Just sharing reply from dealer

[remarkable1967]

Just thought I would share a reply from my dealer as below before the car arrives in May. Did kinda put my mind at ease "a bit".....

Hi Mark
Regarding the gearbox oil, MG resolved this on 28/10/22 via communication to all dealers stating the gearbox being slightly “overfilled” with oil at the factory.
This resulted in small number of instances where a small volume of excess oil being ejected through the breather pipe.
The factory was instantly made aware of this and consequently resolved.

I have seen a few comments online where people have mentioned an issue with their undertray. I have not seen this personally nor on any of the vehicles we have had in our workshop.

Our pre-delivery inspection includes an examination of the undertray and no issues have been reported.

The latest software will definitely be installed prior to collection.

We are aware of the most recent updates that have been released and again, made this compulsory in our pre-delivery inspection.

 

[PristDean]

That sounds great. I received an email from my dealer who said they will provide me with regular monthly updates and then more frequently as we draw nearer the delivery time. I am expecting to collect in June, there is no hurry for me.
But that response you have from your dealer gives me confidence. Thanks for sharing it.

 

[Rip Van]

Doesn't give me any confidence, "Regarding the gearbox oil, MG resolved this on 28/10/22 via communication to all dealers stating the gearbox being slightly “overfilled” with oil at the factory". That's been proved wrong! I also find it hard to believe their undertray "story".

 

[Ayoull]

Doesn't give me any confidence, "Regarding the gearbox oil, MG resolved this on 28/10/22 via communication to all dealers stating the gearbox being slightly “overfilled” with oil at the factory". That's been proved wrong! I also find it hard to believe their undertray "story".

We have looked under the car with our eyes shut and confirmed we can't see an issue

 

[the briggie]

I think you will find the oil leak is still not resolved...as Rip Van states...lowering levels did not work...neither is the undertray resolved for early adopters with no replacement or redesign forthcoming so a pinch of salt is still required as per previous posts

 

[Deleted member 10041]

As has been said, some dealers have continued to peddle the overfill story, if that was the case why did they need to make a modified breather.

 

[remarkable1967]

Apologies guys. I'll consider my fireworks well and truly pissed on.

 

[Ayoull]

Apologies guys. I'll consider my fireworks well and truly pissed on.

Keep the fireworks just go back and ask why some cars have a modified breather and also inspect their demo cars for the undertray.

Mine told me the undertray was fine so took their word for it noticed a leak looked underneath and I didn't even have an undertray

 

[Deleted member 10041]

The dealer I was using told me the same about the undertray, we have not had any, our PDI is great and will spot it, checked under their demo and showroom car and both had it

 

[bear1]

Mine has a bulge, spotted it on collection, dealer agreed, took photo and emailed to dealer.
Makes no difference. I'm not going to reject the car because of it and it doesn't look like MG are going to do anything about it.
I'll live with it.

 

[colsky]

Mine has a bulge, spotted it on collection, dealer agreed, took photo and emailed to dealer.
Makes no difference. I'm not going to reject the car because of it and it doesn't look like MG are going to do anything about it.
I'll live with it.

I am/was in the "I'll live with it" camp too. But mine has been leaking again (I have the modified breather fitted), and when I looked underneath to check the extent of the leak (I hadn't looked under the car for a while) it appeared to me that the original undertray bulge had increased in size, which I think is a little worrying (understatement?!) and I have asked the dealer to check this again.

 

[PristDean]

I remain optimistic despite the above. When I collect in June, I hope MG has addressed all of this and I can collect a more mature car in terms of build.

 

[Buster72]

As has been said, some dealers have continued to peddle the overfill story, if that was the case why did they need to make a modified breather.

My dealer said that the problem was just overfilling as advised by MGUK. So you can't really blame the dealer. But I did speak to someone from the Service Department and he said that there was a problem with overfilling. But that the breather mod was because of a wider problem. Some cars leak while some don't. And that the breather mod was only for cars with a leak.

 

[WalkingBootWeather]

I've heard some nonsense in my time....

If the problem was purely due to overfilling then MG would never have gone to the trouble of designing and fitting a new breather on ANY car,

There are 3 possible explanations for the fact that some cars have had the issue reported and others have not. Either there is no quality control and great variety in the builds and you take pot luck as to whether you have a good one or not, or the car has simply not yet been driven far and fast enough to raise the temperature/pressure to cause the problem to occur, or the problem is there but has not been checked or identified yet.

Any half decent dealer will be fully aware of the issue. If they claim to be unaware they are either uninterested in their product, incompetent or dishonest. Whichever it is I wouldn't want to buy a car from them.

