Thorney Motorsport and their warranty

Thorney Motorsport and their warranty

Author
Discussion

GallardoSpyder

Original Poster:

72 posts

187 months

Saturday 20th July
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Thought I'd put a post up on my experience with Thorney Motorsport.

Purchased a 650s Coupe from them. Low owner and low mileage... enjoyed it for 4 weeks...





Their vehicles come with a 3 month warranty as standard.

Car developed a power steering leak and I called Thorney.

Car was seen the same day it arrived. A split pipe was the culprit and a new part ordered.




Thorney kept me up to date. Emailed photos and I had the car back, running perfectly within a few days.




Total cost was over £500.00 but Thorney covered the entire cost.

I was told if this was outside of the 3 month warranty, I'd have to pay it, as wear and tear items are not covered.

But 10/10 for the service so far

jerrytlr

420 posts

220 months

Saturday 20th July
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Is a split hose really wear and tear??

essayer

9,621 posts

201 months

Saturday 20th July
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Nice to see TM providing good service, but isn’t every used car dealer obliged to fix faults like this - for free - if they occur in the first six months of ownership?

TBCTBC

1,536 posts

96 months

Sunday 21st July
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This is the first real world, detailed review of buying that I’ve read about Thorney.

It echoes what comments I have seen online and what seems a growing business.

However they do promise 12 months of hassle free motoring and their inspection seems very thorough so wonder why this wasn’t picked up, if at all it could have been?

Good to see it was resolved satisfactorily.

TBCTBC

1,536 posts

96 months

Sunday 21st July
quotequote all
essayer said:
Nice to see TM providing good service, but isn’t every used car dealer obliged to fix faults like this - for free - if they occur in the first six months of ownership?
Possibly but TM have taken poor dealer service and turned it into a business opportunity.

davek_964

9,295 posts

182 months

Sunday 21st July
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TBCTBC said:
essayer said:
Nice to see TM providing good service, but isn’t every used car dealer obliged to fix faults like this - for free - if they occur in the first six months of ownership?
Possibly but TM have taken poor dealer service and turned it into a business opportunity.
Perhaps. But a 'warranty' that is shorter than the CRA period is always a big red flag for me

coolchris

949 posts

209 months

Sunday 21st July
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If I'd spent nearly 100k on a used car and this occurred so soon after ownership you would expect it to be fixed at no cost as there is obviously a very healthy profit for Thorney on the sale of there cars(going by similar cars advertised).Quite surprised if out of warranty that its a £500 job I mean how much is that pipe ?.Personally if buying from Thorney I would want a years warranty in the deal but the 3 months is all one gets.

Dezbo

198 posts

90 months

Sunday 21st July
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All the Thorney cars are SOR. According to his video he doesn’t make a great deal on the sales and they are a business with overheads.

Frankychops

981 posts

16 months

Sunday 21st July
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Dezbo said:
All the Thorney cars are SOR. According to his video he doesn’t make a great deal on the sales and they are a business with overheads.
of course he does. its all margin as he has no risk and you pay a small fortune to sell though them. then if you want to extend it, the seller has to pay a further massive amount. All with a 10K limit and their choice of if its covered or not.

Streetbeat

1,079 posts

83 months

Sunday 21st July
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£5k sor which is line with pretty much anyone, better than a dealer wanting £20k off a trade in.


cgt2

7,141 posts

195 months

Sunday 21st July
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Their prices appear to be significantly higher than others and as mentioned above for that level of cost three months warranty seems a bit stingy. Mclaren Approved cars are priced very similarly and you obviously get a manufacturers warranty for 12 months.

I'm sure the cars are very well prepared but some of their 12C pricing seems stratospheric for cars that it seems sit on Auto Trader forever these days.

The last 12C I saw in the Mclaren network was just over £70k. Asking £80-85k for much higher mileage examples just doesn't make sense to me unless the cars have needed £20k prep (which is of course quite feasible).

TBCTBC

1,536 posts

96 months

Sunday 21st July
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Frankychops said:
of course he does. its all margin as he has no risk and you pay a small fortune to sell though them. then if you want to extend it, the seller has to pay a further massive amount. All with a 10K limit and their choice of if its covered or not.
I think it’s £4.5k flat fee but included in that is a full body detail, service and MOT amongst others.

However as you say, he’s not doing it for free or out of the kindness of their own heart.

PinkHouse

1,749 posts

64 months

Sunday 21st July
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People can dream and ask whatever prices they like but what they sell for is a different matter. it's quite telling when the cars don't shift for many months on end

cgt2

7,141 posts

195 months

Sunday 21st July
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PinkHouse said:
People can dream and ask whatever prices they like but what they sell for is a different matter. it's quite telling when the cars don't shift for many months on end
£80-£90k just feels bonkers for a 12C when at least four cars have sat unsold on Auto Trader for a year at £60k and there has been lots of chatter on this very forum about even cheaper ones.

At £90-ish the GT is the only McLaren I'd be looking at. Better built, more sorted and most still under McLaren warranty. A really sorted car compared to the older ones.

sjc

14,308 posts

277 months

Sunday 21st July
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Well they’ve sold 90 McLarens in 18 months so it’s certainly working.

coolchris

949 posts

209 months

Sunday 21st July
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To be fair there cars do seem to be a fair bit more than other independents or even some main dealers.Apart from Thorneys rep I don't see the benefits of buying from them over main dealers if they offer minimum 12 months peace of mind with a 12 month warranty.

Frankychops

981 posts

16 months

Sunday 21st July
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TBCTBC said:
Frankychops said:
of course he does. its all margin as he has no risk and you pay a small fortune to sell though them. then if you want to extend it, the seller has to pay a further massive amount. All with a 10K limit and their choice of if its covered or not.
I think it’s £4.5k flat fee but included in that is a full body detail, service and MOT amongst others.

However as you say, he’s not doing it for free or out of the kindness of their own heart.
The seller pays Thorney for work so that thorney are happy and have next to zero risk

The seller pays throney for selling it(£5k ish)

The buyer then has the chance to pay Thorney to extend that warranty to 12 months.

I know his reputation amongst bmw groups and some McLaren ones isn’t great, but he knows how to make money.

The vids while lacking quality to help with create an underlined level of ‘fear’, unless you buy one from them.

While V-engineering are totally the opposite



NRG1976

1,381 posts

17 months

Sunday 21st July
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No one is forcing people to buy, sell or anything else through Thorney.

If you can do it cheaper or better then go set up a rival, we live in a capitalist society.

Frankychops

981 posts

16 months

Sunday 21st July
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NRG1976 said:
No one is forcing people to buy, sell or anything else through Thorney.

If you can do it cheaper or better then go set up a rival, we live in a capitalist society.
as per some other posters, just pointing out that they're not doing it out of the warmth of their hearts.

Its good that there's lots of none main dealer options.

cutting42

47 posts

103 months

Monday 22nd July
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I bought from Thorney in April this year and also had work done under warranty. A water temp sensor failed in the first month which they changed with no quibble, cost inc labour would have been around £500 as well.

John and Tom have been very accessible and supportive throughout the whole process of purchasing and reassuring me as a first time supercar purchaser, I find their approach ticked all the boxes for me. I knew their cars would be of the top standard with a decent warranty and for me they are only an hour away so convenient.

I find the "make money" comments a bit strange. What do you expect them to do, they are a business, their costs are very up front and they have been very public about recent costs to prep for sale as well as servicing costs.

I appreciate John's blunt style might not click for everyone; but so far for me I like the service they provide.