If you had your time over again?

[Cliff Mitchell]

I keep up with the information on the forum - I regularly check on topics which help me with understanding the car a little better. If you were new to the purchasing of a EV thing, reading this forum could put you off. Great detail, great information, but as a general overview, lots of negativity. From my perspective, after owning a lot of cars over a lot of time, the MG ZS EV is a great car, totally different and fun to drive. I find myself creating reasons to drive somewhere, just for the fun of it.

If I had my time over again, knowing what I know now - I would most certainly, without hesitation buy the MG all over again.

 

[SCB86]

Mine is 8 months old and it's spent nearly 2 of those months off the road. Terrible dealer and as for the car you get what you pay for.
I'm rejecting it and I get my new Kona Electric at the end of the year.

 

[Michael Holt]

Not had my MG ZS EV long but really love it. I also will make any excuse to pop out in it just so that I can drive it. It's my first EV and the fact it's the cheapest and still knocks spots off any ICE car I've ever owned shows, for me at least, just how brilliant EVs are.

 

[RichardC]

I have had my MG since June and it is a lovely car. Owning an EV is a completely different driving experience and it is great to drive, so much better than my ICE MGZS and that was a good car.

I have saved money in road tax and fuel costs even in the short period I have owned it. Whilst there are other cars with a greater range, the MG suits my lifestyle as I have only driven 120 miles this week. Using free chargers is very satisfying. The charging network is developing rapidly and during our recent long trip in the car we only had one charging problem.

The only thing that I would possibly do different, with hindsight, would be not to get a home charger fitted as I don’t think that I do the weekly mileage to justify one.

 

[LeoRBK]

I have had my ZS EV for one month and covered 900+ miles. Very happy with the purchase and would recommend the car to anyone. There are two quality issues I have encountered, A pillar rattle, brake squeal when reversing but they do not affect my driving and I plan to get them addressed whenever I visit the dealer next.
Sales process with my dealer was smooth. I am yet to experience after sales support, so cannot comment.

The car is a balanced package. It is comfortable, has ample performance for driving pleasure and delivers advertised summer range.
I have had mixed responses from people I meet for the MG badge. A mix of inquisitiveness and dismissals.

There are few aspects MG could have done a better job in their design,
MG Pilot system, the car accelerates too fast of the mark and brakes hard. If you increase the distance to the front car to max on the stalk, the system does not detect if a car in front is slowing down until it is very close to you and then it has to apply hard brakes. This makes the system a bit jerky in stop start traffic. I would have liked radar with a longer range in the front.

You can hear the relays switching over in cabin , should have put in better insulation.

Rear parcel tray, loose and can generate rattle. I think this is a poorly executed design.

In the first few weeks I found myself being extra vigilant and looking for problems in the car. It was as if I was expecting problems, it was partly due to the fact that we read so much about problems other users face on the forum. I had to force myself to chill and enjoy the car which I find myself doing now.

In the past every new product I owned had issues. A few could be glanced over and a few make for a bad ownership experience in the long term (mix of budget and premium brands). People who have had to reject the car due to a bad experience are right in doing so because personal satisfaction matters. This does not reflect on the ownership experience of the wider community, many satisfied customers do not find any reason to pen it down.

 

[jamesie]

I think if I had read this site prior to buying my ZS EV then I would have been put off.

It's the nature of this type of forum to get members posting their problems looking for solutions and/or reassurance. These far outweigh members posting good experiences, which is a shame.

My own experience of 8 months ownership and 4000 miles is good. I enjoy driving the car and experiencing the cost savings over my previous ICE vehicles. Is the car perfect? No. But then none of my previous cars were perfect either

I feel sorry for those that have had major issues and had difficulties getting problems fixed. However, these things happen regardless of make and model.

 

[Steptoe]

Much of my working life and DIY projects have involved electricery and so it seemed a natural step to move to the simplicity of electric propulsion (ignoring the frustrations of fault-finding!!)

Another bump along the road towards EVs was my previous ICE vehicle developing an annoying gearbox issue after 26K miles.

So far I've not been disappointed and with my low annual mileage may never be......"crossing fingers"....

 

[Cliff Mitchell]

I'm starting to feel a little better. So far 5 for and 1 against (not including LeoRBK I'll only give that a 50/50).

I am happy to see there are a number of people out there who have the same feeling I have, about the car and the forum.

