Farewell MG4 Trophy

[Deleted member 9692]

So it’s goodbye to my MG4. I collected my Tesla Model 3 yesterday. Super impressed with it on the 2.5 hour drive back from Bluewater, the Autopilot is superb.

Thanks to all (well, most) for the interactions/help/advice here. I’ll probably lurk on for a bit, @Leni16 needs some support from time to time

 

[Rolfe]

Happy motoring in your new car!

 

[PristDean]

Sounds like you are enjoying it. Please do let us know how it compares to the MG4

 

[Deleted member 9692]

Sounds like you are enjoying it. Please do let us know how it compares to the MG4

It’s exceeding expectations thus far. Much more premium feel. I have the RWD version which is 5.8 seconds to 60, it feels very rapid. Ride is a little firmer than the MG4 but it feels really nice. Handling feels excellent, brakes great, I also really like the one pedal driving personally.

Loving the tech, which all feels intuitive and reliable, the car is a lovely place to be.

Had my first OTA update yesterday, loving that.

Autopilot is light years ahead of the systems in the MG4, I used it on the way home from Bluewater yesterday and it was just about faultless, predictable, relaxing to use. Also used on my commute this morning, very impressed with it.

The interest free finance made it a very attractive proposition for me so I went for it. I also was keen to have a car that can play fart noises at passers by instead of the horn sound, that was a major factor

Adjusting the tyre pressures yesterday and every time I bent down my son is making the car fart from inside. It is properly loud, I was getting some very strange looks.

 

[bowfer]

Damn you, I want one….

 

[DBedford]

A bit like comparing chalk with cheese!

 

[jpk]

As someone who has no reason to be bias to possibly justify keeping an mg4 now what in your opinion have
been the best & worst qualities/issue's?

 

[Grriff]

I looked at the Tesla 3. It's more of a 4 door car with a small boot opening, as opposed to a lifting door. For me, I felt it was a lower car than the MG4 and more difficult to get into. I liked the model Y but its base cost is over £10,000 more than the MG4 Trophy and it's too long for our garage. I have also heard from friends that the ride in the back can be rough. I do like the idea of good reliable software though.
We are due to collect our Trophy soon and it will be interesting to compare but at the end of the day the better car is a matter of personal choice.

 

[Harry 17]

So glad that you are so excited and are relishing the Tesla.

I have decided that I too will get rid of my MG4 Trophy. However, I am going to be around 2 years behind you, mainly due to finances.

I have decided that I am going to get the BMW i4 (M40) as every review I have seen, seems to be very much in favour of it (Not to mention Bowfer seems to like it, and I will take his views on board )

I am not in a rush, I love my MG4! Which makes the wait a whole lot easier. I am also grateful to both this place and MG for the product they have produced for a relatively in expensive cost to the world of EV.

So with that, if you are still around in two years time, you will see a similar post by me regarding the end of my MG journey. I will, however, based on my experience, always sing MG praises. Who knows, I may be able to pick up a Cyberster in the future as my weekend car

 

[joanne]

I am leaving my Tesla model 3 for a MG4 trophy, I did not expect the smoothness and the kick and the comfort all together when I had a test drive with the MG
When I went back to my Tesla, even though more expensive, it felt more rigid, the MG flies over the road bumps and cannot feel them as much as in the Tesla. I do however like the Teslas interior more, I always loved the simplicity of it plus the speed, and there loads to add to the pros, but the price difference is just too much, it's just not worth it. I do hope I will feel the same after receiving the MG lol, I was super impressed while driving it. And it looks sleek too

 

[joanne]

It’s exceeding expectations thus far. Much more premium feel. I have the RWD version which is 5.8 seconds to 60, it feels very rapid. Ride is a little firmer than the MG4 but it feels really nice. Handling feels excellent, brakes great, I also really like the one pedal driving personally.

Loving the tech, which all feels intuitive and reliable, the car is a lovely place to be.

Had my first OTA update yesterday, loving that.

Autopilot is light years ahead of the systems in the MG4, I used it on the way home from Bluewater yesterday and it was just about faultless, predictable, relaxing to use. Also used on my commute this morning, very impressed with it.

The interest free finance made it a very attractive proposition for me so I went for it. I also was keen to have a car that can play fart noises at passers by instead of the horn sound, that was a major factor

Adjusting the tyre pressures yesterday and every time I bent down my son is making the car fart from inside. It is properly loud, I was getting some very strange looks.

