Just Cancelled My Order

[Samoyed]

The straw that broke the camel's back was the member who posted the checklist of faults to check for when picking up your car (I even added to it)
It dawned on me, even though my car may have none of those faults and they would be fixed under guarantee, I'm simply not prepared to take the risk.

It has become absurd, almost like a Monty Python sketch, : Remember to check for the ten things that may be wrong with your brand new car when you pick it up, and don't forget to check for the oil leak after 200 miles of driving !
What will happen in a year if these are the first month's faults ?

I wish everyone luck, we had set our hearts on this car, but sadly it's not to be.

 

[Aquila]

I'm thinking of doing the same, I can't afford to be without a car, their appears to be a lot of people now with the oil leak and still nothing from any dealer or MG on the matter but plenty from disgruntled customers understandably....I'll give it another week in the hope of a concrete answer but if it's still unclear what the problem is....I'm out.

 

[Ian Key]

I think a lot of people feel the same as you do and I'm not going to criticise your decision. I must admit I keep wondering if I've made the right decision and the only thing that stops me doing the same as you is that I still have 3 months before delivery.
They reasons I haven't yet are:
MG and or their dealers seem to be active in sorting out the oil leak.
The software should be having an update at the end of this month.
The undertray bulge has been recognised as a defect and will be corrected.
Every car I've had, all of which have been used, has had a defect of some sort but nothing that hasn't been correctable.

 

[StackH]

I have to be honest, I am getting a little apprehensive and have considered cancelling or at least asking for my order to be moved to a later shipment. If I take the latter option then there is a financial impact because my current car will need another service and MOT in the meantime (as well as depreciating a bit more). And of course there's no guarantee that later shipments won't have their own issues.

Having been fortunate to own a number of new cars over the last 20 or so years, it's very rare that there isn't some kind of warranty issue in the first year. Some have been really minor (e.g. loose trim) and some have been fairly worrying (e.g. recall for brakes). The difference this time is that the issues are coming to light before I get the car, not once I've already taken delivery.

It's a tough decision.

 

[the briggie]

I must admit I keep wondering if I've made the right decision and the only thing that stops me doing the same as you is that I still have 3 months before delivery.

Ditto. Each day is a swither day at the moment...faults/teething problems V what else is out there in my price bracket/timescales

Alan

 

[Hallix73]

I am due my car in around 10 days so I have emailed him with my concerns about the leak and undertray etc. To make sure that all OK and to check these at PDI or I wont accept until they have done them. Asked them to drain oil and refill with less amount as per MG instruction.

 

[AndyM]

Has anybody taken the nuclear option and returned a car already delivered?

 

[siteguru]

I am due my car in around 10 days so I have emailed him with my concerns about the leak and undertray etc. To make sure that all OK and to check these at PDI or I wont accept until they have done them. Asked them to drain oil and refill with less amount as per MG instruction.

Ditto - I emailed my dealer Wednesday evening (this week), attaching photos from here and letting them know that these need to be sorted. (The sales guy wasn't working yesterday so he won't see it until this morning).

Edit: and I've just had a call back - he got my email and passed it on to the service department. He said they've had circulars from MG (but didn't specify) and will make sure everything is done per the book before my car is handed over.

 

[DON]

Problem I am buying my MG4 from Chorley some 230miles away! I would not trust my local dealer to clean my car let alone do any warranty work, so if there is an oil problem my nearest other dealer is 35miles would they carry out the warranty work? would they supply a loan car probably not, think I need to speak to Chorley re oil problem, hopefully the car will be checked before I collect,

 

[siteguru]

Well @Miles Roberts CG frequents this forum, so you should be able to get proper info "from the horse's mouth"

 

[ippy1]

The thing I can’t understand, they have already sold thousands of Mulan’s In China, presumably from the same factory, but not a hint of problems, how can that be?
Maybe they keep a lid on it over there.

 

[Nerdy]

Tough decision. For me too now MG4 no longer top of list.

This would be a rare purchase for us - we intend to keep this car for 10 years.

Really like the design, drive and tech (of the trophy), but feel cannot risk it at present. The dealership network locally also untested. If it's anything like when we arranged a test drive, it doesn't look promising.

 

[Cocijo]

I will be surprised if the MG4 turns out to be a lemon with lots of issues. I had one of the early ZS EV’s and although it did have some issues, overall it was a good car - quite well built for the money. I would expect the MG4 to be the same.
First editions can be problematic, but as someone mentioned this model have been around for a while now outside the UK. I wonder where it is built compared to other MG models?
These are relatively speaking cheap cars, so is it reasonable to expect some corner cutting and slight quality issues (trims not quite right etc)?
I had one of the early Tesla Model 3’s and although a great car, build quality, fit and finish and overall reliability were very poor - and it cost over £60k!
From the list of potential issues that I’ve seen the only major concern is the potential for an oil leak (which I would suggest MG will be very aware by now) - the other items can be quite easily put right if needed.
My main challenge to MG would be to improve customer service and in particular dealer service levels.
Also remember that forums by their very nature can produce a distorted view of how bad a car can be.

