Rejected the car.

[pshotton]

Most of the problems I have experienced are software quality related and most have workarounds or don’t matter too much That’s not the point though and neither is the oft quote response well it a good purchase given the price, that’s irrelevant.

The reality is that the MG ZS EV update is a pre-production beta. I love the concept of an EV and mine is a test project for a year. After that I’ll get a ‘production’ car.

Take a look at other forums and you'll find all cars (even ICE ones) suffer. Read Giles Coren's diatribe about his Jag, or the complaints about Tesla. And then look at the Which surveys which (see what I did there) show that EVs are far more reliable than the alternatives. If you want to see a shit EV see my review of the Seres 3 published somewhere on this group.

 

[Exdro]

Take a look at other forums and you'll find all cars (even ICE ones) suffer. Read Giles Coren's diatribe about his Jag, or the complaints about Tesla. And then look at the Which surveys which (see what I did there) show that EVs are far more reliable than the alternatives. If you want to see a sh*t EV see my review of the Seres 3 published somewhere on this group.

I like the car. It’s so much improved on our previous Exclusive (which was great). Only upgraded because it seemed a good deal. I hope they can sort it.

 

[mousebat]

I have all the same/similar gripes and possibly more with my 72 plate SR Trophy.

• Horrendous rattles from sunroof, dashboard and pillar where the tweeters are housed.
• TPMS come on in cold weather and say there is a problem when there isn't. Tyres are perfectly inflated - I checked with a gauge. Can't reset as there's no button in glovebox like other cars.
• Knocking felt through steering wheel and suspension when going around roundabouts etc...
• Cameras seem to be from an early 90's cctv system and even when clean it's hard to see what is going on.
• Parcel shelf pins die of death every month or so, bought a bag on eBay and I've already gone through 4 of them.
• Carplay randomly refuses to stay connected.
• Charging can silently fail to connect, leaving me with insufficient battery in the morning.
• Slower than advertised charging at pretty much all CCS charging stations.
• Frequent errors from forward collision system.
• Infotainment screen default setting is brighter than the sun and resets this way every start up.
• Infotainment doesn't turn off even after opening the door (with car off). It's minor but weird design, and endemic of rubbish UX.
• Heating still smells like a soldering iron even after 10k miles.
• Radar cruise control does not work with regenerative braking and the stalk is in the most ridiculous place.
• Seats creak like an old mattress and have zero lumbar support.
• Having no reach, just rake adjustment on the steering wheel is positively agricultural.

There's other stuff that annoys me about this car but I've just done too many miles now to reject it. I've just got to suck up the ridiculous depreciation it's cost me (circa £7k) and move on.

Back to ICE for me. I've found out that I live too close to the RAF base that provides early warning of nuclear armageddon, to get a smart meter and benefit from cheaper rate electric on a night.

 

[Tim Green]

Curious.
I have a merc e class estate and a jag xk8 (both 05 plate) and they both have niggles. All three are still a joy to drive, in their own way.

 

[Bodgerx]

I have all the same/similar gripes and possibly more with my 72 plate SR Trophy.

• Horrendous rattles from sunroof, dashboard and pillar where the tweeters are housed.
• TPMS come on in cold weather and say there is a problem when there isn't. Tyres are perfectly inflated - I checked with a gauge. Can't reset as there's no button in glovebox like other cars.
• Knocking felt through steering wheel and suspension when going around roundabouts etc...
• Cameras seem to be from an early 90's cctv system and even when clean it's hard to see what is going on.
• Parcel shelf pins die of death every month or so, bought a bag on eBay and I've already gone through 4 of them.
• Carplay randomly refuses to stay connected.
• Charging can silently fail to connect, leaving me with insufficient battery in the morning.
• Slower than advertised charging at pretty much all CCS charging stations.
• Frequent errors from forward collision system.
• Infotainment screen default setting is brighter than the sun and resets this way every start up.
• Infotainment doesn't turn off even after opening the door (with car off). It's minor but weird design, and endemic of rubbish UX.
• Heating still smells like a soldering iron even after 10k miles.
• Radar cruise control does not work with regenerative braking and the stalk is in the most ridiculous place.
• Seats creak like an old mattress and have zero lumbar support.
• Having no reach, just rake adjustment on the steering wheel is positively agricultural.

