Is this the best time to buy a McLaren 12C?
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- Опубліковано 19 тра 2024
- The McLaren 12c is twelve years old now and yet it is still a blisteringly fast, supremely comfortable and mindbogglingly clever supercar but should you buy one?
In this buyers guide we chat to McLaren expert John Thorne from Thorney Motorsport to find out if the 12C deserves to be on your consideration list.
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Probably the best tutorial I have ever seen on the 12c, thank you!
I got it second hand (2013) with 6000 km on it back in 2015, it truly has been an expensive experience, however I love the car, just a week ago it managed 30.000 km.
McLaren have not been helpful in any way, I have met extremely dedicated employees, working at a remote branch, however the communication back to the UK always been a problem.
When both catalytic converters went, before 3 stops at McLaren Dubai arguing that a O2 sensor was wrong, hence unable to diagnose the problem, that was expensive.
I am not blaming the car, just the entire level of service from McLaren.
I have a totally different story of the cost of running a 12C for more than 8 years, in Dubai. If it is more than a Ferrari I don’t know, however the joy of that 12C is why I am keeping it, in my mind it truly is epic. However annually for 8 years I am probably at 6000 Uk pounds, all serviced with McLaren.
Not even by todays standard and after 12 years, much is able to keep up, and of course, that has a price.
I am happy to see those experts like this company is hosting a channel, which offers this kind of knowledge of a McLaren.
Well done!
Thats the reason I got rid of mine. Service and parts got too crazy
I'm also in Dubai and about buy a car; I'm between this one and GT4 - would you really not recommend it bec of your experience with services and costs? I'm sure porsche has much reliable service chain, just not sure 12C is worth to take the risk
@@ussrrocks Hello Karl,
In all honesty You can’t compare these two cars, one is a sports-car, the other is still a super-car even by todays standard. How much is a GT4, I guess around 400.000 AED new, it’s a nice car. However, the McLaren is a Super-series car, hence a massive increase in performance which the price tag also suggests, they are about 3 to 4 times as expensive as your GT4 from new. And here is the catch, you can easily get a McLaren in UAE, because they depreciate as rocks fly from a building. However, do remember the original car was still far north of a million AED, so the parts will always be extremely expensive. This is true of course, for Ferrari and Lamborghinis. Just don’t look at the price of cost as the only indicator, it all depends on your financial situation, and probably mostly love.
Will I ever sell my 12C despite of my harsh critique, never! The performance is amazing, it outruns modern super-cars (some-times easily) further UAE is the only country where prices of McLaren’s have depreciated as much as they have. Seriously a 2013, 12C with 13.000 km for 250.000 AED on Dubizzle, they go for around 500.000 AED in Europe! It’s a joke.
Last piece of advice. Because the 12c got so cheap it was bought secondhand by a lot of people who didn’t service the car with McLaren, they couldn’t afford it, which led to even more problems and negativity. SO, if you can find a low-milage car which has been serviced by McLaren in the UAE, I would definitely go for that option. Just understand that You are buying a super-car, not a sports-car, the difference is massive, measured in any possible way.
Good luck.
@@MT-vh6hd What do You drive today, If I can ask?
@@bwy844 I drive a 992 career 4s all year around. We have harsh winters in Canada
Fascinating car and so glad that specialists have geared up for the aftermarket care.
Mine’s had well over $100k in warranty work over the course of a year…including a new engine. Not to mention the accumulated 9+ months of downtime/waiting for parts. These cars are not for the faint of heart, but if you have the patience and can get a warranty…its 100% worth it.
Guess what, with those numbers, either nobody will offer warranties anymore soon or they will get a lot more expensive.
From what has just been said and what you have experienced ide say your warranty has just cost you 9 months fun time due to not really needing an eng, but on the other hand im putting a 3rd eng in my BMW at 112k miles, and i dont have any warranty.
@@maxmeier532 Its a factory warranty, CPO car. They just hiked the yearly renewal from $6k to $7k/yr. Obviously it didn’t cost Mclaren anywhere near $100k in their costs to repair the car, thats just the retail value of the repairs. Labor is always the huge majority of the cost.
