Probably won’t get an MG4 again

[NickT]

My car salary sacrifice car lease is up as I am changing companies. My new company also does car salsac, but I likely won’t be getting an MG4 again. It’s been a nice car, but for me hasn’t quite delivered. It’s was not just the 2 months that the garage had it while they fixed the pretty important ‘not being able to charge issue’. It’s the smaller niggles, such as the charger door freezing open often. No rear seat light meaning we have to use a torch for the kids to clip their seat belts in, especially when is our turn to take other kids to clubs. The 120 mile battery range during the winter. The fact that the temperature setting has little relation to the actual temperature, they should just change it to high/medium/low? Not being able to add a roof rack in the UK. Fighting against the lane keeping on country roads. It misting up far to easily, although I know it does demist using the maximum demist button quick. The amount of mud that sticks to it I will also not miss, much more sticks than the 4 other cars I’ve owned where I live here!

Now it may be that our next car has similar, or differently annoying things! But I think it will be worth finding that out as I’ll be leasing again.

I will miss the smooth quickness and solid handling around the Scottish country lanes where I live. As well as pretty good snow and ice handling (we have all weather tyres on). I will also miss the vehicle to load functionality, so will make sure my next one does that. I will miss the quick cabin heating in the early morning. I will also of course miss the fact that it is a very good EV car for the price considering the price of EVs!

I guess in summary I think this is a good city car, but not so great for me as a country car in the cold and dark days of a Scottish rural winter.

Hope everyone keeps enjoying their MG4’s and safe driving everyone

 

[MG Clive]

Best of luck with your next car @NickT, whatever it may be.

 

[Mark Hewitt]

The thing with the MG4 is it's a budget car built to a price. So of course it's going to be deficient in some ways that other cars that cost more aren't.

Of course the trick is to find something better without paying more.

 

[OriginalBigAl]

Does salsac work with secondhand cars ? There are some good bargains out there for originally much higher value cars, although the forums won't be as good as this one! Good luck and let us know your eventual choice.

 

[Bam Bam]

Agree with the mud point.

Do let us know how your alternative EV (I assume) compares. A neighbour I don't know has got themselves a Kia EV3. There is now a more choice out there, though none seem to match the value of the MG4.

 

[siteguru]

The MG4 seems to hit the sweet spot between car size vs price. There are now cheaper EVs out there, but they're more super minis rather than Astra/Focus sized cars.

 

[HiFiDave]

At this moment I don't think I would either, and I've only had mine two months. First month was amazing, all the good points ie quick, smooth, good handling, good looks (and good price), I wasn't worried about the little cost cutting things like no rear interior light, wired carplay, mirrors not heated and the like. What's put me off is a fault appearing within a month of getting the car new and more importantly only one of two local(ish) dealers being prepared to look at it, ...but in March. This is what worries me the most. I just don't feel dealers have got your back. For comparison my wife has had a Kia for nine years and the only (very minor) issue was about five years in when the spring loaded key in the fob lost its spring action. One call to local dealer who apologised and asked when does she want to come in to have it replaced. Took it in the next week, and they didn't even ask to see the service history. And that to me is the big difference. I wish I'd have looked into dealer support (and existence of indy dealers for out of warranty issues) and not just the car before I bought it.

 

[Kithmo]

MG would have to improve a few things before I would buy another.
The Radio losing stations then not finding them again until the car is restarted.
The heater displaying 5 deg C above the real temperature.
The LKA needs dulling down (although the latest recall has apparently cured that).
ALL driver settings need to be remembered and not have to reset every time the car is turned on.
(alternative to settings remembered, have physical buttons to turn some on or off)
The main screen needs to boot up quicker, it's way out of date compared to modern tablets etc..

 

[siteguru]

MG would have to improve a few things before I would buy another.

The Radio losing stations then not finding them again until the car is restarted. ... I've never had this issue

The heater displaying 5 deg C above the real temperature. ... the latest updates to HVAC and FICM have resolved this for me. HVAC is much more controlled now

The LKA needs dulling down (although the latest recall has apparently cured that). ... to be confirmed - I need to get my car back first before I can get the update

ALL driver settings need to be remembered and not have to reset every time the car is turned on. ... Ain't ever going to happen, not if 5 NCAP is desired

(alternative to settings remembered, have physical buttons to turn some on or off) ... Agree that this could be implemented; even via a Profiles option that is easily available e.g. in the pull down screen

The main screen needs to boot up quicker, it's way out of date compared to modern tablets etc. ... Agree that it could be quicker, but it's not inordinately slow in my car

Some feedback above in bold.

