Hi all, I'm a new member to this forum - I was inspired to join after seeing how active the discussions around the MG S5 are compared to some of the other social media groups I am a member of.
I wanted to share my experience with a recurring motor fault in my MG S5 (Essence 62kW) that has resulted in the car being towed twice, and being off the road completely for around 7 weeks. I'm based near Sydney, Australia and purchased the S5 in June last year - the first few months it was enjoyable to drive, and as my very first brand-new car (and EV) I took very good care of it to ensure its longevity.
After commuting to work one morning in October (approx 7900km odo), the car lost power after exiting the freeway and displayed a warning message on the cluster "Motor Fault Consult Handbook". The motor was making a strange noise, the car felt reluctant to drive, and it struggled to make it up a short hill to the train station carpark. I also observed that the power indicator on the right hand side of the cluster display stopped showing any information. Here is a photo of the error message displayed on the cluster indicating the fault.
View attachment 42406
To troubleshoot, I turned the car off, locked it, got back in and turned it back on, but the issue was persistent. I had to get to the office so was unable to troubleshoot further, but I gave MG Roadside Assistance a call to discuss the issue. They advised the error might go away after being left for some time and that if it was still a problem upon returning to the car to give them a call for further instructions. When I returned the fault had disappeared so I started my journey back home. About halfway through the journey after I'd slowed from highway speeds (100kph) down to 50-60kph, the fault reappeared, so I pulled over and called Roadside where they advised the car would need to be towed to a dealership for further investigation.
After a week at the dealership the car was returned to me advising that a software update and recalibration on the motor control units was completed, and they were confident a software bug was the cause of the fault. The car drove normally for the next 3 weeks until the exact same issue reoccurred (approx 9900km odo). Once again the car was towed back to the dealership where it has remained ever since.
Communication from both MG Motor Australia and the local dealerships has been incredibly poor. The technicians have diagnosed the stator (component in the motor) to be faulty, and they have been awaiting delivery of parts for the past 6 weeks. Nobody has been able to provide an ETA on when the parts will be delivered or when the car will be returned to me. Unfortunately in Australia we don't have "lemon laws" for new cars like many other countries do - getting a like-for-like replacement or a refund will take months and require intervention from Consumer Affairs agencies and/or a magistrate - which means I'm stuck trying to push them to complete the repair as soon as possible. Who knows if they've even identified the root cause of the fault correctly, given my experience thus far I'm fully expecting the fault to reoccur once they hand the car back to me!
It's apparent through this forum and other social media channels that this is unlikely to be a widespread fault as I've only come across one of instance of this issue occurring - that person resides on the other side of the country so it really just seems like sheer dumb luck to be handed the keys to one of two known lemons in Australia.
MG Motor Australia have provided me with a courtesy loan car, being a 2023 MG ZS EV (Standard model with 51kW battery), which has been challenging as it doesn't provide me with enough range for my work commute, let alone longer trips to the city or further afield. The charge speed is also quite abysmal compared to the S5, so I've been spending much more time staring at parking lots (and paying for it...) than I would've in my own car.
I'm not sure what I was hoping to get out of making this post - I will do my best to keep it updated with the outcome in the hopes that sharing my experience could assist other future MG S5 owners that may encounter the same rare issue that I have myself. It might also serve as a warning that while MG EVs are quite well regarded, their customer experience leaves a lot to be desired - especially so over here in Australia!
