Leaf owner thinking of the MG as replacement.

[Barfly]

But she’s a woman, and everyone knows we are the better drivers……

OK that's a given, but we are all individuals, and she has zero spatial awareness, when driving she is fixed on the view ahead, has absolutely no idea what is going on behind or to either side of her. It is frightening, and I really worry when she takes out my little granddaughter in the car.

 

[Mo45563]

Hi all, I've been considering the long-range MG as a replacement for my ageing Leaf Tekna. I have been very happy leafing along for the past 4 years, I really love the Leaf. Range and price are now major considerations, and rule out a new Leaf as range is much less than the MG. Nissan are not the easiest manufacturer to get along with, the spare parts prices are beyond astronomical and the dealerships haven't got a clue about EV's.

I would dearly like to hear some positive owners comments about these sort of issues. I have not heard particularly good reports about MG's dealerships in my couple of weeks lurking about on this and other forums.
My concerns are:-

1. Ride and road noise (the Leaf is a bit hard but whisper quiet). The roads around Bournemouth and Poole are positively medieval with potholes and speed humps everywhere.
2. Rattles. I have this thing about rattles in cars, cannot stand them
3. "A" pillar size. The Leaf's "A" pillar is absolutely enormous and restricts road view dangerously.
4. Can I spec the MG to give me heated steering wheels, and front seat heating that can be remotely controlled? Also can the MG turn the air-conditioning remotely via an app? This is one aspect of the Leaf that is just brilliant-has all that and even heated rear seats.
5. All-round cameras with birds-eye view?
6. Puddle lights? Missing from the Leaf, not good when dropping off the lovely Jane in a gravel car-park in her £200 shoes.......
7. Tow-hitch? Just for a tiny trailer and bike rack. I had to import one for the Leaf from the USA.
8. Annoying beeps-how intrusive on the MG?

Thanks all, hope I'm not asking too much......Cheers Tony.

Having owned the original 2012 Leaf, and test driven the MG4, I would say that road noise is comparably quiet when driving around town.

However once you pick up speed on the motorway the MG4 seemed to me to be a little noisier in those conditions. Not bad, mind you, but for me noticeably noisier than what I experienced on the Leaf in that situation.

The A pillar situation is much better on the MG4.

The Leaf had nothing to worry about in terms of beeps - you turn it off in settings once and never again. . On the MG4 it seemed you you have turn off certain things every single time you get into the car to drive it. On the flip side it seems there is an easy unofficial permanent fix to turn off the artificial “engine” noise from the MG4, whereas you had to live with that on the Leaf.

 

[Barfly]

No the Leaf is terrible with it's beeps. If you leave the driver's door open it does this incessant nerve-grating beep beep that never stops. It's by far and away the worst car I've ever had for beeping at you.

Went through a similar thing recently, swapped the leaf for an mg4 lr (I already have a zs ev lr). ZS is easier to get out and in but a bit wallowy to drive, good workhorse, mg4 is brilliant to drive and much more practical than the leaf. for charging, just get an extension cable? You can even get a type 1 to 2 extension EV Public Charging Cable | Type 1 to Type 2 | 16/32 Amp | 3.6/7.2 kW | 5/10 Metre |

@Robf You mention the ZS is easier to get in and out - is the MG4 poor in this regard? We are getting on a bit, the lovely Jane is coming up to her 75th Birthday next month and is not as spry as she once was, and I'm not far behind her. Getting the Leaf and losing my beautiful 3ltr VW EOS was traumatic enough for me, the lovely Jane insisted it was too low down for her to get in and out. Mind you, she's only 7stone 10 and walks 10 miles a day 2 or 3 days a week, so she's not exactly an invalid. Could be a deal breaker though if it's like the EOS. I've been thinking about the rear port and rigged up a peice of rope trapped in the tailgate to attach the type 2 charge cable and stuck the residue of the cable through the passenger's window. It sort of worked, but is not ideal. There is so much "stuff" in the rear of the garage which stops me from accessing the left rear side of the car.
However, both the ZS and the MG4 are shorter than the Leaf; the MG4 by 203mm and the ZS by 167mm., so that may just be enough for me to squeeze my extraordinarily fat barrel chest through! My little granddaughter says it like it is - "you have a fat tummy gramps". Judge for yourselves.

