12C spider or 650S spider, which is Best Buy
Discussion
Personally think the 12c is a better resolved design and I prefer the larger side intakes. There’s a purple 12c spider for sale by one of the users on here and that’s a stunning car with an amazing spec. Only issue with the 12c now is that the spiders will be 10 yrs old next year so no longer qualify for the McLaren extended warranty which was over £5k a yr already so quite a lot , guess if you live close to someone like Thorney it makes more sense with his warranty but running one without would be a little nervewrecking.
I was in the same position last year, a budget that bought both into play, i actually ended up in a 570s coupe, personally i preferred the looks and being a newer car swung it for me, but a spider might strecth the budget. If i had been set on a spider i would have gone 12c, i prefer the looks, although it would seem the 650s is probably the better car, an improved 12c.
Check out some of the Thorney videos, he is pretty comprehensive on weak points, whatever you buy make sure you get a Mclaren or Thorney inspection which will be required for warranty with either. Any faults will be identified and need to be rectified before a warranty, obviously you can negiotiate repair costs off the asking price and then your yearly cost will just be a service and consumables (which i dont know what the super series service cost is with Thorney)
If you plan to just look at it and putter around town - 12c.
If you plan to push it on road and track - easy decision 650. Much quicker gear change, understeer almost entirely resolved, better suspension feel in sport and track, less floatiness in normal and less ESC intervention on track. And that amazing forward lunge above 6k revs.
If you plan to push it on road and track - easy decision 650. Much quicker gear change, understeer almost entirely resolved, better suspension feel in sport and track, less floatiness in normal and less ESC intervention on track. And that amazing forward lunge above 6k revs.
I can highly recommend a 650 spider as it is just an absolute monster of a car that is as happy cutting about at 20mph in urban traffic as it is at warp speed; a truly fantastic car that was a country mile ahead of its then competitors, and still is better than lots, even now 8 yrs after launch.
Never owned driven a 12c spider, but mostly similar great reviews, and the Top Gear episode when Clarkson had a stunning Volcano yellow 12c was one of the reasons I went the McLaren route.
Both cars have dated gracefully and definitely future classics.
Don't think you can go wrong with either; its more down to the front end that you prefer.
Never owned driven a 12c spider, but mostly similar great reviews, and the Top Gear episode when Clarkson had a stunning Volcano yellow 12c was one of the reasons I went the McLaren route.
Both cars have dated gracefully and definitely future classics.
Don't think you can go wrong with either; its more down to the front end that you prefer.
12c being the first production car had a number of well documented issues. With very little effort you can find all the answers to your questions and more on this site and others.
650s surprised a lot of people when launched as it was so much earlier in release cycle than expected - it was in many ways mclaren attempting to put right much of the criticisms and lessons learned from the 12c.
The 650 is in every measurable way the better car. Upgrades and improvements resulted in over 100kg weight saving, then there’s the significant improvements to suspension, transmission, steering and braking. The engine was revised - new cylinder head, exhaust valves, pistons cam timing, etc equated to more bhp and from everyday driving perspective greater torque at lower revs.
Subjectively I love the evolution of design, the hammerhead front end with distinctive mclaren signature lights is for me one of the best looking cars on the road.
Unless you cannot afford the price difference which in the grand scheme is not that much I can’t rationalise why you would pick the car which no longer qualifies for mclaren warranty.
650s surprised a lot of people when launched as it was so much earlier in release cycle than expected - it was in many ways mclaren attempting to put right much of the criticisms and lessons learned from the 12c.
The 650 is in every measurable way the better car. Upgrades and improvements resulted in over 100kg weight saving, then there’s the significant improvements to suspension, transmission, steering and braking. The engine was revised - new cylinder head, exhaust valves, pistons cam timing, etc equated to more bhp and from everyday driving perspective greater torque at lower revs.
Subjectively I love the evolution of design, the hammerhead front end with distinctive mclaren signature lights is for me one of the best looking cars on the road.
Unless you cannot afford the price difference which in the grand scheme is not that much I can’t rationalise why you would pick the car which no longer qualifies for mclaren warranty.
Well said. Thinking back to my own personal journey, when I first tried the original 12C I came away preferring my V12 Vantage. A couple of years later, when the sports series came out, I went back looking for a 570, but came away with the 650 which was a completely different animal.
V8Smith said:
So I’d go for Thorneys warranty. Not knowing these cars that well, Are there things that often go wrong or are they on the whole reliable? Be good to get peoples experience with yearly costs?
As others have said, quite a lot well documented on what can go wrong with these, so much so that they represent what I consider to be quite a performance bargain, albeit somewhat negated by necessary warranty costs etc. I own a few cars, all of which I hope will one day be considered classics of a sort and was drawn to the 12C. As others have said, a lot depends on your preference of the front end design and want to track. I thought I preferred the 650 front end but ended up siding with the 12C. Bizarrely of all the cars I own, have owned so far, the 12C has been the most reliable (although only 6 months in to ownership). As others have stated and you yourself intend to do, I had the car inspected by Thorney and subsequently warrantied. They were thorough and pleasant to deal with. A lot of these cars and it seems even the modern ones suffer from some rust here or there. Low oil can cause engine failure but Thorney can re-build within warranty limit if needs be (I understand). Suspension is complicated and costly to fix. TBH. I leave all of this to the experts, make sure it’s properly inspected by them and then warranty covered and enjoy the car. The 12C is an absolute beast but such a joy to drive and more than enough power. Was thinking of trading in V12 Vantage and 12C for a 720S but struggle to see how I could use the extra power on the roads, even if the looks are much better on the 720S. Looking through previous history I am budgeting about £2k for servicing etc and then the £2850 warranty costs per annum.
Good luck
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