Test drive NIGHTMARE!!!!

[sczoo]

As you all probably know i ordered our new MG3 hybrid, I finally had a test drive of it today which was an experience to say the least!

The car at first was lovely to drive and smooth which was great I was happy with that! We came up to a roundabout and the car flashed a big red banner for less than a second even the salesman (was in the passengers seat) couldn’t read what it said and the car was completely dead wouldn’t start or anything! This was a brand new demonstrator car I’ve never had a car breakdown on a test drive - maybe it’s just a bad one? But the salesman did say well they are very new so there will be some teething issue?! - teething issues?? It bloody broke down! I’m beyond furious as you can probably tell as this is my nearest dealer and they monopolise where I live their service was quite frankly APPAULING.

Now I’m really unsure what todo with my current order I feel a little put off by the car now if I’m completely honest ? but the salesman said it’s been driving 5 times today with no issues but he agreed with me and tried showing me an MG4 and MG ZS which I didn’t want.

After sitting at the side of a roundabout for almost 20 minutes while some other salesman come and collected me in an old MG3 believe it or not I just got my keys and drove home.

Deflated isn’t the word ?

 

[TEST DRIVER]

Thats a brand new one. Good job they have a 7 year warranty unless it is the type of Arthur Daley warranty where everything is covered except the part that goes wrong.

I would stick with good old fashioned petrol cars until the so called teething problems have been sorted down the line.

 

[sczoo]

Thats a brand new one. Good job they have a 7 year warranty unless it is the type of Arthur Daley warranty where everything is covered except the part that goes wrong.

I would stick with good old fashioned petrol cars until the so called teething problems have been sorted down the line.

Yes that’s what I’m thinking I’m guessing though as the car belongs to MG and not a customer they’ll fix it no matter what I assume ?

I think maybe I need to take a back seat and let the car prove reliability for the next few months I normally don’t buy a car that’s just realised as I get there’s issues but what happened to me today seems a little to concerning sadly which is a shame as the car looks absolutely lovely inside the steering wheel weren’t plastic though but this car was a trophy model so could be why?

I may call the dealer (ordered from an online one as had a very good deal and fast delivery) and just see where I stand to cancel etc a headache I really didn’t need.

 

[KeithS]

Does indeed sound very unlucky. Perhaps as a counter, the fact that there are now quite a few owners on this forum, and I believe apart from one other contributor that had a major failure, for which he explained MG straight away agreed to a replacement, should give some security that such total break downs are not the normal.
The Hybrid system is nothing particularly new, with all manufacturers offering some form of Hybrid across their ranges, so it's not a new untried technology.
If you liked the car, before cancelling I would certainly ask to test drive another, or even the same car if they claim to have fixed it.
Having had my car for a couple of months, the only major issue, which is something regrettably I think is common to all cars to some extent with ACC and LKA (semi autonomous driving), is 'phantom braking' where the car gets confused by a parked car and applies the brakes.
This I have found does occasionally happen.

 

[sczoo]

Does indeed sound very unlucky. Perhaps as a counter, the fact that there are now quite a few owners on this forum, and I believe apart from one other contributor that had a major failure, for which he explained MG straight away agreed to a replacement, should give some security that such total break downs are not the normal.
The Hybrid system is nothing particularly new, with all manufacturers offering some form of Hybrid across their ranges, so it's not a new untried technology.
If you liked the car, before cancelling I would certainly ask to test drive another, or even the same car if they claim to have fixed it.
Having had my car for a couple of months, the only major issue, which is something regrettably I think is common to all cars to some extent with ACC and LKA (semi autonomous driving), is 'phantom braking' where the car gets confused by a parked car and applies the brakes.
This I have found does occasionally happen.

Morning Keith, yes that’s what I was thinking to after having an evening to reflect on things actually! That’s very true Hybrid is quite a tried and tested form of technology. I may see if I can get another test drive today from a different branch and see how it goes. I use the ACC pretty much daily in my Hyundai and it works as it should actually, but maybe for the MG might need a software update or something as it’s such a new car so I’m hopeful that will be fixed. The LKA again my current car uses this but works and corners as it should really but again might be down to a simple software fix, with MGs is it only a dealer who can update the software or is there any OTA options do you know?

 

[salty]

At the end of the day, stuff happens. You where very unlucky. Don't get me wrong I can see why you would be a bit deflated.
But you ordered one in the 1st place, so must've liked it. Stick with it, chances are you'll love it. But it's up to you. ??

 

[TEST DRIVER]

I would not fancy the brakes coming on out of the blue and the car behind not expecting it, so either a shunt or near miss.

