Non MG Dealer Servicing Risks

[PaulBJ]

If I have the servicing on my ZS EV undertaken by say Halfords, would I risk voiding my 7 Year Warranty

 

[N2STY]

Possibly the last four years of it you will definitely lose the free aa cover don't think halfords touch evs

 

[Gavla]

Mg service cost are reasonable paid around £100 for first two services (low mileage) I personally wouldn't take the chance that MG won't try and get out of warranty if they haven't been regularly servicing it. Are other garages that much cheaper?

 

[N2STY]

 

[Alb]

We've seen lots of examples of very reasonable service pricing from MG dealers.

 

[BarryH]

My first annual service (no special rates or low milage plan) was under £90 if I recall, but my second, however, was £189 quite a difference! However they clearly did more and I'm sure that the final drive must have received some lubrication as I'd mentioned when asked if there were any issues, that I thought there was more whining from the final drive gear than there ought to be when holding a constant speed of around 30 to 40 mph and on "trailing throttle". I got a more refined car back from the service complete with another Morris Bear so £240 over 2 years for servicing including 2 additional years AA cover isn't too bad I quess. Although Servicing is costing more per mile than the electricity I've put into it, which is something they don't mention when you buy it!

 

[BarryH]

There is an advantage to main dealer servicing which I have benefited from in the past from Honda. Seven years ago I bought a CR-V Diesel (if I'm allowed to use the D-word) with a 5 year 64 k miles service plan. 3 months after the Honda 5 years warranty had expired and at 50,000 miles I took the CR-V for a service and was offered an extended warranty plan which I declined so they explained that I would be liable for additional work in future and I was ok with that as I planned to be getting an EV soon.

As I drank my coffee the service desk guy approached and said the mechanic had just driven my car to the workshop and the head was very noisy, had I noticed? and would I like them to investigate? Gulp! the answers were No and Yes of course.

An hour later I was told that there was a cam-shaft problem and the head would need replacing and it would involve 23 hours labour. Gulp and double gulp! Honda's main dealer hourly rate was about £120 - £130 per hour plus parts of course. But if was happy to contact Honda and are my personal data then they would see if Honda would cover it because this shouldn't have happened at 50,000 miles as the car had been serviced by them, the main dealer on a service plan it should have been picked up being out of tolerance.

Honda agreed and the car was booked in for the work. All it cost me was £19 insurance on the loan car which I had for the 3½ weeks it was in the workshop. Bearing in mind that the car was out of warranty, I was glad because I'd had it serviced on a main dealer service plan, I didn't have to pay the £3,500 +Vat for the parts and nearly £3k +Vat labour on a car I would sell within 6 months.

 

[Orcadian]

In the islands main dealers are like mobile signals "Great if you have one". Main dealer service would cost service charge plus £300 pounds.

 

[Ding]

At what mileage does the ev need service? Mine is just over 5000miles at 4 months old.

 

[Alb]

10K miles/1 year for the low mileage service
15K miles/1 year for the standard mileage service

The low mileage option is only available for 2021 cars onward.

 

[BarryH]

In the islands main dealers are like mobile signals "Great if you have one". Main dealer service would cost service charge plus £300 pounds.

As I said my 1st Annual Service was under £90 and included a year's AA cover and the 2nd was a more major service and cost about £100 extra. Main dealer servicing costs do vary a little and 1st service I found there was another dealer 15 minutes closer, but in the other direction was £30 more expensive but no MG dealer should be charging £300!

 

[sgt4hed]

Co sidering the MG service plan is only £6 per month why would you want to take it to a Halfords for servicing? Customers don't even have their ZS EVs yet so I doubt t anyone at halfords knows their way around the car yet either. Main dealer always when still in warranty, especially when it is that cheap

 

[EMGEEFIVER]

My leasing company had the option to choose MG servicing or cheaper option of their approved servicing dealer. As it was cheaper to lease with the second option I took it. Although I have not reached the first service milage yet, inpart due to it being in for repairs after a shunt since January, I have to say I'm a bit worried if these approved servicing dealers will be doing, or are aware of, recall fixes and infotainment system updates etc?

 

[BarryH]

Co sidering the MG service plan is only £6 per month why would you want to take it to a Halfords for servicing? Customers don't even have their ZS EVs yet so I doubt t anyone at halfords knows their way around the car yet either. Main dealer always when still in warranty, especially when it is that cheap

In my experience there are many software updates for the ZS and they take feedback form customers. I've had my ZS Gen 1 for over two years and it has become more refined and suited to UK drivers expectations and requirements over that time.

 

[hmadsen]

In my experience there are many software updates for the ZS and they take feedback form customers. I've had my ZS Gen 1 for over two years and it has become more refined and suited to UK drivers expectations and requirements over that time.

Would one be right, in expecting these new firmwares to be installed free of charge, when the car goes in for a service. If so, this alone is a good reason, to get the car serviced at MG.

I guess, most will be bugfixed, and i can not imagine them, wanting to get payment for installing bugfixes for problems they, themselves have made

 

[BarryH]

Would one be right, in expecting these new firmwares to be installed free of charge, when the car goes in for a service. If so, this alone is a good reason, to get the car serviced at MG.

I guess, most will be bugfixed, and i can not imagine them, wanting to get payment for installing bugfixes for problems they, themselves have made

Yeah, bug fixes and general updates are FOC. The only thing I paid for was the "Comfort 2" upgrade which was a feature upgrade rather than a bug fix. It brought the early Gen1 cars into line with the mid-cycle update and although it was annoying to be asked to pay for it I could understand why dealers charged. it was a completely new version of the software and some dealers found it "bricked" the Head Unit requiring a very expensive replacement on their part. Also although MG Motors made the software available FOC they didn't cover the cost since it wasn't a "necessary" update, an update that took about 2 hours to complete

 

[Alb]

There was probably only 10 minutes of manual intervention in that 2 hour update!

 

[BarryH]

There was probably only 10 minutes of manual intervention in that 2 hour update!

Apparently, they do have to keep the car hooked up and connected to the Servers in China the whole time which ties up a bay with the network connection. If it is interrupted the car is screwed basically unlike a bug fix update which can be restarted. Also, there are severely points at which it stops and waits for engineer input. Then there is another part of the update via the USB. I had mine done at the first service and fortunately, it all worked for me and it transformed the experience of owning the car.

 

[Gadget Geek]

Would one be right, in expecting these new firmwares to be installed free of charge, when the car goes in for a service. If so, this alone is a good reason, to get the car serviced at MG.

I guess, most will be bugfixed, and i can not imagine them, wanting to get payment for installing bugfixes for problems they, themselves have made

The facelift models update over the modem, so no need to visit a service centre.

 

[Gadget Geek]

Just watched this episode of Fully Charged.

Looks like a good association.