JohnInFrance
Established Member
..... if our MG were any other car we would have rejected it as unfit for purpose by now; neither SWMBO nor I have any time for vehicles that do not work as they should or are advertised, but somehow, the ZS just tugs on both our heart strings and we can both forgive it virtually any sin.
To elaborate, the car has had faults since the day we collected it; as we opened the driver's door on collection day the very first thing we saw was the the driver's seat was damaged, probably from either one of the technicians or the delivery driver having keys/screwdriver's/a.n. other thing in their back pocket so we immediately flagged this - to be honest, I was more pissed that the dealership tried to pass it off with an 'oh, we didn't notice that' than the actual damage. However, after a pretty tense 15 minutes we agreed to take the car while they sourced either a suitable repair or a replacement seat.
Next up, the service light came on after 600 kms, not a big deal, there is a fix for this so when we got the call to bring the car back to repair the seat, we asked them to update the software to cure the errant service light too. We trundled off in our loaner (an Opel (or Vauxhall to you lot) Grandland X - OMG, what a terrible car, clearly designed to appeal to anyone who has totally given up on life). We returned the next day to collect the car, the software update had not been done, the technician merely resetting the service count, so it's now reading incorrectly for when the first service is due and the seat - OMG, the tradie they got in to repair it had died it BLACK, so now we had a black driver's seat (which still showed the damage) and an incorrect service counter. Needless to say I dropped my backside with them there and then (along with a very irate email to the boss of MG France) and we have agreed on a complete replacement seat (which is what should have happened in the first place).
Next up, the steering clunk that affects so many of these cars - by this time we've hit the dizzy heights of 2500 kms so this time the salesman drops by our house (as I was away working at Le Mans that week) and leaves the wife with a brand new (and I do mean brand new, it had 44 kms on the clock and the garage is 38 kms away!) Corsa while he takes the ZS back to enjoy the steering clunk on the drive back to the garage. And we hear no more ..... After two weeks a polite email gets the response from the service manager that they are awaiting guidance from MG France, then the next day, 'we are now waiting parts' - OK, we'll come and get it and use the car as the Corsa, while I'm sure is a nice car for some, is useless for our needs. We are assured that the steering is not dangerous (in writing), so off we toodle to collect our car.
And now we have it back, we're waiting for both a new driver's seat, a steering rack and a few ancillary bits and bobs - current estimate is 3-12 months! But ironically, we just don't care, it was so nice to get the car back, we both find it super comfortable, it's insanely cheap to run (primarily because we make a lot of use of the free 9kw chargers in our town that we're paying for in our taxes anyhow) and we're just enjoying the whole electric driving experience.
Oh, and remember those OTA updates we were supposed to get so there was no need to visit the dealership? (a big deal in places like France where it can be a 300+ km round trip for some). The fact that was basically a lie appears to have been brushed under the carpet by all and sundry too.
And this brings me back to the start of this post - the service is terrible; not because the dealer or their technicians are bad or incompetent, but because they are just getting no backup and support from MG France (who are likely as not suffering the same problem from MG/SAIC in China), the quality of the car is average - yes, it's a 'cheap' car when looking at EVs, but it should still be better than it is, and the reliability has, to date, been somewhat less than expected. But all of that pales into insignificance when we're in it; the ZS somehow manages to still make us both smile despite all of these faults (which, by the way, we are fully aware will likely as not continue to plague us throughout the ownership journey). As I said at the start, any other car and it would have been back on the dealer's forecourt in under 1000 kms but there's just something about this car ......
Are we mad keeping it? Time will tell but for the moment, despite the faults we're still loving it.
To elaborate, the car has had faults since the day we collected it; as we opened the driver's door on collection day the very first thing we saw was the the driver's seat was damaged, probably from either one of the technicians or the delivery driver having keys/screwdriver's/a.n. other thing in their back pocket so we immediately flagged this - to be honest, I was more pissed that the dealership tried to pass it off with an 'oh, we didn't notice that' than the actual damage. However, after a pretty tense 15 minutes we agreed to take the car while they sourced either a suitable repair or a replacement seat.
Next up, the service light came on after 600 kms, not a big deal, there is a fix for this so when we got the call to bring the car back to repair the seat, we asked them to update the software to cure the errant service light too. We trundled off in our loaner (an Opel (or Vauxhall to you lot) Grandland X - OMG, what a terrible car, clearly designed to appeal to anyone who has totally given up on life). We returned the next day to collect the car, the software update had not been done, the technician merely resetting the service count, so it's now reading incorrectly for when the first service is due and the seat - OMG, the tradie they got in to repair it had died it BLACK, so now we had a black driver's seat (which still showed the damage) and an incorrect service counter. Needless to say I dropped my backside with them there and then (along with a very irate email to the boss of MG France) and we have agreed on a complete replacement seat (which is what should have happened in the first place).
Next up, the steering clunk that affects so many of these cars - by this time we've hit the dizzy heights of 2500 kms so this time the salesman drops by our house (as I was away working at Le Mans that week) and leaves the wife with a brand new (and I do mean brand new, it had 44 kms on the clock and the garage is 38 kms away!) Corsa while he takes the ZS back to enjoy the steering clunk on the drive back to the garage. And we hear no more ..... After two weeks a polite email gets the response from the service manager that they are awaiting guidance from MG France, then the next day, 'we are now waiting parts' - OK, we'll come and get it and use the car as the Corsa, while I'm sure is a nice car for some, is useless for our needs. We are assured that the steering is not dangerous (in writing), so off we toodle to collect our car.
And now we have it back, we're waiting for both a new driver's seat, a steering rack and a few ancillary bits and bobs - current estimate is 3-12 months! But ironically, we just don't care, it was so nice to get the car back, we both find it super comfortable, it's insanely cheap to run (primarily because we make a lot of use of the free 9kw chargers in our town that we're paying for in our taxes anyhow) and we're just enjoying the whole electric driving experience.
Oh, and remember those OTA updates we were supposed to get so there was no need to visit the dealership? (a big deal in places like France where it can be a 300+ km round trip for some). The fact that was basically a lie appears to have been brushed under the carpet by all and sundry too.
And this brings me back to the start of this post - the service is terrible; not because the dealer or their technicians are bad or incompetent, but because they are just getting no backup and support from MG France (who are likely as not suffering the same problem from MG/SAIC in China), the quality of the car is average - yes, it's a 'cheap' car when looking at EVs, but it should still be better than it is, and the reliability has, to date, been somewhat less than expected. But all of that pales into insignificance when we're in it; the ZS somehow manages to still make us both smile despite all of these faults (which, by the way, we are fully aware will likely as not continue to plague us throughout the ownership journey). As I said at the start, any other car and it would have been back on the dealer's forecourt in under 1000 kms but there's just something about this car ......
Are we mad keeping it? Time will tell but for the moment, despite the faults we're still loving it.
Last edited by a moderator:
for any EV is this, is this a good car in the first place, or is it a good car BECAUSE it’s an EV !.
