Would you buy an MG 4 again?

[DBedford]

In a thread where a guy is asking for advice about rejecting, is there really any point or need for posts telling the world your car doesn’t have any issues?
Really..?

Yes Bowfer, there is because it’s all about balance my friend

 

[siteguru]

the under-sensitive lighting system

Remove the sensor cover (the plastic piece in the middle of the dash, under the windscreen) and the auto-lights work great.

 

[JDMB]

Thank you. I logged the issue the day I bought he car (as the dealer could not register the navigation system) and it has not been fixed since. I have the showroom car while they try fix it but it has been 7 weeks now.

Hi @Scurry1974 , just remembered, as I got mine from there if it’s Crawley, the mobile service at the garage is dreadful, mine showed no connection when I picked it up, so that’s maybe why they couldn’t connect it?

Once home, reset the infotainment system, connected it to my Wi-Fi and re-setup everything over my own Wi-Fi.

It’s difficult to see the options for the Nav and other agreements - they appear right at the bottom of the privacy page on the unit underneath the Agree and Deny buttons, and they’re really easy to miss.

 

[Rolfe]

Fair point, if they are going by thread title alone and don’t read his post ( I agree the thread title is a bit weird given the first post )

If he wants to reject it I'm absolutely behind him on that. Your own experience shows that there are bad cars out there, and the unlucky purchasers of these may well be best getting out ASAP. But in answer to the question in the thread, yes I would, assuming that the car doesn't develop any issues it shows no sign of at the moment.

Anyway, it's probably better than diving into threads where people want to share their joy in the new car they love by telling them it's rubbish.

Remove the sensor cover (the plastic piece in the middle of the dash, under the windscreen) and the auto-lights work great.

Yes, I need to do that, and chase up my friend's son who is supposed to be 3D printing the replacement covers.

 

[Scurry1974]

If he wants to reject it I'm absolutely behind him on that. Your own experience shows that there are bad cars out there, and the unlucky purchasers of these may well be best getting out ASAP. But in answer to the question in the thread, yes I would, assuming that the car doesn't develop any issues it shows no sign of at the moment.

Anyway, it's probably better than diving into threads where people want to share their joy in the new car they love by telling them it's rubbish.

Hi, I am asking as I enjoy driving the car but the experience with the infotainment and support has been terrible. I don't know if this is common or I have a bad version. I have thought of rejecting and simply going to a different dealer and trying again or going to a different car.

So I am trying to decide next steps.

 

[Rolfe]

My own view is that it's worth trying to get these issues fixed. I have a suspicion that the aircon thing may just be the way the MG4's aircon works, and I've certainly found it to be absolutely fine once I understand that the temperature the car shows me is about 5 degrees higher than the temperature it is giving me, and that whether the aircon is on or off is entirely under my control. I like the HVAC system, I find it's giving me a nice comfortable temperature in the car without blasting me with hot or cold air.

If you fiddle with the system, and in particular fiddle with what happens at a given temperature with the AC turned on versus with it turned off (given that the car, as far as I know, slavishly obeys the driver as to whether it's on or off), you might find that it's just as good for you.

Your problems with the satnav and the screen freezing are real problems I think, but they're not in the same league as the horrors Bowfer and others experienced with the power/speed limitation, and I would have thought they should be relatively easy to fix.

Tell the dealer to bloody well sort it or you'll hand the car back?

 

[Scurry1974]

My own view is that it's worth trying to get these issues fixed. I have a suspicion that the aircon thing may just be the way the MG4's aircon works, and I've certainly found it to be absolutely fine once I understand that the temperature the car shows me is about 5 degrees higher than the temperature it is giving me, and that whether the aircon is on or off is entirely under my control. I like the HVAC system, I find it's giving me a nice comfortable temperature in the car without blasting me with hot or cold air.

If you fiddle with the system, and in particular fiddle with what happens at a given temperature with the AC turned on versus with it turned off (given that the car, as far as I know, slavishly obeys the driver as to whether it's on or off), you might find that it's just as good for you.

Your problems with the satnav and the screen freezing are real problems I think, but they're not in the same league as the horrors Bowfer and others experienced with the power/speed limitation, and I would have thought they should be relatively easy to fix.

