you over a barrel for routine type maintenance items and milk you for the pleasure? Any particular items to watch out for that will hurt the wallet significantly? Is there a decent Independent Specialist network? And any tips on buying? Specific options that are a must have both from an ownership point of view and resale?

This one has caught my eye. Because of the above I'm keen to buy from a dealer to get a dealer warranty, I assume that'll give me some more protection over and above buying from an independent dealer? Any thoughts on this one? Boxes not ticked?

https://www.autotrader.co.uk/classified/advert/201...

Thanks in advance
Mark

[justin220]

I've had my 540C for 2 years now, and almost 10k miles. Had some slight corrosion and a windscreen that needed realigned. Both covered under warranty. Feel free to have a read of my thread which is on here somewhere. Apart from that, nothing has gone wrong. Touch wood.

I keep it plugged in to the charger when I'm not using it for more than a few days at a time

I would highly recommend getting a warranty with it, and the warranty itself is very comprehensive so you'll be able to sleep easy at night. I will be extending mine when it comes up for renewal (£2.8k a year)

Brilliant cars. Delighted with mine, minus the horrific depreciation

[davek_964]

I think it's actually very rare to have big bills if you've got the comprehensive warranty cover. Some consumables will hurt you, and the battery will certainly be £2k+ - in the unlikely event you need one yet.

I've owned my 650 for 6 months. It had a number of issues for the first 4 months, and it became quite frustrating - but none of them cost me a penny, and it now seems sorted.
About a month ago, I decided I wasn't happy with the paint, and the car is currently in the body shop having a significant amount of paint, courtesy of McLaren client services.

I had grave doubts about buying my car, and still think it was financially reckless. But the longer I own it, the better the decision seems to be. I'm very much looking forward to summer.

[AstonExige]

That all sounds more on the positive side. This car is a 2017 66reg, so assuming it came with a 3yr factory warranty that'll expire later this year, so will need to factor in extending that.

Battery wise, in my experience batteries tend to last around 5yrs, is that likely to be the case with these cars? Would that be covered under the warranty?

[timbo999]

AstonExige said:

That all sounds more on the positive side. This car is a 2017 66reg, so assuming it came with a 3yr factory warranty that'll expire later this year, so will need to factor in extending that.

Battery wise, in my experience batteries tend to last around 5yrs, is that likely to be the case with these cars? Would that be covered under the warranty?

Eh? doesn't that mean the warranty has already expired? (66 reg was up to 1 March '17 - so three years is up 1 March '20)

[AstonExige]

timbo999 said:

Eh? doesn't that mean the warranty has already expired? (66 reg was up to 1 March '17 - so three years is up 1 March '20)

Yes you're right, I was thinking 67 reg. Mmm, think I'll be asking for them to extend that as part of any deal

[davek_964]

Battery isn't covered by warranty. But on my 5 year old car, my battery seems very healthy

[anonymous-user]

All used cars sold by a McLaren Approved Dealer will come with a minimum of 12 Months McLaren warranty and a minimum 12 Months UK & European roadside assistance.

Worth asking to see if the previous owner had already extended the warranty before the 'new car' warranty had expired?

Edited by anonymous-user on Wednesday 4th March 20:17

[drcarrera]

MAC 720S said:

All used cars sold by a McLaren Approved Dealer will come with a minimum of 12 Months McLaren warranty and a minimum 12 Months UK & European roadside assistance.

Worth asking to see if the previous owner had already extended the warranty before the 'new car' warranty had expired?

Perhaps a daft question but is the warranty one would get from a Mac dealer on, for example, a 3 1/2 yr old car the same as when extending the warranty at 3 years? (i.e. is there a difference if there's been a warranty gap?)

[RSbandit]

I've had mine for 3 months and it was still under warranty when I bought it, that expired last week and of course I chose to extend it at a cost of £2995. There were a few issues that came up as I had the car checked out under the old warranty before renewing...spare fob wasn't working so both fobs were replaced as they only do them in pairs, rear ball joint had slight play in it so that was replaced, my dab tuner has packed it in so that's actually getting replaced under the new warranty in a couple of weeks..all told about £2.5k worth of stuff but all covered and to be fair none of those issues had any impact on my day to day use of the car. The car itself is sublime but the running costs are high, a warranty from Mcl allows for peace of mind.

[davek_964]

drcarrera said:

Perhaps a daft question but is the warranty one would get from a Mac dealer on, for example, a 3 1/2 yr old car the same as when extending the warranty at 3 years? (i.e. is there a difference if there's been a warranty gap?)

There's no difference. My car was 4.5 years old when I bought it, McLaren put a years warranty on it and I extended it to the second year when I bought the car (saved me ~£1k because the car would have turned 5 years old a few months later, which increases the warranty cost).

