£75k 540C - financial suicide?

[LucasA]

Hi,

I am considering buying a 540C for around the £75k mark. I thought that since its lost so much of its value already it cant be a bad buy as far as this sort of car is concerned.

I spoke with someone who is in the trade and they said it would be financial suicide, the car will be 60k next year and continue losing loads and Id be better off with a gen2 R8 which was my other thought. They also said theres going to be loads of them next year and nobody to buy them. Quoting McLaren are in a bad place and will have to knock down prices to sell anything.

Is this car really going to be worth nothing within the next few years more so than other similar cars on the market. I can stomach a bit of dealer margin and depreciation in return for fun but I was surprised this person who had something to gain from me buying it told me not to.

Any thoughts?

Cheers

Lucas

[likesachange]

LucasA said:

Hi,

I am considering buying a 540C for around the £75k mark. I thought that since its lost so much of its value already it cant be a bad buy as far as this sort of car is concerned.

I spoke with someone who is in the trade and they said it would be financial suicide, the car will be 60k next year and continue losing loads and Id be better off with a gen2 R8 which was my other thought. They also said theres going to be loads of them next year and nobody to buy them. Quoting McLaren are in a bad place and will have to knock down prices to sell anything.

Is this car really going to be worth nothing within the next few years more so than other similar cars on the market. I can stomach a bit of dealer margin and depreciation in return for fun but I was surprised this person who had something to gain from me buying it told me not to.

Any thoughts?

Cheers

Lucas

No It wont. Buy it and enjoy it.

You will loose money but no more than virtually any car that sits along it!

Id be very surprised if these are below 60k in 2 years .. obviously if you are paying retail expect 7-8 lost as soon as you put pen to paper... as any purchase in that price bracket.

[LucasA]

[/quote]

No It wont. Buy it and enjoy it.

You will loose money but no more than virtually any car that sits along it!

Id be very surprised if these are below 60k in 2 years .. obviously if you are paying retail expect 7-8 lost as soon as you put pen to paper... as any purchase in that price bracket.





[/quote]

This was my thought on things. An 80k R8 or a 75k 540C being the same age and mileage next year are still both going to be a similar loss in percentage terms. Is there something we dont know?

[WilliamWaiver]

Sounds like complete 80ll0ck5 to me. The sports series replacement is a hybrid and in a different price category and McLaren have massively reduced production numbers

Hardly financial suicide when the doomsday worse scenario with the end of the world nigh is £75k. If 540 C goes that low plenty of inferior cars will be going lower. Audi is a mass producer these days

[Ferruccio]

The key ultimately will be the cost of keeping older McLarens on the road.
The higher it is, the lower the prices will become.

[AstonExige]

I would say you are much more likely to lose money on a Gen 2 R8 than you will a 540c at £75k! If anything prices have been firming up over the last few months. Ok there maybe the usual dip in demand over winter, but they're not making these cars anymore and with manufacturing slowing down. I'd say your money would be quite safe in that.

Do it! And don't look back. I'm on my first Mclaren (3 weeks in) I'm kicking myself for not doing it sooner! Life is too short

[birdcage]

You would be mad NOT to buy one at that price as long as its from a trusted dealer and a good colour for resale.

I own one I also have an Audi RS4. I would only go Audi for utility, also look at the price of the original R8, can't see the 540C getting to 30k

[Bispal]

Is going on a £15k holiday financial suicide?
Is building an outdoor deck with a fire-pit, built in seating & jacuzzi financial suicide?
Is a new man cave with mega screen and pool table financial suicide?

NO! why? Because you use them and you enjoy them. Enjoyment costs MONEY. I know many people you would spend that on a pair of bicycles.

Why would a car be any different?
Do you not value the use you get out of it?
The enjoyment you get, the memories you make?

Its a super-car for goodness sake! I

I only have two rules when buying anything and that includes cars. If its going to make you lose sleep and (or) if its going to mean you can't retain your current lifestyle (holidays / family time / working hours) then don't do it!

Newsflash:-

YOU WONT MAKE MONEY ON A CAR IT WILL DEFINITELY DEPRECIATE

YOLO........

Edited by Bispal on Tuesday 6th October 18:44

[RSbandit]

Yeah I can't see you taking a massive bath on it in 2 yrs no more than an R8 anyway. Running costs are higher though £3k pa for extended warranty (£3.5k if over 5 yrs old). Of course if these cars ever get down to the £50k level could buyers at that price afford to run them properly? £3.5k warranty on a £50k car doesn't make much sense tbh but maybe there will be more indys in the next couple of yrs to reduce running costs for older cars.

[LucasA]

Ferruccio said:

The key ultimately will be the cost of keeping older McLarens on the road.
The higher it is, the lower the prices will become.

I did think this would have a massive impact. Thorney and Litchfield who are now being highly regarded and offering cut price maintenance I hope will start a trend for others and make them more appealing. This made them much more appealing to me. Its kind of like when the GTR first came out and cost a fortune to run, then people realised they werent too bad and specialists popped up everywhere and made them cheapish to run.

[Nuttcase]

birdcage said:

I own one I also have an Audi RS4. I would only go Audi for utility, also look at the price of the original R8, can't see the 540C getting to 30k

You are comparing the original R8V8 costing under £80k with a 540C at under £140k. £30k residual on the R8 is equivalent to ~37% which is pretty good for a 12 years old car. Will a 540C still be worth £52k in 2029? Who knows!