Talking about sad test drives, i remember years ago i went to look at a used Jaguar E Type. The salesman drove it from the rear of the yard to the front quite quickly and applied the brakes. The bonnet flew up and scraped along the ground causing loads of damage to the car. The guy was in a real state so i thanked him and walked away.

These days i always have solo test drives without a salesman twittering away about how good the car is, but years ago when i was 18 or 19 i had a test drive of a Fiat X19 with a salesman in the passenger seat. He was not sure of the roads and neither was i. We ended up taking a wrong turn and drove onto the motorway in error. The fuel gauge needle was on empty and it was quite some distance to the next turn off. He was in a panic. We made it back to the showroom just as the car spluttered and conked out and no i did not buy the car.

Yes that’s what I’m thinking I’m guessing though as the car belongs to MG and not a customer they’ll fix it no matter what I assume ?

I think maybe I need to take a back seat and let the car prove reliability for the next few months I normally don’t buy a car that’s just realised as I get there’s issues but what happened to me today seems a little to concerning sadly which is a shame as the car looks absolutely lovely inside the steering wheel weren’t plastic though but this car was a trophy model so could be why?

I may call the dealer (ordered from an online one as had a very good deal and fast delivery) and just see where I stand to cancel etc a headache I really didn’t need.

Have you paid a deposit to the dealer as that could make a difference if you want to cancel. However i would think seeing as you ordered online it would come under distance selling laws so you could cancel/reject the car within a certain time frame.

I ordered my VW online from a main dealer 200 miles away with branches all over the UK. I paid a deposit on the understanding that if i was not happy with the car after i had inspected and test drove it the deposit would be refunded. As it turned out i was very happy with car and bought it.

 

[Andy Brooks]

Have you paid a deposit to the dealer as that could make a difference if you want to cancel. However i would think seeing as you ordered online it would come under distance selling laws so you could cancel/reject the car within a certain time frame.

I ordered my VW online from a main dealer 200 miles away with branches all over the UK. I paid a deposit on the understanding that if i was not happy with the car after i had inspected and test drove it the deposit would be refunded. As it turned out i was very happy with car and bought it.

Morning Keith, yes that’s what I was thinking to after having an evening to reflect on things actually! That’s very true Hybrid is quite a tried and tested form of technology. I may see if I can get another test drive today from a different branch and see how it goes. I use the ACC pretty much daily in my Hyundai and it works as it should actually, but maybe for the MG might need a software update or something as it’s such a new car so I’m hopeful that will be fixed. The LKA again my current car uses this but works and corners as it should really but again might be down to a simple software fix, with MGs is it only a dealer who can update the software or is there any OTA options do you know?

My mum had a 2005 Prius which was a hybrid they have been around for nearly 20 years! ? upon driving the car for a while I’ve realised you can almost sense when the car might get confused and its pretty obvious due to the lines on the road changing or parked cars protruding too far out, this is only my second car (I’m 22) my first was a 2011 Skoda Fabia so I’m just getting used to all this fancy tech in the car but the ‘phantom breaking’ for me has become much less of a problem after driving more.

 

[IDC]

I think buying a totally new car, as in it is not just a facelifted version of the old model, is a greater risk. But a 7 year warranty and rules over recalls mean that there is a big safety net.

 

[Anon70]

In my experience dealers will do the minimum they can to "prepare" a car. I went for a test drive of a used Cupra Formentor. When I powered it up it threw load of parking sensor and blind spot monitoring warnings. Turning it off and on again cleared those.

Then 2 minutes into the test drive it threw a tyre pressure warning, so we drove back to the dealer and they pumped up the offending tyre and checked the rest of them.

Did finally get out for a test drive where I was explaining to the sales person all of the features of the car, including things like auto park, which they were very excited to see in action as they didn't even know the car had that feature.

Needless to say I walked away from that particular vehicle and dealer but it did not put me off thinking about buying that make/model

 

[MG Clive]

I think buying a totally new car, as in it is not just a facelifted version of the old model, is a greater risk. But a 7 year warranty and rules over recalls mean that there is a big safety net.

Also, the more fancy new features a car has, the more there is to go wrong, bring back the Austin 1100 ?

