reliability, reapir costs, warranty and real experience

[bordseye]

I have long wanted a McLaren but been put off at each car change by all the advice about the need for a warranty. My last 4 toy cars have been Lotus, F Type and two Ferraris - none with warranty and with no nasty experiences that made me wish that I had one. In fact in a long motoring life I can think of few experiences, mostly last millenium, when anything of any seriousness went wrong with a car.

So is the McLaren "get a warranty" advice based on fear of the unknown or is it real life advice because the cars do regularly have expensive breakdowns. And is it the nature of the breakdowns or is it the case that McLaren reapir charges and parts are silly expensive.?

Anybody care to give details of the failure and repair costs of their car and over what period of time? Have the repairs actually cost more than the cumulative cost of the warranty?

[johnnyreggae]

Here we go again.......

Popcorn at the ready

[ghost83]

bordseye said:

I have long wanted a McLaren but been put off at each car change by all the advice about the need for a warranty. My last 4 toy cars have been Lotus, F Type and two Ferraris - none with warranty and with no nasty experiences that made me wish that I had one. In fact in a long motoring life I can think of few experiences, mostly last millenium, when anything of any seriousness went wrong with a car.

So is the McLaren "get a warranty" advice based on fear of the unknown or is it real life advice because the cars do regularly have expensive breakdowns. And is it the nature of the breakdowns or is it the case that McLaren reapir charges and parts are silly expensive.?

Anybody care to give details of the failure and repair costs of their car and over what period of time? Have the repairs actually cost more than the cumulative cost of the warranty?

I wouldn’t run one without a warranty, just watching daveks thread on here the problems he’s had I think I’d want a warranty to be on the safe side maybe after a few problem free years I’d probably not have a warranty but not straight away

[davek_964]

I'm pretty sure you posted once before that the reason you sold your first Ferrari was because of the known issues with that model, and your worry that yours might suffer it?

At least I have no idea what the costs have been to fix problems - they get fixed, warranty pays and I have no idea how much.

Having said that, I am 95% sure I will not renew my warranty when it expires in August.

[davek_964]

ghost83 said:

I wouldn’t run one without a warranty, just watching daveks thread on here the problems he’s had I think I’d want a warranty to be on the safe side maybe after a few problem free years I’d probably not have a warranty but not straight away

Most of the issues in my thread were glitches - lots of different ones that when I first had the car seemed non stop. And that was not a good start. But 99% happen once and never again and it just seems to be something you have to with (and in fact it happens rarely now anyway).

As I've said, I almost certainly will run warranty free from August.

[Fezzamania]

I have to admit getting an objective view reading any of these types of thread on the Internet is impossible.
Far too many made up horror stories of friends of a friends gran down the pub or non owners of other marques wading in IMHO.
Everyone seems to enjoy bashing a great British company presumably in some kind of justification of their own purchase, I just dont get that stance.
We should be proud of their achievement entering a competitive market and shaking up the status quo because it makes others up their game and consumers ultimately benefit from it

I'm probably after a 675LT spider over a new 720S spider and if I go that route I will self insure as the 650S and 675LT seem to be well sorted and solid from the info I have gleaned including mclaren dealers saying a warranty isn't essential on those cars.

Having read most of Daveks very detailed posts I didnt see anything that would alarm me so its no surprise that despite a few glitches he is also self insuring now.
You would be unlucky to have £5k of issues a year regularly IMHO

Edited by Fezzamania on Wednesday 23 June 22:33

[RSbandit]

In my experience 100% get a warranty...had an engine problem with my 570s that needed full engine out alot of labour etc...worked out to 5 times the warranty price. Had other bits and pieces that needed doing before that nothing so serious but parts and dealer labour rates add up quickly even for minor things...it is bombproof and covers things others would not so in the first year or two well worth having. Needless to say I renewed back in March.

When I bought mine it was still under warranty which is important, getting a car back in under official warranty once it's dropped out can be costly as any issues they highlight need fixing first before they'll rewarranty it.

Brilliant cars tho I still love mine despite the issues I've had.

[davek_964]

It's worth pointing out that 'what it cost to fix under warranty' isn't necessarily real world cost.

Gearbox problem? Warranty will give you a new gearbox. But Thorney would repair for a much smaller cost.