[anonymous-user]

davek_964 said:

drcarrera said:

Perhaps a daft question but is the warranty one would get from a Mac dealer on, for example, a 3 1/2 yr old car the same as when extending the warranty at 3 years? (i.e. is there a difference if there's been a warranty gap?)

There's no difference. My car was 4.5 years old when I bought it, McLaren put a years warranty on it and I extended it to the second year when I bought the car (saved me ~£1k because the car would have turned 5 years old a few months later, which increases the warranty cost).

There is a difference between the initial 3 year ‘new car’ warranty and ‘extended’ warranty. The latter has additional exclusions and has a limitation on the annual mileage. I’ll take a look when back at home.

[davek_964]

MAC 720S said:

davek_964 said:

drcarrera said:

Perhaps a daft question but is the warranty one would get from a Mac dealer on, for example, a 3 1/2 yr old car the same as when extending the warranty at 3 years? (i.e. is there a difference if there's been a warranty gap?)

There's no difference. My car was 4.5 years old when I bought it, McLaren put a years warranty on it and I extended it to the second year when I bought the car (saved me ~£1k because the car would have turned 5 years old a few months later, which increases the warranty cost).

There is a difference between the initial 3 year ‘new car’ warranty and ‘extended’ warranty. The latter has additional exclusions and has a limitation on the annual mileage. I’ll take a look when back at home.

Yes there is - including track use. That's not what he asked though.

[Olas]

Honestly, how likely is a 570s going to bite me?

Given the distinct lack of mandible....

[anonymous-user]

davek_964 said:

MAC 720S said:

davek_964 said:

drcarrera said:

Perhaps a daft question but is the warranty one would get from a Mac dealer on, for example, a 3 1/2 yr old car the same as when extending the warranty at 3 years? (i.e. is there a difference if there's been a warranty gap?)

There's no difference. My car was 4.5 years old when I bought it, McLaren put a years warranty on it and I extended it to the second year when I bought the car (saved me ~£1k because the car would have turned 5 years old a few months later, which increases the warranty cost).

There is a difference between the initial 3 year ‘new car’ warranty and ‘extended’ warranty. The latter has additional exclusions and has a limitation on the annual mileage. I’ll take a look when back at home.

Yes there is - including track use. That's not what he asked though.

I thought that when buying from an approved dealer, irrespective of age, the standard 12 month warranty covers the same as though it is a no quibble ‘new car’ warranty. When the warranty is due to expire, you have the option to adopt the lesser ‘extended’ warranty.

[SWGT3]

I’ve had my 570S Spider for 15 months, never put a foot wrong. First service was cheaper than my previous Porsche’s as well.

Moderator edit: no advertising please

Edited by jeremyc on Thursday 5th March 09:10

[davek_964]

MAC 720S said:

I thought that when buying from an approved dealer, irrespective of age, the standard 12 month warranty covers the same as though it is a no quibble ‘new car’ warranty. When the warranty is due to expire, you have the option to adopt the lesser ‘extended’ warranty.

No, it absolutely doesn't. My car has the extended warranty for the first 12 months - courtesy of McLaren Ascot - and for the next 12 months courtesy of me. The documentation I received from the extended warranty company is for 2 separate years of cover.

Once the car is old enough to be outside of the "new" warranty, it's the extended warranty. The advantage of buying it from an approved dealer is that the car comes with one year of that built into the price - but it's no different from buying a used car with an extended warranty on it from somewhere else.

[AndyC_123]

Whats so special about the batteries?

[AstonExige]

davek_964 said:

The advantage of buying it from an approved dealer is that the car comes with one year of that built into the price - but it's no different from buying a used car with an extended warranty on it from somewhere else.

So in that case, there is no benefit to buying directly from a Mclaren dealer?

[davek_964]

AndyC_123 said:

Whats so special about the batteries?

They're Lithium Ion, with some circuitry attached to them I believe. I've seen stuff online which suggests it's sometimes the circuitry which fries rather than the battery dying.

AstonExige said:

davek_964 said:

The advantage of buying it from an approved dealer is that the car comes with one year of that built into the price - but it's no different from buying a used car with an extended warranty on it from somewhere else.

So in that case, there is no benefit to buying directly from a Mclaren dealer?

I guess if you buy elsewhere, you get the remainder of the extended warranty - whereas from a dealer you get a full year (and recently, they were giving 2 years). Plus, I guess it doesn't hurt if you have non-warranty issues. When I got my car home, I noticed that my diamond cut alloys had a bit of white worm on the clear alloy bits - I called the dealer, and it was taken care of a few weeks later - full wheel refurb at no cost to me.
I had a couple of annoyances with Ascot when I initially bought the car (mostly not calling me back when they said they would) - but that has improved and overall they have been pretty good.