I really agree with the following - I felt the same way (leoRBK)

In the first few weeks I found myself being extra vigilant and looking for problems in the car. It was as if I was expecting problems, it was partly due to the fact that we read so much about problems other users face on the forum. I had to force myself to chill and enjoy the car which I find myself doing now.

Very insightful

 

[Lovemyev]

These far outweigh members posting good experiences, which is a shame.

This is a common fact of life really.
If people are happy with their choice, they tend to keep it to themselves, unless asked.
Unlike, when people are disappointed in some way, then they want to tell the whole world !.
I have owned many many cars over my driving life and generally I have been pretty lucky and happy with most of them.
Some have been better than others of course !.
I never thought I would see the day, when I would be driving a MG powered by electric.
We are all aware that the car has a few issues, that have been well commented on.
Some unlucky customers have found it necessary to reject their cars, which is very sad.
I leaves a very bitter taste after putting your faith into the brand.
But I have to say, that in a few cases people have been totally let down by the after sales service on the car.
A lot of the issues surrounding the car are totally rectified IF you have a dealer who has the skills and ability to deal with them.
As we know, many cars develop problems, but if these issues get resolved quickly and to the customers satisfaction, then faith is quickly restored in the car.
My car is now 18 months old and covered 13,000 miles, we find it very comfortable and the EV driving experience can not be matched by many ICE cars, in my opinion.
The car has the potential to be a HUGE HUGE seller for MG, but the after sales service at some dealers is nothing short of woeful.
The learning curve is just to deep for them to climb, with regards to the EV side of things that is perfectly clear to me.
The better after sales service, can be found at the dealers who have previous experience of working on earlier EV’s like the Nissan Leaf etc I think.
There is no excuse for the other dealers NOT to be able to rectify any of the non EV side issues successfully, simple stuff like rattles etc etc.
The ZS model has been around a while now, so in this regard it is NOT a new model for them to deal with and should easy to deal with the problems successfully.
Selling the car is easy part, retaining that customer, is where the skill sits !.
People often stay loyal to a brand and return time and time again IF they feel they are looked after.
Others vote with their feet and rarely return.

 

[Chrispydoc]

I'm very happy with it after 18 months..........I'd only change it for a EV with better range....if that could be another ZS EV..then great...but I am currently looking at other Ev's.

 

[bloggsy]

I'm starting to feel a little better. So far 5 for and 1 against (not including LeoRBK I'll only give that a 50/50).

I am happy to see there are a number of people out there who have the same feeling I have, about the car and the forum.

I really agree with the following - I felt the same way (leoRBK)

In the first few weeks I found myself being extra vigilant and looking for problems in the car. It was as if I was expecting problems, it was partly due to the fact that we read so much about problems other users face on the forum. I had to force myself to chill and enjoy the car which I find myself doing now.

Very insightful

Hi Cliff - I'm 'for' as well!

I am very fortunate in that this is the wife's car and we use it for 'local' journeys which suits it perfectly. I've changed my Outlander for a Skoda Enyaq (apologies if you know it but for those that don't, this is an electric SUV with a range of 300 miles) for the longer journeys so there's nothing I would/could change except maybe buy it slightly earlier so I could have got the full £5000 grant!

As it's been said before - relax and enjoy the drive!

Cheers

Bloggsy

 

[Alb]

For me it was the right car at the right time so I'd change nothing.
I admin another car forum that's been running for 15 years now so there's a huge membership base. Ownership experience is overwhelmingly positive but 90% of discussion still revolves around the few problems that occur. It's just human nature.

 

[Gomev]

I guess all other EVs must be perfect, because I don't read their forums.

Perhaps I should. but why would I ?

 

[Cliff Mitchell]

The reason I made the original post was that a friend of mine was considering buying an MG PHEV. We talked about the concerns a lot of people have about the quality of vehicles built in China. I told him of my experience and spoke about the great information I was able to get from this forum, then he asked me for the forum address, that's when I hesitated. Again referring to LeoRGK's comment, I didn't want him to be put off by, lets call it the Human Nature displayed in some posts.

 

[Cocijo]

it’s really worthwhile at least once to look through other EV forums and get a flavour. They are generally all very similar In that they contain more neg than pos by their very nature. They are very useful for getting info and gaining knowledge but not an accurate representation of how good a car is because they mostly contain posts from owners who have an issue and want to find out more. All cars have issues. Forums do bring out some consistent messages. One that is taken from here for me is the weakness and inconsistency of the MG dealer network. Another is that most owners really like their cars.

