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Electrochromic roof do not working

8.9K views 30 replies 15 participants last post by  ralleyone  
#1 ·
First of all, I apologize for my poor English.
My Mclaren GT Electrochromic roof do not working
Has someone solved this problem?
 
#3 ·
I purchased a 2020 GT 5.5 weeks ago, and it exhibited this problem, and I have not taken delivery. What I am now getting through the dealership is that the roof has a design decision/flaw in that if the roof is in the sun and reaches 120 degrees F it will stop working until the roof is in the shade and cools off. It seems to be only in the GT model.

II have heard multiple different stories from the GM at the dealership as to whether McLaren will fix the problem or will call this a design decision. The other thing I have heard is that if it is in this heat for too long it will damage the control panel for the roof, and replacement will only be done while the car is under warranty.

I would recommend calling your dealer and asking them to call McLaren corporate so you can get a straight answer. I have heard multiple different stories one of which is that they have identified a part to replace that rectifies this. The other is the one I heard and is above. They are saying like an iPhone that gets too hot and shuts down this roof is designed to do the same.

I am very disappointed in this and may decide not to take delivery of the car. This seems to be a serious design flaw and only happens on the GT model.

Wish I had better news.
 
#4 ·
I purchased a 2020 GT 5.5 weeks ago, and it exhibited this problem, and I have not taken delivery. What I am now getting through the dealership is that the roof has a design decision/flaw in that if the roof is in the sun and reaches 120 degrees F it will stop working until the roof is in the shade and cools off. It seems to be only in the GT model.

II have heard multiple different stories from the GM at the dealership as to whether McLaren will fix the problem or will call this a design decision. The other thing I have heard is that if it is in this heat for too long it will damage the control panel for the roof, and replacement will only be done while the car is under warranty.

I would recommend calling your dealer and asking them to call McLaren corporate so you can get a straight answer. I have heard multiple different stories one of which is that they have identified a part to replace that rectifies this. The other is the one I heard and is above. They are saying like an iPhone that gets too hot and shuts down this roof is designed to do the same.

I am very disappointed in this and may decide not to take delivery of the car. This seems to be a serious design flaw and only happens on the GT model.

Wish I had better news.
Don't feel so bad about not looking for a car with this option now.
 
#18 · (Edited)
Wow. Just wow.

Parable time/

Look, I have a friend, he's a doctor. All his friends are doctors. They give him feedback as doctors would. Which is really great if you need some doctor stuff.

I have another friend, he's a college professor. All his friends are professors. They give him feedback as professors would. Which is really great if you need some college stuff.

I have another friend, he's a venture capitalist. All his friends are are in the finance/investment world. They give him feedback as entrepreneurs would. Which is really great if you need startup stuff.

While each of them and their colleagues think pretty similarly on many of their intra-disciplinary topics, not surprisingly, they think very differently from one another as between the differing groups (venture capitalists and college professors have a lot of differing thoughts on things).

And yet, they all are into cars. Amazingly, and somehow completely not surprisingly, their use cases for cars are very different. And they have very different opinions about cars. Which cars are best. What features matter most. What are the best pros/cons. How to use them best, etc etc.

So for those not surrounded by a certain white shoe demographic, it might, might, hear me out here, just might, be possible that their use cases and sensibilities on things... just might be different.

We took a very unscientific, but I think still very interesting net worth demographic poll here, and roughly 20% of people that have a McLaren have a net worth less than 500k. 60% have a net worth less than 5M.

Lots of very big demographic differences there, so it is highly likely to be some diversity of thought on what is most important about McLarens to those vastly differing groups of people. Also, some lease, some may buy used, some new.

For one example, and I think someone familiar mentioned, HENRYs apparently account for a decent portion of sales. And it just might be the case, that, for example, HENRYs, have different sensibilities than say, people with a significantly higher net worth.

/Parable time

TLDR it's not "everyone", and it rarely, if ever, is.
 
#19 ·
Wow. Just wow.

Parable time/

Look, I have a friend, he's a doctor. All his friends are doctors. They give him feedback as doctors would. Which is really great if you need some doctor stuff.