Tell the dealer to bloody well sort it or you'll hand the car back?

I tried that approach but the dealer said they are at the mercy of MG and that there is no supply of replacement head units available. They have no time line to fix. I think I need to reject and the question is do I try again elsewhere as are these genuine issues or do I have a bad one.

 

[Rolfe]

The issues I have encountered which seem common to all MG4s (or at least to all SEs) are relatively trivial and easily borne simply by thinking about how much cheaper the car was than the alternatives. I think the question comes down to cost. If you're OK about paying more for something like a Cupra Born (as Bowfer did) then maybe it's better to do that and shake the MG dust off your wheels.

However, it seems to me that overwhelmingly the cars people are getting now, those manufactured in 2023, are free from "rogue car" issues such as plagued Bowfer and some others who bought last year. Someone ordering a new MG4 now, maybe with a build date of February, has a very good chance of finding themselves in the "absolutely thrilled with this car" group.

 

[Scurry1974]

The issues I have encountered which seem common to all MG4s (or at least to all SEs) are relatively trivial and easily borne simply by thinking about how much cheaper the car was than the alternatives. I think the question comes down to cost. If you're OK about paying more for something like a Cupra Born (as Bowfer did) then maybe it's better to do that and shake the MG dust off your wheels.

However, it seems to me that overwhelmingly the cars people are getting now, those manufactured in 2023, are free from "rogue car" issues such as plagued Bowfer and some others who bought last year. Someone ordering a new MG4 now, maybe with a build date of February, has a very good chance of finding themselves in the "absolutely thrilled with this car" group.

Thanks for your help. I have the Trophy and do enjoy the driving experience but my confidence in the manufacturer is a bit dented. Although the car is cheaper I am seeing discounting from rivals now that make them much closer in price.

I will be sad to see is go though as it is a fun car....Need to look at lead times as maybe grab another one and try again!

 

[AndyL61]

Remove the sensor cover (the plastic piece in the middle of the dash, under the windscreen) and the auto-lights work great.

Or put a hole in it and cover the hole with a clear sticker to keep the dust out .

 

[Rolfe]

Thanks for your help. I have the Trophy and do enjoy the driving experience but my confidence in the manufacturer is a bit dented. Although the car is cheaper I am seeing discounting from rivals now that make them much closer in price.

I will be sad to see is go though as it is a fun car....Need to look at lead times as maybe grab another one and try again!

The pricing on the Trophy isn't as attractive as the pricing on the SE anyway - certainly not as attractive as the SE SR, which I think is the sweet spot for sheer value for money. So maybe something else wouldn't be an enormously bigger outlay and you might be happier with it, as Bowfer is with his Born.

Nevertheless I'm always sorry to read about someone who has had a bad experience with the car and given it up, given that so many people are enthusing about how much they enjoy their cars, and aren't experiencing problems that are anywhere close to being deal-breakers.

 

[KeithB]

Hi All, apologies in advance for the long post.

This is a difficult question to answer for me as with most people the driving side of the car is fine except for the preflight setup disabling the LKA and Speed Camera recognition as both are next to useless. We have a Trophy on PCP which we picked up in mid December.

Most of the issues are generally all seem to be around the centre console as the issues are as follows, my gut feeling is the 12v fault maybe also down to the centre console maybe a loose wire drawing current ;-

1. Three times the 12v battery has failed we called AA on the first occasion and bought a 12v booster to keep in the glovebox after that, which has been invaluable as we resolved the others ourselves but took photos of the battery voltage for the dealer The readings where 0.025v on one occasion and 4.66v on the other, the AA had 3v on the first visit.
2. ‘USB disk identification failure’ message.
3. Radio stopped working, (Item 2 and 3 temporarily resolve themselves when the battery dies say for a week or so)
4. Bluetooth is awful occasionally connects but does not remember the phone and either does not pick it up or wants to pair when you are driving. So if on a trip for work need to forget the old setting and redo again from the start before I leave as more preflight setup.
5. Wireless charging comes up with message that there are other objects in the area when there is only the phone and it stops charging.
6. One of our keys does not have an emergency key which only came to light due to item 1 and our dealer said we had both when we picked up the car which we could not have as we only went to use them when the battery died and they now they want us to pay for another one.

