MP4-12x purchase

[chazd]

Hoping you guys can assist

Looking at a 12C that was for sale with a local independent dealer last year that I missed out on.

The vehicle has come back up for sale and is a fair market price.

It has a service and inspection at MCL Guildford in Nov 2021. Any issues found were resolved.

It’s for sale privately - would you buy without a further inspection in light of the Nov 2021 health check and service etc or would you seek another inspection!?

[Buster73]

chazd said:

Hoping you guys can assist

Looking at a 12C that was for sale with a local independent dealer last year that I missed out on.

The vehicle has come back up for sale and is a fair market price.

It has a service and inspection at MCL Guildford in Nov 2021. Any issues found were resolved.

It’s for sale privately - would you buy without a further inspection in light of the Nov 2021 health check and service etc or would you seek another inspection!?

Another inspection for me .

[Alfapapatango]

Inspection is irrelevant.
MCs are perfect one day and err.. not the next. New or 11 years old!!!! Same applies!!!!
Agree a Mc or Thorney or other warranty if car age allows . Transfer as private sale / split cost every one wins. Move on with a brilliant car.

[chazd]

Thanks - had anticipated that even two months would mean there could be some hidden nasties

This is the spec and have got a deal about to be done in the mid 6’s pending finance.

McLaren MP4-12 Coupe V8 2012 (12) finished in Volcano Red Elite Paint with Leather on Alcantara Interior.

37000 miles

19 Inch Front and 20 Inch Rear Lightweight Stealth Alloy Wheels finished in Anthracite
Meridian Surround Sound System
Carbon Fibre Front Splitter
Carbon Fibre Engine Covers
Body Colour Side Intakes
Carbon Fibre Rear Diffuser
Electric & Heated Memory Seats
Carbon Fibre Interior Upgrade
Carbon & Black Leather Steering Wheel
Outer Seat in Carbon Black Leather
Inner Seat in Carbon Black Alcantara
Contrast Stitching in Harissa Red
Door Inserts in Carbon Black Alcantara
Outer Fascia in Carbon Black Leather
Inner Fascia in Carbon Black Leather
Branded Floor Matts
Front and Rear Parking Sensors
Rear Parking Camera
Satellite Navigation
Touchscreen Infotainment Display
McLaren Logo in Headrests
Automatic Climate Control
Carbon Fibre Wing Mirrors
Electric Rear Wing
Brake Calipers in Black

[Am43]

If the car is under mclaren warranty I wouldn’t be too worried about another inspection , however if not then I would ask for one to be done.

[Streetbeat]

chazd said:

Hoping you guys can assist

Looking at a 12C that was for sale with a local independent dealer last year that I missed out on.

The vehicle has come back up for sale and is a fair market price.

It has a service and inspection at MCL Guildford in Nov 2021. Any issues found were resolved.

It’s for sale privately - would you buy without a further inspection in light of the Nov 2021 health check and service etc or would you seek another inspection!?

Does it have a warranty? If not definitely an inspection, if it has a warranty its kind of up to you as most things will be covered anyway, but for me i would like to know everything is A1 and just get on and enjoy it.

[anonymous-user]

For a private purchase, get an inspection. You do t know whether the current owner managed to bend a corner or two in their short period of ownership.

[cgt2]

It also looks like it lives outside from the photos so check for condensation in the lights

[r o n n i e]

cgt2 said:

It also looks like it lives outside from the photos so check for condensation in the lights

In practice is there anything to be done about this?

Isn’t this just one of those things that impacts all cars and therefore not worth stressing about?

[anonymous-user]

Cheap bottom end used cars still have huge new supercar parts prices and at that mileage there are bound to be wear and tear items not covered by warranty and big bills ahead.
One thing buying it another maintaining it.
Would of thought conservatively you need to allocate at least £5k pa for general maintenance

[123RY]

Curledge said:

Cheap bottom end used cars still have huge new supercar parts prices and at that mileage there are bound to be wear and tear items not covered by warranty and big bills ahead.
One thing buying it another maintaining it.
Would of thought conservatively you need to allocate at least £5k pa for general maintenance

Rambo could you please learn it's "could/should/would have" not "could/should/would of". Really upsetting you haven't at least improved your grammar.

OP, if it has a macwarranty I wouldn't worry about another inspection. How many miles has it done since the last inspection in November?

[Babw]

Good luck with the purchase OP.

