DB11 / McLaren GT as Daily Driver

kitkat9933 · 8 Dec 2021 at 14:52

Been on the waiting list for about 2 years for my Model S Plaid now and seems to be getting pushed back time and time again with UK deliveries now expected 2023...

In the meantime I've been looking at something like a Mclaren GT or DB11 as a daily driver for a year or so to cover the gap. About 10,000 mils P/A with weekly errands, odd customer meetings and long journeys.

Would be looking at second hand. Never really had anything super special my history has been Model 3 Performance,Model S P100D,640d, Mercedes C220, Astra, 206 ..

Trying to understand what I need to put aside / think about in terms of :

Depreciation.
Servicing costs
maintenance
warranties etc

Not sure where to start and scared to just rush in and buy. Any good blogs / forums?

Currently the DB11 that cut my eye is - https://www.autotrader.co.uk/car-details/202111069306445?advertising-location=at_cars

and a GT - https://www.autotrader.co.uk/car-details/202111169647211?year-to=2021

[TW]Fox · 8 Dec 2021 at 15:15

I didn't think it was possible to make an Aston Martin look anything other than classy.

I guess I was wrong :eek:

wingman · 8 Dec 2021 at 15:17

Not sure many of us here would have genuine guidance on vehicles in excess of £100k... but to my money, the McLaren all day long.

kitkat9933 · 8 Dec 2021 at 15:34

[TW]Fox said:
I didn't think it was possible to make an Aston Martin look anything other than classy.

I guess I was wrong

What's wrong with it

Gibbo · 8 Dec 2021 at 15:45

Is a Mclaren GT not just a heavier 570S? Or is it a lot different? Just you can buy 570S for around 90k so far less chance of one of those dipping much more, the other great Mclaren is the 650S which again are 90-100k and probably won't drop much more and the latter is more super / hyper car as it has the fancier hydraulic suspension (no roll bars) whereas the 570S is a more traditional suspension setup, suspect the GT is as well.

As its a short ownership proposition and the fact Mclaren values dipped heavily (have since gone up a little) and therefor anything you buy should have a warranty covering it (warranty is a must) then I have to say I'd go the Mclaren route.

kaiowas · 8 Dec 2021 at 15:45

wingman said:
Not sure many of us here would have genuine guidance on vehicles in excess of £100k... but to my money, the McLaren all day long.

Are you sure? Feels like you’re in the minority if you’re not demonstrating your top earner credentials around here these days.

wingman · 8 Dec 2021 at 15:48

kaiowas said:
Are you sure? Feels like you’re in the minority if you’re not demonstrating your top earner credentials around here these days.

You're probably not wrong there...

Does seem an odd place to ask about two very specific, very expensive cars mind you.

I say expensive, I mean runabouts. Aren't all the OCUK fleet runabouts now?

NathWraith · 8 Dec 2021 at 15:48

Not driven the GT but I have driven the DB11 V12 (Pre AMR).

Heres a short list of pros/cons I found with the DB11:

- Visibility, not great, long bonnet, low slung and chunky A pillars don't help.
- V12 is creamy smooth, sounds great and gives incredible performance
- Interior is nice & plush but lacks a lot of modern features such as adaptive cruise, apple/android car play (can be retro fitted)
- Rear seats & boot give a decent amount of space for the type of car/class
- Classy car when specced correctly
- Not really a drivers cars, nice to cruise around and gun in a straight line but probably won't give you the sporting thrills, but then looking at what your previous cars are, this will feel very focussed.

I drove an early DB11 V12, later they introduced the DB11 AMR which bumped the power to 630bhp from 603bhp. Tweaked the suspension & bushings etc to sharpen the car up. Later on they dropped the AMR name and all DB11 V12s just have these AMR upgrades as standard.

From what I can tell speaking to other Mclaren owners & the internet the GT will be similar to the below:

- Great visibility due to short overhangs and the fish bowl style front screen.
- Not much luggage space, despite the frunk & rear spaces.
- Big sills and generally more stripped back driver focussed interior
- Rubbish sound
- Very sporty drive, one of the best in class, especially when compared to the DB11.
- Reliability issues and poor Mclaren service (your mileage of course will vary)
- A super car so everything good & bad thats comes with that

Running costs; I don't think there will be much in it, unless either decides to break.

SDK^ · 8 Dec 2021 at 15:54

kitkat9933 said:
What's wrong with it

He is allergic to black wheels !

Gibbo · 8 Dec 2021 at 16:03

Hi there

If this is a stop gap car, why not enjoy an older Aston Martin that is virtually depreciation proof:
https://www.autotrader.co.uk/car-de...us=1500&sort=price-asc&postcode=st87hf&page=8

Just took mine for an MOT today, passed without issues, mine has been totally trouble free and its a reasonably cheap car to run, average 20mpg, service around £600 a year and its had no issues in the past few years.

Downside is the manual takes some getting used to and the automatic is a try it and see what you think as its a robotised manual so similar to BMW SMG2 as found in E46 M3, so pretty marmite.

kitkat9933 · 8 Dec 2021 at 17:07

Gibbo said:
Hi there

If this is a stop gap car, why not enjoy an older Aston Martin that is virtually depreciation proof:
https://www.autotrader.co.uk/car-details/202111199738036?model=Vantage&onesearchad=New&onesearchad=Nearly New&onesearchad=Used&advertising-location=at_cars&make=Aston Martin&include-delivery-option=on&radius=1500&sort=price-asc&postcode=st87hf&page=8

Just took mine for an MOT today, passed without issues, mine has been totally trouble free and its a reasonably cheap car to run, average 20mpg, service around £600 a year and its had no issues in the past few years.

