Macklin Motors MG Edinburgh West - MG Dealer Discussion, Opinions & Experiences

[decrep]

I think, regen can cause disk corrosion. I thought charging to 100% would sort this, but regen starts kicking in around 95% so unless you do very short trips the brakes don't get much use. also "regen mode", doesn't actually affect regen very much, only the way the go pedal works. pressing the bake pedal will also activate regen.

Friction brakes are only activated under hard braking, when regen isn't enough. Or when in reverse, regen doesn't work in reverse.

So Rolfe, go backwards down a slope so you need to use friction brakes and see if there's any squealing, your pics didn't look like a lot of corrosion.
Definitely do this before taking to your mechanic, that will get rid of any minor corrosion and give him a better idea of what's going on.

 

[Rolfe]

Thanks for the comments lads. I was also suspicious of the quality of the video. These are stills from what is presumably a phone video, but surely in 2025 one would expect better resolution. I felt I was being bullied into agreeing to all that work, even telling me it was an urgent safety issue and the wheel arch liner could cause the car to crash any minute.

I have 150 miles to do today, in two trips (25 miles to Edinburgh in the morning and 50 miles to Glasgow in the evening), so I'll try to stand on the brakes a bit.

The brakes seem fine to me. And the aircon is blowing cold. I think the update to R38 has sorted out the minor kinks in the HVAC.

 

[ReintjeWA]

I felt I was being bullied into agreeing to all that work, even telling me it was an urgent safety issue and the wheel arch liner could cause the car to crash any minute.
.

if they really thought it was that dangerous they wouldn’t have let you leave.

In my time as a tyre salesman we only ever had one case where we said to the customer we really couldn’t let him drive out the way he came in, he had little kids in the car and his tyres where more wire than rubber. He didn’t have the money so we did what we could with some second hand ones and some guys volunteering to fit them, that was a genuine safety issue. We would’ve called the cops if he had left (we obviously couldn’t take him hostage haha).

 

[decrep]

I certainly don't blindly trust garages.
Once I was shown a broken part out of a completely different gearbox, with a large quote to fix it. Luckily I didn't have the money and said I'd do it later. When I pulled my gearbox apart, everything was fine and completely different to what I was shown.

 

[Rolfe]

Bloody hell!

I can see there is some minor damage to the undertray, thanks Hardknott Pass, but to me it's nothing as bad as the warp they spent over a year telling me was a nothing-burger and why was I bothered about it.

The wheel arch they said was the dangerous thing, but "if it gets worse". Sure.

Not letting me keep a copy of the detailed list of work they wanted to do and the costings was a huge red flag, even if red flags hadn't been dancing in front of my eyes by then.

 

[decrep]

Hitting water at speed may increase the damage, but I doubt you're going to do that.

I'm afraid it's that old male, here's a woman we can easily convince her this stuff is serious.

 

[mystreet]

@Rolfe you can always go back to then with a Data Subject Access Request. This will provide you all the information that they hold about you and the car. If they say that they cannot provide the information about 'a car' as it is not about a person, the car identifies you, so it is about a person.

Had the same issue about being sold our ZS, they were very sorry when I got all the information.

 

[Anon70]

You have several ways to escalate any issues:
Vertu - head office or social media channels (which tend to elicit the quickest response)
Retail Motor Industry - as Vertu are a member RMI | Retail Motor Industry Federation
The Motor Ombudsman - again Vertu are a member Home

and of course the Supply of Good and Services Act as outlined here

Vehicle servicing and repairs

Taking your car or vehicle to be serviced requires you to put trust in the garage or mechanic who is doing the work for you. However, you don’t need to rely on trust alone to get a fair deal.

www.araglaw.co.uk

I also suspect, as has been the case with my wife and I when we enter a car dealership, there are still those in the motor trade who treat men and women differently when explaining things.

 

[OriginalBigAl]

Finding a reputable dealer with a good verified reputation is key, even if means driving a hundred miles to your appointment and spending a night in B and B and a night out in a new town to find a honest and valued service and opinion. And probably cheaper in the long run.

 

[Rolfe]

We'll see what Andrew says first, anyway. I was all set to change dealers but the new guy couldn't deal with the door handle replacement (no body shop) so I decided I'd better go back to Macklin's for this one. Right.

 

[MGCamb]

Just bought a Dacia Spring for the wife from a Vertu. It had less than 200 miles and pre-registered. They had not valeted it and bodged a clean while I was buying it, Then the MD wanted me to cover his back as I had bought a service policy direct with Dacia while I was fuming looking at a dirty car. Horrendous and dodgy organisation.

 

[siteguru]

Pretty much all dealers try to upsell at service time - even my dealer tried the old "your rear brake discs and pads need changed" malarky; I just told them "no they don't ... if they DO need changing after only 2 years and less than 9k miles then they were fundamentally faulty at the time of sale".

