Quote Originally Posted by markc View Post
It's an incredible machine and I absolutely love it. I've had it 3 1/2yrs, only covered 5000 miles in it (total of 25,000) but it's been almost faultless.

I did a tour of Northern Spain shortly after the 2016 NSX Eurotour and it was a revelation. Superbike fast as a Spanish Fireblade pilot found out up in the mountains (we stopped and had a nice chat about our 20min dice) but amazingly comfy while returning 33mpg on the motorways.

There seems to be a lot of "hate" for McLaren with some issues and failures being exaggerated and mis-represented on various forums. The McLaren forum on PistonHeads in particular has descended into a farse with the same old mis-information being posted over and over dragging almost every thread off topic and into the depreciation weeds Servicing is expensive at McLaren dealers (£1400 for an inspection and oil change!) but a couple of specialist options have opened up recently (e.g. Thorey Motorsport). I've run with out a warranty for 2 yrs and am therefore quids in despite the trolls insisting that every McLaren will rust, it's gearbox will fall out and it will catch fire... very day!!!
They're unbelievably good value now and not nearly as troublesome as the internet would have you believe. IF big things do go wrong repair will cost a small fortune but that's no different to similar machinery from Aston, Porsche, Ferrari, Lamborghini etc.

Waaaaay back, before the GenII NSX appeared, we had a long discussion here on the spiritual successor to the original NSX. We thought the original R8 V8 and then rumoured new McLaren best fitted the brief and I think we were right. The original NSX was a different take on the standard "supercar" recipe and so was the 12C I love both cars for exactly that reason and both are keepers. Guess I'll have to decide which one to be buried in as the Jag will probably have rotted away by then

After press feedback that the 12C wasn't as supercar'y as the Ferrari 458, McLaren rather lost their nerve and newer models have converged toward that standard supercar recipe with pointy'er/flashier styling, noisier theatrical engine/exhaust notes and slide'ier handling :yawn: ... which is just not for me.

Steve/Ollie here has or had a 12C Spider and quite a few owners in the USA have both an NSX and 12C in their garages

Here's a pic of mine trying the garage for size...
Excellent write-up and I am in full agreement about your car choice. My second car would definitely be the 12C but I could not justify it and my NSX. (I used to own a Series 1 OTS 'E' Type but it has long gone, unfortunately.) And I totally concur with your comments on these forums. People are entitled to make subjective opinions on styling and the like - we all see things differently - but when you get morons who have never been nearer these cars than a magazine photograph trolling utter rubbish about handling, driveability etc you quickly lose interest. My personal opinion is that they are sad people who drive around in a bog standard 10 year old Ford with go-fast stripes and a loud exhaust and hate the fact that there are people out there owning and driving proper cars like the NSX and the 12C.