Newbie advice - 570s
Discussion
Hi all - looking at potentially moving from a 911 to a 570s. I've read what I can here, and trawled the internet for buying guides, advice etc but I had a few outstanding questions that I was hoping current owners might be able to comment on. I've had Porsches for about the last 8 years so a bit of a leap, plus reasonable investment needed on my side - but I love the 570s, and looking to get final niggly questions sorted, so would much appreciate any advice!
- Car will be left outside on the driveway, driven at least once a week at weekends apart from the odd holiday where it might go 2-3 weeks without being started. Any problems with this? I know that JayEmm in his infamous videos talked about the NOX sensor in such a situation - is that something I should be worrying about?
- I understand there is risk of corrosion - the car I'm interested in has no obvious signs of this and is 5 years old. How common is the corrosion/paint bubbling? I understand warranty against this is now only 5 years, is that right? Anything I can do to minimise risk (eg would getting the car PPFd actually help?)
- Looks like warranty is around £3k per year, service about £1k per year with a larger more expensive one at 6 years (which this car would have coming up next) at about £2k. If I budget £5k per year running costs plus tyres on top, am I missing anything obvious?
- IRIS looks a bit limited, and disappointed by no CarPlay - are there any options to modify this to add it? Or do most of you just use a phone mount? If so, any particular recommendations?
- Car I'm interested in is at Ascot - whilst keeping within the boundaries of PH's not naming and shaming, any thoughts on them good, bad or indifferent?
More questions than I thought but hopefully these are questions not easily answered elsewhere. Thanks all for help.
- Car will be left outside on the driveway, driven at least once a week at weekends apart from the odd holiday where it might go 2-3 weeks without being started. Any problems with this? I know that JayEmm in his infamous videos talked about the NOX sensor in such a situation - is that something I should be worrying about?
- I understand there is risk of corrosion - the car I'm interested in has no obvious signs of this and is 5 years old. How common is the corrosion/paint bubbling? I understand warranty against this is now only 5 years, is that right? Anything I can do to minimise risk (eg would getting the car PPFd actually help?)
- Looks like warranty is around £3k per year, service about £1k per year with a larger more expensive one at 6 years (which this car would have coming up next) at about £2k. If I budget £5k per year running costs plus tyres on top, am I missing anything obvious?
- IRIS looks a bit limited, and disappointed by no CarPlay - are there any options to modify this to add it? Or do most of you just use a phone mount? If so, any particular recommendations?
- Car I'm interested in is at Ascot - whilst keeping within the boundaries of PH's not naming and shaming, any thoughts on them good, bad or indifferent?
More questions than I thought but hopefully these are questions not easily answered elsewhere. Thanks all for help.
Fatherdougal said:
Hi all - looking at potentially moving from a 911 to a 570s. I've read what I can here, and trawled the internet for buying guides, advice etc but I had a few outstanding questions that I was hoping current owners might be able to comment on. I've had Porsches for about the last 8 years so a bit of a leap, plus reasonable investment needed on my side - but I love the 570s, and looking to get final niggly questions sorted, so would much appreciate any advice!
- Car will be left outside on the driveway, driven at least once a week at weekends apart from the odd holiday where it might go 2-3 weeks without being started. Any problems with this? I know that JayEmm in his infamous videos talked about the NOX sensor in such a situation - is that something I should be worrying about?
- I understand there is risk of corrosion - the car I'm interested in has no obvious signs of this and is 5 years old. How common is the corrosion/paint bubbling? I understand warranty against this is now only 5 years, is that right? Anything I can do to minimise risk (eg would getting the car PPFd actually help?)
- Looks like warranty is around £3k per year, service about £1k per year with a larger more expensive one at 6 years (which this car would have coming up next) at about £2k. If I budget £5k per year running costs plus tyres on top, am I missing anything obvious?
- IRIS looks a bit limited, and disappointed by no CarPlay - are there any options to modify this to add it? Or do most of you just use a phone mount? If so, any particular recommendations?
- Car I'm interested in is at Ascot - whilst keeping within the boundaries of PH's not naming and shaming, any thoughts on them good, bad or indifferent?
