Richmond Southampton - MG Dealer Discussion, Opinions & Experiences

Yes that’s correct. They are now next door to the Skoda garage in Botley for sales and service. That’s also where I purchased my MG4. Not sure if the staff are the Southampton ones or different though.
My car has been in a couple of times to Botley. I don't think the staff are from Southampton branch they are probably from the Suzuki bit that closed.
 
Last edited:
Yes that’s correct. They are now next door to the Skoda garage in Botley for sales and service. That’s also where I purchased my MG4. Not sure if the staff are the Southampton ones or different though.
Same staff with new additions went into there for a sales event.
 
I have really mixed views about Richmond MG Botley but mostly I think they're not very good.

My MG4 has been back to them for the same fault (USB Disk Identification Error & parasitic drain on the 12v battery) on 4 occasions now and it's only 18 months old. I have been distinctly underwhelmed on each occasion. After each "investigation" they make a point of telling you the car "shows no faults", when they clearly know that the RAC, AA or I will have had to disconnect the 12 V battery to resolve the issue, which in turn clears all the error codes. They make you feel like you're making it up!

I took it in again today as have recently had several repeats of the problem and all they had on their service sheet was "radio draining battery" .... well, that seems like a statement of the bloody obvious! :ROFLMAO: I tried to explain what was actually happening to the service advisor and that it had been in several times before with the same issue, but frankly she gave the impression she couldn't care less. Unlike some of her colleagues, she didn't make any additional notes re: the problem on the worksheet as I was explaining the history and my theory for the cause of the issue.

I got home frustrated as I was hoping another software update might solve the problem but she was distinctly non-committal on this point. So I called back (they answered on the 6th attempt over 2 hours!) and I asked for re-assurance they would upgrade if a patch was available. All she said was they would "if it was appropriate". She then said - and here's the irony - that the Tech had just been out to speak to her as he didn't understand what the issue was from "radio draining battery".... and that obviously the radio will stop working if listening to a local radio station if driving outside the broadcast area (well, duh!!!) - completely missing the point! The Tech would have understood the issue if she could've been bothered to LISTEN to me and make a few notes. Anyway, I wouldn't recommend this dealership to anyone, but don't have many other options.....
 
I have really mixed views about Richmond MG Botley but mostly I think they're not very good.

My MG4 has been back to them for the same fault (USB Disk Identification Error & parasitic drain on the 12v battery) on 4 occasions now and it's only 18 months old. I have been distinctly underwhelmed on each occasion. After each "investigation" they make a point of telling you the car "shows no faults", when they clearly know that the RAC, AA or I will have had to disconnect the 12 V battery to resolve the issue, which in turn clears all the error codes. They make you feel like you're making it up!

I took it in again today as have recently had several repeats of the problem and all they had on their service sheet was "radio draining battery" .... well, that seems like a statement of the bloody obvious! :ROFLMAO: I tried to explain what was actually happening to the service advisor and that it had been in several times before with the same issue, but frankly she gave the impression she couldn't care less. Unlike some of her colleagues, she didn't make any additional notes re: the problem on the worksheet as I was explaining the history and my theory for the cause of the issue.

I got home frustrated as I was hoping another software update might solve the problem but she was distinctly non-committal on this point. So I called back (they answered on the 6th attempt over 2 hours!) and I asked for re-assurance they would upgrade if a patch was available. All she said was they would "if it was appropriate". She then said - and here's the irony - that the Tech had just been out to speak to her as he didn't understand what the issue was from "radio draining battery".... and that obviously the radio will stop working if listening to a local radio station if driving outside the broadcast area (well, duh!!!) - completely missing the point! The Tech would have understood the issue if she could've been bothered to LISTEN to me and make a few notes. Anyway, I wouldn't recommend this dealership to anyone, but don't have many other options.....
I have had similar issues.
They write the bare minimum and expect the guy to sort it but won't let you talk to him. My Radio Module Disconnected fault has been going for a couple of years. They had it for nearly two weeks while a module was sent to MG for 'repair' but it has happened again already. It is definitely draining the battery as I keep getting a warning about the 12V battery.
 
