Discussion
In the near(ish) future, I should be in a position to buy a two-seater GT for the journeys when I don’t need to take the wife, kid and dogs along, having paid off everything else. Now, all being equal, I’d be looking at about £50k as a lump sum to drop on something - my initial thought was the used Jag F type coupe and a bit left over for running costs. However, the 12Cs and 570s are dipping below £70k and a bit of man-maths suggests that financing one with a deposit of £50k isn’t beyond the realm of my budget.
I’m used to running range rovers, so the idea of Thunberg-scaring MPG and the need for a decently hefty ongoing maintenance budget isn’t new to me, but what is a realistic budget to keep one of these things running properly (not interested in bodging it - it’s a car I’d look to keep, use and maintain, not something bought to flip or as an investment).
Everything I’ve read on here suggests they are not particularly unreliable if kept in regular use, but YouTube is filled with “ThIs CaR nEaRlY bAnKrUpTeD mE!” Horror stories. I assume that a lot of that is because Americans are always scared of European cars and anything without a pushrod V8 and leaf springs…
Assuming maybe 7-10k miles a year tops, am I insane to even consider it? Or is it within the realms of sanity? What’s a sensible annual budget?
Any thoughts welcome.
I’m used to running range rovers, so the idea of Thunberg-scaring MPG and the need for a decently hefty ongoing maintenance budget isn’t new to me, but what is a realistic budget to keep one of these things running properly (not interested in bodging it - it’s a car I’d look to keep, use and maintain, not something bought to flip or as an investment).
Everything I’ve read on here suggests they are not particularly unreliable if kept in regular use, but YouTube is filled with “ThIs CaR nEaRlY bAnKrUpTeD mE!” Horror stories. I assume that a lot of that is because Americans are always scared of European cars and anything without a pushrod V8 and leaf springs…
Assuming maybe 7-10k miles a year tops, am I insane to even consider it? Or is it within the realms of sanity? What’s a sensible annual budget?
Any thoughts welcome.
I don't think you're especially mad if your priorities are car-biased. If the stretch to finance it eats into your budget to enjoy/maintain the car properly then yes you're mad.
£3k/year in warranty or self-insure if you're happy to ride your luck a bit. If you buy well you'll probably be OK. Usual things on sport series would be to check for out-of-warranty corrosion issues and cracking door hinges plus looking for abused carbon ceramics. Cars that have been driven regularly seem to fare better than garage queens in the reliability stakes.
McLarens are generally not too bad on fuel on a GT-style drive but are very thirsty when the taps are open - I can get 37mpg on a motorway cruise but I can also get well under 10 with the taps open.
£3k/year in warranty or self-insure if you're happy to ride your luck a bit. If you buy well you'll probably be OK. Usual things on sport series would be to check for out-of-warranty corrosion issues and cracking door hinges plus looking for abused carbon ceramics. Cars that have been driven regularly seem to fare better than garage queens in the reliability stakes.
McLarens are generally not too bad on fuel on a GT-style drive but are very thirsty when the taps are open - I can get 37mpg on a motorway cruise but I can also get well under 10 with the taps open.
DRZ said:
I don't think you're especially mad if your priorities are car-biased. If the stretch to finance it eats into your budget to enjoy/maintain the car properly then yes you're mad.
£3k/year in warranty or self-insure if you're happy to ride your luck a bit. If you buy well you'll probably be OK. Usual things on sport series would be to check for out-of-warranty corrosion issues and cracking door hinges plus looking for abused carbon ceramics. Cars that have been driven regularly seem to fare better than garage queens in the reliability stakes.
McLarens are generally not too bad on fuel on a GT-style drive but are very thirsty when the taps are open - I can get 37mpg on a motorway cruise but I can also get well under 10 with the taps open.
Hmm, interesting. I’m not interested in track days or trying to set a london-Edinburgh record on the road, so the MPGs sounds perfectly reasonable. The warranty seems sensible, as I’m guessing a minimum of £5k a year is about right for keeping on top of things and for things like tyres, etc., so it’s not as mental as it could be, cost wise.£3k/year in warranty or self-insure if you're happy to ride your luck a bit. If you buy well you'll probably be OK. Usual things on sport series would be to check for out-of-warranty corrosion issues and cracking door hinges plus looking for abused carbon ceramics. Cars that have been driven regularly seem to fare better than garage queens in the reliability stakes.
McLarens are generally not too bad on fuel on a GT-style drive but are very thirsty when the taps are open - I can get 37mpg on a motorway cruise but I can also get well under 10 with the taps open.
I just figure if I’m getting one shot to spoil myself, I might as well do it *right*. Thanks for the input - time to start seriously working on getting brownie points with the missus for when it’s time to hit the dealers
Edited by cybertrophic on Thursday 2nd February 01:35
I bought a 650 Spider about 3.5 years ago, and kept it for 3 years. I already had a couple of "expensive" cars, but this was a big step up and I was genuinely worried about the running costs.
