McLaren Life banner
Cancel

* Advice on a potential mp4 12c purchase*

Jump to Latest Follow
1 - 20 of 27 Posts
A

· Registered
Joined
·
6 Posts
Discussion Starter · #1 ·
Hello everyone, I'm a long time car enthusiast looking at a purchasing a 2012 mp4-12c from a dealer.

It has 6800 miles and seems to be in great condition. My question is would this low milage put the transmission seals at greater risk of failure?

I've read through numerous posts and watched the 1-4 year ownership videos and they seem reliable for the most part.

I'm just wondering how it would far as a daily with 8-10k miles a year.

Thanks
Alex
 
Riceandbeans

· Registered
Joined
·
38 Posts
#3 ·
ALEXPSX3 said:
Hello everyone, I'm a long time car enthusiast looking at a purchasing a 2012 mp4-12c from a dealer.

It has 6800 miles and seems to be in great condition. My question is would this low milage put the transmission seals at greater risk of failure?

I've read through numerous posts and watched the 1-4 year ownership videos and they seem reliable for the most part.

I'm just wondering how it would far as a daily with 8-10k miles a year.

Thanks
Alex
Click to expand...
Personally I wouldn’t buy a car with that low of miles for the year of car. When I was buying my 650, everyone on the forums told me to get a car with at least 10k miles for a 2016 so for a 12c I’d probably look for a minimum of 15k miles
 
rnixon

· Registered
Joined
·
1,991 Posts
#8 ·
ALEXPSX3 said:
Hello everyone, I'm a long time car enthusiast looking at a purchasing a 2012 mp4-12c from a dealer.

It has 6800 miles and seems to be in great condition. My question is would this low milage put the transmission seals at greater risk of failure?

I've read through numerous posts and watched the 1-4 year ownership videos and they seem reliable for the most part.

I'm just wondering how it would far as a daily with 8-10k miles a year.
Click to expand...
A McMedics (@EMF Audio (McMedics) @ima2nr (McMedics) ) inspection is essential. At 8-10K miles per year, you will be destroying its value - worth it IMO though. McLaren keep raising parts prices as our cars age, which is becoming an issue.

The SLO one looks to have sold.

Roger
 
Proflyer

· Premium Member
Joined
·
63 Posts
#9 ·
Get a PPI done, impossible to know the condition of the car without one. Yes, some have issues that pop up with low mileage, but that doesn't make every car a lemon if it wasn't driven. If it's in the bay area, @L.A.R. can do a PPI (Mike is awesome, bought my 12C from him). If Dallas area see Dalton at @March_MotorsportsDFW. If its some other area, @EMF Audio (McMedics) as mentioned before is a road warrior. A PPI will be about $1000, but an absolute must. Get a price sorted out you're comfortable with, pending the PPI. If it comes back without any major issues (they all have small issues), move forward. If it comes back with lots of deferred maintenance and issues, get a quote from the shop who did the PPI for you to fix them, and see how much the seller will move off the previous agreed price. If they won't, then walk away. With cash, you can always buy toys. I think the 12C is at a bottom here price wise, if the car is in known good condition, it'll demand a premium. FWIW--a car for 90k that needs 20k worth of work, is worth less than a car that doesn't need any work and is 110k. Avoid a car for 80k that has zero history and you can't get a PPI done on it. They're waiting for a sucker to come along, don't be that guy.
 
ima2nr (McMedics)

· Super Moderator
“I’m a Tuner”
Joined
·
1,630 Posts
#10 ·
A

· Registered
Joined
·
6 Posts
Discussion Starter · #11 ·
Thanks for the reply's everyone.

The car was in fact from SLO BMW. They are hard to deal with, took me examining the walk around video to discover that the left and right hvac screen are non operational.

The manager acted like he didn't know about it until the salesman emails me the PPI from when they acquired the car last year and it clearly states they were non functional. Shady business if you ask me.

Had to literally beg the GM for pictures of all the damage. He finally sent me pictures.

It is sold technical to me but no money has changed hands and I'm 80% going to walk away from this one.

They've had this car in inventory for 11 months.
 
Proflyer

· Premium Member
Joined
·
63 Posts
#13 ·
ALEXPSX3 said:
Thanks for the reply's everyone.

The car was in fact from SLO BMW. They are hard to deal with, took me examining the walk around video to discover that the left and right hvac screen are non operational.

The manager acted like he didn't know about it until the salesman emails me the PPI from when they acquired the car last year and it clearly states they were non functional. Shady business if you ask me.

Had to literally beg the GM for pictures of all the damage. He finally sent me pictures.

It is sold technical to me but no money has changed hands and I'm 80% going to walk away from this one.

They've had this car in inventory for 11 months.
Click to expand...
Wow. I'd get that to Mike at LAR Motorsports in Santa Clara if you can come to a number that makes sense. He can look it over, and then give you a bill to fix it all. They're likely way under water on it, but also probably really want it to go away. If it's in good shape otherwise, could be a deal. The screens go out in most all of them I've read, but the new screens that Mike can put in are a new design and don't have issues. If you're not local, I'd still feel good about it after Mike takes a look at it. He can send video/pics and outline every little chip/scratch/issue. If you are local, going by the shop when he's done with the PPI should give you peace of mind. Not much that can't be fixed, just want to make sure what you pay for the car, and to bring it up to solid condition, is a number you're comfy with.
 