Lol enjoy it, it's a lovely car. Wait for Christmas time, she will have a proper show for you with lights, songs and windows rolling, the fart button is just the cherry on the top, you'll love discovering new stuff and the updates are always nice, like getting a present from time to time.
I loved mine, no fault at all other than the price. And if I'm honest, the rigidity on the "lovely"roads filled with potholes. I liked the MG's smoothness when I had the test drive, my jaw dropped to the floor how good it goes and how smooth, I made my decision on the spot.
Anything notable that you would share with me about the MG to keep a look at?
With the Tesla there's not much to complain, well not anything at all to be honest, I loved it very much, just needed to lower my expenses. Plus I had the normal range, which gave me only around 200 miles and I always regretted not getting the longer range, but that would have costed me even more so overall not many regrets in the end.
Enjoy it, it's a beauty and it's extremely reliable, everything is top notch on it

 

[Rolfe]

The MG4 drives like a dream. And the whiners are vastly outnumbered by the people who love it.

 

[joanne]

The MG4 drives like a dream. And the whiners are vastly outnumbered by the people who love it.

That I can say, I loved the drive on my first seconds. My husband was looking at me like I'm crazy when I said that it's a smoother ride than the Tesla and I love it, I'll take it. And he had a go and drove it and he was speechless)

 

[Rolfe]

I had never even been in an EV before I had my test drive in the MG4. I came out with visible stars in my eyes and in no position to bargain for anything. The dealer knew I had an insurance write-off sitting in his forecourt and he had exactly the model and colour I wanted, so I was a shoo-in for full list price and if you want mats and a type 2 charger, pay for them!

I had watched a load of videos about the car and they all said the same thing. It was exactly what I wanted (Golf-sized hatchback with interesting looks), it was ten grand less than the competition, and I decided it was a no-brainer. I decided that if it really did drive that well, I was having it. Yes there are some niggles, but I absolutely love driving it.

I had a Peugeot e208 as a courtesy car a month ago. Six grand more expensive, and it was a cramped car that was quite boring to drive. So it's not all EVs that drive like the MG4, apparently.

 

[joanne]

I had never even been in an EV before I had my test drive in the MG4. I came out with visible stars in my eyes and in no position to bargain for anything. The dealer knew I had an insurance write-off sitting in his forecourt and he had exactly the model and colour I wanted, so I was a shoo-in for full list price and if you want mats and a type 2 charger, pay for them!

I had watched a load of videos about the car and they all said the same thing. It was exactly what I wanted (Golf-sized hatchback with interesting looks), it was ten grand less than the competition, and I decided it was a no-brainer. I decided that if it really did drive that well, I was having it. Yes there are some niggles, but I absolutely love driving it.

I had a Peugeot e208 as a courtesy car a month ago. Six grand more expensive, and it was a cramped car that was quite boring to drive. So it's not all EVs that drive like the MG4, apparently.

Apparently I was throwing money out of the window, because I can tell you that this car offers everything and maybe even more, if I put the smoothness as a top priority for me. Also seemed a bit more noisy at high speeds but I had no radio on at the time and that shall be settled. I love the looks, it has some resemblance with a few other cars that I find also interesting and altogether it's a win win situation for me.
Tell me about the little niggles please, it would be good to hear an honest opinion.

 

[Rolfe]

Take a damn good look under the car and see if the rear undertray is flat. Several threads about this. The aircon makes a bit of a noise, some people's opinion is that it's not excessive in their cars, but others are concerned it's a warning of a fault.

Trophy owners have a number of complaints about the phone coming unpaired from the car and instability in the infotainment software, but there are updates that seem to be addressing at least some of this. One Trophy-specific bug is that the LKA switches itself on when the central screen changes between light and dark mode. (Most people hate the LKA and turn it off before driving off, as it doesn't have a one-button on/off switch.)

Some people would like physical switches to change between regeneration modes or driving modes, but you have to tap the screen for these.

The car will not pre-heat from the app if it's plugged in but not charging, which is a pain. There are some work-rounds though, and at least one person said they'd had an update that fixed it.

The headlights come on if the sun goes behind a cloud, but there is a way to fix that. (Also, people with recent updates seem to be saying it's been fixed.)

The temperature readout on the central screen is about five degrees above what the car is actually shooting for at that setting, so if you want it at 22 you have to set it for 27. Ho hum.

The state-of-charge indicators on the central screen never change from green on most cars, although the intention seems to be that they go amber at moderately low charge and red at really low charge. Some cars do it right. Occasionally the indicator bar will go amber at a high state of charge just for fun.

It's small stuff, in general. Big stuff like the car locking people in, or leaking transmission oil, or losing power at higher speeds (possibly only the SE SR) seem to have been fixed.