I was in a similar position and voted against a higher mileage car only because of the perceived value mindset of a future buyer as portrayed above. If I was to keep the car I would be more happy buying a well used car that's had it's faults ironed out. I've placed a deposit on a 7k mile 650s but will need to stump up for a warranty which I hope will be offset by a higher resale price when the time comes.

I'm sending my car to Thorney for a pre purchase/warranty inspection which I hope reveals anything as it's in their best interest to expose any faults to avoid claims on their warranty in the coming year.

I think mileage in itself isn't a concern but rather maintenance record and type of use, if it's been tracked etc it will likely need brakes at some point however you could be lucky in that they've already been replaced and maybe have a look at the service schedule to plan for any upcoming age/milage related services i.e 40k mile service which could be costly.

If it's the car on Autotrader, looks great and a fantastic colour.

[chazd]

Thanks all

It has done approx 100 miles since the MCL inspection in November. At this stage it has had all remedial works completed…

It is the vehicle on auto trader. I was ideally after a 570s but was tempted by the overall of this vehicle. As it ticks a lot of boxes and saves me £20k (which could be academic I appreciate as the age means higher main range costs!)

I expect I will use any new purchase for at most 1-2000 miles a year

[speedick]

6500 miles in mine over 3 years and N-o-t-h-i-n-g has gone wrong. It lives indoors, I warm it up properly, clean and maintain it carefully and keep it on a battery conditioner.

I'd suggest that if you do the same the chances of any "new" problems (as opposed to inherited ones) are fairly minimal.

Questions I'd ask about the car youre looking at

Iris 1 or 2 ?.
All the underbody aero still in place ?
Has the paint faded ?. (I think the early cars used Sikkens, later ones had Lechler - the earlier ones fade quite badly - particularly orange ones)

KEY Points
- Any corrosion history ?.
- Any "Corrosion" ? (front bonnet lip, Door undersides, Top Rear of Wings)
- Suspension accumilators OK ?.
- Startup rattles ?.
- Battery OK ?

Watch the Thorney video for other things to check

If youre fairly mechanically minded most of the above is easily checked - If not then a proper inspection is probably a very wise investment.

Regarding warranty, my suggestion would be to ask yourself "what effect would a £15k bill have on me ?".

Of course, this is painful for virtually anyone - but If you heavily finance buying the car, would have to borrow to repair it, or sell because you could not afford it then I'd suggest either a warranty or a less expensive car as the way to go. On the other hand if you bought it outright and have funds to simply curse the bill & pay up then personally I'd be happy to accept the (actually fairly small) "no warranty" risk.

Good luck, the cars are brilliant !

[Babw]

100 miles and 2 months since inspection? Assuming you have a written and producible clean bill of health, I certainly wouldn’t have another inspection.

[chazd]

These were the issues flagged and then subsequently resolved.

It had the full MCL inspection in Nov 2021 along with a 9th service

[speedick]

Babw said:

100 miles and 2 months since inspection? Assuming you have a written and producible clean bill of health, I certainly wouldn’t have another inspection.

In many ways, agreed.

But quite a few of my points (faded paint, corrosion & corrosion repairs, Iris 1 or 2, startup rattle) are not always in the (Mclaren) dealers best interest to get pointed out.

All in all though it sounds like a car you could have a good degree of confidence in.

[Smoothound]

speedick said:

In many ways, agreed.

But quite a few of my points (faded paint, corrosion & corrosion repairs, Iris 1 or 2, startup rattle) are not always in the (Mclaren) dealers best interest to get pointed out.

All in all though it sounds like a car you could have a good degree of confidence in.

In the pictures the car looks great but looks like Iris 1 and not had the power upgrade but in the big scheme of things not the end of the world at that price?

[caminator11]

This is an older car with potentially large bills and quite a lot of miles. Take it to Thorney for an inspection. They are a lot more thorough than Mclaren.

[Streetbeat]

speedick said:

In many ways, agreed.

But quite a few of my points (faded paint, corrosion & corrosion repairs, Iris 1 or 2, startup rattle) are not always in the (Mclaren) dealers best interest to get pointed out.

All in all though it sounds like a car you could have a good degree of confidence in.

I would say its well within Mclaren dealers best interest to get as much warranty work as possible so imagine them to highlight anything you list on an inspection, this was certainly the case when i had my 570s inspected, two wings replaced under the corrosion warranty for example.