The Warranty Situation

Ok so this is under the 'Good Stuff' header. I get that some owners reading this may well be questioning that, and to be honest so am I to some extent. Hear me out though...

McLaren Factory Warranty

From my experience, the McLaren Factor Warranty (3 years) was absolutely flawless.

I had a few interactions during that time, including:

• Water pump seal failure (replaced pump, no-cost)
• Drivers' door switch water ingress and failure (replaced switch, no-cost)
• Drivers' door controller also failed after the above caused it to burn out (replaced entire module, no-cost)
• Wiper motor fault (replaced motor, no-cost)
• Front suspension bushes cracked and creaking (replaced all linkages, no-cost)
• Passenger side door hinge cracked (replaced, no-cost)
• Corrosion on passenger door (repaired, no-cost)
• Corrosion on front nearside arch (repaired, no-cost)
• Underbody rattle that couldn't be resolved (replaced entire undertray, no-cost)
• Air Conditioning degraded (replaced multiple pipes and re-gassed, no-cost)
• Failed baffle inside exhaust (replaced backbox, no-cost)
• Steering column adjustment motor stuck (reset/fixed, no-cost)

Everything above was dealt with promptly and with a loan car supplied by McLaren Ascot.

Extended Warranty (Still McLaren but via a 3rd Party)

I opted for a full 2 year extension on the McLaren recommended 3rd party warranty, taking me to 5 years (which I'm approaching right now). This has been a very different experience, although having made far less claims (most of my issues came out in the first few months of ownership) - and albeit the end result has remained mostly the same; the path/process to getting there has been a farrrrrrr bumpier journey each time...

With the involvement of the 3rd party company comes an additional layer of penny-pinchers it seems. Warranty claims are now automatically denied and have to be resubmitted, then pursued quite intensively by McLaren staff in order to get it approved. This is a story I've heard repeatedly from literally every other owner who has the extended warranty package, so it's not just my experience.

As of today, I've still had 100% success with approval in the end, but every time it's been a battle (not with McLaren, with the 3rd party). In each case, McLaren have stepped in and assisted, either with parts or by leaning on the warranty company. I've actually even had to sign a few agreements to not disclose the details of the deals agreed, but having checked it over I believe I'm perfectly fine to simply state the following about what I've had resolved successfully under the extended warranty process (with McLaren's help) as a whole:

• Front shock absorber leaking (replaced entire assembly, no-cost)
• Broken rear suspension spring (replaced entire assembly, no-cost)
• Failed heating element on rear glass (replaced rear glass, no-cost)
• Water ingress via leaking roof seals (replaced every single roof seal, no-cost)

So as I mentioned, the outcome has been flawless at all times - the journey was waaaay smoother when it was the factory warranty, but ultimately the cost of the cover itself has been worth it and I've not (yet) had something end in total rejection of a claim.