More questions than I thought but hopefully these are questions not easily answered elsewhere. Thanks all for help.
Welcome! I'm a relatively new owner of a 570GT (wanted something a little softer than the S) so have gone through much the same as you in terms of questions.- Car will be left outside on the driveway, driven at least once a week at weekends apart from the odd holiday where it might go 2-3 weeks without being started. Any problems with this? I know that JayEmm in his infamous videos talked about the NOX sensor in such a situation - is that something I should be worrying about?
- I understand there is risk of corrosion - the car I'm interested in has no obvious signs of this and is 5 years old. How common is the corrosion/paint bubbling? I understand warranty against this is now only 5 years, is that right? Anything I can do to minimise risk (eg would getting the car PPFd actually help?)
- Looks like warranty is around £3k per year, service about £1k per year with a larger more expensive one at 6 years (which this car would have coming up next) at about £2k. If I budget £5k per year running costs plus tyres on top, am I missing anything obvious?
- IRIS looks a bit limited, and disappointed by no CarPlay - are there any options to modify this to add it? Or do most of you just use a phone mount? If so, any particular recommendations?
- Car I'm interested in is at Ascot - whilst keeping within the boundaries of PH's not naming and shaming, any thoughts on them good, bad or indifferent?
More questions than I thought but hopefully these are questions not easily answered elsewhere. Thanks all for help.
Corrosion - There's been a few opinions on what causes this, Thorney reckon it's due to corrosion treatment being applied before panel forming that causes 'gaps' in the treatment that allows corrosion to kick in. I doubt PPF would do much to stop it, other than protecting water ingress via stone chips, but others might know differently.
Costs - Pretty much identical to my man maths calculations! If the major service is due soon, get the dealer to do it as part of purchase deal. Otherwise, a slush fund for servicing/tyres and anything outside of warranty is a good shout.
Iris - Yeah, it's not great. Coming from a Rangie with full Android Auto/Carplay it's a real step back. That said, if you accept its limitations from the outset, it works just fine. Best phone mount is one that's 3d printed and attaches behind the Iris screen. Quick search online will show you what I mean.
Dealership - I bought my car from Ascot. I have to say the team there were absolutely spot on. I can only comment on sales/handover as thankfully it hasn't had to go back for any bits yet. If you're dealing with Chris, you're in good hands I'd say.
Fatherdougal said:
Hi all
- Car will be left outside on the driveway, - is that something I should be worrying about?
- Anything I can do to minimise risk (eg would getting the car PPFd actually help?)
- Looks like warranty is around £3k per year, service about £1k per year with a larger more expensive one at 6 years (which this car would have coming up next) at about £2k. If I budget £5k per year running costs plus tyres on top, am I missing anything obvious?
- IRIS looks a bit limited, and disappointed by no CarPlay -
- Car I'm interested in is at Ascot - .
Great choice... - Car will be left outside on the driveway, - is that something I should be worrying about?
- Anything I can do to minimise risk (eg would getting the car PPFd actually help?)
- Looks like warranty is around £3k per year, service about £1k per year with a larger more expensive one at 6 years (which this car would have coming up next) at about £2k. If I budget £5k per year running costs plus tyres on top, am I missing anything obvious?
- IRIS looks a bit limited, and disappointed by no CarPlay -
- Car I'm interested in is at Ascot - .
Leaving the car outside itself won't be an issue.. although I'd plug mine in on the battery charger for any periods over 4-5 days.
The paint bubbling is actually down to poor prep work so not much you can do to prevent it. Has the car had any panel replacements? If it's made it to 5 years without needing any you may get lucky. Or has it had them done already? I had almost every panel replaced on mine but once done they were fine.
£5k I'd say is plenty. You may get to the point you are comfortable running without warranty, and if you buy from a McLaren dealer (or even some private sales) you'll get some warranty included. I ran mine without warranty. Servicing changes between around £600-1200 each year. 6th is a big one but you could ask for this to be included.. failing that I paid £1450 for it recently.
IRIS I didn't find that bad, although I've never really experienced carplay so not sure what I'm missing. There is no easy aftermarket options to add it AFAIK.