As it turned out, the running costs were absolutely fine. I had warranty for the first 2 years, but so little went wrong that I didn't bother for the last year. Servicing was very reasonable and averaged about £1,100 - £1,200 a year. Tyres lasted forever (Michelin PS4s - I replaced after about 15k miles, and even then only because they were becoming difficult to get and I didn't want to leave it until I really needed tyres).
My hesitation with buying another one is less about those kind of running costs, and more about the "other" running costs - I had a talent for finding reasons to spend money on the car (e.g. retrofit of soft close, full PPF etc), and found so many excuses to drive it that my petrol costs went up massively!
As it turned out, the running costs were absolutely fine. I had warranty for the first 2 years, but so little went wrong that I didn't bother for the last year. Servicing was very reasonable and averaged about £1,100 - £1,200 a year. Tyres lasted forever (Michelin PS4s - I replaced after about 15k miles, and even then only because they were becoming difficult to get and I didn't want to leave it until I really needed tyres).
My hesitation with buying another one is less about those kind of running costs, and more about the "other" running costs - I had a talent for finding reasons to spend money on the car (e.g. retrofit of soft close, full PPF etc), and found so many excuses to drive it that my petrol costs went up massively!
I owned a 12C for 3 years and did did 14k miles in it. Now own a 675LT for past 3 years too and have done 8k miles in it.
I have barely spent a penny outside the warranty on either, granted the warranty is £5k pa but any small niggles have been covered and even things like headlights, springs, accumulators and body panels.
The services have been very reasonable, for instance on the 675LT, 5th service, £477 + vat, 6th service £1,070 + vat, 7th service £ 548 + vat
On the Motorway the 12C would do around 32pmg and the 675LT around 36mpg (I know amazing) The lifetime MPG of both cars in all sorts of driving is 25 mpg.
Given insurance, tax, petrol, servicing, tyres (4 x MPS4S = £850) are similar to a sporty BMW or Audi I would put those to one side and concentrate on the warranty costs as the additional. For a 12C that would be £5k pa now. Or you could go to the likes of 'V' engineering, which many of my friends are, and set aside around £3-£5k pa. You will probably get away with £3k, might be £5k and you would be very, very unlucky if you were over £5k on a 12C. Given a Ferrari 458 is around £50k more to buy that gives you 10 years warranty and enjoyment with a 12C, without even considering if you drove the 458 it would devalue and would also need a warranty!
Overall, including warranty, abnormal costs and depreciation my 12C cost me £1.12p per mile. (not including tax, insurance, petrol). To give you some comparables my F355 was £2.13, 981 Spyder £1.56, M635CSi £2.50, Audi S5 59p, MX5 1p (no depreciation over 75k miles)
Remember the 12C figure includes the warranty & depreciation.
So no you are not mad, buy and enjoy, get the 12C checked out by a dealer or 'V' engineering
12C on one of its many (incident free) trips to Europe, Interlaken here.
675LT on a tour of Wales
675LT MPG London to Bristol on M4
I have barely spent a penny outside the warranty on either, granted the warranty is £5k pa but any small niggles have been covered and even things like headlights, springs, accumulators and body panels.
The services have been very reasonable, for instance on the 675LT, 5th service, £477 + vat, 6th service £1,070 + vat, 7th service £ 548 + vat
On the Motorway the 12C would do around 32pmg and the 675LT around 36mpg (I know amazing) The lifetime MPG of both cars in all sorts of driving is 25 mpg.
Given insurance, tax, petrol, servicing, tyres (4 x MPS4S = £850) are similar to a sporty BMW or Audi I would put those to one side and concentrate on the warranty costs as the additional. For a 12C that would be £5k pa now. Or you could go to the likes of 'V' engineering, which many of my friends are, and set aside around £3-£5k pa. You will probably get away with £3k, might be £5k and you would be very, very unlucky if you were over £5k on a 12C. Given a Ferrari 458 is around £50k more to buy that gives you 10 years warranty and enjoyment with a 12C, without even considering if you drove the 458 it would devalue and would also need a warranty!
Overall, including warranty, abnormal costs and depreciation my 12C cost me £1.12p per mile. (not including tax, insurance, petrol). To give you some comparables my F355 was £2.13, 981 Spyder £1.56, M635CSi £2.50, Audi S5 59p, MX5 1p (no depreciation over 75k miles)
Remember the 12C figure includes the warranty & depreciation.
So no you are not mad, buy and enjoy, get the 12C checked out by a dealer or 'V' engineering
12C on one of its many (incident free) trips to Europe, Interlaken here.
675LT on a tour of Wales
675LT MPG London to Bristol on M4
Edited by Bispal on Thursday 2nd February 08:01
I’m in a very similar position with the same budget. I had my eye on a 570GT / 650S and was hooked on the idea. Managed to make the maths work in my head and on paper after plenty of owner threads on here showing the running costs over the min 3 years I expected to keep it.