 

[ippy1]

Actually thinking about the last post regarding the Mulan’s, perhaps the exported cars are wax oiled to prevent corrosion. This could start melting when the casings get hot?
But if that’s the case, why start replacing oil?

 

[hamd01]

I feel slightly guilty as it was me who created/posted the checklist.

I guess all new cars, let alone new models can have issues. The theory I'm working on at the moment is that by the time mine arrives (3 months), the dealers should have a solid PDI list of items that need resolving (not just checking).

The only issue that worries me is the oil one. I cannot be without a vehicle, and if its leaking oil, its not a 10 minute fix whilst you wait in the showroom.

Im reserving judgment a little longer to be honest.

 

[Ian Key]

I think a lot of the problems can be prevented by the dealers either getting proper support from MG and passing the information to the buyer or taking the time to properly do the PDI check and questioning MG if something doesn't seem right like the under tray not being flat.
Before you think I'm blaming the dealers, I'm not, but some are letting them down by just going after the profit and not worried about repeat buinesss generated by good customer service.

 

[Oberoy]

I feel slightly guilty as it was me who created/posted the checklist.

I guess all new cars, let alone new models can have issues. The theory I'm working on at the moment is that by the time mine arrives (3 months), the dealers should have a solid PDI list of items that need resolving (not just checking).

The only issue that worries me is the oil one. I cannot be without a vehicle, and if its leaking oil, its not a 10 minute fix whilst you wait in the showroom.

Im reserving judgment a little longer to be honest.

Agreed at this stage the only significant issue seems to be the oil leak, this is a completely new platform and the basis for the future of MG so I would be surprised if it is not resolved. As I see it MG can't afford for this issue to remain unresolved or cause early adopters long term problems. Much of this is down to the customer service given while it's resolved this seems to have been generally good, and where it hasn't seems to have been down to the specific dealership.
I could eat my words in the future, for now I am sticking with my order of what appears to be a great car even without the fact it's tremendous value.

 

[Cocijo]

Actually thinking about the last post regarding the Mulan’s, perhaps the exported cars are wax oiled to prevent corrosion. This could start melting when the casings get hot?
But if that’s the case, why start replacing oil?

I would be very surprised if MG underbody wax any of their cars.

 

[Samoyed]

I feel slightly guilty as it was me who created/posted the checklist.

I guess all new cars, let alone new models can have issues. The theory I'm working on at the moment is that by the time mine arrives (3 months), the dealers should have a solid PDI list of items that need resolving (not just checking).

The only issue that worries me is the oil one. I cannot be without a vehicle, and if its leaking oil, its not a 10 minute fix whilst you wait in the showroom.

Im reserving judgment a little longer to be honest.

No don't feel guilty at all, on another day making the check list is exactly the type of thing I would do.
I don't have the luxury of the three month wait (two weeks)
Maybe I should have carried on with the purchase but I just have a bad feeling now, and I do feel sorry for any early buyers now experiencing problems.

 

[tsedge]

The straw that broke the camel's back was the member who posted the checklist of faults to check for when picking up your car (I even added to it)
It dawned on me, even though my car may have none of those faults and they would be fixed under guarantee, I'm simply not prepared to take the risk.

It has become absurd, almost like a Monty Python sketch, : Remember to check for the ten things that may be wrong with your brand new car when you pick it up, and don't forget to check for the oil leak after 200 miles of driving !
What will happen in a year if these are the first month's faults ?

I wish everyone luck, we had set our hearts on this car, but sadly it's not to be.

What I would say to those who haven’t yet cancelled is that the reason you have a list of things to look for is more down to the quality of the community here than the car.

All new cars have a bunch of issues in the first batch, especially in software. This is common. But most of the time people just don’t know and are oblivious when ordering.

Most of these issues are minor and don’t affect the usage of the car. The exception is the oil leak because it is taking cars off the road. But even there many manufacturers have had serious issues such as wheels falling off, safety recalls and more shortly after launch.

If you don’t want a car with issues like this, buy something that had been on sale for 2 years. It won’t be the latest and greatest but it will be debugged.

MG do need to respond on the oil leak soon and clarify the causes and if there will be a recall. If they don’t, more will cancel.