 

[Deleted member 10041]

It's stil quite a list of small stuff and it all adds up to be annoying if you have a fair few of them

 

[joanne]

Take a damn good look under the car and see if the rear undertray is flat. Several threads about this. The aircon makes a bit of a noise, some people's opinion is that it's not excessive in their cars, but others are concerned it's a warning of a fault.

Trophy owners have a number of complaints about the phone coming unpaired from the car and instability in the infotainment software, but there are updates that seem to be addressing at least some of this. One Trophy-specific bug is that the LKA switches itself on when the central screen changes between light and dark mode. (Most people hate the LKA and turn it off before driving off, as it doesn't have a one-button on/off switch.)

Some people would like physical switches to change between regeneration modes or driving modes, but you have to tap the screen for these.

The car will not pre-heat from the app if it's plugged in but not charging, which is a pain. There are some work-rounds though, and at least one person said they'd had an update that fixed it.

The headlights come on if the sun goes behind a cloud, but there is a way to fix that. (Also, people with recent updates seem to be saying it's been fixed.)

The temperature readout on the central screen is about five degrees above what the car is actually shooting for at that setting, so if you want it at 22 you have to set it for 27. Ho hum.

The state-of-charge indicators on the central screen never change from green on most cars, although the intention seems to be that they go amber at moderately low charge and red at really low charge. Some cars do it right. Occasionally the indicator bar will go amber at a high state of charge just for fun.

It's small stuff, in general. Big stuff like the car locking people in, or leaking transmission oil, or losing power at higher speeds (possibly only the SE SR) seem to have been fixed.

Thank you so much for taking the time to share this with me, really appreciated!

The aircon seems noisy in the Tesla also, if it's on high, but the radio helps with it.

The LKA I always kept on by habit so no bad news here.

From what I understand there's one button on the wheel, with a star symbol if i remember correctly, where you can choose what to put as a shortcut. On Tesla all is on the screen also, not much on the steering wheel either, just the one button that you can choose from a few and I choose to use it to open the glove box as it can only be opened from the on screen, so I'm good about that too.

Can the car pre heat if not plugged at all? Or only if it's still charging?

With the undertray, do you mean it can be bulged from new, or after a lot of use? Either way, it's about luck, even with the higher classes anything can happen.

 

[Rolfe]

It's stil quite a list of small stuff and it all adds up to be annoying if you have a fair few of them

It still drives like a dream though. On the SE most of the niggles have work-rounds. I don't know how annoying the Trophy stuff is. My phone has never come unpaired even when I had to get a new handset and new SIM card. Just synchronised and started working.

 

[Deleted member 9692]

Apparently I was throwing money out of the window, because I can tell you that this car offers everything and maybe even more, if I put the smoothness as a top priority for me. Also seemed a bit more noisy at high speeds but I had no radio on at the time and that shall be settled. I love the looks, it has some resemblance with a few other cars that I find also interesting and altogether it's a win win situation for me.
Tell me about the little niggles please, it would be good to hear an honest opinion.

I was impressed with the ride quality of the MG4 when I first had it, as you say the TM3 is firmer but I actually prefer the handling of my new one.

I had many niggles, I am quite critical of my tech and I expect it to mostly just do what it needs to do without annoying me. The TM3 in that regard is superb, I love the interface, the software design, the charging experience, the customer care experience so far.

Poor software was a big annoyance for me with my MG4. Every single time I got in the car I had to select Adaptive Regen and turn off Lane Kill Assist. Pop out of the car for 30 seconds to post a letter and yup, I have to do it all over again.

Other annoyances:

1. Lack of OTA updates
2. Scheduled charging unusable
3. Temperature in the car never right. Need 5 degrees above what you normally set to get heat but then 26 too hot, 25 freezing cold again. In my TM3 and every other car I ever had, it just works!
4. Auto high beam unusable, unsafe. Works perfectly in my TM3 and in all other cars where I had it.
5. Adaptive cruise clunky, slows down far too much for corners, not smooth when braking
6. Regular software lockups requiring reboot despite many dealer visits and updates

I really liked the MG4 when I first had it and I made allowances for the fact it was new tech and there would be teething problems. In the end though, I got fed up of the poor software experience, frequent dealer visits and the unhelpful attitude of MG who control what the dealer can and can’t do (just one example, my car was delivered without sound insulation under bonnet, not noticed by me for several months. When reported to MG, they accused me of removing it and refused to rectify, this was after 10 visits in 10 months for new tyres, new brake discs, oil leak which took months to fix, bricking of my car with software updates, multiple issues still outstanding and no time scale communicated for when if ever they would be fixed.

There are many owners who have had better experience than me of course but ultimately I knew I needed a different product and would pay more to get it. I feel like for me it was the right decision and I’m extremely happy now.

Sincerely hope you have a great experience.