No comment on Ascot but sure others will
My 570S stayed mostly on the drive, it would report 45 days parking and if I didn't run it for 3 or 4 weeks there was never a problem, I wouldn't be too concerned. I've never plugged the trickle charger into any of my McLarens and I've never had a flat battery. Obviously that doesn't apply if you're going to leave it for months on end.
Let's face it, the Iris system is crap but you'll get used to what you want to do out of it and then it won't matter.
Ascot will never get another penny of my money but to be fair my problems were about 5 years ago, it may be a different story now.
Let's face it, the Iris system is crap but you'll get used to what you want to do out of it and then it won't matter.
Ascot will never get another penny of my money but to be fair my problems were about 5 years ago, it may be a different story now.
Re replacing IRIS to get CarPlay, I thought I had seen some people on PH running something like this:
https://acarmultimedia.com/product/acarnavi-2022-n...
https://acarmultimedia.com/product/acarnavi-2022-n...
Fatherdougal said:
Hi all - looking at potentially moving from a 911 to a 570s. I've read what I can here, and trawled the internet for buying guides, advice etc but I had a few outstanding questions that I was hoping current owners might be able to comment on. I've had Porsches for about the last 8 years so a bit of a leap, plus reasonable investment needed on my side - but I love the 570s, and looking to get final niggly questions sorted, so would much appreciate any advice!
- Car will be left outside on the driveway, driven at least once a week at weekends apart from the odd holiday where it might go 2-3 weeks without being started. Any problems with this? I know that JayEmm in his infamous videos talked about the NOX sensor in such a situation - is that something I should be worrying about?
- I understand there is risk of corrosion - the car I'm interested in has no obvious signs of this and is 5 years old. How common is the corrosion/paint bubbling? I understand warranty against this is now only 5 years, is that right? Anything I can do to minimise risk (eg would getting the car PPFd actually help?)
- Looks like warranty is around £3k per year, service about £1k per year with a larger more expensive one at 6 years (which this car would have coming up next) at about £2k. If I budget £5k per year running costs plus tyres on top, am I missing anything obvious?
- IRIS looks a bit limited, and disappointed by no CarPlay - are there any options to modify this to add it? Or do most of you just use a phone mount? If so, any particular recommendations?
- Car I'm interested in is at Ascot - whilst keeping within the boundaries of PH's not naming and shaming, any thoughts on them good, bad or indifferent?
More questions than I thought but hopefully these are questions not easily answered elsewhere. Thanks all for help.
The 570s is a great car!- Car will be left outside on the driveway, driven at least once a week at weekends apart from the odd holiday where it might go 2-3 weeks without being started. Any problems with this? I know that JayEmm in his infamous videos talked about the NOX sensor in such a situation - is that something I should be worrying about?
- I understand there is risk of corrosion - the car I'm interested in has no obvious signs of this and is 5 years old. How common is the corrosion/paint bubbling? I understand warranty against this is now only 5 years, is that right? Anything I can do to minimise risk (eg would getting the car PPFd actually help?)
- Looks like warranty is around £3k per year, service about £1k per year with a larger more expensive one at 6 years (which this car would have coming up next) at about £2k. If I budget £5k per year running costs plus tyres on top, am I missing anything obvious?
- IRIS looks a bit limited, and disappointed by no CarPlay - are there any options to modify this to add it? Or do most of you just use a phone mount? If so, any particular recommendations?
- Car I'm interested in is at Ascot - whilst keeping within the boundaries of PH's not naming and shaming, any thoughts on them good, bad or indifferent?
More questions than I thought but hopefully these are questions not easily answered elsewhere. Thanks all for help.
Don't worry about keeping it outside.
Corrosion seems inevitable. I had my 570s from new, kept in a garage, never driven in the rain, had front end PPF........it still happened, under the PPF, after about 3 years when I thought I'd got away with it. You could find a car that has had panels replaced or a car thats not been affected. Both or neither could be affected in the future. It's a bit of a lottery.
Most people start with a years warranty and then see how they get on. There are lemons out there but there are a lot of great reliable cars too. After a year you may be happy to no pay the warranty and put the money aside to cover any fixes that are required.
