Collected today - bitter sweet experience

[jamherber]

Another course of action could be to get a neutral third party "car expert" to drive you car and exprerience the vibes themselves and then write you a short report to support your claim that the car is unacceptable for motorway cruising. This should hold up in any court and trump any wittering from MG that it is a "characteristic of the car".

Could be an option. We no longer have the car though as it's in the 'care' of the dealer - they have given us an MG5 loaner and it's a two hour round trip to the dealer each time so would take a lot of organising and expense. Really shouldn't have to go to these lengths but can't rule out anything with the way MG UK are treating dealers and ultimately customers.

Trouble is we really want this car / model so ideally want to work with the dealer to get a decent outcome (replacement) - our next nearest MG dealer is now a 4 hour round trip away so this would be a real PITA if we had to force a refund and buy again elsewhere. All very stressful.

 

[Bricktop X PWR]

Did they try the 40psi solution that some folk have used?

 

[jamherber]

Did they try the 40psi solution that some folk have used?

I did mention it to the master technician when speaking to him last week so they've had every opportunity to try this - the vibrations were so bad on this one though, I doubt it would have been a total cure.

 

[jamherber]

So couldn't help myself and contacted Gary Smart at MG UK to express my dissatisfaction over the issue and got the following response:-

Dear James

Thank you for contacting MG Motor UK Ltd. and I am sorry to learn of your disappointment and that your XPower is not meeting with your expectations.

The vibration that you refer to is present on all vehicles of this model, and whilst I do appreciate it is an annoyance, it is not occurring as the result of a fault.

Its presence will not cause damage or have a detrimental effect on the vehicle.

However, this doesn’t mean that we have not taken customer feedback on board and we are working at ways to adjust this and improve driver experience. We will advise our dealer network once any adjustment can be made. This won’t be a recall as there is no danger of breakdown and this isn’t a safety concern, but once available, we will make adjustments when a customer requests us to do so.

At this time, I cannot confirm exactly what or when that will be.
Thank you for your continue patience.
Yours sincerely

_______________________________________________________________________________

Gary Smart Customer Service Coordinator Aftersales

Needless to say I couldn't help myself and did respond to him!

 

[salty]

So couldn't help myself and contacted Gary Smart at MG UK to express my dissatisfaction over the issue and got the following response:-

Dear James

Thank you for contacting MG Motor UK Ltd. and I am sorry to learn of your disappointment and that your XPower is not meeting with your expectations.

The vibration that you refer to is present on all vehicles of this model, and whilst I do appreciate it is an annoyance, it is not occurring as the result of a fault.

Its presence will not cause damage or have a detrimental effect on the vehicle.

However, this doesn’t mean that we have not taken customer feedback on board and we are working at ways to adjust this and improve driver experience. We will advise our dealer network once any adjustment can be made. This won’t be a recall as there is no danger of breakdown and this isn’t a safety concern, but once available, we will make adjustments when a customer requests us to do so.

At this time, I cannot confirm exactly what or when that will be.
Thank you for your continue patience.
Yours sincerely

_______________________________________________________________________________

Gary Smart Customer Service Coordinator Aftersales

Needless to say I couldn't help myself and did respond to him!

Fob off, springs to mind. Or better still,
F off. May be a good reply to him.

 

[Daedalusminos]

I'm on the fence about buying an X-POWER, the only thing holding me back is this vibration issue.

I would have responded to Gary stating that if all X-POWERs have the vibration why isn't it stated in the advertising....and then see how many they sell.

 

[jamherber]

I'm on the fence about buying an X-POWER, the only thing holding me back is this vibration issue.

I would have responded to Gary stating that if all X-POWERs have the vibration why isn't it stated in the advertising....and then see how many they sell.

I kept the reply reasonably polite, pointing out (with evidence) that indeed not all cars are affected and how disappointed I am with the vague response on a fix.

Don’t expect a further response but feel a bit better venting my spleen!

 

[salty]

Have to admit, as much as I want an,
X Power, this whole debacle is slightly putting me off.

 

[Bricktop X PWR]

Have to admit, as much as I want an,
X Power, this whole debacle is slightly putting me off.

What else are you looking at pal?

 

[salty]

What else are you looking at pal?

Nothing in particular, as I'd set my heart on an X Power. But the vibe problem is annoying, but it's not even so much that. It's the way the Stealers and MG themselves are dealing or should I say not dealing with the the problem. From what I've read on here, they are just not interested or we've got your money,
F*** you. Shame really.

 

[Bricktop X PWR]

Nothing in particular, as I'd set my heart on an X Power. But the vibe problem is annoying, but it's not even so much that. It's the way the Stealers and MG themselves are dealing or should I say not dealing with the the problem. From what I've read on here, they are just not interested or we've got your money,
F*** you. Shame really.

I would say that if you can find one to test completely and to your satisfaction before any possible purchase, would be the way to go.
Oh and check it's at 40psi!

Honestly, if you drove mine or @Doug C's you would wonder what all the fuss was about.

 

[jamherber]

I would say that if you can find one to test completely and to your satisfaction before any possible purchase, would be the way to go.
Oh and check it's at 40psi!

Honestly, if you drove mine or @Doug C's you would wonder what all the fuss was about.

That would be the way to go! I purchased based on 2 test drives (in different cars) both unaccompanied and ‘extensive’ neither of which had vibrations so foolishly thought it was a non-problem, until driving home in our new one….

 

[tsedge]

Based on past issues, MG will get to the bottom of this and fix it. They have with everything else.

However, that's not the same as saying the fix will be easily available to retrofit to earlier cars.