As a side issue we have had a few times when the App has not worked which is annoying but not a deal breaker the most annoying is when you send an address to the car for the satnav it does not receive it.

The car has been in the garage for a total on 13 work days so far 2 x 2 day visits with one for the recall update. The latest was over a total of 9 days firstly 4 workdays as needed it for the weekend so had to pick it up and then return on the Monday, they said the Bluetooth and USB errors had been resolved but informed them on Monday they had not. I left them with the car for another 5 days and picked up on Friday without any of the faults resolved. They have now been told that MG has told them they need to load some software on a USB stick anthey need to get a USB stick before they can do this. They also stated that due to MG being in China it takes a while to get an answer back to any issues due to the time difference. They have said they are unable to do anything about the issue with the 12v battery as it has not done it when in their workshop and they have told me to call out the AA when it happens again and get them to drop off at the dealer.

I have told them to contact me when they have the USB stick to load the software and will keep ringing them to remind them as can’t afford to leave the car with them for an extended period anymore.

The dealer will not provide a loan car as they have said they do not have anything available as they are booked out weeks in advance which is extremely disappointing with a car that is only just over 6 months old.

The items listed should be solvable by the manufacturer and the lack of progress on these are infuriating as I can’t keep leaving the car with them as we only have the one car in the family and are having to work around them as do not want them to use me as an excuse as not being able to resolve.

If they solve the issues I would heartily recommend the car but at the moment I would not want to put someone else through the aggravation as we seem to be beta testing their software and build quality, the dealers also need to step up and take ownership of the problem and not just pass the buck to China.

 

[bowfer]

Thanks for your help. I have the Trophy and do enjoy the driving experience but my confidence in the manufacturer is a bit dented. Although the car is cheaper I am seeing discounting from rivals now that make them much closer in price.

I will be sad to see is go though as it is a fun car....Need to look at lead times as maybe grab another one and try again!

So is it bought or PCP?
Rejection involves the dealer buying it back in both cases, although having the finance company force that issue with the dealer is undoubtedly easier.

 

[AndyL61]

Hi All, apologies in advance for the long post.

This is a difficult question to answer for me as with most people the driving side of the car is fine except for the preflight setup disabling the LKA and Speed Camera recognition as both are next to useless. We have a Trophy on PCP which we picked up in mid December.

Most of the issues are generally all seem to be around the centre console as the issues are as follows, my gut feeling is the 12v fault maybe also down to the centre console maybe a loose wire drawing current ;-

1. Three times the 12v battery has failed we called AA on the first occasion and bought a 12v booster to keep in the glovebox after that, which has been invaluable as we resolved the others ourselves but took photos of the battery voltage for the dealer The readings where 0.025v on one occasion and 4.66v on the other, the AA had 3v on the first visit.
2. ‘USB disk identification failure’ message.
3. Radio stopped working, (Item 2 and 3 temporarily resolve themselves when the battery dies say for a week or so)
4. Bluetooth is awful occasionally connects but does not remember the phone and either does not pick it up or wants to pair when you are driving. So if on a trip for work need to forget the old setting and redo again from the start before I leave as more preflight setup.
5. Wireless charging comes up with message that there are other objects in the area when there is only the phone and it stops charging.
6. One of our keys does not have an emergency key which only came to light due to item 1 and our dealer said we had both when we picked up the car which we could not have as we only went to use them when the battery died and they now they want us to pay for another one.

As a side issue we have had a few times when the App has not worked which is annoying but not a deal breaker the most annoying is when you send an address to the car for the satnav it does not receive it.

The car has been in the garage for a total on 13 work days so far 2 x 2 day visits with one for the recall update. The latest was over a total of 9 days firstly 4 workdays as needed it for the weekend so had to pick it up and then return on the Monday, they said the Bluetooth and USB errors had been resolved but informed them on Monday they had not. I left them with the car for another 5 days and picked up on Friday without any of the faults resolved. They have now been told that MG has told them they need to load some software on a USB stick anthey need to get a USB stick before they can do this. They also stated that due to MG being in China it takes a while to get an answer back to any issues due to the time difference. They have said they are unable to do anything about the issue with the 12v battery as it has not done it when in their workshop and they have told me to call out the AA when it happens again and get them to drop off at the dealer.