H

· Registered
Joined
·
12 Posts
#14 · (Edited)
ALEXPSX3 said:
Thanks for the reply's everyone.

The car was in fact from SLO BMW. They are hard to deal with, took me examining the walk around video to discover that the left and right hvac screen are non operational.

The manager acted like he didn't know about it until the salesman emails me the PPI from when they acquired the car last year and it clearly states they were non functional. Shady business if you ask me.

Had to literally beg the GM for pictures of all the damage. He finally sent me pictures.

It is sold technical to me but no money has changed hands and I'm 80% going to walk away from this one.

They've had this car in inventory for 11 months.
Click to expand...
Yeah, same experience here. I tried too, but they are really hard to work with. They bought it from an auction and they refuse to provide the documentation they got with it if you don't go to the dealer. They stopped replying to me once I mentioned PPI. Good luck to anyone who's going to buy it. That's why I asked, I prefer no one here waste their time on this poor car.

Proflyer said:
Wow. I'd get that to Mike at LAR Motorsports in Santa Clara if you can come to a number that makes sense. He can look it over, and then give you a bill to fix it all. They're likely way under water on it, but also probably really want it to go away. If it's in good shape otherwise, could be a deal. The screens go out in most all of them I've read, but the new screens that Mike can put in are a new design and don't have issues. If you're not local, I'd still feel good about it after Mike takes a look at it. He can send video/pics and outline every little chip/scratch/issue. If you are local, going by the shop when he's done with the PPI should give you peace of mind. Not much that can't be fixed, just want to make sure what you pay for the car, and to bring it up to solid condition, is a number you're comfy with.
Click to expand...
Amen to that. @L.A.R. is pretty incredible to work with. In my many years and many brands of car stories, he's been a fresh breath of air. Finding someone that actually cares about his work and is knowledgeable (and really nice)... that's not an everyday thing in the car industry.

As a matter of fact, I just bought my 12C thanks to him :)

If you're local, give him a call.
 
A

· Registered
Joined
·
6 Posts
Discussion Starter · #15 ·
I will reach out to him tomorrow to see if he can head out to see it. I finally received the complete service history, 54 pages of mclaren invoices and a couple from bmw. It was very well maintained. Even the hose clamps were replaced by mclaren of CA. The car is far from me (i'm in florida). If anyone with even minimal mechanical experience can just go by the dealer to put eyes on it and give me a true paint/ interior conditon report I'm ready to pay for it.

After reading the service history I'm really ready to pick this up.

If anyone can help reach out.

Thanks
Alex
 
H

· Registered
Joined
·
12 Posts
#16 ·
ALEXPSX3 said:
I will reach out to him tomorrow to see if he can head out to see it. I finally received the complete service history, 54 pages of mclaren invoices and a couple from bmw. It was very well maintained. Even the hose clamps were replaced by mclaren of CA. The car is far from me (i'm in florida). If anyone with even minimal mechanical experience can just go by the dealer to put eyes on it and give me a true paint/ interior conditon report I'm ready to pay for it.

After reading the service history I'm really ready to pick this up.

If anyone can help reach out.

Thanks
Alex
Click to expand...
I was in talks with Mike to go check the car, he should be able to help you out. Then BMW stopped answering and the car disappeared from their website. The VIN was incorrect. At the time it was priced 110k. It reappeared a few weeks later priced a bit lower (I think 102 or 104). Just checked and they seem to have brought it back to 108.

Regardless of the condition of the car, they seem to be running business in a… singular way, let’s call it that.

The maintenance history is one thing but I wouldn’t do anything without a stamp of approval from Mike.
 
A

· Registered
Joined
·
6 Posts
Discussion Starter · #17 ·
herwawan said:
I was in talks with Mike to go check the car, he should be able to help you out. Then BMW stopped answering and the car disappeared from their website. The VIN was incorrect. At the time it was priced 110k. It reappeared a few weeks later priced a bit lower (I think 102 or 104). Just checked and they seem to have brought it back to 108.

Regardless of the condition of the car, they seem to be running business in a… singular way, let’s call it that.

The maintenance history is one thing but I wouldn’t do anything without a stamp of approval from Mike.
Click to expand...
I had reached out to them in may of 22. The car was priced at 145 and they refused my offer of 130. I ended up purchasing a GTR.

Now that i'm in the market for an additional sports car I see this orange car pop up again at same dealer. The standing offer is the sales price and half the shipping cost. They are discounting both hvac controls for me to get repaired when the car arrives.

I'm just on the fence...

I left mike a message and reached out to Kevin from mcmedics. Lets see who can go out to put eyes on it for me.
 
ima2nr (McMedics)

· Super Moderator
“I’m a Tuner”
Joined
·
1,630 Posts
#18 ·
1 - 20 of 27 Posts
About this Discussion
26 Replies
13 Participants
Last post:
Riceandbeans
McLaren Life
McLaren Life is the best McLaren forum to discuss reliability, problems & more for supercar models like the F1, P1, 570, 650, 12C, and 720S!
Full Forum Listing
Explore Our Forums
(P11) McLaren MP4-12C (P14) McLaren 720S (P13) McLaren 570S McLaren Lounge (P12) McLaren P1 (& F1)
Top