IRIS is basic for sure. But, it works, enjoy driving it!
Had a 570s spider for two years and 10k miles. The car was brilliant in every respect. I came from decades in Porsches and was looking for a car with top performance that didn't look like an old car. Where I live Porsches are like Toyotas.
The 570 had a V module crack (oil filter housing) and an O2 sensor come loose...total problems. In mid 2017 the dash was changed from three pieces to single display, but I'm unaware of any issues with either. The dealer recommends using the battery charger when not being driven.
The 570 impressed me so much that I traded it for a 720 spider and I can say unequivocally that I'll never go back to Porsches. Good luck in your search...you're going to love that car.
The 570 had a V module crack (oil filter housing) and an O2 sensor come loose...total problems. In mid 2017 the dash was changed from three pieces to single display, but I'm unaware of any issues with either. The dealer recommends using the battery charger when not being driven.
The 570 impressed me so much that I traded it for a 720 spider and I can say unequivocally that I'll never go back to Porsches. Good luck in your search...you're going to love that car.
Echo the sentiments above...outstanding cars for the money, defo go with warranty for the first 12 months my old one had a few niggling issues but it doesn't take much to rack up the repair costs given McLaren main dealer prices! A couple of good Indys out there now also with Thorney and V Engineering so for older cars that could be a sensible and more cost effective Avenue to go for servicing and repair work. They are mighty quick things and have to looks to match the performance..good luck!
There are, as with every marque, differing experiences with McLaren.
I'm in the camp of no real issues apart from minor stuff that usually resets itself and servicing.
Like Brd, I don't keep anything in the garage, and in the case of both mclarens the trickle chargers have never been used, with around 3 weeks being the longest whilst on holiday, and it still had I think 15%.
Paint reaction on the first car that I didn't notice and they replaced the wings and bonnet, this car nothing.
As someone said elsewhere, you would have to be driving like a maniac to notice any real performance difference between them, so I wouldn't read into 'this us much faster or better than that' as they are all warp quick with amazing handling and unbelievable steering.
Enjoy your search and purchase!
I'm in the camp of no real issues apart from minor stuff that usually resets itself and servicing.
Like Brd, I don't keep anything in the garage, and in the case of both mclarens the trickle chargers have never been used, with around 3 weeks being the longest whilst on holiday, and it still had I think 15%.
Paint reaction on the first car that I didn't notice and they replaced the wings and bonnet, this car nothing.
As someone said elsewhere, you would have to be driving like a maniac to notice any real performance difference between them, so I wouldn't read into 'this us much faster or better than that' as they are all warp quick with amazing handling and unbelievable steering.
Enjoy your search and purchase!
There's a thread on keeping a Sports Series outside here https://www.pistonheads.com/gassing/topic.asp?h=0&... , consensus seems to be fine.
Battery seems to be fine for 3-4 weeks as said without plugging in.
I use a phone mount, just clipped to the side of the instrument binnacle. I have a USB stick full of music plugged into IRIS, that way I don't miss a turn while my wife is faffing around choosing a tune(!)
If you can find an indy you're happy with (I go to V Engineering) then a warranty is less necessary as they can find more cost-effective solutions to many problems. Big problems like engine failures are rare on stock cars. You probably still want to budget £5k a year but you may well end up spending quite a lot less.
Battery seems to be fine for 3-4 weeks as said without plugging in.
I use a phone mount, just clipped to the side of the instrument binnacle. I have a USB stick full of music plugged into IRIS, that way I don't miss a turn while my wife is faffing around choosing a tune(!)
If you can find an indy you're happy with (I go to V Engineering) then a warranty is less necessary as they can find more cost-effective solutions to many problems. Big problems like engine failures are rare on stock cars. You probably still want to budget £5k a year but you may well end up spending quite a lot less.
I know it's been a while, but an update on this.... Many thanks for all the advice - in the end I didn't go with the car from Ascot, but I did get a 570S Spider from another McLaren franchise just over a month ago.
And I have to say it hasn't been a smooth ride. Day one had an engine fault light come on, which needed McLaren Assist to come out and clear.
