New MG ZS EV Trophy...it's bad

[Bodgerx]

Ok I need to rename the thread.

Mine has now broken.

Complete failure to do any sort of rapid charging.

Handshake appears to work and then stops charging almost immediately after it starts.

Multiple chargers and brands tried.

Multiple techniques, including holding the connector on handshake, locking the car and waiting 10 seconds, putting both hands on your head whilst jumping up and down on one leg whilst summoning the charging gods with a song.

This is not my first EV.

This car is awful. Has to be said. Don't buy one. Cancel your order if you have.

 

[Deleted member 9196]

... it also seems you can't use AA via Bluetooth ...

Wireless AA operates over wifi, not bluetooth. And you can get third party dongles to make it do so if it's that important to you.

 

[Lovemyev]

Take it to the nearest contrôle technique centre for a safety check. If it fails then MG should be in trouble.

The fact that MG have replaced these steering column assemblies on model ZS EV’s and ICE versions, for some owners clearly indicates to me that they DO accept that there is a problem, regardless of what they are saying to you now.
I don’t understand why, when they first inspected the car, the fault was bad enough to agree to replace the column and now 6 months latter it is 5 times worse but is now okay ??.
In the U.K. if this problem was picked up on the MOT inspection, it would fail without any doubt in my mind.
Interested to hear what would happen then, as the car fails and is then declared not road worthy.
Then watch how quickly the column gets replaced !.
The wait time on parts is anything from 3 weeks to 6 months+ for certain owners ?.
Why ?????.
My guess would be that the dealer has become feed up if chasing it up !.

 

[Tim Green]

My S1 is due for MOT in January. I intend yo ask them to specifically examine the steering column to check the u/j's. However, I have no noises or vibrations from it at present.

 

[Kithmo]

My S1 is due for MOT in January. I intend yo ask them to specifically examine the steering column to check the u/j's. However, I have no noises or vibrations from it at present.

If you're having the MOT done by the dealer, that's a bit like asking a liar if he's lying.

 

[DrJohnny Fever]

I have another thing I dislike…having to put the seat belt on to move the car…I park the car with its nose out, but the charger isn’t long enough to reach the front of the car, so need to turn it around, no problem one would think…no it won’t move unless I put the seat belt on…”look I’m only going two feet, turning around and parking the car the otherway round, I don’t need a bloody seat belt on”…car..oh yes you do, I’m not going to move otherwise..

 

[AK OK]

I have another thing I dislike…having to put the seat belt on to move the car…I park the car with its nose out, but the charger isn’t long enough to reach the front of the car, so need to turn it around, no problem one would think…no it won’t move unless I put the seat belt on…”look I’m only going two feet, turning around and parking the car the otherway round, I don’t a bloody seat belt on”…car..oh yes you do, I’m not going to move otherwise..

Must be a mk2 thing

You've got the door shut haven't you?

 

[Lovemyev]

First time I came across this problem, is when I first got my VW Golf PHEV in 2015.
On the first day of collected the car, we called at my son’s house to show him the car.
I can still see him now, laughing loudly at the front door, watching the back end of the car bobbing up and down as I tried to drive away!.
It had a long process ( that I was not use too ) that needed to followed 100% correctly, or the car would not move off.
Unlock car, bum on the seat, close the door and clip in the seat belt, foot on the brake and press the “Start” button.
A steps missed or rushed will result in the the handbrake not releasing !.
All this process, just to move the car two feet in order to get the garage door open .

 

[DrJohnny Fever]

Must be a mk2 thing

You've got the door shut haven't you?

Yes..I have the door shut..and yes it’s a mark 2..

 

[Spotthedog]

Thought I'd add my so-far brief experience with the ZS here, rather than create a new thread.

I got mine (Long Range Trophy) a few days ago and haven't yet done any long journeys, only a few local runs - max 10 miles.

So far I have had similar experience to many here I think.

In general, I would also describe the car as OK, but a little disappointing in some aspects.

I have been driving a Hyundai Kona 64kwh Ultimate up until now and had a test drive of the ZS a couple of months ago.

So far, the ZS is very nice to drive. Compared to the Kona, I feel nice and high on the road. The handling is good and it is very comfortable. Acceleration is almost as quick as the Kona. The interior looks good and is very spacious (one of the reasons for switching was that the Kona is too small for my needs).

The issues I have are lots of small niggles, which on their own probably wouldn't matter but there are quite a few of them and some have been discussed here already.