@@lucasplagenza9125 it's funny that this car will still beat out Modern
lambos and Ferraris. Any tips if I ever buy one?
Basically buy your McLaren from Thorny , these guys are not out to swindle you in any way, genuine as they come.. your McLaren would have been looked at and any work needed would have been done before car went up for sale.. great work as always from John and the team…👍👍👍
A superb run-down from Mr Thorne. If I had a McLaren I know where I'd be headed.
A joy to listen in on any knowledgeable car guy for all the real details of a specific vehicle. Thanks
What a brilliant and highly informative video.
Thank goodness for specialists like Thorney.
A used McLaren is on my bucket list and may be a bit closer to realisation after watching this video.
Love this buyers guide - thank you!
I always liked the look of the 12C - the revised corporate look for me does not always work and be very fussy at the front.
i remember the day it came out, the comparisons to the ferrari 458 and the sentiment was very bad, although most agreed it was beautiful lots of people were sceptical of the front end as its a little dopey. I personally loved it and the way the design of the numberplate section and how the griles shape goes into the lights. This car is definitely has more character than the 650s. I find the 540 and 570 too corporate as you said and the 720 whilst i like it personally it definitely is a bit cold and the rear is very busy. you can pick up a 12c between 60 and 80k in the uk whereas the 458 is still minimum 130k for an alright one. Definitely shows very good value when you consider ferrari running costs are also very high.
Totally agree 👍
Simplicity is beautiful !
This is a more timeless design for sure.
If I had one I'd certainly seek out Thorney Motorsport to look after it. A great advert for their knowledge and experience with the marque.
Always liked these. So much more tasteful than everything that came after. I’d have an early lava orange car in a heartbeat.
John Thorne comes across really well. Love it when the guest out does the host! (Sorry Collecting Cars Dude but you just come across as out of your depth in these videos).
I love working on my own cars. And for a car that’s so cool and unique I would really enjoy working on a 12C even if it takes more effort than most other cars.
The MP4-12C is IMHO the best McLaren. The F1 is in "garden party" mode and needs security to bring it out of the garage. The later cars are too "footballer" and not to my taste.
I have not seen a back to back review with the F1 (apart from Steve Sutcliffe's excellent review) but this car does seem to make sense. The parts are eye wateringly expensive but as John Thorne suggests,, mechanical sympathy will determine how much you spend.
Thank you for this review. PS: guys, do check the prices of parts before even thinking of trying one of these.
Very informative. One of my favorite used exotics in its price range.
Great way to lose money. Mate bought his for £198k, Spent £27k on running costs / issues. McLaren Manchester offered him £68k for it 24 months later. Same with my neighbour, DITTO 😂
*lose, you donut 🍩
Bad maintenance or shitty luck.
@@1985gooz Answer 3: English built quality.
i love this series of videos.
Owned one for 3 years. Never skipped a beat, yes they can leak but once fixed thats the end of that. Engine solid, gearbox solid Mine is on 30k miles also and an early model and tuned. Now its even faster and as modern day cars go, the only other cars that can really beat them are other mclarens
and new porsches now. new 992 with stage 1 tune beats this .
@@MT-vh6hddoes it
The MP4-12C absolutely still holds up against today’s supercars! And at a fraction of the price! Heck, you can get one now for tens of thousands of dollars less than a new base C8 Corvette!
And the McLaren is a WAY more special car!
Base is 70k. Ive found alot of 12c for 80k to 90k and a r title for 60k
Great video, but shame they had the front boot cracked open in the video. Tremendous amount of knowledge!
Very beautiful cars, but so many owner reviews about their issues can’t just be something one can ignore. There has to a reason why this car has a bad rep, irrespective of what the guy whose business it is to repair them tells you
and on a YT channel devoted to selling cars. It's hard to take them seriously when they have an interest in raising the profile of a car.
So how do you get into your 12C if the battery is dead and the electronic door sensor obviously doesn’t work? Or how do you get to the battery in that situation? Is there a hidden keyhole somewhere?
