Has anyone managed to switch on A/C remotely?

[Rolfe]

Actually three times today. (Yes, it's brass monkeys here.) First time of asking, not a hiccup.

 

[Cabansail]

I have used it a few times when at college and the car is hot. Just wake the car up and turn on the A/C so it's cool(er) when I get back. It only turns on for 10min at a time. When it's about 38 degrees outside then it would probably closer to 50 inside. It is down to about 28-30 when I get to the car.

I more often forget and then I am annoyed for forgetting.

 

[Cabansail]

Forgot to add I have never had a problem with ice on my windscreen.

There is a fix for that, something to do with adjustment of your geographical coordinates. Give t a try.

 

[tsedge]

You won't let us in any more though, right? I think I missed my boat (literally) in the late 90s.

 

[StuartT]

Aha! It’s working today!

Now.. if only you could switch on steering wheel heating remotely too!

 

[tsedge]

I don't know if anyone mentioned it but the iSmart App depends on the car having a good 4G signal on its network or requests won't go through reliably.

There is an option to connect your car to your Wifi, if the local signal is poor.

Mine has pretty much always just worked, so I think the MG servers malfunctioning is pretty rare these days, though always possible.

 

[mg4mc]

There is an option to connect your car to your Wifi, if the local signal is poor.

Which, afaik, only works when the infotainment system is running. So as much use as a....

 

[Panther]

I think I'll try connecting to house wifi as cell signals can be a bit patchy.

Which, afaik, only works when the infotainment system is running. So as much use as a....

Well that messes that one up then !!

 

[nogbad]

It's a very frosty morning and I decided to try out the remote heating option using the iSmart iOS appl. But after several attempts I have given up. None of the options work, seat heating, windscreen heating, A/C control. I've tried remotely locking/unlocking the car but nothing fixes it.

Instead, all I get is this rather bafflingly mistranslated error message.

Any ideas? Have any of you managed to get this feature to work? Doesn’t seem there’s a whole lot of point in having a remote control that you have to actually go outside and start the car before you can use it!!

I fired it up yesterday, and a bit of heated seat too, and it was glorious

 

[EvTek23]

I remotely turned the A/C on for two 10 minute sessions yesterday morning from the house, still frost at the top of the windscreen though, it was a very cold night and the car was facing outwards as I'd had it on charge as well.
On the way home from work too I turned it on from the train. I did a scan to check the inside and outside temperatures then switched it on, so when I got to the car it was warm and any light frost had melted.

 

[Rolfe]

Aha! It’s working today!

Now.. if only you could switch on steering wheel heating remotely too!

Aha! After working perfectly all week, including when the car hadn't moved for over 48 hours, this morning, a mere 13 hours after it was last driven and only 5 hours after it finished charging - the car is sound asleep and unresponsive to the app.

 

[decrep]

I think Basil Faulty would give it a good kick.
Dr Who was inclined to give it a calibrated thump.
Just be careful of the paint work.

 

[MG Clive]

I expect to try mine tomorrow for the first time this year, but it worked perfectly last year.

As expected, mine worked ok this morning, just as well because it was -2 degrees, and well frosted up, so it took a couple of minutes more than it's allotted 10 minutes, but all good.

 

[tsedge]

Which, afaik, only works when the infotainment system is running. So as much use as a....

Ah, I have never used the Wifi, that's silly.

 

[Kithmo]

I have used it a few times when at college and the car is hot. Just wake the car up and turn on the A/C so it's cool(er) when I get back. It only turns on for 10min at a time. When it's about 38 degrees outside then it would probably closer to 50 inside. It is down to about 28-30 when I get to the car.

I more often forget and then I am annoyed for forgetting.

FWIW, you can actually run it twice before it prevents you from using it again (to preserve the 12v), so you can get 20 minutes of cooling (or heating) out of it.

 

[Rolfe]

Once I had unlocked and relocked mine remotely this morning (through the wall between the house and the garage - I didn't have to go outside) the battery heating worked perfectly. Then I asked it to heat the cabin and it said it was doing it - and didn't.

This annoying fault, which was supposed to have been fixed by a software update at the last service, is still present. The car was plugged in but not charging, and still, in this situation, it will not heat.

I was initially misled by the software update. Before that, the car would reject the command from the app and I'd know it wasn't heating. After I got the update the car appeared to accept the command from the app and I thought all was OK. That was in May. Obviously, I didn't need the facility again till now. It's still faulty.

Does anyone know which software update needs to be applied to get this to work? I'm going to a new dealer and I think he'd appreciate a pointer.

 

[GaryMG4]

After using the car yesterday the screen defrosted beautifully this morning so maybe it had gone into deep sleep mode.

 

[Lollipopman]

Mine has worked flawlessly all week on my hs phev 2025 model. So comfortable to get into when all defrosted and warmed up and the 10 minutes before auto switch off is just enough that's why when I have set things going I just log back out straight away.