Then last week, following the heavy rain, the driver's side window refused to stay up unless driving at speed. I'd pull the switch to put the window up, it would drop again. I'd open the driver door, it would drop the window and the outside door button wouldn't open the door. I had to lean in the open window and pull the lever to open the door. So I couldn't leave the car, as the driver window stayed open for anyone to lean or climb into.
I had what I thought was the great idea of drive at speed so I could get the window up, then when parking climb out the passenger side. But when I opened the passenger door, the driver window dropped again. I couldn't leave the car outside over night with the window down so it had to get flat-bedded to the dealer. It also didn't clear the screen and continued to hum when leaving the car, as if the ignition was still on - so obviously was going to drain the battery.
Kind of goes from bad to worse then - one quick call on Monday to confirm they had the car and ask me what was wrong with it. Promised a call on Wednesday with an update. Didn't happen. I called them Friday morning, promised a call back which hadn't happened after 4 hours, and had to chase. They said their thoughts were it was the battery as that was dead - no surprise, but I don't think that was the root cause. There are a number of threads on this type of thing on McLaren life, which point to the car thinking the outside button is constantly pressed after heavy rain. I did try to point the dealer to these threads but they didn't appear interested, and focussed on the dead battery..
Summing all that up - I loved the car whilst I had it, McLaren assist has been great, the selling dealer was just so-so, the aftersales is proving to be pretty poor and all in all I've pretty much lost confidence in the car. How can I take it anywhere and leave overnight if the driver window fault re-occurs...? If I compare to the build quality and dealer network I am used to with Porsche, I do feel pretty disappointed and like I may have made a mistake. I'm at the point of looking into whether I should reject the car or not.
I know there are great stories on this thread and many people love their 570S and it's problem free but not feeling it myself right now...
And I have to say it hasn't been a smooth ride. Day one had an engine fault light come on, which needed McLaren Assist to come out and clear.
Then last week, following the heavy rain, the driver's side window refused to stay up unless driving at speed. I'd pull the switch to put the window up, it would drop again. I'd open the driver door, it would drop the window and the outside door button wouldn't open the door. I had to lean in the open window and pull the lever to open the door. So I couldn't leave the car, as the driver window stayed open for anyone to lean or climb into.
I had what I thought was the great idea of drive at speed so I could get the window up, then when parking climb out the passenger side. But when I opened the passenger door, the driver window dropped again. I couldn't leave the car outside over night with the window down so it had to get flat-bedded to the dealer. It also didn't clear the screen and continued to hum when leaving the car, as if the ignition was still on - so obviously was going to drain the battery.
Kind of goes from bad to worse then - one quick call on Monday to confirm they had the car and ask me what was wrong with it. Promised a call on Wednesday with an update. Didn't happen. I called them Friday morning, promised a call back which hadn't happened after 4 hours, and had to chase. They said their thoughts were it was the battery as that was dead - no surprise, but I don't think that was the root cause. There are a number of threads on this type of thing on McLaren life, which point to the car thinking the outside button is constantly pressed after heavy rain. I did try to point the dealer to these threads but they didn't appear interested, and focussed on the dead battery..
Summing all that up - I loved the car whilst I had it, McLaren assist has been great, the selling dealer was just so-so, the aftersales is proving to be pretty poor and all in all I've pretty much lost confidence in the car. How can I take it anywhere and leave overnight if the driver window fault re-occurs...? If I compare to the build quality and dealer network I am used to with Porsche, I do feel pretty disappointed and like I may have made a mistake. I'm at the point of looking into whether I should reject the car or not.
I know there are great stories on this thread and many people love their 570S and it's problem free but not feeling it myself right now...
Fatherdougal said:
I know it's been a while, but an update on this.... Many thanks for all the advice - in the end I didn't go with the car from Ascot, but I did get a 570S Spider from another McLaren franchise just over a month ago.
And I have to say it hasn't been a smooth ride. Day one had an engine fault light come on, which needed McLaren Assist to come out and clear.
Then last week, following the heavy rain, the driver's side window refused to stay up unless driving at speed. I'd pull the switch to put the window up, it would drop again. I'd open the driver door, it would drop the window and the outside door button wouldn't open the door. I had to lean in the open window and pull the lever to open the door. So I couldn't leave the car, as the driver window stayed open for anyone to lean or climb into.
