One year review from the Chatter Guys.

[MG Clive]

They're still impressed with the MG3 Hybrid+ a year on.

 

[KeithS]

Very interesting video, and given I too got an MG3 HYBRID (Trophy in Batteresea blue) in May '24, allow me to share my experiences, which are very similar to your observations, with even a similar mileage covered.
To start in terms of fuel economy in the 14 months I've owned the car, im averaging a lot less than yourselves at around 45 mpg. Using the car as my daily runabout, and living in NW London, much of my journeys are short and in the awful traffic we have here. A rare long run would usually see mid fifties mpg, and on occasion in light traffic I have albeit for a short distance seen over 70mpg! Conversely, in cold weather, the benefits of the hybrid system are all but lost, with the petrol engine running most of the time, with economy dropping into the twenties, particularly if sitting in traffic on clogged roads. However for comparison my previous daily was a DS3 1.2 auto, and in similar driving conditions, over some six years only averaged 32mpg, so on that basis the MG is a marked improvement. My DS3 was like the MG fairly 'nippy', but the MG has the edge in that department. I would add, living where I do with an abundance of speed cameras, 20mph limits and congested roads, any kind of performance is pretty much wasted!
The high revs issue has been well documented, and it's something I notice most when going uphill - for me as I live on a hill, something I notice on virtually every journey! To recap the nature of this issue, it's caused by the petrol engine acting as a generator to charge the hybrid battery to ensure sufficient energy to power the electric motor. Unlike most hybrids the electric motor is the primary source of drive. As such the electronics select 2nd gear in the three speed auto box to increase the engine revs sufficiently to help charge the battery.
The i Smart app seems to shut down if the vehicle hasn't been driven for a few days.
The MG PILOT is a 'level 2' semi autonomous system. So as you discuss will control your speed in relation to vehicles in front, and will actively provide autonomous steering to keep you in lane.
For me this is the biggest convenience feature of the car (and is all the more surprising as its standard on both the SE and Trophy, both relatively inexpensive cars for what you get!). The only issue as you mentioned, is the 'phantom braking' when you approach a parked vehicle on a narrower road.
What continues to amaze is how the lane keep assist will gamely continue to actively steer the car on even some fairly twisty roads, conditions that my other car, a Genesis Electrified G80 which is equipped with a more sophisticated level 2.5 autonomy system would definitely not attempt!!!
In terms of outright failures, my car suffered from an EGR valve fault - a known issue, which took some three dealer visits to get sorted.
That aside it's not suffered any other issues, apart from a squeaky drivers seat belt harness, which I could hopefully remedy with some silicone spray.
The 360° camera provides an excellent view for negotiating narrow lanes, such as drive thru's etc to save scrapes on the wheels, and again despite the cars price is clearer than my other car!
My experience of the climate control unlike yourselves, is the fierceness of the A/C in warmer weather, which often leaves me to continually raise the temperature. In fact it's managed to effectively keep the cabin cool even on the 30° C plus days we experienced this summer. However using the 'right star button' on the steering wheel is all but essential for changing temperature etc. The touch control on the climate page of the infotainment screen can be best described as pot luck to adjust! Its worth mentioning whilst the above steering wheel controls make adjustments easy, its a pity that when you are on the Carplay page (presumably the same for Android auto) the climate info is not displayed when using that star button, and is something that an update should be carried out for.
Being considerably bigger and designed for long distances i tend to use my other car for long journeys, but when I've had to use the MG it remains perfectly happy at the legal limit, and the seats do remain quite comfortable for long periods of driving. The display usually shows the revs at 2,600 at 70, which whilst the engine is not exactly hushed it's perfectly reasonable in terms of refinement.
Like you, I use a Bluetooth adapter (I have iOS apple), and the Wayz and Google maps app with Carplay are vastly superior to the built in Sat Nav, which has no voice activation, no traffic information, and a destination entry method that is fairly archaic. Of course as with an of these systems not having to plug your phone in every time you get in the car to listen to your music library makes an adaptor a must have!
One negative, which will become more of an issue in the winter months, is the woeful interior cabin lights - as others have done, swapping the feeble bulbs for LED's is definitely something I should do. Also some kind of illumination for the USB sockets in the centre of the dash is really needed. If I need to charge my phone by accessing the secondary USB socket, I need the torch on my phone at night to find it!
All in all, the MG3 HYBRID has one key stand out feature, which still remains after 16 months of ownership - absolute unbeatable value for money, and for me the Trophy version is well worth the extra for what you get. Whilst not the most exciting inside or out, it more than makes up for it by being thousands less than any of the competition!!!
The only fly in the ointment, and sorry to mention my other car AGAIN, is the customer service from MG UK, and to some extent the dealer networks. Living in suburban London there are no shortage of MG dealers, but to book my car in for anything can be a tortures process, with available dates in some cases being months away! I mention Genesis as I use a dealer (albeit not local) which is a Genesis service agent as well as MG. When I've had to take the Genesis for work to be done, it's just a few days notice with another Genesis courtesy car always offered. I'm greeted by the service manager or workshop controller and they even get the technician out to explain what's been done. The car would also be collected and delivered to and from my home if I prefer.
With the MG dealer network things are very different (I'm guessing given their market position) with what could be best described as very budget approah. To use an analogy, and whilst im the first to rate them, MG is like the NHS - don't expect any preferential treatment, just take your turn and be prepared to wait. Of course MG don't profess to be a premium brand and with the E G80 at circa 85k and the MG3 at circa 20k, with Genesis keen to make in roads against the top end Europeans, they have to try hard, so offering a premium service is to be expected, but the contrast between the two is stark to say the least!! I can't imagine what someone who bought a 55k Cyberster must think, probably coming from a higher end German marque, although from experience even their aftersales leaves a lot be desired.
Unfortunately MG UK CUSTOMER SERVICE, is if anything even worse, with the staff knowing little or nothing about the products their company sells, and what IMO demonstrated the total lack of customer care was demonstrated when I suffered a tyre puncture, where the OEM Khumo tyres weren't available in the UK, and so to be safe I ended up buying to new tyres for one puncture!
BTW please don't think I'm being in anyway disparaging about our overworked NHS in my above comments. The staff do a fantastic job with the resources they have available!