I doubt there would be much to separate the R8 gen2 and 540C in terms of depreciation over the next few years but maintenance costs are likely to be much higher on the 540. I just renewed my R8 warranty for £930 so if you maintain a McL warranty that will be an extra £10k over the next 4 years compared to the R8.

[TP321]

Ferruccio said:

The key ultimately will be the cost of keeping older McLarens on the road.
The higher it is, the lower the prices will become.

This.

The 12c requires a £5k per annum warranty, on top of its annual service cost. How many people in the market for a £70k car can afford or accept that? This is the problem with McLaren.

[birdcage]

What about self insurances, my father in law paid £250 a year to insure his tumble dryer for 10 years.

It broke and he was quite pleased as they replaced it free of charge

[mk1coopers]

You can't take it with you...if you regularly change cars unless you are very lucky you will *lose* money, what you will gain is the fun of owning it, the question is what price do you put on that fun ?, slightly off topic (but it will come back to it) , talking the other day with friends about a competition where the prize was a 650S the discussion turned to the practicality of keeping / running it after the initial buzz of getting it, the conclusion being that most people who win a car like that could rarely afford to run it properly and it would get sold, so affording (winning) one and being able to run it properly are two different things, with your head you have to ask if you can afford the servicing / insurance / tax / McWarranty / depreciation then ask your heart if that price (every year) is worth it for the fun you will get back after buying it, if those costs would blunt the enjoyment of ownership then don't do it, if they are acceptable then go for it and enjoy it

[Chrisatronic]

Im having the same thoughts lately. Personally I think the Gen2 R8 is going to take a bigger hit, and the McLaren sports series will flatten out.

The running costs aren’t that far apart, extended warranty for the mac is £3300, R8 is £2950. McLaren will always be a much stronger brand and it’s image is not diluted by the rest of the line up. I also think the R8 will be adversely affected by the Corvette C8 launch, all cars in this bracket will but I feel the R8 is the most direct comparison of a daily super sports car. Despite the mac being just as dailyable, it attracts a different crowd to the R8/911 which I think is going to get crunched by the C8.

Best bet is to get one still in warranty and inspect/extend it, in a good colour with as much spec as you can find. What’s going to be really interesting is when remaps become more common, now Lichfield are doing it for a good price will Thorney follow suit?

[650spider]

TP321 said:

Ferruccio said:

The key ultimately will be the cost of keeping older McLarens on the road.
The higher it is, the lower the prices will become.

This.

The 12c requires a £5k per annum warranty, on top of its annual service cost. How many people in the market for a £70k car can afford or accept that? This is the problem with McLaren.

If a potential owner is baulking at paying £4800 for a warranty and £1000 for a service, maybe a £70k supercar is beyond them financially in the first instance.

14 years ago I was expecting an average of £3k plus every year to keep my F355 spider in good shape...i doubt it is any cheaper now to run one of them, and back then it was worth around £35k.

I never understand this great surprise that a supercar shall be expensive to maintain the older it gets.

This is not a McLaren specific issue, amazingly it shall be reflective through all the marques, but forums do like to portray it as unique to this brand.

[justin220]

Extended warranty on a 540C is £2850, I've just renewed mine recently.

Absolute bargain at £75k IMO

[Nuttcase]

Chrisatronic said:

The running costs aren’t that far apart, extended warranty for the mac is £3300, R8 is £2950. McLaren will always be a much stronger brand and it’s image is not diluted by the rest of the line up. I

Incorrect. R8 extended warranty is less than £1,000 if you maintain continuous cover from the factory warranty or existing extended warranty. If you have a break in coverage then its around £1800 for the first year to get back in again, thereafter reverts to under a grand.
I agree the McLaren has a stronger brand name for a thoroughbred sports car but its hardly reflected in the residuals.

Edit : also worth noting with the Audi warranty there is no requirement for main dealer servicing. Is that the case with the McLaren extended warranty? I'm not sure.

Edited by Nuttcase on Tuesday 6th October 23:08

[LucasA]

Chrisatronic said:

Im having the same thoughts lately. Personally I think the Gen2 R8 is going to take a bigger hit, and the McLaren sports series will flatten out.

The running costs aren’t that far apart, extended warranty for the mac is £3300, R8 is £2950. McLaren will always be a much stronger brand and it’s image is not diluted by the rest of the line up. I also think the R8 will be adversely affected by the Corvette C8 launch, all cars in this bracket will but I feel the R8 is the most direct comparison of a daily super sports car. Despite the mac being just as dailyable, it attracts a different crowd to the R8/911 which I think is going to get crunched by the C8.

Best bet is to get one still in warranty and inspect/extend it, in a good colour with as much spec as you can find. What’s going to be really interesting is when remaps become more common, now Lichfield are doing it for a good price will Thorney follow suit?

Thorney do remaps and have put a lot of effort into a correctly calibrated dyno for the cars taking into account transmission losses. The cost of these maps is a lot higher though, although I dont know the ins and outs of them vs Litchfield.

[LucasA]

justin220 said:

Extended warranty on a 540C is £2850, I've just renewed mine recently.

Absolute bargain at £75k IMO

Im wondering if this is actually worth paying for. Watched all the Thorney Motorsport videos and it seems most of the niggles dont warrant spending 3k per year. Major mechanical items seem to be really solid. Silly little things like key fobs and switches arent the end of the world.