I had what I thought was the great idea of drive at speed so I could get the window up, then when parking climb out the passenger side. But when I opened the passenger door, the driver window dropped again. I couldn't leave the car outside over night with the window down so it had to get flat-bedded to the dealer. It also didn't clear the screen and continued to hum when leaving the car, as if the ignition was still on - so obviously was going to drain the battery.
Kind of goes from bad to worse then - one quick call on Monday to confirm they had the car and ask me what was wrong with it. Promised a call on Wednesday with an update. Didn't happen. I called them Friday morning, promised a call back which hadn't happened after 4 hours, and had to chase. They said their thoughts were it was the battery as that was dead - no surprise, but I don't think that was the root cause. There are a number of threads on this type of thing on McLaren life, which point to the car thinking the outside button is constantly pressed after heavy rain. I did try to point the dealer to these threads but they didn't appear interested, and focussed on the dead battery..
Summing all that up - I loved the car whilst I had it, McLaren assist has been great, the selling dealer was just so-so, the aftersales is proving to be pretty poor and all in all I've pretty much lost confidence in the car. How can I take it anywhere and leave overnight if the driver window fault re-occurs...? If I compare to the build quality and dealer network I am used to with Porsche, I do feel pretty disappointed and like I may have made a mistake. I'm at the point of looking into whether I should reject the car or not.
I know there are great stories on this thread and many people love their 570S and it's problem free but not feeling it myself right now...
Rubbish start to McLaren ownership.And I have to say it hasn't been a smooth ride. Day one had an engine fault light come on, which needed McLaren Assist to come out and clear.
Then last week, following the heavy rain, the driver's side window refused to stay up unless driving at speed. I'd pull the switch to put the window up, it would drop again. I'd open the driver door, it would drop the window and the outside door button wouldn't open the door. I had to lean in the open window and pull the lever to open the door. So I couldn't leave the car, as the driver window stayed open for anyone to lean or climb into.
I had what I thought was the great idea of drive at speed so I could get the window up, then when parking climb out the passenger side. But when I opened the passenger door, the driver window dropped again. I couldn't leave the car outside over night with the window down so it had to get flat-bedded to the dealer. It also didn't clear the screen and continued to hum when leaving the car, as if the ignition was still on - so obviously was going to drain the battery.
Kind of goes from bad to worse then - one quick call on Monday to confirm they had the car and ask me what was wrong with it. Promised a call on Wednesday with an update. Didn't happen. I called them Friday morning, promised a call back which hadn't happened after 4 hours, and had to chase. They said their thoughts were it was the battery as that was dead - no surprise, but I don't think that was the root cause. There are a number of threads on this type of thing on McLaren life, which point to the car thinking the outside button is constantly pressed after heavy rain. I did try to point the dealer to these threads but they didn't appear interested, and focussed on the dead battery..
Summing all that up - I loved the car whilst I had it, McLaren assist has been great, the selling dealer was just so-so, the aftersales is proving to be pretty poor and all in all I've pretty much lost confidence in the car. How can I take it anywhere and leave overnight if the driver window fault re-occurs...? If I compare to the build quality and dealer network I am used to with Porsche, I do feel pretty disappointed and like I may have made a mistake. I'm at the point of looking into whether I should reject the car or not.
I know there are great stories on this thread and many people love their 570S and it's problem free but not feeling it myself right now...
I have had 2 spiders and never had water ingress, so I wouldn't say its a very common problem going by the lack of 'leaky spider' threads.
Let the dealer have their attempts as per CRA 2015, in order to attempt to fix it.
Unfortunately, there are some pretty crap McLaren dealerships out there, but that's more than countered by some really good ones.
A battery thats on its way out causes utter havoc on McLarens, so I would insist that they replace that as a first port of call.
See what happens after that; as suggested, if plausible get it to V or Thorney for a 2nd opinion, and take it from there.
If this start makes you nervous and lose faith, reject.
