I hate my MG4

Not pilot error at all! It is a heap of dung. Can't waIt for the PCP to finish. I have enquired how much to finish early but at £19k it's too much, good money after bad. I think a lot of MG4's be going back at the end of PCP and being replaced by proper cars.
What problems have you had ?
 
Call me a luddite, but surely the problem here is down to those that tie themselves into a vehicle for 2 or 3 years on finance. When I was a lass, we'd buy a car, own it and be free to sell if we didn't like it. If we couldn't afford it, we'd buy a cheaper / older vehicle. 🤷‍♀️ And I still do that :)
 
Call me a luddite, but surely the problem here is down to those that tie themselves into a vehicle for 2 or 3 years on finance. When I was a lass, we'd buy a car, own it and be free to sell if we didn't like it. If we couldn't afford it, we'd buy a cheaper / older vehicle. 🤷‍♀️ And I still do that :)
Same here, if I can't afford to pay for it, I don't buy it.
 
The language you're using here displays emotional irrationality.
this will be the last CHEAP NASTY CHINESE CAR i will own and i wont consider another EV until the Petrol ban officially takes affect!

You use language like cheap nasty chinese car (with or without the commas between the adjectives), people will discount your opinion (because that's all it is) as irrational ranting. Like I suggested before, less emotional, more objective language will be more persuasive.

Cheap and nasty are often used together, but there are plenty of less expensive products made in China (usually because of the economy of scale) which are superior in quality. E.g. DJI drones.
This applies to many of their cars, too.
So deciding not to buy something because it is cheap is irrational.

These cars have NOTGHING to do with Rover/MG. China bought the company for the badge to dodge EU import laws and that's as far as it goes

Here’s the breakdown of what we do know — and why that claim is almost certainly false.

What we do know about SAIC and MG Rover / MG
  • In 2004–05, SAIC negotiated a joint-venture deal with MG Rover, but the agreement collapsed and MG Rover went into administration instead. Wikipedia+2National Audit Office (NAO)+2
  • After MG Rover collapsed, Nanjing Automobile Corporation (NAC) bought the MG brand, the Longbridge plant and tooling in 2005 — not SAIC. Wikipedia+2Wikipedia+2
  • In 2007 SAIC merged with NAC, thereby obtaining the MG brand and the Longbridge heritage assets. Wikipedia+2SAIC Motor+2
  • SAIC retained intellectual property it had earlier acquired — including Rover 25 & 75 & the K-series engine rights — but not the “Rover” name itself. BMW retained (and later sold) the Rover trademark. Wikipedia+2CarNewsChina.com+2
  • Because SAIC could not legally use “Rover” as a brand, they created a new Chinese-market brand called Roewe for those former Rover-derived models. CarNewsChina.com+2Auto Retail Online+2
  • For export markets (outside China), SAIC revived the heritage MG name — leveraging its nostalgic and brand equity value for global sales. Autocar+2Wikipedia+2
Bottom line: SAIC’s control of MG today stems from its takeover of NAC (which had bought MG post-Rover collapse), not a direct rescue of MG Rover — and the branding choices followed legal and marketing logic, not a scheme to dodge import laws.

Why the “badge-buy to dodge EU import laws” theory doesn’t hold up

1. SAIC never owned MG Rover at the time of collapse
The collapse ended with NAC, not SAIC, buying MG Rover’s assets — though SAIC later absorbed NAC. So SAIC didn’t “buy Rover to dodge import laws,” SAIC inherited MG.

2. “Rover” trademark was unavailable
Even if SAIC had wanted to use “Rover,” the trademark was held elsewhere (BMW / later Ford / now Tata-owned JLR). Wikipedia+1
That forced SAIC to invent “Roewe,” demonstrating that branding was constrained by legal realities, not import laws.

3. Import-law dodge doesn’t make sense historically
  • When SAIC took over MG via NAC, China was not yet producing large volumes for global export. Their early strategy was domestic-first (Roewe). CarNewsChina.com+1
  • Export-market MG cars only emerged later with SAIC’s new global ambitions — well after the legal/ownership shuffle. Autocar+1
  • EU import laws (tariffs, emissions, safety) apply equal to domestic or foreign-made cars, so switching ownership alone wouldn’t automatically give “dodge” advantages.
4. SAIC’s publicly stated goal was global growth
Reports from 2023 show SAIC positioning MG as a global brand, exporting from China to many markets under its own manufacturing — not as some workaround to import restrictions. Autocar+1

Conclusion: The statement is misleading

The story behind MG’s resurrection under SAIC is one of corporate acquisitions, asset transfers, brand restructuring, and global marketing — not a contrived dodging of EU import laws.
Calling SAIC’s acquisition a “badge-buy” ignores the facts that NAC first took MG and that SAIC could not use the “Rover” name. The switch to MG branding for exports was a legitimate brand strategy rooted in heritage appeal and legal limitations, not regulatory evasion.
 