 

[Gadget Geek]

@Robf You mention the ZS is easier to get in and out - is the MG4 poor in this regard? We are getting on a bit, the lovely Jane is coming up to her 75th Birthday next month and is not as spry as she once was, and I'm not far behind her. Getting the Leaf and losing my beautiful 3ltr VW EOS was traumatic enough for me, the lovely Jane insisted it was too low down for her to get in and out. Mind you, she's only 7stone 10 and walks 10 miles a day 2 or 3 days a week, so she's not exactly an invalid. Could be a deal breaker though if it's like the EOS. I've been thinking about the rear port and rigged up a peice of rope trapped in the tailgate to attach the type 2 charge cable and stuck the residue of the cable through the passenger's window. It sort of worked, but is not ideal. There is so much "stuff" in the rear of the garage which stops me from accessing the left rear side of the car.
However, both the ZS and the MG4 are shorter than the Leaf; the MG4 by 203mm and the ZS by 167mm., so that may just be enough for me to squeeze my extraordinarily fat barrel chest through! My little granddaughter says it like it is - "you have a fat tummy gramps". Judge for yourselves.

View attachment 21018

My son has a 2014 LEAF and sometimes gives my wife a lift into town. She says it is like getting in and out of a bucket. The ZS has higher seats and is much easier to get in and out of.

 

[gus]

I think it may be time for the both of you to head to a dealer and try getting In and out of both and a maybe a drive about?

 

[Barfly]

I think it may be time for the both of you to head to a dealer and try getting In and out of both and a maybe a drive about?

Ideally I would like one for a week to really see, but dealers don't like that idea. Hire companies locally have never heard of MG's for hire....

 

[Robf]

No the Leaf is terrible with it's beeps. If you leave the driver's door open it does this incessant nerve-grating beep beep that never stops. It's by far and away the worst car I've ever had for beeping at you.


@Robf You mention the ZS is easier to get in and out - is the MG4 poor in this regard? We are getting on a bit, the lovely Jane is coming up to her 75th Birthday next month and is not as spry as she once was, and I'm not far behind her. Getting the Leaf and losing my beautiful 3ltr VW EOS was traumatic enough for me, the lovely Jane insisted it was too low down for her to get in and out. Mind you, she's only 7stone 10 and walks 10 miles a day 2 or 3 days a week, so she's not exactly an invalid. Could be a deal breaker though if it's like the EOS. I've been thinking about the rear port and rigged up a peice of rope trapped in the tailgate to attach the type 2 charge cable and stuck the residue of the cable through the passenger's window. It sort of worked, but is not ideal. There is so much "stuff" in the rear of the garage which stops me from accessing the left rear side of the car.
However, both the ZS and the MG4 are shorter than the Leaf; the MG4 by 203mm and the ZS by 167mm., so that may just be enough for me to squeeze my extraordinarily fat barrel chest through! My little granddaughter says it like it is - "you have a fat tummy gramps". Judge for yourselves.

View attachment 21018

Yes, the zs is much easier to get in and out of. The mg4 has wide sills which could be a problem.

 

[gus]

Ideally I would like one for a week to really see, but dealers don't like that idea. Hire companies locally have never heard of MG's for hire....

Round here the county council have provided charging points in their car parks and partner with a company that provide rental EV’s which happen to be MG 4’s. Not that it helps you.

 

[Speedy Baz]

A heartfelt thanks to all of you that replied to my queries. I will have to investigate and see what are the major differences between the ZS and the MG4.
The next step is to try and twist my local dealers arm to let me try one out for a week or so before taking the plunge.
I do have a home charger, but need the charger port on the front or front left side so I can use it on the MG.