Dave on here had a similar bumpy start with his first mac spider, but he persevered and ended up with a corking Mac and is, I believe, another full on McLaren convert.
Really sorry to hear it's giving you problems, and sorry (but not that surprised tbh) that the McLaren dealer service dept has poor customer service.
To be honest, dodgy batteries can cause all sorts of problems on modern high-end cars. And cars which have sat around unused for a few months in the sales network can easily end up with dodgy batteries.
If the dealership are proposing to give you a brand new £3k lithium battery, then I'd be inclined to accept their offer and then see how it goes. Clearly a car which can't be secured is not 'fit for purpose', so if you do have further problems I would suggest you'd be on strong ground then to reject or insist they try again to get to the root of the issue.
I had an early issue with my 570GT where the rear hatch wouldn't close, ended up having to not open the hatch for a few months, then V Engineering fettled the latch at service, and now it's fine.
Fatherdougal said:
I know it's been a while, but an update on this.... Many thanks for all the advice - in the end I didn't go with the car from Ascot, but I did get a 570S Spider from another McLaren franchise just over a month ago.
And I have to say it hasn't been a smooth ride. Day one had an engine fault light come on, which needed McLaren Assist to come out and clear.
Then last week, following the heavy rain, the driver's side window refused to stay up unless driving at speed. I'd pull the switch to put the window up, it would drop again. I'd open the driver door, it would drop the window and the outside door button wouldn't open the door. I had to lean in the open window and pull the lever to open the door. So I couldn't leave the car, as the driver window stayed open for anyone to lean or climb into.
I had what I thought was the great idea of drive at speed so I could get the window up, then when parking climb out the passenger side. But when I opened the passenger door, the driver window dropped again. I couldn't leave the car outside over night with the window down so it had to get flat-bedded to the dealer. It also didn't clear the screen and continued to hum when leaving the car, as if the ignition was still on - so obviously was going to drain the battery.
Kind of goes from bad to worse then - one quick call on Monday to confirm they had the car and ask me what was wrong with it. Promised a call on Wednesday with an update. Didn't happen. I called them Friday morning, promised a call back which hadn't happened after 4 hours, and had to chase. They said their thoughts were it was the battery as that was dead - no surprise, but I don't think that was the root cause. There are a number of threads on this type of thing on McLaren life, which point to the car thinking the outside button is constantly pressed after heavy rain. I did try to point the dealer to these threads but they didn't appear interested, and focussed on the dead battery..
Summing all that up - I loved the car whilst I had it, McLaren assist has been great, the selling dealer was just so-so, the aftersales is proving to be pretty poor and all in all I've pretty much lost confidence in the car. How can I take it anywhere and leave overnight if the driver window fault re-occurs...? If I compare to the build quality and dealer network I am used to with Porsche, I do feel pretty disappointed and like I may have made a mistake. I'm at the point of looking into whether I should reject the car or not.
I know there are great stories on this thread and many people love their 570S and it's problem free but not feeling it myself right now...
Do you know the state of the car when you bought it ? Eg what kind of mileage had it done the year prior ? Did it go into McLaren in the last year/s for fixes to non expected things? Did you have a PPI on it when purchased despite coming from dealer ?And I have to say it hasn't been a smooth ride. Day one had an engine fault light come on, which needed McLaren Assist to come out and clear.
Then last week, following the heavy rain, the driver's side window refused to stay up unless driving at speed. I'd pull the switch to put the window up, it would drop again. I'd open the driver door, it would drop the window and the outside door button wouldn't open the door. I had to lean in the open window and pull the lever to open the door. So I couldn't leave the car, as the driver window stayed open for anyone to lean or climb into.
I had what I thought was the great idea of drive at speed so I could get the window up, then when parking climb out the passenger side. But when I opened the passenger door, the driver window dropped again. I couldn't leave the car outside over night with the window down so it had to get flat-bedded to the dealer. It also didn't clear the screen and continued to hum when leaving the car, as if the ignition was still on - so obviously was going to drain the battery.