 

[mgnz]

Very interesting video, and given I too got an MG3 HYBRID (Trophy in Batteresea blue) in May '24, allow me to share my experiences, which are very similar to your observations, with even a similar mileage covered.
To start in terms of fuel economy in the 14 months I've owned the car, im averaging a lot less than yourselves at around 45 mpg. Using the car as my daily runabout, and living in NW London, much of my journeys are short and in the awful traffic we have here. A rare long run would usually see mid fifties mpg, and on occasion in light traffic I have albeit for a short distance seen over 70mpg! Conversely, in cold weather, the benefits of the hybrid system are all but lost, with the petrol engine running most of the time, with economy dropping into the twenties, particularly if sitting in traffic on clogged roads. However for comparison my previous daily was a DS3 1.2 auto, and in similar driving conditions, over some six years only averaged 32mpg, so on that basis the MG is a marked improvement. My DS3 was like the MG fairly 'nippy', but the MG has the edge in that department. I would add, living where I do with an abundance of speed cameras, 20mph limits and congested roads, any kind of performance is pretty much wasted!
The high revs issue has been well documented, and it's something I notice most when going uphill - for me as I live on a hill, something I notice on virtually every journey! To recap the nature of this issue, it's caused by the petrol engine acting as a generator to charge the hybrid battery to ensure sufficient energy to power the electric motor. Unlike most hybrids the electric motor is the primary source of drive. As such the electronics select 2nd gear in the three speed auto box to increase the engine revs sufficiently to help charge the battery.
The i Smart app seems to shut down if the vehicle hasn't been driven for a few days.
The MG PILOT is a 'level 2' semi autonomous system. So as you discuss will control your speed in relation to vehicles in front, and will actively provide autonomous steering to keep you in lane.
For me this is the biggest convenience feature of the car (and is all the more surprising as its standard on both the SE and Trophy, both relatively inexpensive cars for what you get!). The only issue as you mentioned, is the 'phantom braking' when you approach a parked vehicle on a narrower road.
What continues to amaze is how the lane keep assist will gamely continue to actively steer the car on even some fairly twisty roads, conditions that my other car, a Genesis Electrified G80 which is equipped with a more sophisticated level 2.5 autonomy system would definitely not attempt!!!
In terms of outright failures, my car suffered from an EGR valve fault - a known issue, which took some three dealer visits to get sorted.
That aside it's not suffered any other issues, apart from a squeaky drivers seat belt harness, which I could hopefully remedy with some silicone spray.
The 360° camera provides an excellent view for negotiating narrow lanes, such as drive thru's etc to save scrapes on the wheels, and again despite the cars price is clearer than my other car!
My experience of the climate control unlike yourselves, is the fierceness of the A/C in warmer weather, which often leaves me to continually raise the temperature. In fact it's managed to effectively keep the cabin cool even on the 30° C plus days we experienced this summer. However using the 'right star button' on the steering wheel is all but essential for changing temperature etc. The touch control on the climate page of the infotainment screen can be best described as pot luck to adjust! Its worth mentioning whilst the above steering wheel controls make adjustments easy, its a pity that when you are on the Carplay page (presumably the same for Android auto) the climate info is not displayed when using that star button, and is something that an update should be carried out for.
Being considerably bigger and designed for long distances i tend to use my other car for long journeys, but when I've had to use the MG it remains perfectly happy at the legal limit, and the seats do remain quite comfortable for long periods of driving. The display usually shows the revs at 2,600 at 70, which whilst the engine is not exactly hushed it's perfectly reasonable in terms of refinement.