I have told them to contact me when they have the USB stick to load the software and will keep ringing them to remind them as can’t afford to leave the car with them for an extended period anymore.

The dealer will not provide a loan car as they have said they do not have anything available as they are booked out weeks in advance which is extremely disappointing with a car that is only just over 6 months old.

The items listed should be solvable by the manufacturer and the lack of progress on these are infuriating as I can’t keep leaving the car with them as we only have the one car in the family and are having to work around them as do not want them to use me as an excuse as not being able to resolve.

If they solve the issues I would heartily recommend the car but at the moment I would not want to put someone else through the aggravation as we seem to be beta testing their software and build quality, the dealers also need to step up and take ownership of the problem and not just pass the buck to China.

Not having a USB stick is not an excuse for not being able to update software. They are a few quid from most supermarkets ***. They are useless and that is the biggest part of the problems people are having. With a decent dealer network and support from MG UK , most of these problems would be sorted very quickly.

 

[KeithB]

Yes that is my view they need to step up and resolve the issues as and when they come up and build a good customer experience so they come back and buy again. We are not naive and know there can be hiccups with new platforms, but sort them out.

 

[Ian Key]

Thanks for your help. I have the Trophy and do enjoy the driving experience but my confidence in the manufacturer is a bit dented. Although the car is cheaper I am seeing discounting from rivals now that make them much closer in price.

I will be sad to see is go though as it is a fun car....Need to look at lead times as maybe grab another one and try again!

There seems to be good and bad dealers which can make the difference in the ownership experience. Can you take it to a different dealer?

 

[IanMK]

Thanks for your help. I have the Trophy and do enjoy the driving experience but my confidence in the manufacturer is a bit dented. Although the car is cheaper I am seeing discounting from rivals now that make them much closer in price.

I will be sad to see is go though as it is a fun car....Need to look at lead times as maybe grab another one and try again!

I, too, have a Trophy and you have just been unlucky in my opinion. Yes, I'm happy to accept that the aircon temperature is a few degrees out but it's just a number; adjust up/down until you find a comfortable setting. I don't worry if the headlights come on too early or when driving under a bridge. My Audi did that. I'd prefer that so many driver settings reset on each journey, but that seems to be common on EVs. I'd prefer fewer 'context sensitive ' controls and more switches, but this is as the car was designed. The fact that your main display is clearly faulty and cannot be displayed is obviously unacceptable by any measure. Can you not find another Trophy in stock? I had mine within a week of having a test drive.

 

[Butch]

The MG range may be inexpensive, but, they provide an opportunity for those who cannot afford a Tesla or European EV to enjoy the EV experience.

LOL. I can afford a Tesla, but there’s no way on God’s green earth I’d ever own one again. I had a 2022 M3 for six months. Absolutely the worst car I’ve owned in the past 40 years. I ditched it like a hot potato at the earliest opportunity. Build quality was awful (it was a rattle trap), Tesla “customer service” is a bad joke, and the software was the glitchiest, most infuriating POS I’ve ever had to deal with. Never again.

 

[MadaboutDana]

Having driven 6000 kilometres in ours, I'd say I'd definitely buy one again (although I'd hold out for the long-range one that's just about to be released in Australia!). It's a lovely car to drive, it's got some great features, and the few niggles it has (LKA, sign recognition) are ones you quickly get used to and disable as a matter of course. It's more spacious than you think, and I'm delighted to learn from one of the other posters here that Thule make roof racks for it – that's very good to know. I'm still trying to find someone who'll install a hitching bar at a price more reasonable than MG's astronomic quote, so far without success. But it's just a question of time... I still haven't seen another one on the road here in France, although the uptake of EVs proceeds apace (lots of ghastly Renault Mégane e-techs, which are truly horrible – pace anyone here who owns one; lots of Teslas, of course; Renault Zoës have been around since forever; and Citroen Amis are beginning to hit the road, making everyone laugh every time they see one).

 

[AndyL61]

Regarding sign recognition. Why are people saying they need to turn it off. All it does is show the last speed sign it saw and flash if you go over it. It isn't a problem and doesn't affect the drive. I don't mind it flashing away if I stray over a bit.