Tomorrow will be three weeks since we collected Goth Leo, our MG4 SE LR. We have already done nearly 1400 miles. This forum was very helpful as we stepped up to make the decision whether or not to buy Goth Leo, but there was one aspect of it that I was aware of, and that is, in general, folk post to forums such as this to help in resolving problems. That sometimes may make it appear that one only has problems with MG4s, so I thought I'd describe some of our experience so far, which can be summarised as, "The car is fine. The owners, however..."
We have just returned from a 650-700 mile round trip down south to the Borders and back. We averaged 4.1 miles per kWHr on the entire journey. Using public charge points only, the costs were just under 10p per mile. Yes, we aimed for cheaper chargers when we could, which helped, but nevertheless, the running costs so far have been a lot lower than we expected and lower than our justification sums allowed.
The car itself has behaved itself, with a couple of exceptions. But there's a "but" coming. Let's deal with the car exceptions first.
We have had one occasion when the traffic sign recognition system failed with a loud BOING noise and a scary message on the screen. Mostly I turn this off, as it's not wildly helpful. It would be great to be able to default this to off, but our pre-flight checklist easily includes turning it off. I contacted the dealer about this, who suggested bringing the car in for a check, but that's a 200 mile round trip so we will wait until we have other things to do in Inverness.
We were on our way somewhere a couple of weekends ago, in the rain, and were learning how best to use the window demisters, aware that someone on the forum had a fogging issue. All was fine, but I noticed that the bottom two rows of heater elements for the rear window did not seem to work. Again, I will report back to the dealer on this.
One real annoyance, which I hope they fix because there is no reason for it, is the lack of ambient temperature display.
And finally, we noticed an odd little mark on the front of the car, just to the right of the badge. I want the dealer to have a look at this, but I think it may be the remnants of a sticker that hasn't been adequately cleaned off.
Those are the only issues we can place fair and square on the new car.
Meanwhile, the owners have other problems. One of the reasons we wanted to buy the car now was the realisation that any or all new cars now come with a myriad of systems either for safety or for convenience. It's not so much driving any more as managing the car's systems (I'll resist grumbling into my grey beard at this point.) This makes it necessary to be aware of all these systems, so that when they are invoked, the driver realises what is going on. I'll deal with some of our "firsts" here, all of which gave us a fright, but all of which were understood for what they are, not problems per se, but the reality of driving a modern car. Yes, one may wish for greater control of the software, but that's not a battle we are likely to win.
The fist occasion was taking a left hand bend in a town. I noticed two pedestrians crossing a side road, but there was no danger. But becuse the road curved, the automatic emergency brake system must have considered the pedestrians to be walking into the road, and applied the brakes. Hard. A glance at the screen showed what was happening, but the degree of emergency brake shook us. This was one of those occasions where there was no danger but a system like AEB could not determine that, as it was not to "know" that the road continued into the curve.
We have had one other occasion when the AEB went off. last Saturday. This was in a 20mph zone, with a narrow pavement. A pedestrian was walking towards us, which I could see on the screen representation. But the narrow pavement and narrow road meant the system braked briefly, again quite hard. Some idiot who apparently did not believe in 20mph zones was tailgating me, which was the bigger source of concern, as this time we realised exactly what was happening.
We also had one instance of the drowsiness detection system kicking in. Again, a BOING noise and a message "Driver must take control" or similar. We were approaching an area we used to live in 15 years ago, and were reminiscing, so the system was right - I probably did not have have my full concentration on my driving. We were now much more willing to trust the car's systems, though, and, while suitably aroused from our slumber, we thought this was generally working as intended.
As most people here do, I switch off lane keeping assist, but once I must have forgotten to do this while my foot was on the brake, as it re-activated without my noticing, although my screen scan now takes inn the top left of the screen too, where LKA status is displayed. We came on to a motorway and, yes, I probably strayed too close to a line, and the steering prevented me from further drifting. This was not the violent shudder early MG4 owners have scarily reported, but I don't find it comfortable not being able to steer for a second or two. But again, I can't fault the system, or claim that it did something dangerous.
I found the adaptive cruise control a thing of wonder, but need to experiment with settings to make sure it doesn't brake and accelerate over-aggressively. I was amazed at how quickly I got to trust it. It's a pity the distance to the next car setting doesn't default to greatest distance, and indeed that there isn't one click more, as I sometimes felt a little close to the car in front, but numerous checks showed that the car was adhering to the 2 second rule.
The A9 is a horrible road at the best of times, but I appreciated the MG4's acceleration on a couple of occasions, allowing us to get past slow lorries etc, quickly and safely. I am also appreciating the fact that one can't stall an EV.
Recharging (new EV owners here) has been no problem at all, though we have been fortunate, arriving on a few occasions just as the previous occupant was finishing, or being the ones to make the next person wait. We have only had one broken charger and that was in Melrose, where, it seems, all the locals know that it is duff. We have also been aware how much extra infrastructure is being built (except here in the Highlands, where the Council still think it's 1923)
Someone here had a problem with their dealer drilling holes in the bodywork for the number plates. We have personal plates which for a number of reasons we could not get put on the car immediately. When I did remove the garage-fitted plates, I found that the rear plate was stuck on rather than screwed, which made it easier. I chose to do the same using Gorilla tape. The factory holes are very large, though, and I wonder if the size of the bolts required block a part of the number, making it easier for the garage simply to drill new ones. Not excusing it, but explaining it, perhaps.
We are now much more familiar with the car, and so many of the quirks, if they are quirks, regarding software etc we understand better. We have a pre-flight check of switching off LKA, AEB to alert, traffic sign recognition off etc, all with the foot on the brake. This take a second or two, but we save those seconds in not having ignition to turn or start buttons to press. One thing that is worth noting about the software, though, is that the screen for the driver is really well thought out. It's possible to take in everything in one quick glance. When one of the driver aids goes off, it displays for just a second or two, but it's all there. Other lesser cars <COUGHtesla> don't even have that front screen, making you look to the one side as though you were driving a 1960s mini, let alone one that shows all you need to know easily and intuitively. Well done MG on that.
So if there are new owners or possible new owners out there, I hope that these generally positive experiences are helpful to you when making your own decision. One last really nice observation - we saw quite a few other MG4s on this last trip, and the one before that. They're becoming quite popular, and that can only be a good thing.