 

[Deleted member 10041]

The oil leak is confirmed In various European countries now, it definitely seems like a design flaw that manifests itself under certain driving conditions.
The fact some cars might not have it could be an underfill issue, if they are peddling the overfill some could quite easily have been underfilled.
The book says 900mls oil, I'm sure siteguru's lost/ needed topped up 200mls. Potentially losing that over a six week period, I think it was.
I wonder what level it needs to drop to, to stop leaking, or is it as explained is it down to length speed of drive and a build up of heat/pressure

 

[remarkable1967]

Seems I have only 2 choices. Either suck it and see and hope the warranty stands for something or cancel the order and just carry on with a good old fashioned oil burner. I'm only on an EV forum because of the MG4. Both the cars currently on my drive are paid for and I paid the mortgage off last year. The MG4 allowed to to dip my toe in the water with EV's without getting back into debt at 56 years old (this month). The sums basically meant it would only cost me around £50 per month net once I'd compared the running cost between the MG4 SE SR and my current diesel Sportage. At £50 per month for a brand new EV car, I saw it as worth a punt. This isn't about keeping up with the Jones's or giving a damn what the great unwashed might think. I really couldn't give a toss about that kinda thing. As I've always said "a fool and his money are easily parted". I don't even care about the tree hugging "let's all sing kumbaya" around the camp fire BS. This is about a cost effective utilitarian runabout to get my portly arse to work with enough space to chuck a guitar and microphone in the back for the few gigs I still do since the pandemic. On the basis of full disclosure, I did actually go to Smith's Renault in Peterborough yesterday as I was already over there and I did sit in a Mégane E-Tech. I believe it was the second one up in the range. Yes it was very nice and I sat with the sales guy and explained honestly the MG4 situation. He price up a white base model for me and the figure was £368 including my cash and PX over 4 years with a final payment of nearly £18k!!. Perhaps I'm missing something but that is madness just to get me to work. The salesman actually scoffed about the MG4 price and said that the "industry" can't see how they could bring an EV to market at that price. When I suggested it was probably the right price and every other manufacturer was trying to rip us off he just went quiet. So there you go.... rant over. I'll put the fireworks back in the box for a little while.

 

[Deleted member 10041]

I would still go for it, just go for it with your eyes wide open and be aware of what seems to be the norm rather than the exception of dealer bs, the fact your dealer has went this way at the start is a red flag for me.
Are there any other dealerships close by? Get it from your current one and take it elsewhere for any work.

This is coming from a Megane owner but a fan of EVs in general, having had one as a works car. You will enjoy the EV experience I guarantee it.

 

[PristDean]

Seems I have only 2 choices. Either suck it and see and hope the warranty stands for something or cancel the order and just carry on with a good old fashioned oil burner. I'm only on an EV forum because of the MG4. Both the cars currently on my drive are paid for and I paid the mortgage off last year. The MG4 allowed to to dip my toe in the water with EV's without getting back into debt at 56 years old (this month). The sums basically meant it would only cost me around £50 per month net once I'd compared the running cost between the MG4 SE SR and my current diesel Sportage. At £50 per month for a brand new EV car, I saw it as worth a punt. This isn't about keeping up with the Jones's or giving a damn what the great unwashed might think. I really couldn't give a toss about that kinda thing. As I've always said "a fool and his money are easily parted". I don't even care about the tree hugging "let's all sing kumbaya" around the camp fire BS. This is about a cost effective utilitarian runabout to get my portly arse to work with enough space to chuck a guitar and microphone in the back for the few gigs I still do since the pandemic. On the basis of full disclosure, I did actually go to Smith's Renault in Peterborough yesterday as I was already over there and I did sit in a Mégane E-Tech. I believe it was the second one up in the range. Yes it was very nice and I sat with the sales and explained honestly the MG4 situation. He price up a white base model for me and the figure was £368 including my cash and PX over 4 years with a final payment of nearly £18k!!. Perhaps I'm missing something but that is madness just to get me to work. The salesman actually scoffed about the MG4 price and said that the "industry" can't see how they could bring an EV to market at that price. When I suggested it was probably the right price and every other manufacturer was trying to rip us off he just went quiet. So there you go.... rant over. I'll put the fireworks back in the box for a little while.

Ha, I'm in a similar situation to you (and age), but now i'm the Managing Director of my own time too. Totally agree, it's about bang for buck and what suits you personally.

 

[remarkable1967]

I would still go for it, just go for it with your eyes wide open and be aware of what seems to be the norm rather than the exception of dealer bs, the fact your dealer has went this way at the start is a red flag for me.
Are there any other dealerships close by? Get it from your current one and take it elsewhere for any work.

This is coming from a Megane owner but a fan of EVs in general, having had one as a works car. You will enjoy the EV experience I guarantee it.

Geographically the dealer I went too is only about 4 miles closer than Donalds MG in Peterborough. I originally went to WH Brand MG simply as I was over that way getting my Covid booster. It was then I found out they are a family dealer going back to 1952. Not that this is a sure sign of integrity but the reviews for them as a dealer are really good. The sales guy was very chilled from the off and has never once been pushy. When I fist asked for a test drive, he actually asked if I wanted to take the car for the whole day. That may be the norm though as it's been a while since I had a brand new car. I'll see how I feel in a week or two and decide then.

 

[tsedge]

Neither the oil leak nor the undertray affect using the car, they are minor issues.

Some cars had the wrong oil level originally, that is a true statement and MG went back to the gearbox supplier to clarify.

It is also true that there is a design problem with the gearbox that causes the oil leak, most likely due to the breather positioning. MG claim that the new breather design fixes this and it has for some people. Others have reported still leaking, however, that is in at least some cases because the fixings of the new breather where it attaches have been leaking. It isn't clear yet if a further redesign is needed or just guidance on how to fix correctly.

MG have said they are redesigning the undertray but have no plans to retrofit to existing cars. There is no timescale given for this.

All new cars have issues and these particular ones don't affect using the MG4. My advice would be to stick with the MG4.