The McLaren Correction Is Here — And It's Not Going Away

The market has finally decided what to do about McLarens, and the decision is brutal. A clean 525s that was £118,000 at Christmas is now £109,500 and the dealer has had it three months. A 600LT — the one everyone said would never dip — is down £12,000 since January. Meanwhile a 991.2 GT3 with the correct options and a touring wing has firmed £4,000 in the same window. The market is making a clear statement: it will pay a premium for the car that depreciated slowly and get nervous about the one that depreciated fast. This is what a re-rating looks like in real time. If you own a McLaren, this is not a crisis — but it is a conversation. If you are thinking about buying one, the conversation just got interesting.

The Number

£12,400 — The average markdown on UK McLaren 600LT listings that have been advertised for more than 60 days, according to AutoTrader stock data as of Monday. Three months ago that number was £4,800.

News Desk

• Porsche confirms 911 ST production wind-down — Zuffenhausen has stopped taking orders. UK allocations closed in February. Expect the first wave of 'lightly used' examples at 2-3x MSRP by summer. Predictable.
• Aston Martin Vantage F1 Edition values softening — now £98k-£112k for late examples. Down £8-10k on Christmas. The market has remembered what a DB11 costs to service.
• Ferrari Roma Spider deliveries slow — UK dealers reporting Q1 volumes 40% below forecast. A sign of what, exactly? Of a Roma.
• RM Sotheby's London pulls F40 consignment at vendor request — second time in six months. When vendors pull cars, the market is telling you something.
• DVLA data shows Alpine A110 registrations up 18% year-on-year. The answer to a question nobody has asked since 2018 is, apparently, still the right answer.

New Release Radar

Lotus Emira V6 Final Edition — £99,500. The last of the combustion Emiras. Verdict: sensible, serious, and almost certainly the correct Emira. Used-value impact: neutral for early cars, mild downward pressure on post-2024 examples as the market concludes the Final Edition is the one to have.

Maserati GranTurismo Folgore — the electric one. £189,000. No sign yet of what this does to used Trofeo values, though the smart money says not much, because the electric one is clearly not for the people who bought the petrol one.

Dealer Watch

A dealer in Surrey has twelve Vantages. Twelve. Not a typo. They have been polishing them in rotation for four months. The message on the website still says 'arriving soon' on three of them, which is a creative interpretation of the word 'soon'. Takeaway: if you want a Vantage, the negotiating position is unusually good right now.

A Manchester specialist has quietly started taking £5k deposits against GT3 RS allocations they don't yet have. This is either a sign of returning confidence or a sign of something else entirely. We will find out in about six weeks.

What's Moving

• Porsche 991.2 GT3 Touring — firming. Clean cars with the correct options up £3-5k since February.
• McLaren 600LT — softening fast. See above.
• BMW M3 CS (G80) — holding. Surprisingly. The market has decided this is the last of something important.
• Honda NSX Mk2 — still in the denial phase of its price discovery. Will conclude eventually.

Car of the Week

2019 Porsche 911 (991.2) GT3 Touring — Crayon, 11,400 miles, £134,950 at a known Midlands specialist. Full Porsche history, two owners, PCCB delete (correct), front lift, full PPF from new. The market for these cars is firming and this one is priced £3-4k under where a comparable car would be in a week's time. Crayon is a love-it-or-leave-it colour. If you love it, stop reading and call them.

Avoid of the Week

A 2017 Mercedes-AMG GT R at £99,995 — the seller describes it as 'immaculate', which is a word that does a lot of heavy lifting in car classifieds. The car has had four owners, the service history has a twelve-month gap in 2022, and two of the AMG Performance wheels have been refurbished. The price is £6k over the current market clearing price for a clean GT R with a tidy book. Nothing wrong with the model. Everything wrong with this particular £99,995.

The Spec Clinic

James W. asks: Touring or standard wing GT3 at the same money, both 8k miles, both PCCB-equipped — which is the better long-term hold?

At the same money, take the Touring. The market has consistently paid a premium for the subtler car, and that premium is widening, not narrowing. The standard wing GT3 is the better driver's car on a track day, but it is also the car that is harder to place when the market wobbles. The Touring is the market's quiet winner. Buy the Touring. Drive it like a wing car. Have both.

Events Radar

• Goodwood Members' Meeting — 26-27 April. Tickets £90-£340. Worth going.
• Silverstone Classic entries close — 5 May. If you own something interesting, this is how it gets properly valued.
• Concours on Savile Row — 15 May. Free to attend. Good cars, surprisingly good tailoring.
• Bicester Heritage Sunday Scramble — 5 May. £25 on the gate. Always worth it, though never as quiet as you hope.

The Teaser

This month's deep-dive report drops in two weeks. The theme is McLaren's Correction — 5,000 words on what is actually happening to McLaren values in the UK, which models are safe, which models are in trouble, and the three specific cars we believe are about to become genuine buys. If you are holding a 570S, 570GT, 600LT, 720S or any of the earlier cars, this is the report to read before you do anything. Subscribers at the £35 tier get it automatically. If you are on the weekly tier, the upgrade button is sitting just above your footer.