Kind of goes from bad to worse then - one quick call on Monday to confirm they had the car and ask me what was wrong with it. Promised a call on Wednesday with an update. Didn't happen. I called them Friday morning, promised a call back which hadn't happened after 4 hours, and had to chase. They said their thoughts were it was the battery as that was dead - no surprise, but I don't think that was the root cause. There are a number of threads on this type of thing on McLaren life, which point to the car thinking the outside button is constantly pressed after heavy rain. I did try to point the dealer to these threads but they didn't appear interested, and focussed on the dead battery..
Summing all that up - I loved the car whilst I had it, McLaren assist has been great, the selling dealer was just so-so, the aftersales is proving to be pretty poor and all in all I've pretty much lost confidence in the car. How can I take it anywhere and leave overnight if the driver window fault re-occurs...? If I compare to the build quality and dealer network I am used to with Porsche, I do feel pretty disappointed and like I may have made a mistake. I'm at the point of looking into whether I should reject the car or not.
I know there are great stories on this thread and many people love their 570S and it's problem free but not feeling it myself right now...
From as far as I gather and what seems obvious - the cars which have sat and don’t get driven often/constant problematic cars , are often remaining problematic cars
Would be curious as ofc things can go wrong out of the blue but a lot of cases definitely something underlying
Definitely hold mcl to it
Edited by dng992 on Sunday 22 October 14:43
Edited by dng992 on Sunday 22 October 14:46
As mentioned sadly a lot of Mc dealers often arn't that clued up on this sort of issue, all be-it its a relatively minor issue in isolation but is a sure fire way to piss owners off in short order & loose faith in what are very capable cars....
V Engineering know everything there is to know about these cars & are a pleasure to deal with, always speaking in a very transparent, no B/S way. Happy to actually show you the issue & solution required, debunking the ooooh it's super tricky / expensive because its a Mclaren, they really make owning a Mac a much more relaxing proposition, I've had no need for a warranty for the past 3 years since being recommend to them after a less than stellar main dealer workshop experience trying to extract close on £2000 for work that was absolutely not required due to their lack of knowledge of the car & sharp practices of you've got a Mac so can afford to pay what we say needs doing......
V Engineering know everything there is to know about these cars & are a pleasure to deal with, always speaking in a very transparent, no B/S way. Happy to actually show you the issue & solution required, debunking the ooooh it's super tricky / expensive because its a Mclaren, they really make owning a Mac a much more relaxing proposition, I've had no need for a warranty for the past 3 years since being recommend to them after a less than stellar main dealer workshop experience trying to extract close on £2000 for work that was absolutely not required due to their lack of knowledge of the car & sharp practices of you've got a Mac so can afford to pay what we say needs doing......
The "water ingress" issue is quite common and IIRC is fixed by putting some waterproof tape around the (hidden) door switch.
The fan noise you mention is probably the cooling fan in the instrument console - I was surprised how noisy it was when I first got mine but after 2 years don't notice it any more! It tends to run for a few minutes after closing the car.
I really hope you get the issues sorted out to your satisfaction as they really are superb cars. Unfortunately factory/dealer support is probably the biggest downside to owning these cars but as mentioned above the likes of V Engineering and Thorney can make the whole ownership experience much better (and cheaper!) for cars now out of warranty.
I'd also recommended joining the Owners Club if you haven't done so already as in addition to the social aspects it can be a very useful technical resource as well.
The fan noise you mention is probably the cooling fan in the instrument console - I was surprised how noisy it was when I first got mine but after 2 years don't notice it any more! It tends to run for a few minutes after closing the car.
I really hope you get the issues sorted out to your satisfaction as they really are superb cars. Unfortunately factory/dealer support is probably the biggest downside to owning these cars but as mentioned above the likes of V Engineering and Thorney can make the whole ownership experience much better (and cheaper!) for cars now out of warranty.
I'd also recommended joining the Owners Club if you haven't done so already as in addition to the social aspects it can be a very useful technical resource as well.
Fatherdougal said:
I know it's been a while, but an update on this.... Many thanks for all the advice - in the end I didn't go with the car from Ascot, but I did get a 570S Spider from another McLaren franchise just over a month ago.
Was this the orange spider from Glasgow by any chance? That one had been sitting for agesGassing Station | McLaren | Top of Page | What's New | My Stuff