Not how I thought today was going to pan out...

[AK OK]

First long distance trip today, and it appears that half my battery up and left.

57 miles I got before the low battery warning kicked in. Even at 2.7 m/kWh, that's way short. Battery only took 21kW to get back to over 80%

Hmm

So iirc warning comes on at 25% ?

If so, 25 to 80% is 55% , of a 44.5 kWh battery is 24.475 kWh...

So your 21kWh not too far off ?

 

[N2STY]

First long distance trip today, and it appears that half my battery up and left.

57 miles I got before the low battery warning kicked in. Even at 2.7 m/kWh, that's way short. Battery only took 21kW to get back to over 80%

For 20kWh I get over 60 miles daily driving at night heater on and it shows about 25% battery gone.

Edit sorry I forgot you have gen1 that info is a bit useless to you

 

[macd2401]

Very strange.

Was a journey I've done many times over the last few years, which ordinarily would require a small top up charge en route, and a full charge once home (right around the 150 mile mark). Today I had to stop halfway there to get topped back up to 80%, a minor top up at the destination, another long stop to get back up to 80%, and it's now on charge again having got home just before the low battery warning came on.

 

[N2STY]

Very strange.

Was a journey I've done many times over the last few years, which ordinarily would require a small top up charge en route, and a full charge once home (right around the 150 mile mark). Today I had to stop halfway there to get topped back up to 80%, a minor top up at the destination, another long stop to get back up to 80%, and it's now on charge again having got home just before the low battery warning came on.

It is still quite cold out?

 

[macd2401]

It is still quite cold out?

Not the warmest, but I did the same journey multiple times last year from around the same time of year, through similar temps. I'll see how it pans out over the next few days.

 

[N2STY]

Not the warmest, but I did the same journey multiple times last year from around the same time of year, through similar temps. I'll see how it pans out over the next few days.

I know (think) you're up north but this time last year was quite a bit warmer down here quite a few 17°C, 18°C; just looked parts of Scotland where are lot warmer last year seeing 18°C in March 2022.

 

[macd2401]

When I finally remembered where I stored my obd reader (old age is creeping up) I'm now seeing around 0.25 volt difference between max and min cells. Previously the normal difference was a tenth of that. Taking a long time to balance out.

 

[macd2401]

Well....this is a thread I really hoped to never resurrect...

Driving home from a friend's house, and it's done it again

Oh yeah, and once again, MG Linwood haven't put the car back on the AA Assistance list after the service and MOT in October, despite me specifically asking if they'd remembered to do it this time.
???

 

[Tim Green]

Oh dear, middle of the night too! Hard times!
did you sort the problem last year?

 

[macd2401]

Oh dear, middle of the night too! Hard times!
did you sort the problem last year?

Had genuinely thought it was ok. Hasn't missed a beat since it came back from Longbridge until this morning. Just a few wee niggles I found prepping for the MOT, but nothing traction related.

 

[Lovemyev]

How did you get the car recovered ?.
The dealer is at fault for not renewing the MG Assistance of course !.
I have leant to call MG Assistance ( A.A. ) about two weeks after a service has been carried out, to ensure the car is on their data base.
It’s my OCD kicking in I guess.

 

[macd2401]

I give up.

AA agreed to recover the car to Rutherglen, but because the driver was delayed, he had to phone and confirm they'd be OK with the handover being after the service department closes. They then inform him that the waiting time to even look at it is the end of April, and I may be better off looking at other places to take it.

And having just phoned around all the Arnold Clarks that are MG service centres, they're all worse ?‍

 

[Susanna]

How did you get the car recovered ?.
The dealer is at fault for not renewing the MG Assistance of course !.
I have leant to call MG Assistance ( A.A. ) about two weeks after a service has been carried out, to ensure the car is on their data base.
It’s my OCD kicking in I guess.

This is good advice - I had my car serviced in November, and when I called the AA some weeks later, my car wasn’t on their system.

Unfortunately, it’s not possible to talk to anyone at the garage, one can only leave a message. A further wait, and it still wasn’t done. I drove to the dealership, and was astonished to be told that I hadn’t shown up for the service!! There was nothing on their computer. I was asked to scan and email the service details, which I did, as soon as I got home. Still nothing happened.

Another visit to the dealership, together with the paperwork, and finally the necessary registration was completed earlier this month (February).

If I hadn’t taken out a service plan, I would definitely go elsewhere.

 

[macd2401]

Figured it would be a good idea to update this thread...