 

[sczoo]

Had another test drive this time everything was fine! Was a lovely drive actually really easy to drive to (never driven an automatic before) took it out for about 20 mins without the salesman but when they asked it I wanted one I said I’ll think about it ? (they didn’t know I’ve already ordered one but didn’t want to sound like an idiot)! Only thing with the SE model does anyone know if the wing mirrors auto fold? I did ask the salesman and he said yeah think so we’re the most inspiring chat I’ve had so I just said oh ok and left. Shame that this dealership will be my only option for servicing / repairs etc so if there like that when your buying a car god knows what they’ll be like once I’ve got mine. Also another question sorry all my heads flooding with them atm as I’ve brought my car online dealership if I have issues could I take it to MG? Or would i need to take it to the dealer brought from? (My nearest one is around 4hr drive) ?

 

[IDC]

.. Only thing with the SE model does anyone know if the wing mirrors auto fold?...?

Yes, the SE has that facility.

 

[MG Clive]

if I have issues could I take it to MG? Or would i need to take it to the dealer brought from? (My nearest one is around 4hr drive) ?

If it's a warranty issue, any MG Dealer will be able to sort it out, the MG Dealer will be paid by MG to sort it out. If it's not technically covered under the warranty, I'd say your supplying Dealer would be your first port of call, and if it's just a minor issue they would probably sort it free of charge for you.

 

[sczoo]

If it's a warranty issue, any MG Dealer will be able to sort it out, the MG Dealer will be paid by MG to sort it out. If it's not technically covered under the warranty, I'd say your supplying Dealer would be your first port of call, and if it's just a minor issue they would probably sort it free of charge for you.

Yeah that was my exact thinking to ? I couldn’t be going to the supplying dealer when it’s over 4hrs drive away from me really

 

[sczoo]

I’ve decided as test drive went well today continuing with my order ? still excited for getting my new car should be around 6 days hopefully

 

[Stuart Wright]

Early adopters. Or are you? SAIC have sold lots of cars in China and sometimes a car which has sold large numbers there may be brought here.

MG3 (automobile) - Wikipedia

en.wikipedia.org

Your MG3 Hybrid+ is new. February 2024.

Even if a model of car has been sold in numbers abroad, the software for the UK version may be new. And when coded on a limited budget, the software will probably have bugs.
Owners of MG EVs have been complaining about excessive 'bongs' since the 2019 ZS EV.
What one systems analyst considers a good idea, might, in reality be an annoyance. Or in the case of lane keep assist, a liability.

Early adopters usually have to put up with the annoyances and inconvenience of bugs in new products. New video games is an obvious example. All software from Microsoft!

It's something you need to accept if you're buying a brand new product.

 

[KeithS]

Early adopters. Or are you? SAIC have sold lots of cars in China and sometimes a car which has sold large numbers there may be brought here.

MG3 (automobile) - Wikipedia

en.wikipedia.org

Your MG3 Hybrid+ is new. February 2024.

Even if a model of car has been sold in numbers abroad, the software for the UK version may be new. And when coded on a limited budget, the software will probably have bugs.
Owners of MG EVs have been complaining about excessive 'bongs' since the 2019 ZS EV.
What one systems analyst considers a good idea, might, in reality be an annoyance. Or in the case of lane keep assist, a liability.

Early adopters usually have to put up with the annoyances and inconvenience of bugs in new products. New video games is an obvious example. All software from Microsoft!

It's something you need to accept if you're buying a brand new product.

That is a very clear explanation of issues that are becoming common across the motor industry.
An example of this that Ive been experiencing over the last few months with my other car is with a third party app that was introduced to new cars or in my case via an OTA update.
Hyundai Motor group following an agreement with Amazon, now offers across their brands Amazon music where the library is accessible via a dedicated option on the cars infotainment screen. Access is provided through a monthly subscription (of course that's how Amazon make their money out of the deal, probably with some kind of kickback to Hyundai!), and this appeared in my car a Genesis Electrified G80 in December. However for the last few months it's been plagued with failures, and nobody at Amazon, and certainly not at Genesis customer service has a clue how the system works or is able to fix it.
This problem exists from what I understand across all three brands - Hyundai Kia and Genesis.
There will be someone who built the code for this to work, probably somewhere I side Amazon, and he/she may have an idea what's going wrong, but until that person is identified and set to work on sorting it the problem will just persist.
It's a question of getting the right people involved who understand the technical and software issues, and that only happens when enough customers start to complain!

 

[IDC]

...It's a question of getting the right people involved who understand the technical and software issues, and that only happens when enough customers start to complain!

The worst example being when sub-postmasters began to complain about and report faults with Fujitsu's Horizon system. Trying to get software engineers to accept faults can be very difficult!

 

[dragonevo]

In my country they gonna have a hard time getting customers for this cars.

Many people love pure EV cars here, but nearly 22000gbp for a MG3 hybrid with 0 ev mileage, won't find any customers here.