A few hard braking sessions at speed on a clear road, pop the drive into N and press hard on the brakes should help things along. Likewise doing some heavy braking whilst reversing (which has no regen anyway) will help.

 

[AlfC]

If you are looking for a new MG dealer for servicing, we have found Central Garage at Galashiels to be good and friendly. We decided to buy our MG4 there rather than Macklin (which is quite a bit nearer to us in Penicuik) and having heard your tale of woe I am glad we did.
Our only need for anything other than basic servicing and firmware updates was when the external door lock/unlock buttons stopped working. It took a couple of trips because they had to actually verify the fault before they could order the parts. Then they had to outsource the painting because they are not supplied with a top coat and we ended up with white that 'nearly' matched the original MG white. Annoying but we decided it was not worth making them re do it.
Good luck with the brakes. I try to remember to do an 'emergency' stop once in a while in the winter to reduce the corrosion risk. I suspect a lot of EV drivers are unaware that light use of the brake pedal may hardly use the friction brakes. We are lucky that most of our journeys start with a steep down hill with traffic lights at the bottom.

 

[Rolfe]

It's Central Garage in Gala that I've been talking to about taking over my servicing. He seems honest and genuine. At the time I was looking for my car their web site said they had no MGs in stock. Macklin had Caliban sitting out the back just waiting for me so it was a bit of a no-brainer. But I never trusted them, I always had a bad feeling. Which is why I didn't take their service plan. Then, about a year ago, Central Garage revamped their web site saying they now offered a full range of services for MGs and I thought, looking good.

When I originally spoke to the guy there, he knew which dealer I was fulminating about without being told. But between that conversation and me actually going to book the service, my passenger door button failed. The new handle needs painted and they don't have a body shop at the Gala garage. Apparently he has to send his customers who have that fault to another dealer anyway - or that's what he told me. He did mention one or two others, even the one @siteguru uses in East Kilbride, but I thought, let's not drag yet another dealer into it at this stage, I'll just go back to Macklin this one last time.

I thought I had been using the brakes enough, but maybe not. Anyway, on the way home this evening when it was after eleven and the A721 was deserted apart from me, I turned the regen down to 1 and did a few emergency stops. Until I felt a bit car-sick, then I quit. The brakes felt fine, even when the ABS came on a couple of times.

Then the car boinged and I thought O God, what now? "Possible icy roads." From being up there at 19°C during the day it had dropped to 3°C. A few minutes later another boing and a warning triangle. O God what now? Tyre pressure. You guessed it. Macklin had dropped my tyre pressures at the service, with predictable results.

Anyway, I have Andrew at Manor Garage in West Linton looking at the car on Tuesday. It was already scheduled, to put the original Conti tyres back on following my slaughter of the Goodyears in the Lake District, so I asked him to check the brakes, the undertrays and the wheel arch liner while he has the car. He's someone I know is very reluctant to do unnecessary work, so his verdict will be interesting.

Caliban is due back at Macklin's a week on Friday to fit the new door handle. The one they were going to have ready to do at the service, yeah right. But once that's done there's nothing outstanding as regards servicing or software issues, so I can shake the Macklin dust off my feet. And Caliban's wheels.

Honestly, I felt as if I was being played like a salmon on Friday. And depending on what Andrew says, I may well tell them so.

 

[decrep]

I turned the regen down to 1 and did a few emergency stops. Until I felt a bit car-sick, then I quit. The brakes felt fine, even when the ABS came on a couple of times.

@Rolfe
Turning the regen down to 1 does very little, if anything, to the friction brake/regen ratio.
I find the best way is to reverse down a steepish hill, it will be friction brakes all the way.

Anyhow as I suspected from the pics, your brakes are probably fine.

 

[Rolfe]

I'll try that tomorrow. But I was certainly braking hard enough to engage the pads.

Caliban really can stop on a dime. I really don't know what I'd notice if there was a problem though.

 

[MGFooooore]

Desperate for the Andrew update on Tuesday.

 

[decrep]

I'll try that tomorrow. But I was certainly braking hard enough to engage the pads.

Caliban really can stop on a dime. I really don't know what I'd notice if there was a problem though.

My doubts are that emergency stopping may be too quick to do a lot of good. less pressure over a longer time may do a better job.
Depends on how long a quiet hill you can find, to reverse down it.
The signs will all be audio, but don't know how to describe a problem sound.

 

[siteguru]

Agreed - that's why I suggested popping it into Neutral (if driving forward) then braking. When in Drive mode the car automatically increases the regen to maximum before applying physical brakes, regardless of what regen level you've set.

 

[Rolfe]

I'm thinking of this. Tomorrow, though. It's quiet enough that I might not encounter another car, and I can always do it more than once. And there are no blind corners to get in the way.

I was certainly panting by the time I got to the top on the electric bike, and the arrow suggests it's steeper than 10%.