 

[Kithmo]

Thanks for that @siteguru.
My heater seems to have improved over time, warming up quicker but having it set at 27 or 28 C to get 22-23C actual seems wrong, I'd be better off having a blue to red bar like the ZS.
As far as NCAP ratings, never in my life have I bought any car based on it's safety ratings and never will, I'd prefer it to have a lower rating and give me control of features, especially when they are rushed into production with insufficient testing on our roads.
The main screen sometimes announces the date as 2019 on boot up, so I suspect the hardware is at least from that date. As you say it's normally not too slow but sometimes (seems to happen every time I'm in an underground car park) I can sit there for a minute or more before it starts. SWMBO's MG5 boots up as soon as we press the start button.

 

[DixieTGS]

As you say it's normally not too slow but sometimes (seems to happen every time I'm in an underground car park) I can sit there for a minute or more before it starts.

That's the type of symptoms you'd get if it was trying to do something networky on startup but was struggling with the connection .

 

[JonnyG]

I tend to keep a good eye on the lease market and MG4's are not that great value to lease at the moment anyway (certainly on a personal lease) and there are some more expensive EV's available on a lease for the same or lower lease price than the MG4. Not sure what you can get on a salary sacrifice deal though as some seem quite restictive in what you can get and what price.

Lease prices can be very volatile and it's a completely different world to buying retail (PCP, Loan or with cash). If you pick the right time and aren't too focused on one particular car brand / model you can get an absolute bargain. I attach the crazy price trend of the Ariya below.

Current examples of lease deals at the time of posting (all sourced from Leaseloco except BMW I5 M60 from Riverdale Leasing) :-

Nissan ARIYA 178kW Advance 87kWh - List retail price £48,735 - current lease deal is £299/pm but has been £737 !!

Nissan ARIYA 225kW Advance 87kWh e-4ORCE Auto [Sky] - List retail price ££53,535 - current lease deal £315/pm (highest £587 and lowest £302)

Renault Scenic E-Tech 160kW Techno 87kWh Long Range - List retail price £40,940.00 - current lease deal is £275 (highest £514/pm & lowest £266/pm).

VW ID7 Tourer 210kW Match Pro 77kWh- List Retail Price £52,270 - current lease deal £370/pm

MG4 Trophy Long Range - List retail price £32,440 - current lease deal £310/pm (highest has been £432 and lowest £264)

All based on a 3 x 23 (two year lease with three months up front followed by 23 montly payments) and lowish mileage.

So the top two have a list price higher than an MG4 Trophy but are available on personal lease for less per month.

And the bargain of the week if you have a good salary :-

BMW I5 442kW M60 xDrive 84kWh - List retail price £96,840 - current lease deal £607/pm including metallic paint !! I doubt that will be around long though !!

 

[Everest]

So, how does that work? Excuse the ignorance but have never leased a car before. You pay 26 lots of £299 (so total of £7774) to have the car for 2 years - with presumably everything included (tax, insurance, servicing) and then what happens? Sounds a lot of money to me unless you are doing a very high mileage?

 

[JonnyG]

So, how does that work? Excuse the ignorance but have never leased a car before. You pay 26 lots of £299 (so total of £7774) to have the car for 2 years - with presumably everything included (tax, insurance, servicing) and then what happens? Sounds a lot of money to me unless you are doing a very high mileage?

Yes, the examples I gave are all for 2 years - the first month you pay 3 monthly payments up front and the remaining 23 months you pay the single monthly amount (in bold above). It's called 3 x 23. You can opt for three years if you want (3 x 35)

The lease includes VED (and a lot of those cars will be over the £40,000 threshold so that's around £40 a month saving already with the new EV VED rules from April 2025 !!). They all have warranty but not insurance or servicing. At the end of the lease they come and collect the car from your home (and they deliver to your home too).

If you do the comparisons with a retail purchase I think you'll find the above deals are all very cheap !! The bottom video goes into detail on all the savings you can get from leasing.

Afterall they include all finance costs (interest), all depreciation costs and these are all new EV's !!!

To put things into perspective my Xpower (mistakenly bought too early on PCP ) has depreciated around £14,000 in 17 months, plus I have paid interest on the PCP. I would have saved well over £5000 if I had leased a car at £350 per month.

