Cheap 12c
Author
Discussion

goatherder2001

Original Poster:

286 posts

128 months

Sunday 22nd June
quotequote all
Hankering after another 12c after having such a great experience a few years back.

https://www.pistonheads.com//buy/listing/17301234

This one has been on for ages but I like the spec. Does anyone know of it? Not afraid to buy outside of some of the better know MCL specialists so long as I get it PPI’d like I did last time.

Thanks

cgt2

7,269 posts

205 months

Sunday 22nd June
quotequote all
Not worth buying a cheap one IMO.

£70k gets you a very nice Coupe.

£75-£80k gets you a very nice Spider (though there are only a handful out there).

Worth finding one with the factory inconel sports exhaust. Transforms the experience.

My one criteria when buying a McLaren or indeed any car is that if has been serviced on schedule either by a main dealer or top notch specialist.

So few cars actually meet this standard.

A good 12C is a very reliable car. I believe they were much better made from chassis 800 onwards.

A bad one can cost you thousands. If properly maintained most of the early bugs would be in the distant past by now hopefully.

ex-devonpaul

1,494 posts

154 months

Sunday 22nd June
quotequote all
Not a single thing about the car in the advert, and as History is all impotrant at this level so it appears either the seller does not know or care about the details.

Their Google reviews are somewhat variable as well.

goatherder2001

Original Poster:

286 posts

128 months

Sunday 22nd June
quotequote all
ex-devonpaul said:
Not a single thing about the car in the advert, and as History is all impotrant at this level so it appears either the seller does not know or care about the details.

Their Google reviews are somewhat variable as well.
Yes, I’ve noticed that a lot of dealers won’t list history etc on adverts, presumably to arse cover in case they get wrong, which of course they often do.

Yes, some mixed reviews online but so too were the ones from the garage I bought my last car from and that was a positive experience given I got the PPI done properly

goatherder2001

Original Poster:

286 posts

128 months

Sunday 22nd June
quotequote all
cgt2 said:
Not worth buying a cheap one IMO.

£70k gets you a very nice Coupe.

£75-£80k gets you a very nice Spider (though there are only a handful out there).

Worth finding one with the factory inconel sports exhaust. Transforms the experience.

My one criteria when buying a McLaren or indeed any car is that if has been serviced on schedule either by a main dealer or top notch specialist.

So few cars actually meet this standard.

A good 12C is a very reliable car. I believe they were much better made from chassis 800 onwards.

A bad one can cost you thousands. If properly maintained most of the early bugs would be in the distant past by now hopefully.
Thanks. Yes, my last one was fully loaded. Even had ceramics installed by MC Manchester. The sports exhaust was good but couldn’t compare to not having it. These cars are such good value for money

MrC986

3,690 posts

208 months

Sunday 22nd June
quotequote all
I don't know the car, but looking at the MOT history, it's had very little use since 2021... I've heard thet don't respond well to infrequent use.

Frankychops

1,534 posts

26 months

Sunday 22nd June
quotequote all
I wouldn’t rule it out.

jamesgareth

308 posts

213 months

Monday 23rd June
quotequote all
goatherder2001 said:
Hankering after another 12c after having such a great experience a few years back.

https://www.pistonheads.com//buy/listing/17301234

This one has been on for ages but I like the spec. Does anyone know of it? Not afraid to buy outside of some of the better know MCL specialists so long as I get it PPI d like I did last time.

Thanks
So long as you get it thoroughly checked out before you buy it - by someone like V. Engineering - you should be fine. imho

goatherder2001

Original Poster:

286 posts

128 months

Wednesday 25th June
quotequote all
jamesgareth said:
goatherder2001 said:
Hankering after another 12c after having such a great experience a few years back.

https://www.pistonheads.com//buy/listing/17301234

This one has been on for ages but I like the spec. Does anyone know of it? Not afraid to buy outside of some of the better know MCL specialists so long as I get it PPI d like I did last time.

Thanks
So long as you get it thoroughly checked out before you buy it - by someone like V. Engineering - you should be fine. imho
How much is a PPI at V engineering? Can’t seem to get through to them to ask. They are closer to me than Thorney and Thorney only booking from late July now!

murphyaj

1,063 posts

92 months

Wednesday 25th June
quotequote all
I paid £264 (220+VAT) for mine last year.