There's other stuff that annoys me about this car but I've just done too many miles now to reject it. I've just got to suck up the ridiculous depreciation it's cost me (circa £7k) and move on.

Back to ICE for me. I've found out that I live too close to the RAF base that provides early warning of nuclear armageddon, to get a smart meter and benefit from cheaper rate electric on a night.

I wouldn't associate these issues with EVs. They are more MG issues. These are not reasons to go 'back to ICE'.

I've had an EV before mine that was fine.in the case of this MG EV, the advice I've been given on the forum is to be more positive...

I wouldn't have an MG again. But nor would I an ICE car.

 

[Andrew Sinclair]

I guess it must be the luck of the draw. I have had a number of Mercedes, C Class, AMG 63, GLC and GLA and, yes, they have all had a few things that are odd, but my ZS EV has a tonne of weird things and I put it down to it being new technology but some of them, e.g. the speeling (sic) mistakes are just escaped s/w errors. Some of them are inconsistent which again leads me to believe that there are s/w quality issue. However, these are all a bit anecdotal.

 

[Tim Green]

I think most of the zMG faults are down to lack of development.

 

[Deleted member 10911]

I wouldn't associate these issues with EVs. They are more MG issues. These are not reasons to go 'back to ICE'.

I've had an EV before mine that was fine.in the case of this MG EV, the advice I've been given on the forum is to be more positive...

I wouldn't have an MG again. But nor would I an ICE car.

F*** positivity. This car is a horrendous PoS. I am shocked at the amount of posts where the substandard equipment is just accepted.

Oh well, it’s ok, I’ll turn this off. Or turn that off. ***, you’ve paid tens of thousands of dollars/pounds, you shouldn’t have to turn anything off to make something acceptable!

And it’s not just this car, it’s the brand. I’ve driven the MG PHEV for a bit (2 hours crawling in traffic this afternoon) and OMG the amount of greenwashing. I’m not sure if it’s been painted green or yellow, imbuing the true lemon it is. Apparently it gets great fuel economy at 1.7l per 100km. Did amazing today, 8.2l.

And like the ZS, you set the settings how you want, restart the car and poof, they’re all gone.

For all those who want positivity, well, maybe buying an MG wasn’t the best way to get it.

 

[mousebat]

EV’s are the future but not until the price of electric comes down. I’ve tried to swap tariffs so I can get cheaper off peak but I’m not allowed a smart meter because I live near some massive golf balls. That’s what my energy supplier is saying anyway.

The faults on the car are definitely down to lack of development. The software appears to have been written but not very thoroughly tested after installation.

Try this for laughs - put the car in reverse within the first few seconds of pressing the start stop button. The reverse camera will come on briefly before disappearing.

Regardless of how well you organise your music into directories for usb playback, they will all be displayed in one contiguous block.

Another good one I’ve found is that if the front camera is a bit mucky, it repeatedly warns you every 10 minutes of driving just to annoy you.

At the 35p per kw I’m stuck with now it’s not far of HEV running cost. I get about 3 miles to the kw, especially in winter with motorway driving.

If you can achieve 65mpg in a HEV, that’s 14.3 miles to a litre. A litre of petrol is £1.45 at the moment. If you are caught short or doing a journey and have to spend in the region of 60p a kw at a public charging station you may as well be driving a car with a V6.

Goverbent has scrapped all grants and subsidies and for company car drivers you only get the pittance of 8p a mile (up from 5p?!) allowance for driving them. That won’t even cover the hideous depreciation of the MG, let alone the leccy.

The net result of my foray into EV ownership with the MG, is that I’m now substantially out of pocket, I’ve been severely inconvenienced and uncomfortable for its duration.

 

[Tim Green]

Its not just MG. My Merc e series estate - they have been in continuous production for, what 20 years or more, with minor upgrades. If the battery is a bit low when you start, it displays "auxiliary items suspended for low battery" and turns off all the things you want on a cold morning - no defrost, no heat, no heated seats, even no radio etc. Whose brilliant idea was that?

 

[mousebat]

Its not just MG. My Merc e series estate - they have been in continuous production for, what 20 years or more, with minor upgrades. If the battery is a bit low when you start, it displays "auxiliary items suspended for low battery" and turns off all the things you want on a cold morning - no defrost, no heat, no heated seats, even no radio etc. Whose brilliant idea was that?

