MG4 - How do I turn it off..?

[HedgePig]

Hi Forum,

Quite happy with my little MG4! I mean its not like the BMW i4 I was given by the rental company on a visit to Denmark last week...but for the price I am happy!

My question is a simple one: How do I turn the car off?
I know of the menu access, last tab (I don't recall what that is) and then 'turn off' and then confirm. But this takes a while each time and you want to exit the car!

Turning it on is easy enough, foot on brake.
The reason I ask is I sometimes will get out of the car, before locking it (which I know turns it off) and want to carry some items into the house or something. All the while the car stays fully 'on' and ready to drive and I want to be able to turn it 'off'! Am I just being terminally stupid and there is an on/off button on the steering column or something, or do I in fact have to complete all my little tasks with the car alive, and then only be able to turn it off with the key. Seems stupid. Maybe its me.

Ideas please and thank you!

 

[webhiker]

I am not gonna claim "terminal stupid" which would have been the easy option
But why don't you just lock the car, keeping the keys in your pocket?

 

[MG Clive]

The only way to turn it off is by the screen, which you have already found. If you can't be bothered with that, just lock the car, then unlock it again, it won't power up again until you sit on the drivers seat.

 

[mg4]

Following

Not locking the car but getting it out of Ready state has benefits like preserving your settings that get reset by the locking action. All the while preventing someone from driving off.

So i am curious to see if there is a better way to get out of Ready mode.

 

[HedgePig]

I am not gonna claim "terminal stupid" which would have been the easy option
But why don't you just lock the car, keeping the keys in your pocket?

I don't know is the short answer! I just find it a little annoying...for one the radio stays on...which sets my teeth a little...I am out of the car why is it entertaining an empty car?
The keys are IN my pocket. You know how you might then reach to the passenger seat and grab your wallet or a parcel or something...now you get out of the car, music blaring, and the answer is I have to dig my keys out of a pocket (hard to do with a deep pocket when seated) but now I have my hands full...or I have to get out, dig into a pocket, retrieve the key, lock it, UNLOCK it again and then climb back in to get the bits off the passenger seat.

Seems like a really stupid system when a simple 'off' button would do. I feel like my annoyance is legitimate here, it turns on by itself when I arrive, it should turn off by itself when I leave?

 

[HedgePig]

Hi @MG Clive !

The only way to turn it off is by the screen, which you have already found. If you can't be bothered with that, just lock the car, then unlock it again, it won't power up again until you sit on the drivers seat.

Didn't actually realise it was the act of seating that did this. I know it 'wakes up' when I sit, but I note a number of menu functions only activate when you put your foot on the brake.

Thanks for this.

Digging keys out of a pocket, while seated is a ball-ache. So I have to get out, dig out, lock, unlock and then crawl back in (I assume the pressure of me leaning on the seat may well wake it up again?) to get my wallet and sunnies is a lot of heavy lifting!

It seems like such an obvious function, like you know it should be there but its so simple you missed it. Thanks again.

 

[MG Clive]

Hi @MG Clive !

Didn't actually realise it was the act of seating that did this. I know it 'wakes up' when I sit, but I note a number of menu functions only activate when you put your foot on the brake.

Yes, sitting on the seat turns the screens and DRLs on, but if you get out of the car, press the button on the door handle (locks car), press button again (unlocks car), you can then go in and out of any door or the boot, and as long as you don't sit on, or press on the drivers seat, everything will remain inactive.

 

[mg4]

The music thing annoys me as well, because i was used to a Renault Zoe turning it off the moment i would open the drivers side door. It was immediate and kept my music private. Now i have to remember to stop it manually and start it back up when getting in.

Super small annoyances, but still seems like it is technically all possible, just not coded yet.

 

[gDallasK]

I have always found this a pain too. I dislike sitting in the car - waiting for something / someone - in a blaze of DRLs. I have used the switch off function in the menu in the past but stopped doing this after an incident when the car refused to come back to life until I had exited and locked / unlocked the door.

 

[Kenp1]

The music thing annoys me as well, because i was used to a Renault Zoe turning it off the moment i would open the drivers side door. It was immediate and kept my music private. Now i have to remember to stop it manually and start it back up when getting in.

Super small annoyances, but still seems like it is technically all possible, just not coded yet.

Just use the pause button on the right hand steering wheel controls.