With the oil leak, they came out with a fix that after several attempts finally fixed it for pretty much everyone (on retrofit), but it was a right saga to get there!

With the sagging undertray, the metal bar fix eventually appeared but is still not yet available everywhere, 18+ months later.

In both cases it took around a year or so to sort out properly, with fixes for newly built cars first in the factory before retrofitting.

It is pretty clear that it is most likely to be something related to the running gear, mostly likely unsprung mass so then one of:

• Driveshafts
• Brakes (eg discs)
• Wheels
• Tyres

An unwanted resonance or lack of balance somewhere. This is why better balanced wheels or new tyres can reduce but not eliminate it. This is why a steering damper could only mask it, if it worked at all.

There just aren't that many candidates for the cause.

 

[jamherber]

So getting really sick of this. Big update from the dealer today, officially confirming they are having to 'challenge' the rejection due to MG UK confirming that this issue is a 'characteristic' rather than a fault. It's taken them nearly 3 weeks to reach this conclusion!

Dealer said they are currently exploring more 'options' to fix it but have not specified what these are so I've asked for specifics.

To be honest this is grinding me right down so thinking of just accepting it back and if I really can't get on with the vibrations, paying for an independent report as suggested above, the go the full legal route. I guess as I've logged the 'issue' with the dealer within the 30 days, then I have evidence if I have to go this route.

Such a stressful start to ownership

 

[siteguru]

I think I asked this previously ... how did you pay for the car, and what was the total paid? (>30k or <30k)

If <£30k and you paid any part of it by finance then you have Section 75 protection. (s75 of the Consumer Credit Act 1974). This makes the credit provider jointly liable with the seller for the performance of the contract.

 

[jamherber]

I think I asked this previously ... how did you pay for the car, and what was the total paid? (>30k or <30k)

If <£30k and you paid any part of it by finance then you have Section 75 protection. (s75 of the Consumer Credit Act 1974). This makes the credit provider jointly liable with the seller for the performance of the contract.

Yep it was new so was above the £30k limit.

 

[jamherber]

So I'm arranging a back-to-back test drive with one of the dealers staff of their demo vs our car in about a weeks time in an effort to demonstrate that our new one is considerably worse - won't make a blind bit of difference but will feel like a small victory in showing them not all X-Powers are as bad as each other (MG UK's argument is basically they are all bad for vibrations so put up and shut up!)

The 'fix' they are looking into is balancing the wheels and checking for out of round tyres - I mean *** - wouldn't this be the first thing they would have checked when they got the car back 3 weeks ago? So basically there is nothing they are going to do improve it, as expected.

Had a few quotes in from independent motor engineers to do a report on the vibration issue which is the only way now I could progress this through the legal system, now that they have rejected the rejection.
Looking at around £500 plus will need some independent legal advice so that'll easily be another £500 plus the cost of a hiring a car for the duration of the progress which could be many weeks or months. I'm guessing I could claim this all back if I win, but substantial losses if the vibration is ruled as unreasonable grounds for rejection.

A really stressful situation to be honest.

 

[Robf]

So I'm arranging a back-to-back test drive with one of the dealers staff of their demo vs our car in about a weeks time in an effort to demonstrate that our new one is considerably worse - won't make a blind bit of difference but will feel like a small victory in showing them not all X-Powers are as bad as each other (MG UK's argument is basically they are all bad for vibrations so put up and shut up!)

The 'fix' they are looking into is balancing the wheels and checking for out of round tyres - I mean *** - wouldn't this be the first thing they would have checked when they got the car back 3 weeks ago? So basically there is nothing they are going to do improve it, as expected.

Had a few quotes in from independent motor engineers to do a report on the vibration issue which is the only way now I could progress this through the legal system, now that they have rejected the rejection.
Looking at around £500 plus will need some independent legal advice so that'll easily be another £500 plus the cost of a hiring a car for the duration of the progress which could be many weeks or months. I'm guessing I could claim this all back if I win, but substantial losses if the vibration is ruled as unreasonable grounds for rejection.

A really stressful situation to be honest.

Give CAB (citizens advice) a call, they will inform you of exactly what you can do, and give you free support (including letter templates).

 

[jamherber]

Give CAB (citizens advice) a call, they will inform you of exactly what you can do, and give you free support (including letter templates).

Yes will do this. If I am going to challenge it though, getting a independent report on the issue is an unavoidable first step though and will form the evidence for the rejection.

To be honest I'm not sure I've got the energy to contest this and certainly don't have the time as currently working 60+ hour weeks.

 

[leeroyb]

So couldn't help myself and contacted Gary Smart at MG UK to express my dissatisfaction over the issue and got the following response:-

Dear James

Thank you for contacting MG Motor UK Ltd. and I am sorry to learn of your disappointment and that your XPower is not meeting with your expectations.

The vibration that you refer to is present on all vehicles of this model, and whilst I do appreciate it is an annoyance, it is not occurring as the result of a fault.

Its presence will not cause damage or have a detrimental effect on the vehicle.

However, this doesn’t mean that we have not taken customer feedback on board and we are working at ways to adjust this and improve driver experience. We will advise our dealer network once any adjustment can be made. This won’t be a recall as there is no danger of breakdown and this isn’t a safety concern, but once available, we will make adjustments when a customer requests us to do so.

At this time, I cannot confirm exactly what or when that will be.
Thank you for your continue patience.
Yours sincerely

_______________________________________________________________________________

Gary Smart Customer Service Coordinator Aftersales

Needless to say I couldn't help myself and did respond to him!

The statement "The vibration that you refer to is present on all vehicles of this model" is a lie as mine is fine, no vibrations at all to concern me.