 

[ARealHuman]

I like the car, it has a few niggles like all things, dealership knowledge is lacking (not just mine but as seen on the many posts on here). I would buy another MG from a different dealer if the price was right, as it was when I bought mine. I didn't go looking for an MG in particular, but price, the deal on offer at the time, and availability swung it for me. No regrets other than the scratchy finish on the car from the supplying dealer

 

[SCB86]

I have had my ZS EV for one month and covered 900+ miles. Very happy with the purchase and would recommend the car to anyone. There are two quality issues I have encountered, A pillar rattle, brake squeal when reversing but they do not affect my driving and I plan to get them addressed whenever I visit the dealer next.
Sales process with my dealer was smooth. I am yet to experience after sales support, so cannot comment.

The car is a balanced package. It is comfortable, has ample performance for driving pleasure and delivers advertised summer range.
I have had mixed responses from people I meet for the MG badge. A mix of inquisitiveness and dismissals.

There are few aspects MG could have done a better job in their design,
MG Pilot system, the car accelerates too fast of the mark and brakes hard. If you increase the distance to the front car to max on the stalk, the system does not detect if a car in front is slowing down until it is very close to you and then it has to apply hard brakes. This makes the system a bit jerky in stop start traffic. I would have liked radar with a longer range in the front.

You can hear the relays switching over in cabin , should have put in better insulation.

Rear parcel tray, loose and can generate rattle. I think this is a poorly executed design.

In the first few weeks I found myself being extra vigilant and looking for problems in the car. It was as if I was expecting problems, it was partly due to the fact that we read so much about problems other users face on the forum. I had to force myself to chill and enjoy the car which I find myself doing now.

In the past every new product I owned had issues. A few could be glanced over and a few make for a bad ownership experience in the long term (mix of budget and premium brands). People who have had to reject the car due to a bad experience are right in doing so because personal satisfaction matters. This does not reflect on the ownership experience of the wider community, many satisfied customers do not find any reason to pen it down.

The cruise control acceleration changes depending what mode you're in. In Eco it accelerates much more gently than in Sport.

The MG was my first EV and it has opened my eyes to how amazing they are. I currently have a £50K Mercedes GLC diesel as a hire car whilst my MG is fixed. It has a 9 speed gearbox that is great at making the best choice for economy but if you ask it to kick down it usually has to kickdown 3-4 gears. It's not very smooth either. It cost me £255 in diesel over a month.
With an EV there is no gears so it's as smooth as hot honey running down a gangplank. I don't pay for my electricity and have so far done nearly 7K miles for free.
I also love how quiet they are compared to even the best ICE cars.
So I do at least owe MG that.

 

[Kithmo]

Mine's been perfect for my needs, 6 miles a day local urban trips, with a couple of trouble free trips to the coast last year, charging once on a rapid, just for the experience. 60% of my charging is free at Tescos the other is done at home including a once every 4-6 weeks balance.
The car has performed as expected, with only the clicking steering fault and a couple of little quirks that just needed a squirt of silicone spray lubricant, sticky door handle and sticky folding mirror when frosty. A bit of surface rust on the front chassis members got a squirt of WD40.
Would I do it again, yes definitely, it's a whole lot of car for the money and there's nothing can touch it on value.

 

[Electrifried]

As another poster stated the nature of these forums generally focus on the negative side, some of which is misplaced or misinformed. On the positive side these forums are good for sharing info, good or bad. I have learned more about updates and other aspects of the car thru this forum than I have from MG UK or my Dealer and they are not that bad but could be better if they informed the customer of exactly what they have done to your car.
I am in the situation where we have just purchased another EV simply because we have found the range on the ZS is not suiting our needs for future use. No other reason because I simply cannot fault the car except range, it does exactly what it says on the tin and does it at a very reasonable price. Our new EV is bigger and 300mls+ range. We had to add quite a lot of extras to our new car to get it to the spec of our Exclusive at a not inconsiderable cost. Which just goes to show the value with the MG ZS.
At this point we still have not fully decided if we will sell the MG, we may just keep it as a town runabout, if we get a good enough offer for a trade in we may be persuaded to part company with it.

 

[rbpasapera]

My ZS EV is great and after 10 months of ownership 12k km I’m still satisfied with this purchase, so that I’ll wait for the ZS EV with bigger battery pack, hope 64 kWh.