Unfortunately the bit where it fell apart was how much I would use the car. I usually do 9k in my 3rd car with a few trips to Scotland and Germany/Italy every year. I realised I’d be taking a 6-8 year old car with very limited miles a year and rapidly turn it into a bottom of the rung high miler in just a few short summer months of driving - and that £ had to be worked into the figures. Same issue will exist with any premium car but McLaren seemed particularly bad when compared to chucking miles on others . The small size and slow pace of the private sellers market also stood out so a dealer would have my pants down. In short, I couldn’t afford it.
So, are you mad. No, the more of these being driven the better, wish I could join you.
Unfortunately the bit where it fell apart was how much I would use the car. I usually do 9k in my 3rd car with a few trips to Scotland and Germany/Italy every year. I realised I’d be taking a 6-8 year old car with very limited miles a year and rapidly turn it into a bottom of the rung high miler in just a few short summer months of driving - and that £ had to be worked into the figures. Same issue will exist with any premium car but McLaren seemed particularly bad when compared to chucking miles on others . The small size and slow pace of the private sellers market also stood out so a dealer would have my pants down. In short, I couldn’t afford it.
So, are you mad. No, the more of these being driven the better, wish I could join you.
Paft Dunk said:
I usually do 9k in my 3rd car with a few trips to Scotland and Germany/Italy every year. I realised I’d be taking a 6-8 year old car with very limited miles a year and rapidly turn it into a bottom of the rung high miler in just a few short summer months of driving - and that £ had to be worked into the figures.
My 650 had 7k miles on it when I bought it (4.5 years old). In 3 years, I took it up to just under 26k miles - so a bit less than 9k a year, but two years of that was during Covid with some lockdowns.I guess it does affect the value (although my insurance payout didn't seem to think so), but they were very enjoyable miles!
I went through the same issues prior to buying my high mileage 12C. I couldn’t afford a low mileage car at £20k extra so I convinced myself high mileage would be more reliable and I could also put more miles on it without unduly worrying about depreciation.
After 12 months and 4k miles, no breakdowns, just a few random warning lights that come on and go off. 11 year service at V Engineering was less than £500 but over £3k work was recommended - mostly 4 new accumulators - happening next week.
I have no warranty and am budgeting on £3k per year maintenance. I only pay £500 for insurance for 4k miles p.a. plus £200 for tracker. I average 25 mpg. I’m hopeful that the car will not drop too far below £60k going forward but I don’t expect it to be easy, one day, to sell privately.
Don’t know if there are statistics to support the notion but I do think a well-used car will give fewer problems.
Most important, on any car you consider, check for paint bubbling on front wings and bonnet edge.
There are other McLaren models to consider alongside the 12C. Owners Club is very helpful and they are friendly, like-minded folks. Mostly older (50+) but I guess you can’t normally buy such a car when the bank of M&D is still open (mine has pretty much closed).
After 12 months and 4k miles, no breakdowns, just a few random warning lights that come on and go off. 11 year service at V Engineering was less than £500 but over £3k work was recommended - mostly 4 new accumulators - happening next week.
I have no warranty and am budgeting on £3k per year maintenance. I only pay £500 for insurance for 4k miles p.a. plus £200 for tracker. I average 25 mpg. I’m hopeful that the car will not drop too far below £60k going forward but I don’t expect it to be easy, one day, to sell privately.
Don’t know if there are statistics to support the notion but I do think a well-used car will give fewer problems.
Most important, on any car you consider, check for paint bubbling on front wings and bonnet edge.
There are other McLaren models to consider alongside the 12C. Owners Club is very helpful and they are friendly, like-minded folks. Mostly older (50+) but I guess you can’t normally buy such a car when the bank of M&D is still open (mine has pretty much closed).
Paft Dunk said:
Bispal - I like the cost per mile figures. My GT-R was £1.94 a mile over 16k miles. Perhaps a 12C is doable !!
Now that depreciation is probably zero I would expect a fund of £3k pa for 6k miles pa so 50p per mile should be possible on a 12C or 650s. There is very little difference in the 12C coupes on sale, They are almost all £70-£80k with mileage of 15k to 40k and the price seems to have no correlation to mileage. its all condition. So buy 20k miles at £75k in good condition, keep it in good condition and sell 3 years later with 38k miles and get all your money back, in fact inflation will probably guarantee that.PinkHouse said:
Nice to see one being used. Dare I say it, a bargain at that price!TX.
PinkHouse said:
Cracking example, monster mileage, carbon brakes removed, must be massively tempting........Or you could get a nice one that hasnt dipped under £70k and is far more representative of the market
PinkHouse said:
You are always going to get an under priced car in any marque However this one was not exactly typical of the market as a whole and it is high risk buying through CC as you have no consumer protection. You lose your deposit if car does not present correctly and you reject it, but this one did at least have a warranty
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