I've been dreaming of a 12c for quite a while now, I currently have a Lotus Evora S which I've been very unlucky with spending £11k on gearbox troubles that lasted over a year. I can't handle another nightmare like that.
I would buy a 12c but it would be difficult to come back to the UK to visit thorney motorsport every time I had an issue with the car.
Cement mixer orange. Very classy !
Love the subtle design of the 12C. A real wolf in a very pretty and delicately designed body
14:36 "or if your run them hard when their cold, which no good petrol head would do anyway", that's some serious @Tavarish shade.
Will we get one of these for the 458? These are classics, though. In 10 years, this and the P1 with be the Mclarens that people actually remember, unlike the modern ones, unfortunately.
Really like the p11 platform
Can see the lotus influence before learning most of the design team are from Lotus. Looks like the new Emira. Love to know the comparison (nudge nudge)..
After watching this video 3 times and doing my due diligence including the type of driving i do, my expectations of driving dynamics and my annual maintenance budget.....
I decided my current 2017 kia rio suited my needs ,if not wishes😢
Amazing car and soo much better than the Eye-talian competition 😎
I kinda understand the story behind the reason for the bad rep and accumulation of small bits not done right - whether you believe the guy who makes his living out of repairing the things or not. However, as an ownership experience, if it's characterised by a famously difficult manufacturer to deal with and a equally famously bunch of shisters in the dealer network, then it's difficult to justify parting with the money. McClaren is notorious for treating its customers very poorly.
When the damn windshield is 7 grand and you cant get used spare parts really, Thorney can tell me whatever they want, it's a high cost maintenance car that can potentially break your bank. Cause spare prices are all along those lines. Literally everything that brakes will cost a shitload of money to replace and a pain to circumvent this by fixing it without replacement. This is a fake bargain, cause obviously prices are associated with maintenance costs and expected retail value. With thousands of 12C built this will not be the F1 in terms of desirability.
As an American I’m also patriotic for British cars. 😂
Is there any shop with similar capabilities in the USA? I have been wanting either this or a 991 911 turbo. If this shop was near me I'd be completely sold on the 12c.
Awsome Content.
Take a shot every time he says ditto and you might be inebriated enough to believe the guy who makes money from fixing McLarens when he tells you it’s a good idea to buy an old McLaren
He’s actually one of the most straightforward and knowledgeable Mclaren mechanics around. Some people can see past the cars quirks, many of which are over exaggerated and realize it’s a unique and great driving car.
waaay ahead of you with shots...
I have no doubt he knows the cars insight and out,but in the back of my mind I’m thinking, “is this the most objective source?”😅
I’m drunk!
By this logic we should never trust anyone who works on old cars. Silly comment.
I’d still choose Porsche
Just to add my 2p, I had a 650S 'gearbox main bearing failure' which caused the gearbox to detonate out through the casing during a country road drive. It felt like I'd driven over a grenade, the back wheels locked and the car skipped all over before we managed to coast it to a nearby cow field. Thankfully warranty covered it at the time, but the bill was approx 30k. Nothing else rides and steers like a McLaren, but if you're intending to get the best out of the car, personally I'd want a warranty backing me up, and ideally a local specialist who could look it over between big trips / trackdays each time - the stories aren't 'nonsense' as this Collecting Cars bloke suggests at times in this video.
Never seen that
@@1985gooz what’s your point, were you one of the cows in the field?
For me the C8 takes the cake, reliable, huge dealer network and current tech. But I have a friend with a 12C that loves it! and has been reliable for him!
too bad the c8 is so ugly though!
I have a Vette 😎
📉
It may sound uncooth but can we get Chris to review a c8
McLarens are known not to be reliable. But if you can get a 12C for a surprisingly good price, it makes a lot of sense for that type of customer.
Unless you can work on it yourself don’t bother, colossal money pit.
@@AndrewC89 You can do basic stuff by yourself, but if it's anything major you have to get it done by someone who knows what they're doing. They only thing worse than your McLaren failing is ruining it beyond repair. But if someone wants a supercar and doesn't want to spend brand new Ferrari money, the 12C should be on their shortlist.