Downside is the manual takes some getting used to and the automatic is a try it and see what you think as its a robotised manual so similar to BMW SMG2 as found in E46 M3, so pretty marmite.

Manual is just a no-go for me as a daily driver. I've been used to lane assist and adaptive CC for so long that without that and manual is not for me yet.

Chris1712 · 8 Dec 2021 at 17:29

I wouldn't bother with a GT specifically but any of the McLaren range will do great as a comfortable daily, the 570GT will get you 95% of the experience for less money.

Do you want a supercar you can daily or a GT car? I'd decide on it's actual use case first and go from there, you've got a front engined V12 2+2 vs a mid engined turbo V8 2 seater. Do you want/need a boot / more seats? Do you want track use? You just want something special for day to day with no specific requirements?

If it's just for a year and you don't want to lose your trousers too much take a look at 991 Turbo S aswell.

kitkat9933 · 8 Dec 2021 at 17:32

Chris1712 said:
I wouldn't bother with a GT specifically but any of the McLaren range will do great as a comfortable daily, the 570GT will get you 95% of the experience for less money.

Do you want a supercar you can daily or a GT car? I'd decide on it's actual use case first and go from there, you've got a front engined V12 2+2 vs a mid engined turbo V8 2 seater. Do you want/need a boot / more seats? Do you want track use? You just want something special for day to day with no specific requirements?

If it's just for a year and you don't want to lose your trousers too much take a look at 991 Turbo S aswell.

I want something that I like the look off and just enjoy day to day while I wait. Needs to be able to handle shopping and luggage for small trips.

Porsche is just a no go for me, just don't feel special to me. Only model I would be interested in is a Taycan Turbo S but overall year wait and used all badly specced so didn't bother.

Housey · 8 Dec 2021 at 17:35

I’d not run a McLaren as a daily, the doors alone would do my head in. Then you add in poor reliability and expensive warranty when used I’d consider another option.

The Aston is nice, but for me not £100k nice. I chose an AMG GTR as my 100k daily and 11k miles on in 9 months I don’t regret it.

Chris1712 · 8 Dec 2021 at 17:36

kitkat9933 said:
I want something that I like the look off and just enjoy day to day while I wait. Needs to be able to handle shopping and luggage for small trips.

Porsche is just a no go for me, just don't feel special to me. Only model I would be interested in is a Taycan Turbo S but overall year wait and used all badly specced so didn't bother.

I think you need to try some cars then. Both the DB11 & any McLaren are capable enough but are very different to drive and live with. McLaren is a supercar you can daily, Aston is a Super GT that you could hustle a little bit if you really wanted to but it won't like it that much. Aston interior is sublime, but I think I'd take a Vanquish over a DB11 personally.

kitkat9933 · 8 Dec 2021 at 17:38

Housey said:
I’d not run a McLaren as a daily, the doors alone would do my head in. Then you add in poor reliability and expensive warranty when used I’d consider another option.

The Aston is nice, but for me not £100k nice. I chose an AMG GTR as my 100k daily and 11k miles on in 9 months I don’t regret it.

I test drove a DB11,GT and GTR but the GTR just didn't feel like it had oomph like what I have now or the DB11 or GT.

Housey · 8 Dec 2021 at 17:48

In my experience the Aston wouldn’t stay with a GTR, GT sure but that’s a whole different proposition. McLaren crazy quick however.

Rroff · 9 Dec 2021 at 04:29

Not something I can have much input on but someone around here (I'm guessing lives in Gillingham, Dorset, which probably narrows down who it is) seems to be running a McLaren 720 as a daily car - seen it about a few times now - seems to be a magnet for people wanting to race it off the lights and get utterly obliterated.

Do quite like that DB11 personally though it definitely won't be to everyone's taste.

Personally if I was spending that kind of money on a daily driver I'd probably be looking at a slightly different marque like a higher end Audi - though something like the RS7 Sportback currently has like 36 week delay :s

HoneyBadger · 9 Dec 2021 at 10:18

You mean you can't afford both? Get out.

Chris1712 · 9 Dec 2021 at 10:57

Housey said:
I’d not run a McLaren as a daily, the doors alone would do my head in. Then you add in poor reliability and expensive warranty when used I’d consider another option.

The Aston is nice, but for me not £100k nice. I chose an AMG GTR as my 100k daily and 11k miles on in 9 months I don’t regret it.

Aren't the doors better than 'normal' doors? Need much less space to open them fully and easily get in/out I mean. Reliability is hit and miss, but so is an Aston.

kitkat9933 said:
I test drove a DB11,GT and GTR but the GTR just didn't feel like it had oomph like what I have now or the DB11 or GT.

Housey said:
In my experience the Aston wouldn’t stay with a GTR, GT sure but that’s a whole different proposition. McLaren crazy quick however.

Yeah that sounds strange, AMG GTR will wallop a DB11. Very different cars.

I think you need to narrow your requirements a bit, just wanting something very special as a daily is a pretty broad brief and could really cover anything from a 570s to an Urus.