I have another friend, he's a college professor. All his friends are professors. They give him feedback as professors would. Which is really great if you need some college stuff.

I have another friend, he's a venture capitalist. All his friends are are in the finance/investment world. They give him feedback as entrepreneurs would. Which is really great if you need startup stuff.

While each of them and their colleges think pretty similarly on their topics, not surprisingly, they thing very differently from one another (venture capitalists and college professors have a lot of different thoughts on things).

And yet, they all are into cars. Amazingly, and somehow completely not surprisingly, their use cases for cars are very different. And they have very different opinions about cars. Which are great. How to use them best, etc etc.

So for those not surrounded by a certain white shoe demographic, it might, might, here me out here, just might, be possible that the uses and sensibilities on things... just might be different.

We took a very unscientific, but I think still very interesting net worth demographic poll here, and roughly 20% of people have less than a 500k net worth but still bought a McLaren. 60% have a net worth less than 5M. There is likely to be some diversity there. Some will have bought used, and some not. And I think someone familiar mentioned HENRYs account for a decent portion of sales. And it just might be the case, that, for example, HENRYs, have a different sensibilities than say, people worth significantly more.
/Parable time

TLDR it's not "everyone", and it rarely if ever is.
So ~80% of us are in the not worthy category!
 
#20 ·
Hi....ummm....on the roof thingie nonworkie when muy caliente....

If You drive the car a bit...the roof cools down and starts working again fine...

I'm at 33k through the past year and even had death valley so saw this a few different times in different places.

I would definitely opt for the eChrome if given the choice.

Back to the regularly scheduled program....
 
#28 ·
it
I agree, now others' results may vary, but I drive my GT daily and every now and then the roof craps out, for about 10 minutes max. And thankfully it defaults to dark mode, otherwise it would be a lot more toasty for that short time. At first I was concerned, but perhaps it prevents total destruction of the panel by shutting down. No problem with that.
 
#22 ·
I don't know if this thread is dead or if I start a new one, but I just took delivery of my '23 GT and the roof doesn't work. I took the advice about the heat, being in AZ, but it doesn't work out of the sun either. The dealer, Houston, is going to pick it up next week and take a look at it. I've had it only for 4 days. Has anyone recently experienced this and/or learned more about the cause of this? Maybe a simple reset/reboot? Sucks to lose my car for (likely) a few weeks after just getting it. : /
 
#23 ·
FWIW, I had my GT for a little over a year before selling it and never once used the electrochromatic roof. I live in Texas. To me, it seemed like a gimmick feature.

I don't blame you for wanting to get it sorted, because like somebody above me mentioned, everything should work on a $200K+ car. Personally, I would not lose any sleep over it. Hope you boys enjoy your rides!
 
#24 ·
You know, I realize that I probably won’t even use it either. It’s stuck on the dark position and that’s probably how I would keep it for most of the year in southern Arizona. We’re already hitting 100°. But, that’s besides the point. I bought it off the showroom floor and it had this $6000+ feature so I want it to work, and luckily, so does the dealer. However, I would take a $6000+ check and leave it the way it is.
It gets picked up tomorrow.
 
#29 ·
What ended up happening with the service on the roof? I just bought a GT and am having the same issue - roof is completely unresponsive whether it’s hot, cold, warm, freezing, chilly, blazing, frigid, brisk, pleasant, etc.
 
#27 ·
I don't believe so. Most people that don't have it seem to have breathed a sigh of relief that they didn't get that option (I'm one of them), and those that do have it have learned to live with it not working properly.

Not sure why it's so problematic... Mercedes has offered this option for years, they call it "Magic Sky Control" and they don't have the same problems with heat that McLaren seems to have. Very low failure rate on MBs with this feature. I loved it on a previous S class I had so I had initially hoped my 570 would have it too.
 
#30 ·
Purchased my '22 GT in Oct '24 and every time I drive ensure to check this e-roof system works. Paranoia perhaps but also to ensure the electrics are being 'exercised'. Reading this post makes me wonder if it's just a matter of time. Still happy with my drives which are way more relaxed and carefree than many of my previous fun toys.