New Owner - Passenger Doors Not Opening From Inside on MG5 Facelift – Normal or Fault?

[Frazer]

Hi all,

New to the forum. I picked up my MG5 Facelift Trophy yesterday from BIG Motoring World, 25k miles, ex‑lease car. Really happy with it overall, but I’ve run into one niggle I’m hoping someone can shed some light on.

I've spotted that the front passenger and rear passenger doors don’t always open from the inside. I first noticed it on the test drive when the salesperson asked me to swap seats and I couldn’t open the door to do this. I was advised you sometimes need to pull the handle twice quickly, he seemed to make it look easy at the time, but that didn’t seem to work for me quite as smoothly and I've been scratching my head. What did work on the front passenger door today was pulling the handle out, holding it, and letting it spring back on its own, but oddly, that trick didn't work on the rear passenger doors, they were still locked unless opened from the outside.

I’m not sure if this is, a security feature, a software quirk or perhaps (based on an old thread I found) a known issue that requires MG to replace the lock actuators under warranty. It just seems strange if it’s the latter, as you’d think the first lease owner would have had it sorted as it's 3 years old from July, well unless they never hadny passengers and didn’t notice it.

Would really appreciate any advice. My wife and daughter have both struggled to open the doors a couple of times unless I released them from the driver’s side, so I’m not sure if I’m missing something obvious.

 

[kevin ellard]

You do have to pull the handle twice on the passenger side if the door is locked. the first pull unlocks and the second one opens the door.
I don't know about the rear doors. Are they childlocked?

 

[Frazer]

You do have to pull the handle twice on the passenger side if the door is locked. the first pull unlocks and the second one opens the door.
I don't know about the rear doors. Are they childlocked?

Thanks yes that was the case on my other car, but this is a bit different. I can pull the handle 50 times in row and it wouldn't open, in the way you'd think any normal person would pull a handle, 1 or 2 times. But with this, you have to pull it and let it snap back on it's own, then it thuds against the door, it seemed to work this way, but doesn't feel normal. I might take it to a dealers as it seems like other older threads indicate a common fault that's a warranty job, not 100% sure though.

or perhaps it's just me, maybe I need to switch the car off completely or I'm not doing something in the correct order.

 

[Lovemyev]

There was a number of ZS EV’s that suffered from a similar problem and the fix was to replace the latching mechanisms.
A close family member had the same problem on the passenger door of his new ZS EV.
The dealer replaced the door lock / latching mechanism and all was good.
Then only a couple of weeks later, he found both rear doors were the same !.
Again - Both latch locking mechanisms were replaced ( under warranty of course ) and all was fine !.
So, three out of the four mechanisms were replaced !.

 

[Frazer]

There was a number of ZS EV’s that suffered from a similar problem and the fix was to replace the latching mechanisms.
A close family member had the same problem on the passenger door of his new ZS EV.
The dealer replaced the door lock / latching mechanism and all was good.
Then only a couple of weeks later, he found both rear doors were the same !.
Again - Both latch locking mechanisms were replaced ( under warranty of course ) and all was fine !.
So, three out of the four mechanisms were replaced !.

I'll see how it goes and perhaps call into MG at the weekend as I need to check it's service history anyway. I am a little worried it is this, I've not had the car long (2 days), but the way it's doing this, feels more like an issue.

 

[Dino]

Rear doors sounds like you have the child locks on.
Front passenger door seems to work if you have the knack, don’t rush it- pull once to unlock and pull twice to open. You can also press the unlock button on the driver door panel.
There have been reports of faulty door locks but I think they wouldn’t open at all from the inside.

 

[MGGareth]

Doesn't sound right to me. I've a MG5 trophy too and all doors open without issue. As a test, ensure the doors are unlocked using the lock/unlock button on drivers side. If unlocked pulling any door handle should open the door.

If ok try again but with the doors locked. Listen to see if you can hear the first pull unlocking the door.

Not being able to get out is a safety issue so make sure you're happy with whatever solution the garage gives you.

 

[kevin ellard]

Thanks yes that was the case on my other car, but this is a bit different. I can pull the handle 50 times in row and it wouldn't open, in the way you'd think any normal person would pull a handle, 1 or 2 times. But with this, you have to pull it and let it snap back on it's own, then it thuds against the door, it seemed to work this way, but doesn't feel normal. I might take it to a dealers as it seems like other older threads indicate a common fault that's a warranty job, not 100% sure though.

or perhaps it's just me, maybe I need to switch the car off completely or I'm not doing something in the correct order.

I don't think it is you. It sounds like an actual problem. I can't imagine it will help but it might be worth doing a hard reset of the car (disconnect the 12v battery for a couple of minutes). Good luck with MG.