I think its very bold to buy a 6 year old McLaren. Some of the bills reported are eye watering and frankly is the whole business actually viable as we head into a world of EV's? I wonder if the likes of McLaren or Aston Martin can actually stomach the development costs against the likes of Porsche, AMG, Ferrari, Lamborghini etc who all are part of much larger groups sharing development and production costs.
I am not even convinced there's that much of a role for these 600bhp class supercars in a world where a Tesla 3 Performance can out drag V8's. Top speed has been redundant as a metric for some time as the Autobahn unrestricted network shrinks and gets ever more congested.
For me the attraction of the Emira is that it has full factory support/warranty from a company bankrolled by Geely and there is nothing overly exotic about any of the engines, transmissions and construction. The AMG is good for 4.2 seconds to 60 and a top speed I will never test - don't really see the point in spending more to get incremental performance gains at the expense of very low production run V8 turbos and carbon tubs etc. The scissor doors are nice but then the Emira hardly lacks drama or beauty in its styling.
I keep running alternatives through my head but it comes back to a Porsche that looks rather common, or a Ferrari/McLaren which will have bills/warranty costs out of all proportion to the benefit over the Lotus. Plus Lotus is a bit more left field and a bit less lottery winner.
Remember that a new Ferrari comes with seven years' free servicing (yes, that's transferrable) and bought new or used from a main dealer comes with a minimum of two years warranty. I've had my 2018 Ferrari 488 for 18 months now, and the running costs (ex fuel of course!) have so far totalled £50 for the MOT. No mechanical issues whatsoever, and I've done nearly 5000 miles in that time including a roadtrip to Adenau, the Nürburgring and Spa Francorchamps for the Belgium Grand Prix. And it's not just about top speed or acceleration, nor is the performance gain incremental; it's another level entirely. Drive one and you'll understand. Utterly exhilarating.
My used 2017 991.2 Carrera 4S, bought a month earlier has cost me nearly £1,800 in servicing in that time. It had a major coolant system failure; the whole thing was thankfully replaced under warranty, but that would have been thousands.
My 2009 Elise SC bought a few months later, has cost me nearly £2,500 in servicing and repairs in a year (admittedly including fitment of racing harnesses), and still has lots of things that just don't work (no aircon, no lighting on the heater control panel etc.)
For me, the Ferrari has been the bargain of the bunch. And it's appreciated enough since I bought it that right now I'd get all my money back if I sold it. And, perhaps surprisingly, insurance is only a little more expensive than the 911, for up to 7,000 miles per year.