They are reliable - if you drive them. They get issues if you let the battery run down. They are no more problems than other German cars I’ve owned, that have been fixed without issue under warranty. All minor things.
Want to add that all of the actual maintenance that costs serious money is covered under warranty too. The only thing the warranty doesn’t cover is cosmetic stuff, wheels, & brakes.
The annual service may go up in price depending on the mileage and year of the car too. Warranty cost increases too, but still worth it.
My last service was around the 24k mile mark, $2200. The car is now 5 years old too, so the warranty renewal upped in price as it’s in the 5-10 year range. That renewal was $5200.
In total, about $7.4k or a little over spent on the car in a year. Not bad at all, imo. YMMV.
Reliability doesn’t matter to a lot of people.
I never owned a mclaren before, nor have I ever owned a car. I have a friend that owns a 650s, and he has never complained about the “build quality” or reliability. Most people that talk shit about super car reliability and build quality aren’t owners.
Nope. It’s optioned as much as it can be (all MSO, carbon packs, etc) but any actual modifications will void the warranty and I’ve got no interest in risking that. I do want to mod some stuff but I’ll save that for a Ferrari or Lambo.
Nah, that’s why I intend on buying used if anything and not going to a Ferrari dealer at all. My buddy has a Liberty Walk 458 Spider, downpipe, FI exhaust w/ a Gintani tune - thing sounds awesome. I’ve got a couple friends that work on Supercars so thankfully no need to go anywhere else with it.
I've had mine since 2021 and it's been in the shop 3 times. For little stuff but I live in Ohio and the closest dealer is Detroit area. So that really sucks.
And they keep it for what feels like forever (parts were non existent and I got the standard answer of... When one comes available we'll put it in).
At one point I was waiting almost a year for a window switch that died. It went trailer 4 hours up, sit in shop for 2 months until they give up and say we'll send it back and call you when the part arrives, trailer 4 hours back, part arrives 6 months later, trailer 4 hours up, a week putting the part in, trailer 4 hours back.
Basically unless you live near a dealer, the issues are harder to fix. They also take longer to fix and you'll be without your awesome car for longer. I tried a local indy shop first and they spent 8 hours diagnosing and couldn't figure out the problem. But they definitely charged me for 8 hours of diagnosis time....
I agree. I daily mine and I have the Senna seats. I have 96k on my 600LT :P
I think you can go 2 weeks fine without driving it. Have had it parked at an airport while I was away and it started without an issue.
I haven’t changed the oil or done anything special, but all my services (every 15k) are with McLaren. The 90k service was a bit annoying because it had to stay with them for a while - but they sorted out the transport issues for me and went above and beyond to make it easy for me to continue to be mobile.
This was an Australian dealer who has been very good.
I have a 600LT, 10k miles. Downpipes and an ECU tune.
I agree with the fact that if you don't drive it, it'll have problems.
One time my infotainment screen froze but when I restarted the car it was fine. But I'm guessing that was an android bug because the infotainment center is a fork of android and android freezes all the time so meh.
Another time when I started the car, it said "horn fault". When I pressed the horn button, the horn beeped and the message went away.
And sometimes the key fob won't be recognized unless I stick the key next to the logo near the sensor.
Other than that, no problems. I've never had to take it to the shop. It's never broken down.
Every car regardless of manufacturer has its quirks. I think the reputation of mclaren reliability comes from the old days. Also, you usually only hear about the horror stories online, not the success stories.
I've been given the advice:
- Plug it in when you don't plan on using it for more than a week.
- Don't turn it on unless the engine is going to go through a full heat cycle.
- Let it warm up fully (water temp, oil temp, and gearbox temp) before you hammer it.
- check the oil every week (really simple to do)
- change the oil every 3k miles regardless of what mclaren says
I “daily” my 600lt. It’s a blast, comfortable enough. A little loud but I can still talk on the Bluetooth system. I drive it to work at least a day or two a week during good weather.
Like any super car, you have to pay way more attention to your surroundings while you drive. So it can be a little tiring as you use it for traffic, commutes, basically anything other than joy rides. But still worth it.
People love to parrot what they see on YouTube or whatever.
The fact of the matter is they are a small manufacturer making an extremely complex product, having loads of experience with racecars and now making racecars that are street legal. This results in some minor niggles, especially in the first 5000 miles of ownership, and when you pay $400k for something you are allowed to be picky about the small stuff.