But ETTO, leasing is'nt for everyone, especilally those that buy and keep their cars for many years, but the poster was talking about leasing on salary sacrifice so I was just putting out some deals on more expensive EV's that beat (or come close to) the MG4 at the moment on a lease.

 

[MelanieMoxon]

Had I have known what the MG4 was like I'd probably have leased it, I genuinely wanted to keep it at least until the end of the warranty period which is why I took an initial PCP over 4 years, with the miles that will end up on the car I am going to end up owing them money when I give it back at the end of the 4 years its a bit rubbish having nothing but realistically even with a trade in I'm not going to get anything more than the £16500 GFV I got if I traded it in against a new EV, even a new MG.

I won't be getting another MG for my next car (wouldn't rule out one in the future but the software would have to be 100% perfect before I'd consider it). One thing I won't do, ever again, is buy a "year one" car.

If I stick with EV's and go new it will likely be the new Renault 5 which will have been out for 18 months when my PCP is up, or the new VW offering (ID.2 I believe). Other than that I am a bit stuck for used cars as my criteria for a new car is; hatchback (C or B segment), no SUVs, no crossovers, no Teslas of any description. 200 miles real world range minimum (happy to accept less during the winter but that's the summer minimum).

 

[JonnyG]

...........If I stick with EV's and go new it will likely be the new Renault 5 which will have been out for 18 months when my PCP is up, or the new VW offering (ID.2 I believe). Other than that I am a bit stuck for used cars as my criteria for a new car is; hatchback (C or B segment), no SUVs, no crossovers, no Teslas of any description. 200 miles real world range minimum (happy to accept less during the winter but that's the summer minimum)........

Yes I agree, buying a year 1 EV seems a bit of a risk. The Volvo EX30 has had its fair share of software problems I hear but may suit your needs when the time comes and won't be a year 1 car anymore.

I know someone who has just leased (last Sept) a new Vauxhall Corsa Ultimate EV for £226 month for two years . The list retail price is ridiculously high (more than an Xpower !!), but leasing was cheap. Not for everyone but I think it's OK, especially in Graphic Grey and it has a lot of nice features (heated massaging seats & heated steering wheel, keyless entry, reversing camera, front sensors, decent Michelin tyres, TomTom SatNav, 220 mile range AND !! ... LKA etc are not intrusive and can be turned off with one button !

I think you'll find when the time comes there'll be quite a lot of choice for you that fits the hatchback size

 

[MelanieMoxon]

I don't think there are many new cars that haven't had their fare share of software bugs to be honest. Given the complexity of the systems bugs are always going to rear their head. The ones that infuriate me are the ones that could easily have been avoided with adequate bench integration testing and MC/DC testing as part of the V&V process.

Part of me wants to just go and buy a 2006 Mustang GT again and be happy...the only fault that car had was the alternator which failed and took the battery with it. Everything else was either wear and tear (I did more than 80,000 miles in it) or because it did over 100 passes on a drag strip. A few of the more track oriented aftermarket parts also didn't like being used in British road conditions so they failed, I just don't know whether I can stomach going back to £250/mo fuel bills.

 

[JonnyG]

Mini Cooper 160kW SE Exclusive 54kWh maybe worth a look. Currently £267/pm to lease

MINI Cooper 160kW SE Exclusive 54kWh 3dr Auto Lease: 24 Month 5000 Miles 3 Months Upfront

Lease a MINI Cooper 160kW SE Exclusive 54kWh 3dr Auto Over 24 Months with null Miles PA and 3 Months Upfront Today Via LeaseLoco

www.leaseloco.com

It's a similar size to the new Renault 5 EV which (as it's so new) has no good lease deals yet, Base model is £317 per moth

Renault 5 E-Tech 90kW Evolution Urban Range 40 kWh 5dr Auto Lease: 24 Month 5000 Miles 3 Months Upfront

Lease a Renault 5 E-Tech 90kW Evolution Urban Range 40 kWh 5dr Auto Over 24 Months with null Miles PA and 3 Months Upfront Today Via LeaseLoco

www.leaseloco.com

 

[Chrisdriving]

Plus one for leasing, i am currently leasing my X Power for £218 a month on a 24 month deal with 6 down, got it Oct 24 and love it!!!!

May well buy it from them when the lease ends, they usually offer a good price to buy and that plus what the lease cost makes a good deal compared to new price and they take all the depreciation risk.

 

[Bricktop X PWR]

I have never leased.

But I bloody will be next time though......IF I ever get over the Moo-hoo-sive kick in the bollox I've received buying the X Power on PCP.