 

[ReintjeWA]

...want to carry some items into the house or something. All the while the car stays fully 'on' and ready to drive

Ideas please and thank you!

Just to note that as you lift your butt of the seat, the car drops out of ready mode and is not able to be driven. If you have your keys in your pocket, and someone was to get in your car, it won't go into Ready mode without having the keys present, so they can't drive off with your car.

 

[Tuareg]

Get out of car, close door, press door button, job done, couldn't be any easier, no keys required.

 

[salty]

Have to say this does seem a classic case of overthinking. Your key never needs to leave your pocket. Get to your destination. Get out. Press button on door handle. Car turns off. Walk away. If you don't want your Radio to come on when you get back in, pause it on steering wheel button, before you get out.That's my routine anyway.
Unless I'm missing summut.

 

[HedgePig]

Have to say this does seem a classic case of overthinking. Your key never needs to leave your pocket. Get to your destination. Get out. Press button on door handle. Car turns off. Walk away. If you don't want your Radio to come on when you get back in, pause it on steering wheel button, before you get out.That's my routine anyway.
Unless I'm missing summut.

Not to be otherwise but asking if there is a way to turn the car off, without first having to get out of it...doesn't feel particularly overthought. Given every other reply is folks agreeing with me that it is annoying.

Yes, what you describe is an option. But having the car 'off' but just unlocked is a practical state for the car to be in, particularly while loading or unloading, or just waiting in the car for 5 minutes.

The real-world application usually means I have SOMETHING in one or both of my hands. Which then means getting to the keys (so handily in my pocket) means I need to be a contortionist to get to the pocket in question...but only after I have physically left the car, usually with my hands full. Every other car I know has a start/stop. It's not like I am asking for a radical departure from what every other car maker thinks is a sensible button.

An extension of the position you're taking, is 'I don't understand the kerfuffle, to turn off the motion sense alarm I only need to stand on one leg, hop up and down 3 times while facing slightly north-east while humming the theme tune to Apocalypse Now in the key of F'. It's annoying.

Get out of car, close door, press door button, job done, couldn't be any easier, no keys required.

Ok, but I now want to get the saddle off the back seat. And its locked. And I need 2 hands.

 

[salty]

Ok, but I now want to get the saddle off the back seat. And its locked. And I need 2 hands.

Don't lock it then, until you've got the saddle, or whatever else from the car.
Then lock it. The screens will be on for a few minutes. So imo, not a big deal.
I'm not saying your wrong, as we all do things differently. It's just i don't see the problem.

 

[HedgePig]

Don't lock it then, until you've got the saddle, or whatever else from the car.
Then lock it. The screens will be on for a few minutes. So imo, not a big deal.
I'm not saying your wrong, as we all do things differently. It's just i don't see the problem.

I think the wider point here, which may be being missed is forcing me to lock the car in order to turn it off, is annoying.

It is like saying, in order to open the window, I need to tune into LBC. You are asking me to add a layer of complexity to a simple task that did not need to be complicated to start. Once I have locked the car, it prohibits me from doing a number of other, ordinary tasks because now the darn thing is locked. I didn't want it locked. I wanted it off. So now I have to perform an additional action, to get it to the state that I wanted to begin with.

I dont want to lock it. I want to turn it off.

 

[MG Clive]

Unfortunately it's just one of the (several) MG quirks you'll have to get used to @HedgePig

 

[HedgePig]

Unfortunately it's just one of the (several) MG quirks you'll have to get used to @HedgePig

I am sounding more militant than I feel.

Its a small adjustment. But I have found myself strategising as I go down the drive as to the sequence of events to minimise effort. I am in OPS. I want simpler!

 

[Kenp1]

It is a bit annoying, I get out the car press the door handle button to lock, press it again to unlock.

 

[Tuareg]

Don't lock it until you've done what you want to do inside the car. I really can't see the issue? It's not as if the battery is going to be run down by the radio/screen/interior light, they won't affect it for hours and even then not buy much at all, even if the head/tail lights are on, they're low consumption LEDs. Had my car for 6 months now and use the door button to lock or leave it unlocked until I've done whatever I want to do on the inside. Never, ever an issue. Crikey, how did some people manage with simple things like putting on a cloth mask during Covid? - I'll tell you, many, many couldn't even manage that, a simple 5s task with lots of moaning, groaning, claims of CO2 poisoning (lol), breach of 'uman rights etc, etc. f f s