Service availability (for charger fault): poor show from MG

AdeB

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Marlborough
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Not an MG
I had to call the AA on a late-night return trip between Wiltshire and London last week, as my 2020 Gen 1 wouldn't initiate a rapid charge and I had insufficient charge to get home. The engineer had no joy with the 12v/10mm spanner routine and, with two young kids in the car, he decided that a tow home was the best option.

The car still charges fully on the home charger (Ohme) but refuses to take a charge from a rapid (of any flavour). The locking pin doesn't engage, but the dash display shows 'Connected but not charging'. The charger then spools up, but a few second later cuts out and (depending on the model) signals charge cancelled, stopped, fault, or end of charge.

In these circumstances, while I can use the car locally without issue, longer distances are effectively limited to no more than 75 miles unless I'm staying overnight and have access to a fast charger (or don't mind/have available 2-3 hours to top-up).

Looking back through the forums, I found a thread from someone who'd had a similar problem (reassuring), with a fix adequately provided by an engineer at Wickwar (more reassuring) who was happy to explain the 'fix' to other dealers (more reassuring still).

But...I've now called five dealers within a reasonable distance of home and not one of them has availability to take in the car before April 20. That's appalling. I wonder if MG is aware that its customers can't get quick access to a dealer for repairs. Something to bring to the attention of customer service, I think, especially for a vehicle that's still under warranty, and for something that hugely limits my use of the car.

What's more, Eden MG (my nearest) tried to tell me that I would have to pay £120 just to have it looked at, which would then be refunded if the fault was found to be covered by warranty. I put them right on that front 😬

Up to now, I've been extremely happy with MG and the ZS EV - nearly 25,000 miles in 2.5 years, GOM now at 155, and loving electric motoring. Its lease finishes in September and I was looking forward to potentially replacing it with the MG4 (although I've not yet test-driven it) or even another ZS.

It's very commendable that MG has such affordable cars, increasingly good reviews and a very respectable place in the reliability tables. But if this is the reality of fixing MG faults - having to wait nearly a month - then this may mark the point at which I find another EV brand to support.
 
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Unfortunately, lacklustre service from the local dealer seems to be an increasingly common occurrence. Your frustration must be compounded when you can't even get an appointment by travelling further afield.
 
I had to call the AA on a late-night return trip between Wiltshire and London last week, as my 2020 Gen 1 wouldn't initiate a rapid charge and I had insufficient charge to get home. The engineer had no joy with the 12v/10mm spanner routine and, with two young kids in the car, he decided that a tow home was the best option.

The car still charges fully on the home charger (Ohme) but refuses to take a charge from a rapid (of any flavour). The locking pin doesn't engage, but the dash display shows 'Connected but not charging'. The charger then spools up, but a few second later cuts out and (depending on the model) signals charge cancelled, stopped, fault, or end of charge.

In these circumstances, while I can use the car locally without issue, longer distances are effectively limited to no more than 75 miles unless I'm staying overnight and have access to a fast charger (or don't mind/have available 2-3 hours to top-up).

Looking back through the forums, I found a thread from someone who'd had a similar problem (reassuring), with a fix adequately provided by an engineer at Wickwar (more reassuring) who was happy to explain the 'fix' to other dealers (more reassuring still).

But...I've now called five dealers within a reasonable distance of home and not one of them has availability to take in the car before April 20. That's appalling. I wonder if MG is aware that its customers can't get quick access to a dealer for repairs. Something to bring to the attention of customer service, I think, especially for a vehicle that's still under warranty, and for something that hugely limits my use of the car.

What's more, Eden MG (my nearest) tried to tell me that I would have to pay £120 just to have it looked at, which would then be refunded if the fault was found to be covered by warranty. I put them right on that front 😬

Up to now, I've been extremely happy with MG and the ZS EV - nearly 25,000 miles in 2.5 years, GOM now at 155, and loving electric motoring. Its lease finishes in September and I was looking forward to potentially replacing it with the MG4 (although I've not yet test-driven it) or even another ZS.

It's very commendable that MG has such affordable cars, increasingly good reviews and a very respectable place in the reliability tables. But if this is the reality of fixing MG faults - having to wait nearly a month - then this may mark the point at which I find another EV brand to support.
Lease pricing has softened up a bit over the last year.

I was backed into a corner with the ZS as they jacked the deals up on the ID3 just before was about sign up.

Looks to be some decent deals on ID3s again now.

Classic Ioniq 38kwh which gets more real world range than a SR ZS has some really good deals as well - I used to own one and it is pretty much flawless.
 
What is more annoying is this, you have a long wait for a service appointment, then finally when the car IS diagnosed, if a replacement part is required then you are likely to have a long wait time for there arrival !.
 
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Tbh all cars evs and ice are having difficulty getting into dealers

My petrol was leaking oil they could give me end of April or call rac to dump it at them and they would see quicker
 
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