Im literally looking at this exact spec in NZ atm - 2013 model with 16,000km on the clock. Pristine condition from the dealership so comes with warranty. Coming from owning EVs that I have been running for free. I’ve always wanted to own at least one supercar since being a boy…decisions, decisions…
It’s simple. These are staggering cars and so advanced for their time. 60-70% less than a 458 and better in many ways. Don’t let the minority of scare stories put you off. 12Cs are all being tucked away and increasingly sorned. Indeed. McLaren salesman told me last year at an event that the 12C is (with the 675) the one to hold. Buy one through Thorney with their warranty on it (or have them inspect the car you wish buy to see if they would be willing to warrant it - nearly as good a solution) which means it has been checked and inspected and is solid. Then you are set. Choose not to renew the warranty after a year if all good. Service at Thorney or V engineering and costs are v reasonable. Any foibles in some 12Cs have generally been addressed by now by owners and many have been perfect with nothing but servicing costs. I have had 12 months of perfect ownership. No maintenance costs just an oil service. I have the Thorney warranty in place but many don’t renew it if the car is solid. These will climb in value over time.
What? The parts for a supercar are expensive? Well that's unheard of!?! 😅
Most supercars these days don’t need a new engine or transmission every 30k
Replacement parts prices are what makes these sort of car depreciate to such an extent .Thick wallets required.
The phrase ten thousand pounds is uttered far far too many times for me to be comfortable owning an old McLaren 😂
"we've never had to replace a doorhinge" --- not exactly a stellar accolade. We don't hear about door hinge failures in Golf's and Citreons and SEATs and so on.
Plus, the 12 C is relatively young and as a 2nd or 3rd car in the garage wont get a lot of use.
We have a 2013 12c spider 45000 miles zero problems completely reliable sure shit will go wrong now. Also have p1 675lt spider 570 spider 12c best car
Amazing car, such a fun drive and great looks. People expecting to run a supercar on a shoestring budget will be disappointed. Find a good independent maintenance company like Thorney and you will have a thrilling car. Listen to experts like John above rather than some keyboard warrior banging on about their 'mates car'.
Is there any people in Australia who know what this guy knows? Or are these a huge risk in australia
As a rule, British cars are leasing only if you must have one
It's still the best looking car new Mclaren have made. The 720 is second but all the cars with the chunky P1 style nose and melted plastic headlights I just can't love.
Great video. Thanks
The best time to buy a McLaren or any British car is new with warranty
And sell 1 year before warranty expires so the next sucker has some safety
@@BobbyDazzler888 definitely but i end up being the sucker. bought a l322 thanks to clarkson
@@akashsarma8241 My condolences. Should have gone with a Land Cruiser or a Nissan Patrol.
@@JohnFromAccounting i actually like it . I just moved from India we never had the l322 officialy we got the l405 so never experienced one . I did have pajero and Prado (uk calls it land cruiser). I love the l322 perfect size and design wish it was reliable
@@akashsarma8241 I agree, Range Rovers always look great and we all want them to be good, but when I see how many problems there are, I'm reminded why I will never buy one. My friend's Land Cruiser has done 500k kms and has never had an engine problem. He's not the only one. All Land Rover products get to 40-50k and decide they've had enough.
Blud loves the word ditto
I’m not kidding when I say this car McLaren is unbeatable in terms of driving dynamics and sense of speed. But so is the reliability. The resale value reflects it.
My neighbor who had a 650s found himself unable to turn off the engine/ unable to start the car / stranded on the highway
And the only reason why he came out smiling is because they came with a courtesy car - 600lt and 720s
Otherwise no way he would have been happy if he didn’t have a warranty.
Aged well looks alot better than the 650s
They look great. Early 2010s styling has aged very well.
Nice joke 😂😊
"They have a reputation but don't believe it" Then proceeds to list off all the potential issues. Cracked heads, Bubbling paint, dropped valves, faulty transmissions. What's this guys definition of a "bad" car.. I wouldn't spend my money on that heap. So many better cars for the same price. These cars are for the more money than brains club, as are most exotics. Made it 2/3rd through the video and heard enough of the faults.