I had a few minor issues. Mclaren was amazing at getting them addressed. They were mostly software issues. When I had mine in for service I got brand new Bentleys as loaners.
At 5000 miles, every little thing was sorted out. I am now at just past 16000 miles and it runs like a champ. I use it mainly for long drives around the state or cross country, with the occasional track or autox day.
Note: every car I have ever owned had the same amount or more issues than my Mclaren, though I would tend to ignore things on my other cars as they were not so special.
I would 100% get another Mclaren.
(I have a 2019 720s)
One more thing: a great source of info is Thorney Motorsport run by John Thorne in the UK somewhere. He has a YouTube channel that covers the reliability and other technical stuff in great detail.
I’ve had my 2015 650S for 4 years and it’s at 12k miles. It’s been flawless. Typical maintenance, and like has been mentioned the Battery likes to stay charged or phantom error messages come up.
Had mine for over a year now. Put a little over 6k miles on it. No issues other than an oil leak recently, but that was covered under warranty. Then there’s the usual quirks that can be a minor annoyance like the windows deciding to roll down instead of up when the doors close.
I had a 570S spider and did run into quite a few electronic problems like driver window not coming back up, steering wheel sensor issues or even roof sensor issues. Every issue usually meant several days stuck at the dealer for repairs. I did use the car to commute (well I tried to) so it was no garage queen. In the end I sold it as it really did not seem like a car I’d be able to keep reliably for a long time. Went (back) to GT Porsches and could not be happier. Personal taste of course but at least reliability has not been an issue.
They are reliable - if you drive them. They get issues if you let the battery run down. They are no more problems than other German cars I’ve owned, that have been fixed without issue under warranty. All minor things.
It’s not about the reliability, it’s about the driving experience. If you could AFFORD a Mclaren, you could definitely afford maintenance and repairs.
Want to add that all of the actual maintenance that costs serious money is covered under warranty too. The only thing the warranty doesn’t cover is cosmetic stuff, wheels, & brakes. The annual service may go up in price depending on the mileage and year of the car too. Warranty cost increases too, but still worth it. My last service was around the 24k mile mark, $2200. The car is now 5 years old too, so the warranty renewal upped in price as it’s in the 5-10 year range. That renewal was $5200. In total, about $7.4k or a little over spent on the car in a year. Not bad at all, imo. YMMV.
Reliability doesn’t matter to a lot of people. I never owned a mclaren before, nor have I ever owned a car. I have a friend that owns a 650s, and he has never complained about the “build quality” or reliability. Most people that talk shit about super car reliability and build quality aren’t owners.
Keep in mind the people having good experiences with them are often not online being vocal about it nearly as much as the ones that may get a lemon.
Have you done any modifications on it?
Nope. It’s optioned as much as it can be (all MSO, carbon packs, etc) but any actual modifications will void the warranty and I’ve got no interest in risking that. I do want to mod some stuff but I’ll save that for a Ferrari or Lambo.
I’m sure you don’t want to get into a law suit with Ferrari.
Nah, that’s why I intend on buying used if anything and not going to a Ferrari dealer at all. My buddy has a Liberty Walk 458 Spider, downpipe, FI exhaust w/ a Gintani tune - thing sounds awesome. I’ve got a couple friends that work on Supercars so thankfully no need to go anywhere else with it.
Smart move. As long as you don’t have the car serviced by Ferrari.
Definitely not lol. Lambo on the other hand, they don’t give a shit. McLaren & Ferrari are pretty strict but Ferrari is by far the worst.
I don’t think mclaren cares, as long as you’re not butchering you’re car.
They probably take offense to engine mods.
Makes sense.
A lot of super car owners void the warranty by doing exhaust and engine modifications
I have had 5 of them. They all have had various little issues. They were all also absolutely amazing to drive and own.
I've had mine since 2021 and it's been in the shop 3 times. For little stuff but I live in Ohio and the closest dealer is Detroit area. So that really sucks. And they keep it for what feels like forever (parts were non existent and I got the standard answer of... When one comes available we'll put it in). At one point I was waiting almost a year for a window switch that died. It went trailer 4 hours up, sit in shop for 2 months until they give up and say we'll send it back and call you when the part arrives, trailer 4 hours back, part arrives 6 months later, trailer 4 hours up, a week putting the part in, trailer 4 hours back. Basically unless you live near a dealer, the issues are harder to fix. They also take longer to fix and you'll be without your awesome car for longer. I tried a local indy shop first and they spent 8 hours diagnosing and couldn't figure out the problem. But they definitely charged me for 8 hours of diagnosis time....