• The sat nav doesn't work. It gets the initial location, then just sits there. I see others suggesting to change a setting called "dead reckoning", however this makes no difference. It's going to MG to get that looked at
• The USB music has no option to sort by track number, playlist, album etc. It's just a long list of tracks sorted by ID3 title.
• No album art appears for tracks on USB or Bluetooth. Not a big problem but why have the square for it?
• When starting the car, it seems to pick a random source for music. Sometimes USB1, sometimes USB2 (even though nothing plugged in to that), sometimes Bluetooth.
• I don't even see the option for Amazon Music, which is supposed to be present on the current Trophy model, since the Connect version was retired.
• The dash display randomly changes to the Pilot screen.
• The drive mode and cruise control distance resets every time I start the car.
• When using cruise control, even on a straight road, it will seemingly randomly adjust the steering. Is that just to keep me awake?!
• Also in cruise control, it really slows down round corners even when already going slow.
• The brightness of the centre screen is too dim during the day and too bright in the dark. No way to easily adjust it.
• The headlights do not automatically switch off when turning the car off, instead it beeps like cars used to 20 years ago. I want my headlights on all the time when I am driving, not just when the car thinks it is dark enough.
• KERS could be stronger and also really should work when using cruise control. When I did the test-drive, it did feel similar to the Kona but now it is nowhere close. I don't know if this is a configuration issue.
• The cup holder is in an odd position - if I have a cup in it, every time I go to use the indicator or cruise control stick, I bash the cup with my elbow.
• No way (as far as I can tell) to import places into the sat nav (e.g. from a kml file)

As I said, any one of these on their own wouldn't be a problem - no car is perfect after all - but there are just so many little niggles. I didn't pick up on these in the test drive because most of the software related ones I honestly didn't and wouldn't think to check. I generally expect software to work to a certain level but such basic things as an mp3 player having standard features that have been around for years - especially on an Android-based system - I wouldn't even ask about it. Also, in a 15 minute test-drive, you don't generally pick up on the little things anyway.

I'd be interested to know if anyone has suggestions for these niggles - it may well be there are solutions or workarounds.

Thanks

My ZS is the same age as yours and, like. yours, has the sunroof - which I had to search around for! My satnav did the "Home Freeze" trick too. Asked the dealer and he said that I needed the latest update to cure it. I'm booked in later this week.

 

[Merry]

Must be a mk2 thing

You've got the door shut haven't you?

I'm pretty sure it'll disengage if you're in reverse without your seat belt on.

To be honest it's just easier if you're shunting it about to keep your foot on the brake, stick it in d and manually release the handbrake with the switch.

 

[N2STY]

Yes..I have the door shut..and yes it’s a mark 2..

I don't have a problem moving car with out seat belt but then I don't use auto hold

 

[lonestar]

Recently took delivery of a new MG ZS EV (facelift).

This isn't my first EV (I had an Ioniq 38kwh) so it's all in comparison to that.

Bottom line for me is that it isn't as good as the Ioniq.

Positive
Interior is nice, it's a good place to be
Boot space is good
It's fairly quiet at speed, slight more than the Ioniq
Sunroof is very nice

Neutral

Range is ok, but after a couple of drives I'm getting 3.5 mi/kWh, in the Ioniq it would be well over 4 in similar temps/circumstances. The battery is a whole 13 kWh bigger, but it's thirster so the range is only slightly more. Progress?

Interesting carbon fibre pattern on the pleather...

Negative
The Infotainment system is just bad. It has a strong whiff of 5 year old Android tablet about it and there are some bizarre design decisions e.g. the menu to actually sync the car to the app is buried in a sub menu that is only accessible if you know that the menu bar slides down to reveal extra options. Nothing in the UI design hints that it slides. Even MG's own video on the subject doesn't show this. It isn't intuitive and it's all a bit haphazard.

The initial app experience was iffy as well. Failure to send the text message to the phone on setup - and yes I tried with and without the leading zero. After giving up and trying it an hour later it worked, presumably some server issues? Layout of the app and the way they've labelled things up isn't the best. Bluelink is much better. Room for improvement.

Regen is not strong enough in the highest setting. Why can't the car be brought to a stop with regen?

Not a fan of the looks in the metal. Yes I knew what it look like in photos, but it's worse in person. The front is good, but the rest of it just looks awkward. The short wheelbase makes it look is if it has been adapted from a super mini platform.

Steering is excessively vague to the point that there is no information about what the front wheels are doing. Ioniq wasn't great in this respect but at least there was some decent centering and responsiveness.

Tried the adaptive cruise out, and it works fine, implementation is about where the Ioniq is, but why on earth does it not do any regen on hills...

No steering reach adjustment - I think the last time I had a car without it was about 20 years ago.

Overall it's fine, but I'm not sure I share the same 'its worth the wait' sentiments after waiting almost a year that some had.

In

 

[lonestar]

Interested post..was looking for something along the lines of a “what I like and dislike about the ZS” but came across this..

( I’ve had the car since Friday 18/11/22)

what I dislike about the car..