What supercar would you buy instead for the £70k mark? The only car I can think of is an R8 but is that a supercar? There are several specialists around nowadays that can repair issues for a fraction of the price of McLaren (who typically just replace parts).
dito 👍
The older I get, the more I want a 12C... Or a GT.
So I did the math, if you keep one of these cars for twenty years it'll be worth one million. Cost to maintain and service with be one million, therefore after twenty years it's a free car. You're welcome.
the 12c aged like a fine wine.
Not as much as the 458, but better than every Lambo since the Diablo.
My friend bought a 3 year old 12C and lost 40K in 2 years, He said the McLaren dealership experience was the worst he had ever experienced and put him off the brand for life. It was also VERY unreliable. He loved the way it drove when it was working, however.
Is the fear!
Sure they tuned my 06 astra vxr back in the day
Personal take - as much as somoene might think that owning 12C could be an affordable supercar purchase he should look up how much a regular maintenance costs for this car, God forbid if something brakes. If someone has budget to spend on used McLaren I would probably look at 570S which is much more younger and despite being avg 20 000 USD/EUR more expensive - comes with potentially a warranty and usually much much more lesser mileage which closes the gap closely when you have to maintain regularly the 12C.
*breaks
I do wonder about those warranties. Arent the companies going to try to fault the driver each time, to save themselves from 100K repair bills? I wouldnt want to pay couple grand a year for a warrranty only to find out, when something breaks, the company will question whether I wasnt at fault for it. E.g. accuse you of tracking it or doing something stupid causing the damage.
So many comments by keyboard warriors who likely never owned this car telling everyone in their expert opinions what a disaster owning this car will be. They are not Hondas nor cheap. That said I've had mine coming up on two years and it been reliable. Two friends same experience.
Have you ever eaten a shit? Because if you havent, how can you tell you would not like it?
Koenigseg isn’t taller or wider
What a strange comment
Kinda looks like a lotus Evora
Bit of a stretch callojg it a British company when more than half of it is owned by a Bahrainian
McLaren are much maligned - needlessly. Sure some niggles but if THEY ARE USED and kept on trickle charge then no worse that’s others. 4 years of trouble free ownership from my 570 spider. Painting done under warranty and I hadn’t even noticed it. Service cost same as Ferrari and Porsche.
well the issue is the replacement parts are unnecessarily and illogically high priced. Nobody would dispute Porsche are more reliable. So regardless of their spare part prices, you are less likely to need them. With McLaren on the other hand...When your brand has traditionally had a bad rep for built quality and that is still the rep, true or not, you cant demand unwordly prices just for the parts. MAKE THE DAMN PARTS. STORE THEM. Offer them for fair prices, make the people that already paid hundreds of thousands happy so they will buy another Mclaren in the future and wont go to online forums to tell everyone how terrible you are and how expensive ownership is after paying a premium price.
It's like watching a Chevrolet commercial.
Too bad the car overheats and goes into limp mode often when pushed hard on the race track.
A lot of dittos for the money
Dient watch the video but the answer is no. 1 Year ago you could get one for literally half the price.
Ask anyone who's actually owned these cars and they'll tell you they are fine as long as you have a warranty. Tyler Hoover bought one of these and only kept it 6 months. It cost $1,000 to replace a reverse light. The car's previous owner racked up nearly $150,000 in warranty-covered repairs in only two years - which included replacing the engine at 24k miles and two transmission replacements. He decided not to spend another $4,000 for a single year of warranty service. Rob Ferretti has made multiple videos on the astronomical maintenance costs for the McLarens he's owned for his rental company and how disappointed he was in the cars' reliability. OF COURSE somebody who repairs them for a living would encourage people to buy them. I think these are beautiful but tragically flawed cars which are likely to end up in recycling yards in years to come.
It's maybe not quite as tragic as the Maseratis of the same time period, but you are rolling the dice when you buy a McLaren.