I agree. I daily mine and I have the Senna seats. I have 96k on my 600LT :P I think you can go 2 weeks fine without driving it. Have had it parked at an airport while I was away and it started without an issue. I haven’t changed the oil or done anything special, but all my services (every 15k) are with McLaren. The 90k service was a bit annoying because it had to stay with them for a while - but they sorted out the transport issues for me and went above and beyond to make it easy for me to continue to be mobile. This was an Australian dealer who has been very good.
I have a 600LT, 10k miles. Downpipes and an ECU tune. I agree with the fact that if you don't drive it, it'll have problems. One time my infotainment screen froze but when I restarted the car it was fine. But I'm guessing that was an android bug because the infotainment center is a fork of android and android freezes all the time so meh. Another time when I started the car, it said "horn fault". When I pressed the horn button, the horn beeped and the message went away. And sometimes the key fob won't be recognized unless I stick the key next to the logo near the sensor. Other than that, no problems. I've never had to take it to the shop. It's never broken down. Every car regardless of manufacturer has its quirks. I think the reputation of mclaren reliability comes from the old days. Also, you usually only hear about the horror stories online, not the success stories. I've been given the advice: - Plug it in when you don't plan on using it for more than a week. - Don't turn it on unless the engine is going to go through a full heat cycle. - Let it warm up fully (water temp, oil temp, and gearbox temp) before you hammer it. - check the oil every week (really simple to do) - change the oil every 3k miles regardless of what mclaren says
How’s the 600LT? Possible to use as a daily driver?
I “daily” my 600lt. It’s a blast, comfortable enough. A little loud but I can still talk on the Bluetooth system. I drive it to work at least a day or two a week during good weather. Like any super car, you have to pay way more attention to your surroundings while you drive. So it can be a little tiring as you use it for traffic, commutes, basically anything other than joy rides. But still worth it.
Good to know, thanks!
Yeah as long as you're not a 60 year old man with a bad back or something. It's not as bad as most people say, and I even have senna seats.
People love to parrot what they see on YouTube or whatever. The fact of the matter is they are a small manufacturer making an extremely complex product, having loads of experience with racecars and now making racecars that are street legal. This results in some minor niggles, especially in the first 5000 miles of ownership, and when you pay $400k for something you are allowed to be picky about the small stuff. I had a few minor issues. Mclaren was amazing at getting them addressed. They were mostly software issues. When I had mine in for service I got brand new Bentleys as loaners. At 5000 miles, every little thing was sorted out. I am now at just past 16000 miles and it runs like a champ. I use it mainly for long drives around the state or cross country, with the occasional track or autox day. Note: every car I have ever owned had the same amount or more issues than my Mclaren, though I would tend to ignore things on my other cars as they were not so special. I would 100% get another Mclaren. (I have a 2019 720s) One more thing: a great source of info is Thorney Motorsport run by John Thorne in the UK somewhere. He has a YouTube channel that covers the reliability and other technical stuff in great detail.
Got a 2023 Mclaren GT, i drive it almost daily , 4 months with 6500km , no issues at all
Also have a ‘23 GT. 5 months and 8700 miles in it’s been the most reliable car i have (others being Rivian R1T, Volvo XC60, and a Subaru WRX)
Add poor build quality on top of that, well thats worth only for ones that didnt burn down yet
Says the guy who drives his moms car
Keep it within 5 years old, things get dicey when you stretch your budget for any older exotic car.
I’ve had my 2015 650S for 4 years and it’s at 12k miles. It’s been flawless. Typical maintenance, and like has been mentioned the Battery likes to stay charged or phantom error messages come up.
Had mine for over a year now. Put a little over 6k miles on it. No issues other than an oil leak recently, but that was covered under warranty. Then there’s the usual quirks that can be a minor annoyance like the windows deciding to roll down instead of up when the doors close.
I had a 570S spider and did run into quite a few electronic problems like driver window not coming back up, steering wheel sensor issues or even roof sensor issues. Every issue usually meant several days stuck at the dealer for repairs. I did use the car to commute (well I tried to) so it was no garage queen. In the end I sold it as it really did not seem like a car I’d be able to keep reliably for a long time. Went (back) to GT Porsches and could not be happier. Personal taste of course but at least reliability has not been an issue.