Like you, I use a Bluetooth adapter (I have iOS apple), and the Wayz and Google maps app with Carplay are vastly superior to the built in Sat Nav, which has no voice activation, no traffic information, and a destination entry method that is fairly archaic. Of course as with an of these systems not having to plug your phone in every time you get in the car to listen to your music library makes an adaptor a must have!
One negative, which will become more of an issue in the winter months, is the woeful interior cabin lights - as others have done, swapping the feeble bulbs for LED's is definitely something I should do. Also some kind of illumination for the USB sockets in the centre of the dash is really needed. If I need to charge my phone by accessing the secondary USB socket, I need the torch on my phone at night to find it!
All in all, the MG3 HYBRID has one key stand out feature, which still remains after 16 months of ownership - absolute unbeatable value for money, and for me the Trophy version is well worth the extra for what you get. Whilst not the most exciting inside or out, it more than makes up for it by being thousands less than any of the competition!!!
The only fly in the ointment, and sorry to mention my other car AGAIN, is the customer service from MG UK, and to some extent the dealer networks. Living in suburban London there are no shortage of MG dealers, but to book my car in for anything can be a tortures process, with available dates in some cases being months away! I mention Genesis as I use a dealer (albeit not local) which is a Genesis service agent as well as MG. When I've had to take the Genesis for work to be done, it's just a few days notice with another Genesis courtesy car always offered. I'm greeted by the service manager or workshop controller and they even get the technician out to explain what's been done. The car would also be collected and delivered to and from my home if I prefer.
With the MG dealer network things are very different (I'm guessing given their market position) with what could be best described as very budget approah. To use an analogy, and whilst im the first to rate them, MG is like the NHS - don't expect any preferential treatment, just take your turn and be prepared to wait. Of course MG don't profess to be a premium brand and with the E G80 at circa 85k and the MG3 at circa 20k, with Genesis keen to make in roads against the top end Europeans, they have to try hard, so offering a premium service is to be expected, but the contrast between the two is stark to say the least!! I can't imagine what someone who bought a 55k Cyberster must think, probably coming from a higher end German marque, although from experience even their aftersales leaves a lot be desired.
Unfortunately MG UK CUSTOMER SERVICE, is if anything even worse, with the staff knowing little or nothing about the products their company sells, and what IMO demonstrated the total lack of customer care was demonstrated when I suffered a tyre puncture, where the OEM Khumo tyres weren't available in the UK, and so to be safe I ended up buying to new tyres for one puncture!
BTW please don't think I'm being in anyway disparaging about our overworked NHS in my above comments. The staff do a fantastic job with the resources they have available!

Good review. Re phone charging I purchased a wireless charger that is permanently connected and fits snugly in space.
Dealer service does not seem any better here in New Zealand. I had several questions to ask dealer after I bought my car and after 4 times asking on their web site and 4 telephone calls I never got an answer. It seems like once you have bought the car they don't want to know you.

 

[KeithS]

Good review. Re phone charging I purchased a wireless charger that is permanently connected and fits snugly in space.
Dealer service does not seem any better here in New Zealand. I had several questions to ask dealer after I bought my car and after 4 times asking on their web site and 4 telephone calls I never got an answer. It seems like once you have bought the car they don't want to know you.

Regrettably that seems to be the case the world over. I think the margins are so small, there is no profit or benefit to be had from providing customer service.