Anyone know this MC12?

[997s]

I've been casually looking for a 12c spyder and came across this. It almost seems to good to be true.

http://www.autotrader.co.uk/car-details/2024011054...

Does anyone know the back story, or has dealt with the trader?

[TBCTBC]

If it's too good to be true, it often is.

No McLaren FSH and "good condition" doesn't fill me with confidence.

Thorney is just up the road so take it there for an inspection and see what the report comes back with!

[murphyaj]

I went to see this car some time ago, I posted my thoughts on another thread

Here is what I said at the time (https://www.pistonheads.com/gassing/topic.asp?h=0&f=242&t=2060420&i=80)

murphyaj said:

I was passing nearby so went to see this car today. I'm looking for a 650S rather than a 12C, but I'd get a 12C for the right price and this is cheap.

This car is absolutely one to avoid in my opinion.

• There were no receipts or invoices, just the service book, and the most recent stamp was August 2021. The dealer says it was a main dealer P/X that they bought, and the dealer told them it was serviced with an independent last year but they have no evidence of that.

• It is due an MOT in 6 weeks, the last MOT had an advisory on two suspension ball joints having play; there is no evidence these were addressed. There was a minor defect for both headlights being cloudy. They didn't look bad to me, but they absolutely did not look new. It's possible they were reconditioned.

• Both rear wheels had corrosion and minor surface damage. All 4 wheel centre caps were in a very sorry state

• The rear wing struts were both very badly corroded on the surface.

• Both of the LCD screens in the instrument binnacle are not working; they just don't turn on. I mentioned this to the dealer and he just said "yea, they are intermittent".

• The engine was very rough when started from cold and just didn't want to settle down to a steady RPM, the needle was constantly jumping around a little. That's not unusual, but even after 5 minutes of idling it was still up and down.

• When it was first started the check engine light stayed on. After 5 minutes I turned the engine off and then on again, at which point it went away. The "general warning" light (A yellow exclamation mark) did stay lit. The manual suggests that is only supposed to come on alongside other lights, but there were no other lights on. I couldn't investigate further as the LCD screens were broken.

• It says 28000 miles, but the MOT in April 2022 says it was on 26634 miles almost 2 years ago. The MOT in March 2023 says "Mileage unknown". Since the LCD screens are broken it is impossible to tell what the mileage of the car actually is. This also implies those screens have been broken for almost a year without being fixed.

• The interior just felt tired and well used. My own car has covered twice as many miles as this, and is 6 years older, but feels much fresher inside than this one. I have no evidence to suggest the car has been clocked, but if it turned out it was I would not be shocked. It absolutely did not feel like a car that had done the advertised 28000 miles, and the recent mileage history is really, really low.

According to the MOT history this is the mileage history for the car:
2018 - 24181
2019 - 24667
2020 - 25939
2021 - 26269
2022 - 26634
2023 - ???
current - ??? (dealer says 28000)

Make of all of this what you will, but if you're looking at this thinking this is a bargain 12C I'd suggest a rethink.

That was back in Feb, frankly I am not remotely surprised it it still there. Maybe, just MAYBE, they have sorted its many issues since then, but I did not get a good vibe from the place so I doubt it.

[murphyaj]

Just checked the MOT status, and it does have a new MOT as of 28 May

The advisories have gone, and it supposedly had a clean pass. Previously they were:

Repair as soon as possible (minor defects):
-- Nearside Headlamp lens slightly defective cloudy (4.1.1 (b) (i))
-- Offside Headlamp lens slightly defective cloudy (4.1.1 (b) (i))
Monitor and repair if necessary (advisories):
-- Nearside Front Tyre slightly damaged/cracking or perishing (5.2.3 (d) (ii))
-- Offside Front Tyre slightly damaged/cracking or perishing (5.2.3 (d) (ii))
-- Offside Rear Inner Suspension arm ball joint has slight play (5.3.4 (a) (i))
-- Nearside Rear Inner Suspension arm ball joint has slight play (5.3.4 (a) (i))

Maybe they were all fixed. Maybe they went to a .... more "forgiving" MOT station. Either way the mileage is still showing as "unknown" which means the dash screens still aren't working.

[997s]

Wow! Thanks for the feedback 👍

[Meps]

The state of the pillars on the windscreen alone would have me running for cover.

[4.7AMV8]

Thorney have commented on FB on this car....basically steer clear.

[TBCTBC]

4.7AMV8 said:

Thorney have commented on FB on this car....basically steer clear.

..... unless you are prepared to fork out £££ to get it put right.

[murphyaj]

Eventually someone will buy it, but frankly I am surprised that until last week the garage still thought they could get £65k for it. When I saw it they were asking £70k, and frankly I don't know what they were thinking.

Sooner or later someone will decide that it's worth a punt at £50k plus £20k to get it sorted, and the dealer will probably cut their losses and accept. Then they will take it along to a specialist to fix everything and hope they can come out the other side with a clean car for less than it would cost to buy one. But that person will be a lot braver than I am.

[K50 DEL]

A timely thread this, I've always loved the 12C and especially in that colour so had been giving some thought to swapping from the Gallardo into this....
Buying a car with a story doesn't scare me (see the threads on my old F360 on here) but the probable cost of remedial works on a McLaren are probably a step too far for me.

Edited by K50 DEL on Monday 24th June 17:34