I think their hourly rate may have gone up a touch since then (as have most garages) but it'll be something like that. Keep in mind they are extremely busy so might find it hard to fit you in.

goatherder2001

Original Poster:

286 posts

128 months

Wednesday 25th June
quotequote all
murphyaj said:
I paid £264 (220+VAT) for mine last year.

I think their hourly rate may have gone up a touch since then (as have most garages) but it'll be something like that. Keep in mind they are extremely busy so might find it hard to fit you in.
Great. Thank you

goatherder2001

Original Poster:

286 posts

128 months

Wednesday 25th June
quotequote all
The car has a patchy service history only every two years and then a gap between 2020 to 2024 (when it was driven infrequently according to the mileage log).

Can see that accumulators were replaced under warranty in 2020 by McLaren which leaves me nonplussed ? I would have thought they would reject on grounds that the car hasn’t been serviced in line with recommendations? All very odd.

Frankychops

1,534 posts

26 months

Wednesday 25th June
quotequote all
It’s not odd. McLaren(subject to inspection) aren’t too picky.

johnfm

13,712 posts

267 months

Tuesday 22nd July
quotequote all
Last week on Collecting Cars...


£61k (£65k with buyers' premium).

Seems a bit of a bargain, no?

jimmsy

697 posts

144 months

Tuesday 22nd July
quotequote all
johnfm said:
Last week on Collecting Cars...


£61k (£65k with buyers' premium).

Seems a bit of a bargain, no?
I think the car had a bit of front end scratches/damage. There were also a few not-satisfactorily answered questions. I think it was a take-a-risk price on it. I was watching that and it wasn't a confidence inspiring set of responses to questions.

murphyaj

1,063 posts

92 months

Tuesday 22nd July
quotequote all
johnfm said:
Last week on Collecting Cars...


£61k (£65k with buyers' premium).

Seems a bit of a bargain, no?
I would say that price is about right

It's CC so more risky than a private sale on autotrader. Don't like the car when you see it? Great, you can walk away but are still down a £4300 fee. Mileage records show it has been laid up for a while (250 miles in 2 years) which is a cause for concern, there is a 3 year gap in the service history, and black is probably the least desirable colour (except maybe white). The car might be fine, but I can't see a private seller getting someone to pay any more than £65000 for it.

ChrisW.

7,724 posts

272 months

Tuesday 22nd July
quotequote all
It might be worth your while looking at the proportion of colours of McLarens currently advertised on Autotrader .. bearing in mind that somebody specified each from new in that colour ??

Currently ....



Edited by ChrisW. on Tuesday 22 July 17:56

murphyaj

1,063 posts

92 months

Tuesday 22nd July
quotequote all
Not quite sure what that is meant to be telling me.

There are an awful lot of black ones on Autotrader, but that doesn't really tell us anything one way or the other about their relative desirability on the used market. If black ones are less popular they will sell less quickly and therefore stay on the site longer, which would mean there would be more of them advertised. Or maybe there are more of them just because there are simply more of them. Without any surrounding data it's a meaningless data point that I can put any spin on that I want.

I was instead basing my statement on the fact that every time the subject of colour comes up the general response on here is that black and white are less desirable That's just what people seem to think. Anecdotally when I was shopping for a 650S last year any time a volcano red or orange one came up it seemed to get snapped up, but the same black and white ones were on there for ages. Admittedly I don't have any hard data to back that up.

Edited by murphyaj on Tuesday 22 July 18:57

ChrisW.

7,724 posts

272 months

Tuesday 22nd July
quotequote all
" black is probably the least desirable colour (except maybe white)"

What proportion of those advertised cars are black and white.

Is it likely that those are both the most unpopular colours ?

If you want to believe it that's fine for me ... but ...

According to your logic Bronze might be the most popular colour ?? Or yellow ? ??

650S

66 posts

187 months

Tuesday 22nd July
quotequote all
another twist is there are numerous variants of black.
That 12C is actually fire black, (which is stunning IMO), then there was Sapphire Black, and Gloss Black and possibly other MSO variants of black. All drives the % of "black" cars higher

Personal taste at the end of the day