► McLaren launhces own finance service
► Own a supercar for £995 a month
► Just watch out for the small print
Here’s a sign that supercar ownership has become commoditised: McLaren has launched its own finance deals, to help customers spread the cost of flash motoring over several years.
Tellingly, most supercar owners don’t slap down full payment in one lump sum and it’s normal for exotic sports cars to be bought on finance. Which explains why Woking has launched its own McLaren Financial Services division to tap into this area of growth, as it seeks to push the British sports car maker into new territory.
The scheme, operated and funded by JBR Capital, offers a variety of packages including personal contract purchase schemes (PCPs) on new and secondhand McLarens. So you can now finance a new, ‘budget’ supercar like the 540C at £126k all the way up to a million-pound McLaren P1 model (although you’ll have to snap up an approved used one of those, as they’re now sold out).
How to own a McLaren supercar for £995 a month
New financial instruments such as PCPs bring more expensive cars into the reach of the less wealthy, as they factor in the likely future value of the car; you’re essentially borrowing only against the depreciation. Here’s how a three-year deal on a McLaren 570S looks:
List price £143,250
Deposit £39,500
Total amount of credit £103,750
Acceptance fee (payable with first payment) £295
Option to purchase fee (payable with last payment) £150
Total amount payable £166,020
36 monthly payments £995
Optional final payment £90,248
Duration of agreement 37 months
Interest rate 7.9% APR
Just watch out for the 10,000-mile annual limit; stray over that and you can be charged as much as £1.10 a mile. The beauty of a PCP is that you can walk away at the end of the three years with nothing left to pay, or trade up into the next new McLaren.
There are currently five UK dealerships, with bases in London, Manchester, Birmingham, Glasgow and Ascot.