Mclaren inspection
Discussion
With a McLaren dealer inspection you should get not only a 'report card' with red/amber/green for each element checked, but also a walk-around video talking you around the car.
Ideally IMO you should get the video directly from the franchised dealer, not via the seller. (Otherwise the person doing the video might feel they're talking to the seller rather than the potential buyer).
Otherwise it's fine I think, the seller and the McLaren dealer will need to co-ordinate the car being taken and fetched for inspection anyway, so who 'organises' it is a bit of a moot point.
I would note that the McLaren dealer inspection I had was less insightful than the subsequent walkthrough I had with V Engineering when the car was being serviced there, so personally I'd rather ask the latter to do an inspection on a potential purchase if possible.
Ideally IMO you should get the video directly from the franchised dealer, not via the seller. (Otherwise the person doing the video might feel they're talking to the seller rather than the potential buyer).
Otherwise it's fine I think, the seller and the McLaren dealer will need to co-ordinate the car being taken and fetched for inspection anyway, so who 'organises' it is a bit of a moot point.
I would note that the McLaren dealer inspection I had was less insightful than the subsequent walkthrough I had with V Engineering when the car was being serviced there, so personally I'd rather ask the latter to do an inspection on a potential purchase if possible.
Yeah, the main thing for me was that the McDealer assesses brake discs as 'green' if they have any life left in them - basically it's the same as the free check they'd do when a car comes in for service I think, i.e. identifying parts which need replacement. So if the discs are 50%, 70% worn they'd still be reported as "green" as the dealer wouldn't be looking to replace them on a customer car just yet. But when buying a car on a £20k set of ceramic discs, you probably want a bit more insight than that!
But otherwise yeah McDealer should catch any major issues you'd hope, and sorting minor issues on a used car after purchase is par for the course to me.
I'd definitely agree with Samoht. I don't think it matters overly who arranges it as long as you get all the output from the inspection. I'd also say I'd trust an inspection from V Engineering the most - plus would probably be more cost effective than a McLaren dealer.
Other thing is which dealer you would be buying it from - I'd be less comfortable buying from a dealer that have one McLaren as a 'flagship' car than one who has plenty of experience from them. I'd have no hesitation buying from Alastair Bols, for example.
Other thing is which dealer you would be buying it from - I'd be less comfortable buying from a dealer that have one McLaren as a 'flagship' car than one who has plenty of experience from them. I'd have no hesitation buying from Alastair Bols, for example.
There are basically 2 types of inspection that Mac dealers carry out
The visual small inspection is generally what they do during a routine service
But the full MPI is a 2-3 hour check which is detailed in a 6-7 page report. This is what you want if you are wanting a thorough report but does cost circa : £400
The visual small inspection is generally what they do during a routine service
But the full MPI is a 2-3 hour check which is detailed in a 6-7 page report. This is what you want if you are wanting a thorough report but does cost circa : £400
Disappointing, but much better to find out now than post purchase.
Personally if I was considering buying a McLaren that needed work, I'd insist it go to the indy of my choice (V in my case) for a pre-purchase inspection, I'd basically want their best guess estimate for rectification in order to decide what price I'd be prepared to pay. There would still probably be some surprises later, but I'd want a proper inspection by the people I'd be asking to do the work, to pin down what it needs as far as possible.
Smoothound said:
Thanks all. Information now received but only VHC and it's not great readingd so maybe time to look elsewhere unless I can get a large discount and get the work and any additional work that will certainly come to light done myself 
What sort of stuff Smoothound?I do worry sometimes that because folks are paying £80k/£100k/£120k for a supercar they expect it to be in as new condition even though it might be several years old (not suggesting that's you!).
As per Bob's post what work is required? Thorney did a video where he randomly went through a day's inspections, every car he checked needed thousands spent in some shape or another, it doesn't necessarily mean its a bad car and surely a lot or most of that work could be negotiated off the price within reason.
I would negotiate the reds into the deal, amber can be debated but as said it is an 7 year old car.
Anyone seriously interested in buying a Mclaren will want an inspection so the dealer will most likely come against the same thing further down the line if he can't get a deal done with you.
Whilst it may be annoying this is exactly why everyone will recommend an inspection.
Anyone seriously interested in buying a Mclaren will want an inspection so the dealer will most likely come against the same thing further down the line if he can't get a deal done with you.
Whilst it may be annoying this is exactly why everyone will recommend an inspection.
Well I've now looked around 5 570S, 4 of which I've seen the most recent service and VHC and all have issues. One of which had issues that weren't listed but I noticed. With all of them getting any more than really bad stuff/red stuff done before collection is an uphill slog and even then some are not really interested. I guess there is always someone less fussy than me just around the corner!
Smoothound said:
Well I've now looked around 5 570S, 4 of which I've seen the most recent service and VHC and all have issues. One of which had issues that weren't listed but I noticed. With all of them getting any more than really bad stuff/red stuff done before collection is an uphill slog and even then some are not really interested. I guess there is always someone less fussy than me just around the corner!
Most franchised car dealers, whether buying a McLaren or another exotic are unlikely to fully prepare a car until it’s sold, this unfortunately is the norm.Independents are little different and private buys almost certainly will have gremlins
570s are the entry point for many owners, although some go the older super series route and in light of this many owners have stretched themselves for the purchase and then often neglect the maintenance.
However in most cases the issues are usually solved without big bills but taking it for an Inspection to somewhere like V Engineering a must and better pre purchase but post also good
Gassing Station | McLaren | Top of Page | What's New | My Stuff