TLDR no if you need to buy a Mclaren "cheap" get something else, even with independent aftermarket support it will ruin you. You can't run a Mclaren on Porsche money.
IF you parked that on my drive, knocked my door, handed me the keys and said it’s your, free
I’d throw the keys back at you and decline
It was an appalling car when it was new
If you can afford to drop 50k @ the Roulette table by all means go ahead..otherwise maybe think twice?
Absolute POS maintenance wise you would have to be insane to consider buying one of these.
Is great but not like a v12 lambo. V12 lambo not like a v12 Ferrari! Doh.
They are beautiful automobiles……….. until you own one! Do yourself a favor……… appreciate them from a distance unless your into barbecuing with hundred dollar bills instead of charcoal. I’ve had about fifty cars. The McLaren cost more in repair and maintenance than all the other cars combined. And let’s not even discuss dealing with McLaren! Just get the huracon or any Porsche. 20 minutes in, still no mention of the many problems with these cars.
I'd sooner have a Maserati MC12. Better looking, and easier access to spare parts.
Thats a multi million dollar car, how is that even a comparison?
@@720sobsessed6 You must be an American, "obsessed" with nothing but money. There is only ONE McLaren sports car worth having. And that one is the one that Bruce McLaren built for himself in late 1968, the McLaren M6B GT. He was the only one to have one, and it was an amazing REAL car. I was lucky enough to be visiting the factory, at the right time, and had a short ride in it, driven by Bruce. That is a McLaren, not the "Ron Dennis corporation-minded" stuff they produce these days.
You are very young, and you know nothing about Bruce McLaren. If you keep breathing, keep the heart beating, and never vote Republican, you MIGHT get better.
@@Demun1649 wow you have lost your mind. I've been reading about Bruce, his racing, and his cars for over a decade. I got to visit mtc this summer and see the m6b gt as well as multiple other bruce cars including his first race. When u assume u make an ass out of urself. And even if u for some reason want to pretend money doesn't exist they only built 50 mc12s. It's not exactly statistically possible for me u or anybody else here to get one. And modern mclarens drive great and plenty people enjoy driving them including myself, but it's good to know you're smarter than everybody else
@@Demun1649We got a Handicap.
McLaren F1 is the best of them.
720s close second.
also MAGA.
"i wanted something British" - designed by at the time Italian owned Lotus ex employees, built by a Bahrain owned company with a Nissan derived engine
😂😂but British customer service!
"WE USED TO MAKE STEEL!" search David Mitchell rant
The F1 and 12C are the only good looking McLaren road cars.
All the newer McLarens are hideous, can't love an ugly car.
Buy a McLaren if you like losing money and headaches.
It's a great time to lose a huge amount of money on a 12C 👍😂
Just spend a tiny bit more and get 650s. A lot more reliable
The only thing British about this car is its name and its designers.
Even the name is from a Kiwi.
You can tell yourself whatever you want but this car sounds like a money pit to me
Buying old McLaren's is the worst financial decision of your life. Buy a C8, thank me later.
well, no. No to a mclaren and certainly no to a corvette. if i want to let everyone know i am an asshole and likely a human trafficker, I'll just become a youtuber.
Mclaren doesnt put knock sensors in their engines. Buying out of warranty is insanity defined
Lack of development personified 🤬
Yes they do (fit knock sensors). Another example of the ill informed talking nonsense 🙄
Wrong, I can assure you they do. Man so many really dont know what they are talking about its actually funny.
@@1985gooz good news: the 12C has knock sensors. Bad news: When they break it will cost you 3 grand to replace them.
McLaren couldn't even knock out a wank
Don't buy😂😂
McLarens are a pieces of rubbish. Nice steering though.
Giant money pits, no thanks
Fast yes, but so poorly built... and the expense of owning it is way too high.
For the love of god don't buy one of these!
Who puts black wheels on a car like that? Looks awful.
Looks horrible tbh
Im in Dubai, this car is only 80k USD here... It s very much affordable and Im planning to buy - but I love cars I love to drive but no idea technically if this car cause me so much problem. do you guys recommend it for a middle class idiot who wants to buy a toy like me?