[Sarnie]

I had a 12c in 2016, Paid £5.5k for warranty and service. No issues at all. Car sold before warranty ended.

Ordered a new 570s that was delivered in 2017. Factory warranty for three years, zero issues or claims. Let the warranty run out and ran it for a year, no further issues and sold it without warranty for top money. No issues for the new owner.

Picked up a new 600LT Spider last October, under factory warranty, zero issues so far.

I won't be extending the 600LT warranty.

Understand that most people that post on the internet are people that have had issues, which happens, but that's not indicative of the entire ownership sample, people don't start threads to tell everyone that they've had no issues with their cars.......

[RSbandit]

davek_964 said:

It's worth pointing out that 'what it cost to fix under warranty' isn't necessarily real world cost.

Gearbox problem? Warranty will give you a new gearbox. But Thorney would repair for a much smaller cost.

Thats true and I think main dealers are happy to put stuff through under the warranty as its a nice billable for them...obviously the cost to fix it didn't matter to me but had it been out of my own pocket I'd have been speaking to Thorney to fix.

[Jim82]

2015 650sSpider - McWarranty has paid for itself already.
So yes definitely warranty.

[Fezzamania]

The trend that I seemed to pick up was most of the problems were electrical niggles and related to early or launch product especially with 570S and 720S coupe when the factory was obviously getting up to speed with a new product but also cranking out the numbers with poor if any quality control.

Further down the production timescale the glitches seem to get sorted and the cars seem more reliable

[davek_964]

Jim82 said:

2015 650sSpider - McWarranty has paid for itself already.
So yes definitely warranty.

It's worth remembering a few things :

1) The warranty company is a business. If - on average - the repairs on a vehicle exceeded the warranty cost, the warranty would cost more.

2) Thorney warranty most models for £2,850 - and I'm pretty sure Thorney aren't into loss leading warranties.

[Jim82]

All true - everyone’s experience and situation is different.

[justin220]

No major issues in 4 years with my 540C, but I renew the warranty anyways as peace of mind.

[Jim82]

I’ll be doing the same - I’m financially up already, peace of mind and makes it easier to resell. Plus covered truck arrived the same day along with a quality courtesy car.

[jerrytlr]

2016 650s - warranty has paid for itself 1.5 times, and I just renewed it for another 2 years (slightly cheaper that way).

I will be surprised (and disappointed) if the new 2 year warranty also pays for itself. I am paying for peace of mind - makes running a £250k supercar that is 5 years old stress free. Cheap compared to the depreciation on a new one :-)

HTH - another real world data point!

[12pack]

davek_964 said:

I'm pretty sure you posted once before that the reason you sold your first Ferrari was because of the known issues with that model, and your worry that yours might suffer it?

At least I have no idea what the costs have been to fix problems - they get fixed, warranty pays and I have no idea how much.

Having said that, I am 95% sure I will not renew my warranty when it expires in August.

2016 650s here. Based on the perceived concerns, I have with a warranty for years with no issues and will also not be renewing this year.

[bordseye]

davek_964 said:

I'm pretty sure you posted once before that the reason you sold your first Ferrari was because of the known issues with that model, and your worry that yours might suffer it?.

You have a good memory. That worry ( exhaust manifolds) was one reason why I got rid of the 430, but I never had a problem with the car and the Ferrari warranty that I didnt have wouldnt have covered the repair anyway. And it turned out the worry wasnt justified which is excatly what I am asking here. Is the McLaren worry justified?

davek_964 said:

At least I have no idea what the costs have been to fix problems - they get fixed, warranty pays and I have no idea how much.

Having said that, I am 95% sure I will not renew my warranty when it expires in August.

Here your memory turns bad! I am sure you can remember any serious issues and have some idea of what they cost.

[davek_964]

bordseye said:

Here your memory turns bad! I am sure you can remember any serious issues and have some idea of what they cost.

I have absolutely no idea what they cost. I never asked.

Off the top of my head, issues my warranty paid for:

2 front accumulators
Passenger engine cover latch (didn't always release)
Drivers side outside door switch (drivers window often dropped as I opened the door if it was wet)

Rear indicator failed but warranty refused to pay so I paid for that - £250 for the part.