Also the MG4 trophy model "does" have heated front seats(also controlled via app) and heated steering wheel, both work within 10 seconds of turning on.

 

[Eclectic]

Also the MG4 trophy model "does" have heated front seats(also controlled via app) and heated steering wheel, both work within 10 seconds of turning on.

My wife can get her heated front seat on far quicker than that when entering our ZS on a cold day!

 

[NIghtmare]

ZS TROPHY CONNECT

Pros:
Easy to get in and out of.
Boot space
Economy (Eco / regen 1)
The car hotspot is fabulous. (I live very rural).
I had the last of the panoramic sunroof model. Incredible light in the cabin.

Cons:
Hard to get anything out of the door bin while driving. The door closure and window buttons could have been higher.
Have to press anything on the screen at least twice.
Only one programmable shortcut button on the steering wheel.
Fogs up inside the car constantly. Heater on or window open is the only option. Bad for economy / freezing wife.
"Leather interior" is great. But freezing even in autumn.
No reach on the steering wheel. Big no-no. Hard to get a good driving position.
Hard on the bumps. I test drove the EC-4 and Enyaq. They are the benchmark of gliding and bumps in the road.
Dark rear interior. No light for the rear passengers. The Mégane is even worse.
Poor quality of cameras. But you get a basic idea if your surroundings. I still use mirrors.

Sounds like a bit of a rant. But I test drove a lot of cars and I wanted to take bits of every one. If you buy any car there will be compromises.
I came from a Galaxy, where you had more room than a 3 bed house, but it looked and handled like a pig.

The ZS ticked more boxes than any other except the Enyaq. But that one was a 12 month wait and 12k more. The Niro was the same.

Forgot to add.
A-pillar intermittent rattle on driver's side
Speakers aren't great. Anything near medium volume and the bass distorts like a Goodman's 90s stereo.

 

[scoobeesnac]

ZS TROPHY CONNECT

Pros:
Easy to get in and out of.
Boot space
Economy (Eco / regen 1)
The car hotspot is fabulous. (I live very rural).
I had the last of the panoramic sunroof model. Incredible light in the cabin.

Cons:
Hard to get anything out of the door bin while driving. The door closure and window buttons could have been higher.
Have to press anything on the screen at least twice.
Only one programmable shortcut button on the steering wheel.
Fogs up inside the car constantly. Heater on or window open is the only option. Bad for economy / freezing wife.
"Leather interior" is great. But freezing even in autumn.
No reach on the steering wheel. Big no-no. Hard to get a good driving position.
Hard on the bumps. I test drove the EC-4 and Enyaq. They are the benchmark of gliding and bumps in the road.
Dark rear interior. No light for the rear passengers. The Mégane is even worse.
Poor quality of cameras. But you get a basic idea if your surroundings. I still use mirrors.

Sounds like a bit of a rant. But I test drove a lot of cars and I wanted to take bits of every one. If you buy any car there will be compromises.
I came from a Galaxy, where you had more room than a 3 bed house, but it looked and handled like a pig.

The ZS ticked more boxes than any other except the Enyaq. But that one was a 12 month wait and 12k more. The Niro was the same.

Forgot to add.
A-pillar intermittent rattle on driver's side
Speakers aren't great. Anything near medium volume and the bass distorts like a Goodman's 90s stereo.

The ZS EV with the sunroof is lovely and airy in the rear which is was a big part of why we chose it over the competition (especially with added sunroof lights and under-seat lighting).

The Enyaq was good - but I really prefer the bite of the ZS brakes over the wooden-clog shoe brakes of the Enyaq.

I am fairly impressed with the stereo in a V equalised 3D sound - no noticeable distortion at 14/15 volume from CarPlay, the main issue comes with the low bass rattling of the doors - it needs more insulation weight to improve that.

The A-pillars do benefit from some fabric tape.