Recieved a phone call last Saturday...yup, the 20th of July... telling me that they've finally got around to looking at it... nearly 6 fricking months they've had it

And it's got to go down to MG yet again.

And the only reason they've even pulled their finger out now is after a letter threatening legal and possibly media action.

 

[macd2401]

The saga rumbles on...

This email came in at the tail end of last week, and I'm just off the phone to the person at Rutherglen who has been dealing with it.

MG have basically washed their hands of any involvement with what's going on. They've refused any sort of hire car (and by this point, it's a bit fecking late anyway) to cover the time from now till then. Furthermore, AC say it's up to me to get the car from Rutherglen to Bishopbriggs via MG Assist... but it can't be till nearer the time, because they're short of space over there.

This really is turning into a shit show of the highest order. ????

 

[Caramaddy]

A very sorry series of events. I must be honest, this is the only thing that worries me. I can accept some things may go wrong but if they can't be fixed in a relatively short time, then that is a big worry. My MG5 SR (PFL) is running really well at present but reliability is still a long term concern. I think the car is amazing for the money - it has exceeded my expectations. It is a shared car with my daughter and husband. She thinks it is fantastic, hence it is rarely on the drive - as their car has broken down.
Reliability / Dealer Service - the jury is still out.

 

[macd2401]

So, this may well be one of the last updates for this entire disaster.

Apologies in advance for the quality of the pics, but as anyone using AC knows, they send a link to a video for their reports, and you don't get to go back and view it again, so I've taken to recording the videos on another phone.

Just over a week ago, I got assistance from the AA through MG Assist (and I can't sing their praises highly enough, given all the times they've been called out. They're the only ones who've given decent service over the piece) to move the car from AC Rutherglen to AC Bishopbriggs. First off, the 12V battery was completely dead, despite them fitting a new 12V when they finally got their finger out to read the fault codes. AA got it powered up, and we headed to its new home. It failed 3 times on the trip, and arrived on the end of the towing pole.

Today, I recieved the phone call.

Let's start with the small stuff.

Rear wiper motor is faulty...that's not a warranty item.
The front balljoint that was spotted at the MOT in AC Linwood prior to it turning 3, has play in it. But since Linwood sat on their hands and did sod all, yup, that's out of warranty.
The brakes are scrap. All 4 disks are shot after 7 months of not turning a wheel. And the rear pads are almost non-existent (fronts 8mm, rears 2mm)...which does beg the question, what exactly was happening at all those services at Linwood, because I'm pretty sure I never drove with the handbrake on for the few months I was able to drive it after it's last service. Oh yeah, and they're not a warranty item.

And now the biggie.

In front of the battery, there's a plastic cover. It's not particularly exposed, it's nestled in a gap in the chassis, and it covers the front end of the battery unit... or it did, once.

There's a big bit missing, which they're saying is allowing water into the vents, and knackering the battery.

Of course, they're only guessing that's the problem, so they need to drop the battery, to check if this is the cause. If it's not, then it MIGHT be covered under the warranty.

And here's the kicker. To take the battery out to check. Not to fix it, just to check it, will be... drumroll...

£1500, or thereabouts.

With no choice but to approve them checking it, I'm now dreading what they find. With the trade in value of a working one hovering around the 10k mark, a knackered battery could be enough to send it to the scrapper. For a car less than 4 years old, and which I've owned around 44 months and which has spent a total of (currently) 352 days sitting in AC or MG garages waiting to be fixed. But let's at least give thanks for the 2 weeks of hire car use I got out of that year...

And the final irony. That piece of plastic? £85. An £85 part of currently unknown resilience could be scrapping a sub 4 year old car.

Good times.

 

[Caramaddy]

Quite frankly I am gutted for you. I am not sure what your legal position would be but morally I would expect the garage who sold you the car to buy it back at a preferential sum. Unfortunately that would probably mean trading in for another MG!

I imagine you want to run a mile from MG’s!

You have been extremely unlucky but once bitten………… !

 

[securespark]

The up grade size is 096

I put a Bosch S6 096 in our Honda. It was a Stop Start battery. The car didn't have S/S, but the battery had loads of get up and go and lasted donkey's years till we got rid. I think it was 14 years old but it was still in excellent nick.

Bosch and Varta vehicle batteries are great performers.

 

[Gadget Geek]

This sounds like a job for the ombudsman as they've had it for nearly a year and done fudge all with it. A strong letter of complaint to MG head office and their Customer (non existant) Care team.