CrustEE
Standard Member
- Joined
- Feb 22, 2024
- Messages
- 21
- Reaction score
- 14
- Points
- 8
- Location
- Cliddesden
- Driving
- MG4 Trophy LR
It's been an annoying and interesting few days. Firstly, the radio tuner packed up. I had read somewhere that a 12V reset would probably fix it, but instead of doing this myself I thought that the dealer should do this during the upcoming first year service. During the service, the dealer stated that they could not bring the radio back to life. They would order and fit a new tuner module under warranty. They also installed the latest (dealer only) SW updates.
A few days later the whole car died one morning. I suspected the 12V battery, and sure enough I measured a measly 4V at the terminals. MG assistance via the AA was brilliant. They arrived in 10 minutes, diagnosed a failed battery and asked if it was still in warranty. I phoned the MG service manager and he said that the warranty had expired 5 days ago. He admitted that this was common because the battery quality was poor. Also, MG UK would not make any exceptions to the 1 year rule.
The AA just so happened to have the correct size of battery on board. A Bosch with a 5 year warranty. I gave the AA man the go-ahead. Job done in 20 minutes. Interestingly, the radio came back to life. The very knowledgeable AA man said that certain software updates could in fact put certain modules into states that could drain excessive power from the 12V battery.
After the car was brought back to life, I contacted the MG service manager and suggested that there seemed little point in changing the tuner module as all it required was a proper hard reset (which I thought that they had performed). He said that I should go ahead with the module change as there may have been some permanent damage and it could indeed have contributed to increased current drain. He admitted that the tuner module was also a weak point in the car, and that I may require 1 or 2 other module changes within the 7 year warranty period.
Interestingly, the same dealer has ceased to sell new MGs. I wonder if the high failure rate was one of their reasons.
A few days later the whole car died one morning. I suspected the 12V battery, and sure enough I measured a measly 4V at the terminals. MG assistance via the AA was brilliant. They arrived in 10 minutes, diagnosed a failed battery and asked if it was still in warranty. I phoned the MG service manager and he said that the warranty had expired 5 days ago. He admitted that this was common because the battery quality was poor. Also, MG UK would not make any exceptions to the 1 year rule.
The AA just so happened to have the correct size of battery on board. A Bosch with a 5 year warranty. I gave the AA man the go-ahead. Job done in 20 minutes. Interestingly, the radio came back to life. The very knowledgeable AA man said that certain software updates could in fact put certain modules into states that could drain excessive power from the 12V battery.
After the car was brought back to life, I contacted the MG service manager and suggested that there seemed little point in changing the tuner module as all it required was a proper hard reset (which I thought that they had performed). He said that I should go ahead with the module change as there may have been some permanent damage and it could indeed have contributed to increased current drain. He admitted that the tuner module was also a weak point in the car, and that I may require 1 or 2 other module changes within the 7 year warranty period.
Interestingly, the same dealer has ceased to sell new MGs. I wonder if the high failure rate was one of their reasons.