My 64 plate E300 diesel hybrid was fantastic, probably most comfortable capable car I’ve ever driven. Never missed a beat.

I bet there’s a lot more lemon MG’s than Mercs.

 

[PS70]

Goverbent has scrapped all grants and subsidies and for company car drivers you only get the pittance of 8p a mile (up from 5p?!) allowance for driving them. That won’t even cover the hideous depreciation of the MG, let alone the leccy.

The 8p / mile is the advisory electric rate and only meant to cover the cost of electricity to charge a company car - which I know it doesn't - depreciation is the company's issue.

When using your own car, the mileage allowance rate of 45p/mile for the first 10,000 miles and 25/mile thereafter still applies. At least that's my understanding.

 

[mousebat]

The frustrating thing is, the drivetrain is great. I do 160 miles a day with my commute and the majority is on tractor/tourist filled A and B roads. It creates overtaking opportunities that with anything less than 300hp would not normally feel achievable.

If you could strip the thing back to a shell, fit discs all round, sort the suspension, add bigger wheels and decent seats it could make quite the b road weapon.

 

[Bodgerx]

it could make quite the b road weapon.

Weapon? I'd like to think of the car more of transport than something that can cause harm

 

[Lovemyev]

I’ve tried to swap tariffs so I can get cheaper off peak but I’m not allowed a smart meter because I live near some massive golf balls. That’s what my energy supplier is saying anyway.

I assume you are using the older type dumb electric meter then of course ?.
What about trying this angle.
If your energy company will not switch you over to a smart meter, then ask them to fit you a dual rate meter then you could go onto an “economy 7 meter” ( like they use for electric storage rad’s ) then switch to a economy 7 tariff.
We did this for a number of years before switching to a smart meter.
Worth asking I guess ?.

 

[mousebat]

I assume you are in the older type dumb electric meter then of course ?.
What about trying this angle.
If your energy company will not switch you over to a smart meter, then ask them to fit you a dual rate meter then you could go onto an “economy 7 meter” ( like they use for electric storage rad’s ) then switch to a economy 7 tariff.
We did this for a number of years before switching to a smart meter.
Worth asking I guess ?.

Yeah cheers - I had asked them about this but am still waiting for their meter team to call me back.

Weapon? I'd like to think of the car more of transport than something that can cause harm

Hmm.. I’ve mowed down 3 pheasants, a rabbit and an unknown but rather large quantity of quail since August last year. So in that respect I suppose you could consider it to be a weapon!

 

[JCFlippen]

The new MG4 hot hatch just announced could be what you need.

 

[Bodgerx]

Yeah cheers - I had asked them about this but am still waiting for their meter team to call me back.



Hmm.. I’ve mowed down 3 pheasants, a rabbit and an unknown but rather large quantity of quail since August last year. So in that respect I suppose you could consider it to be a weapon!

 

[Lovemyev]

Yeah cheers - I had asked them about this but am still waiting for their meter team to call me back.

But you WILL have to lean on them to install one, because they don't use them that much anymore.
But you do have the added lever of not being able to have a smart meter on your side though !.
When we where using the old Eco 7 time clock, it suddenly became very noisy and then decided to bite the dust.
They where quick to respond because it failed in the cheap rate of the off peak mode.
The guy turned up with what the guy was told was a brand new dual rate meter.
He then spent about 1 hour wiring it all in.
As he was finishing up the job, I glanced over his shoulder and noticed that it had one meter tail less on this meter.
I asked him to explain how it worked, which he kindly did so.
All was okay, until I said :- "So, surely that only provides power to the wall box in the off peak hours then ?".
YES !.
"So, I can't charge in the day then ?.
NO !.
"That's no good to me then sorry mate".
A phone call to his boss and he returned to say it was the incorrect meter he had been given to install.
This resulted in him driving one hour to collect the correct type of meter than his mate had in his van, which he had only removed the previous day from another property !.
If I remember correctly the meter he brought, had the provision for three meter tails and not the required 4 meter tail slots.

 

[Deleted member 10911]

Yeah cheers - I had asked them about this but am still waiting for their meter team to call me back.



Hmm.. I’ve mowed down 3 pheasants, a rabbit and an unknown but rather large quantity of quail since August last year. So in that respect I suppose you could consider it to be a weapon!

According to Jeremy Clarkson, you should be doing a better job at mowing down badgers. Come on, do your part for the farming community.