In order to clarify the support you can expect from MG Motors Ltd on this and many other matters relating to the defective software, I have copied the text of a letter I sent to MG on 25 July 2025 :-
To : MG Customer Support, MG Motors UK
MG4 Trophy LR – PN72 FFL
We have now owned our 2022 MG4 Trophy LR for four months and we can honestly say that it is far and away the most dangerous vehicle we have had the misfortune to drive. The journey home from the dealer in Oldham where we purchased the car on 28 March 2025 was bad enough as we did not know how to disable the wretched lane-assist software which repeatedly tried to steer my wife into the nearside kerb or ditch. The software (and the connected cameras) are not fit for purpose, clearly designed by clueless geeks and not properly tested prior to production. The driver has little control over the behaviour of the car which is what makes the car so dangerous on the road. The so-called ‘safety features’ which the totally dysfunctional software has incorporated in order to achieve an NCAP 5-star safety rating don’t work properly. They have the opposite effect on the driver’s ability to control the car safely. We cannot believe that cars like this are allowed to be sold in the UK with such dangerous software defects
On the evening of 26 June 2025, the car gave us the fright of our lives. We were driving home at around 9.30pm along a clear, straight, tarmac, suburban road with a 30mph speed limit, a white line down the middle and kerbs on either side. I was maintaining 30mph up a slight incline with another car behind us. There were no cars in front of us, no parked cars on either side of the road and no oncoming vehicles. All of a sudden, the car slammed its brakes full on and brought the car to an abrupt halt for no reason at all that either of us could see (see Photo 1 below). How the car behind us avoided running into the back of us, I don’t know but he/she must have thought we were drunk or stupid (we were neither). The ELK was disabled but some of the other ‘safety’ functions were enabled by default. We have regularly had the car brake suddenly for no reason, especially when travelling through contraflow road works with oncoming vehicles waiting at the lights on the opposite side of the road. The software thinks that the car is heading for a head-on collision so brakes hard before the driver has a chance to steer the car through the chicane. This is not a safety feature, it is bonkers and effectively removes any control the driver has over what is a simple manoeuvre. As a 73 year old IAM Advanced Driver and a former saloon car racing driver, I wonder whatever happened to driver skill and responsibility. Who will be to blame when the software causes an accident?
It appears that the car’s software is not clever enough to ‘remember’ or record the reason it had for slamming the brakes on with no visible hazard. I recall seeing some message in RED that flashed up on the driver’s screen as the brakes were slammed on and I think the touchscreen briefly showed a picture of the road in front of us but both of these disappeared within seconds of the car being brought to a stop. We both sustained chest bruising from the seat belts in addition to the trauma of having the car decide to stop dead suddenly for no reason. With the ELK enabled, the car is a nightmare to drive on country roads in County Durham with constant beeping and braking for no reason other than the cameras’ and software’s inability to interpret the intermittent appearance and disappearance of a white line on the N/S or O/S or both. The car’s software was updated to the latest version at our local MG Dealership on 1 May 2025
The car was booked in yesterday at Croxdale Durham MG because of the sudden braking incident described above (see also Photo 1 below) but they refused to check for faults. The Service Manager confirmed that no further updates to the software are currently available
The behaviour of the software in this car is totally unpredictable. When you get in the car in the morning, you have no idea what settings the heating / air-conditioning will be engaged. They are rarely what we left them at the previous day. Similarly, the radio station chosen the previous day has rarely been remembered so some horrible pop station comes blaring out. Speed limit recognition is completely random and wrong at least 50% of the time. Totally useless. Binding my phone to the car took weeks and remote action by MG Customer Services was required to clear the previous owner’s attachment to the car. Every few days I have to pair the car with my phone as it seems incapable of retaining the pairing for more than a few days. Really annoying
For some unknown reason, turning at a junction activates cameras showing a totally useless view of the tarmac at the side of the car. Why do the software designers think this is a safety feature and an acceptable alternative to looking out of the window? It is madness and like the wretched ELK software, it is a useless distraction that adds absolutely nothing to safe driving
The other day, I got in the car and noticed that the touchscreen was dead, not displaying key information and not allowing disabling of the ELK. The car had been charged overnight to 80% charge but this was not displayed on the touchscreen. The radio station and heater/aircon settings were also not displayed. The driver’s screen confirmed the level of charge and ELK engaged even though this was not shown on the touchscreen. I drove a few miles and then got out of the car and locked it. I unlocked it but the dead touchscreen persisted. I took photos of the screens and drove the car to my destination with the wretched ELK bleeping and swerving the car all over the road. Returning to the car later, the fault had rectified itself and the touchscreen was working normally. There is clearly something seriously wrong with the software in this car and it is not fit for purpose
The MG EV Forum is full of similar experiences of sudden braking across the last few years. These dangerous cars should be taken off the road until the manufacturer can fix the software to return the car's controls to the driver. Trying to make a car safer to be driven by blind and incompetent drivers is a pointless and dangerous exercise. Whatever happened to driver skill and responsibility? Who is to blame when your car decides to slam the brakes on for no reason and the car behind crashes into you? Chasing NCAP 5-star safety ratings has led to bonkers software controls that are unsafe. There is a conspiracy of silence on this matter from MG Motors Ltd. My exchange of e-mails with you are simply frustrating and totally unacceptable
During my last visit to my local MG Dealership, I was told that the software is not covered by the manufacturer’s warranty and they reserve the right to charge us £144 to poke around in the car’s computer brain and more than likely tell us that there is nothing wrong with the car. Opinion on The MG EV Forum suggests that software faults are covered by the manufacturer’s warranty so we do not expect an invoice for the work to correct the car’s defective software
Regards
Philip & Joy Newbold
This is the reply I received from MG Customer Services by e-mail on 29 August 2025 :-
Good afternoon,
I hope you are well.
We are sorry to hear of the recent experiences you have had with your vehicle.
In response to your complaint, please see below:
The safety features are an addition to the vehicle.
As it stands, these cannot be removed permanently however, I passed it to the team as a suggestion and feedback for future models and updates.
These features can be removed at the start of every journey, I appreciate that this can cause inconvenience to yourself.
If you ever find yourself in a situation where the vehicle has slammed the brakes on without there being anything in front, please note the time and notify an MG dealership of your findings for further testing.
If you are ever in a situation where this occurs and you do not feel safe to drive the vehicle, you are entitled to free MG assist, they can advise or recover the vehicle if it is deemed undriveable, they can be contacted on 0800072338.
Unfortunately, until an update is released to turn these safety features off (which I cannot guarantee), to stop this from happening, at the start of every journey, I advise you to turn off the safety features which have caused you problems.
I apologise that we could not assist further currently.
Kind regards,
Chelsea
MG Customer Service
Aftersales