Nice reply Stuart, I think we are in two minds over the OP , either he/she is a dysfunctional MG4 owner or a 14 year old troll, using Chat GPT to gain some information, but either way they would have lost interest by the second paragraph.
Both grammatically challenged, which gives credence to both options. 🤷‍♂️
 
Going back to the whole cheap, nasty subject . I bought my gen1 car (without test driving it) in the full knowledge that ,being a from the ground up new model there may well be teething issues . This proved to be the case . I have had ,pretty much all of the issue mentioned many times in this forum .However I don't think cheap and nasty is a sound argument. I think whether the car (and to some degree , the dealer ) represents value for money is a more appropriate one. You can buy something Inexpensive and it can represent good value for money . You can buy something expensive and it also represent good value for money. For me buying at the time I did, when there was virtually no competition, this car has been extraordinary VFM. I'm lucky in that my dealer is 5 minutes walk from work and every issue I've had has been sorted with no fuss whatsoever and I appreciate that not everyone has had that. It's not been back for around 9 months.
I bought the car on a PCP because I don't have the cash to buy outright and even if I did I think I'd prefer to invest in an appreciating asset rather than a depreciating one but that's horses for courses. I am taking advantage of the early termination clause only because my wife like to sit a little higher than in the 4. So I'm going for an MGS5. A trophy version which is costing me £5 a month less than my MG4SE SR as I qualify for affinity and got some additional dealer support.
Anyway I've been generally happy with my car,I love driving it and its saved me a fortune ( around £8000) in fuel.
 
I don't think the car is cheap and nasty, it's about the quality you'd expect for what is cost from a physical point of view. What is absolutely it's failing (to me, and why i don't like it) is its software, it's terrible and causes almost all the issues.

The software is likely the result of disconnected teams with different agendas desiging something to tick a box. Ford CEO once talked about the issue with getting car systems from hundreds of OE suppliers to talk together as being a right old dogs dinner, so i do have some sympathy.
 
That is/was out biggest complaint, decent car drives well but the software was/and still is at times glitchy/terrible.

Then because of that the wife/company experienced terrible aftersales.
Oh yeah, i agree, the customer experience is terrible when it comes to aftersales. Sure, make it cheap, get it out the door half baked, but MG really needed to spend a little wad on getting the updates easily available to all.

This issue will bite MG in the bum, as negative sentiment gets relayed to 10 people, positive only one or two people.
 
I prefer the MG4 over my Chinese built model 3 before it, IMHO the car build quality is better by far and for me the MG software is more suited for a car than the Tesla software is albeit not as slick in operation but i will take the MG as a package all day long .
 
I don't think the car is cheap and nasty, it's about the quality you'd expect for what is cost from a physical point of view. What is absolutely it's failing (to me, and why i don't like it) is its software, it's terrible and causes almost all the issues.
Well, software, and Dealer back-up.
 
The goal of this forum is to inform and educate (and, hopefully also entertain) current and prospective MG owners on the positives and negatives of the cars. It is intended to be genuinely useful, and so fair criticism is an important element to achieve that.
That doesn't necessarily make the forum popular with MG, but they are not our 'customers' - all our readers are.
Unhappy owners who are only here to slag off the car(s), with no intention of taking advice or improving their own situation aren't going to contribute anything useful to the community. Perhaps the opposite by antagonising owners who have invested their time contributing useful information to the forum.
I would rather encourage these people to alter the way they post. But if they are unwilling to contribute helpfully to the community, then there is no place for them here.
If you've come here to learn, then you're welcome. If you've only come here to rant, then you are not welcome.
I also hope that happy customers praising their MG will also help others by answering their questions.
 
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Yeah, the problem I have with the commenter in question is that they are seeking to generalise from a single experience.

That is why we have science and not anecdote.

Yet for some reason it isn't legitimate for those of us with a positive experience to generalise.

The fact is that all cars are a risk. You might get a lemon. This has been noted for a long time. It is the reason to hang on to a reliable car when you've got one and not swap for another that could be a problem.

Of course, it is a lot of money potentially going down the drain so it is galling to the person who gets one. It is understandable that they would have an emotional reaction.

But the emotional reaction is to their own experience.

People looking for information should not base their decision on one data point (positive or negative) but instead look for the overall trends.

I think the consensus on here is that the MG4 is a perfectly decent car (lemons aside) and since release has stood out in terms of what you get for your money.
 
Before my mg4, I'd never driven an EV , I was not able to test drive one either ( I need adaptions to any car to drive it) but I would say it's the best car I've had. My old Fabia vRS had awful throttle lag, a reoccurring battery drain issue and an always present whirring noise in the cabin. the plastics were easily scratched and ugly, as was the seat fabric.

The mg4 is better in every way conceivable, it's vastly cheaper to run even with my limited mileage, is comfortable and easy to drive and has enough poke throw you back in your seat should you wish.

I've been getting around 230 per full charge (trophy long range) and that'll cost me around £10.

As has been stated before, lemons of any brand exist ( my vRS is one such car I feel)
But as long as you keep in mind it's a budget car and don't compare it to a higher end brand like BMW, it honestly isn't bad value for money.
 

Are you enjoying your MG4?

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  • I'm in the middle

    Votes: 204 15.1%
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