That black line below the face, makes it look like a stupid ugly face..
could do with more poky holes for change, bits and bobs, I have to put change in the door handle..not great.
maybe it’s just me, but I don’t seem to be able to get the car warm? have to put the seats on..
again maybe just me, but it seems to fog up a lot?..I have the front and back window on and off all the time..
am starting to have problems with the radio playing music off my phone..
not too keen on the drive knob, had a Mercedes and it was on the side of the steering wheel (miss that)
the lane keep..so that’s gone off..
why hasn’t it got a frunk?
why it hasn’t got anywhere to put sunglasses..
no electric boot operation..
I wonder how good the seats will feel in time..

guess there’s nothing too bad really..

what I like about the car..

well I guess like most..the sun roof..
the price of it, for what you get on it..
the boot..(not as big as the Mercedes, but that was an estate)
not having to pay for Dino juice or road tax at the minute.
sitting a bit higher and seeing over the top of other cars..
I like the way the brake hold, just comes on..(had to press the foot brake on the Merc)
like the lights, they do seem very bright..
and maybe unlike most, I like the way it just doesn’t come to a stop (one foot driving) as I leave it in regen 3 and roll up to the car in front..
plug on the window for a dash cam.

and right down here I’ll put worse thing I hate…the time it’s taken to get the car, plus the MG dealership I’ve had to deal with…

look forward to others post on the subject..

I don’t think you know what a test drive is
If things are as bad as you say thousands of other people would be sounding of

 

[Susanna]

I don't have a problem moving car with out seat belt but then I don't use auto hold

Aha!
I shall try that the next time I need to move the car slightly. I felt a right idiot having to put on the seatbelt

 

[lonestar]

Recently took delivery of a new MG ZS EV (facelift).

This isn't my first EV (I had an Ioniq 38kwh) so it's all in comparison to that.

Bottom line for me is that it isn't as good as the Ioniq.

Positive
Interior is nice, it's a good place to be
Boot space is good
It's fairly quiet at speed, slight more than the Ioniq
Sunroof is very nice

Neutral

Range is ok, but after a couple of drives I'm getting 3.5 mi/kWh, in the Ioniq it would be well over 4 in similar temps/circumstances. The battery is a whole 13 kWh bigger, but it's thirster so the range is only slightly more. Progress?

Interesting carbon fibre pattern on the pleather...

Negative
The Infotainment system is just bad. It has a strong whiff of 5 year old Android tablet about it and there are some bizarre design decisions e.g. the menu to actually sync the car to the app is buried in a sub menu that is only accessible if you know that the menu bar slides down to reveal extra options. Nothing in the UI design hints that it slides. Even MG's own video on the subject doesn't show this. It isn't intuitive and it's all a bit haphazard.

The initial app experience was iffy as well. Failure to send the text message to the phone on setup - and yes I tried with and without the leading zero. After giving up and trying it an hour later it worked, presumably some server issues? Layout of the app and the way they've labelled things up isn't the best. Bluelink is much better. Room for improvement.

Regen is not strong enough in the highest setting. Why can't the car be brought to a stop with regen?

Not a fan of the looks in the metal. Yes I knew what it look like in photos, but it's worse in person. The front is good, but the rest of it just looks awkward. The short wheelbase makes it look is if it has been adapted from a super mini platform.

Steering is excessively vague to the point that there is no information about what the front wheels are doing. Ioniq wasn't great in this respect but at least there was some decent centering and responsiveness.

Tried the adaptive cruise out, and it works fine, implementation is about where the Ioniq is, but why on earth does it not do any regen on hills...

No steering reach adjustment - I think the last time I had a car without it was about 20 years ago.

Overall it's fine, but I'm not sure I share the same 'its worth the wait' sentiments after waiting almost a year that some had.

You should have looked

 

[Kithmo]

I have another thing I dislike…having to put the seat belt on to move the car…I park the car with its nose out, but the charger isn’t long enough to reach the front of the car, so need to turn it around, no problem one would think…no it won’t move unless I put the seat belt on…”look I’m only going two feet, turning around and parking the car the otherway round, I don’t need a bloody seat belt on”…car..oh yes you do, I’m not going to move otherwise..

The inability to move the car without the seat belt on is usually because you have Auto hold on, at least it was with the Gen 1.

 

[Bodgerx]

You should have looked

Qué?

 

[hotcfdog]

Ok I need to rename the thread.

Mine has now broken.

Complete failure to do any sort of rapid charging.

Handshake appears to work and then stops charging almost immediately after it starts.

Multiple chargers and brands tried.

Multiple techniques, including holding the connector on handshake, locking the car and waiting 10 seconds, putting both hands on your head whilst jumping up and down on one leg whilst summoning the charging gods with a song.

This is not my first EV.

This car is awful. Has to be said. Don't buy one. Cancel your order if you have.

So what are you going to do about it?

‘Cancel your order’

 

[Bodgerx]

So what are you going to do about it?

‘Cancel your order’

I think what some are failing to understand is that this was Hobson's choice for me.

There was no other affordable option for an EV for me than this on the company scheme.

This is my opinion for those maybe thinking about buying this car.

Many of these thing I knew about to begin with so I wasn't going in blind.

This isn't me asking for help or being bemused as to why it's so bad.