Similar issues here. Never certain if the fault is resolved or the fix was a 12V disconnect. However, since the 7000 mile service (I'm now on 12,000) the radio has behaved. I'm not sure if it's because of an update or if I've just been lucky though. I agree though, I believe the engineers are helpful but info to/from the engineers is little and it's always treated like it's a one off thing.

Not sure if useful. I found the radio only used to break on a long journey when driving out of range of a DAB station. Usually Heart Hampshire. It's like it crashes looking for another. But if I listen to BBC then it's fine, or if I just use FM then it's been fine so I'm not sure if it's fixed or just because I've changed the way that I use the radio.
 
Similar issues here. Never certain if the fault is resolved or the fix was a 12v disconnect. However, since the 7000 mile service (I'm now on 12,000) the radio has behaved. I'm not sure if it's because of an update or if I've just been lucky though. I agree though, I believe the engineers are helpful but info to/from the engineers is little and it's always treated like it's a one off thing.

Not sure if useful. I found the radio only used to break on a long journey when driving out of range of a DAB station. Usually Heart Hampshire. It's like it crashes looking for another. But if I listen to BBC then it's fine, or if I just use FM then it's been fine so I'm not sure if it's fixed or just because I've changed the way that I use the radio.

Thanks, that does help as it confirms the same cause I'd only recently arrived at too (though I listen to Nation Radio South). (y) Prior to that I thought it was something to do with Apple Carplay and connecting my iPhone....

Anyhow, seems like there are a number of us having this issue.... (If only the Richmond Botley could just provide the workaround to listen to a national DAB channel, eh?!? :ROFLMAO:)


BTW I did get a software update yesterday from R33 to R38 so will "test" out whether it now behaves on out of area journeys and report back. :)
 
Last edited:
My experience of MG Southampton (Botley) has been absolutely awful. I didn’t buy the car from them (it’s a fleet car) but as my local dealership it’s where I was told to take it due to an odd air conditioning issue my car has. On hot summer days it sometimes just won’t turn the a/c on. I’ve had a few very sweaty drives. It doesn’t matter what you do with the settings (I’ve even tried getting out of the car, locking and unlocking it, then getting back in). Nothing works, but after a number of hours when I use the car again for the next journey it’ll magically turn on straight away again.

So my service booking department booked the car in, and when I dropped it off I mentioned to the lady on the service desk that they probably wouldn’t be able to recreate the issue as it only happens very occasionally, but I put it to her that a full software update might nip it in the bud. I left the car and went home, then a few hours later I received a call (from the same lady) to say they couldn’t fault the car. So I asked if they’d done a software update anyway, just in case that helps? She went and spoke to the technician then came back and told me there were no updates available for my car.

I knew from this forum that the MG4 Trophy had had R46, R59 (and now R63) released since I received my car, which was still running software R33. I explained this to her, but she flatly repeated that no updates were available for my car. I went back to the dealership to collect, and as I was confused as to why she was telling me there were no updates available, I asked her again about it. It basically descended into an argument, which was a horrible experience.

Over the next few days I contacted MG UK to ask what was going on. They confirmed that (at the time) R59 was indeed available. I called MG Southampton and a different person said I could indeed book in to get a full software update, but it would cost £120! Happily my lease company agreed to pay as I was by now so fed up with the car (not just because of the a/c, but a myriad of other software annoyances that sometimes made the car just awful). So a few months later I took the car back in, and the same lady as before dealt with me. It was a frosty experience! But to my amazement, having left the car with them for a few hours she called to once again tell me that there were no software updates available for my car! I could believe it! They’d let me book it in for exactly this!

This time, rather than arguing, I went back in almost complete silence to get my keys and drove away. What an utter waste of time!

I believe the issue probably stems from either a single technician (or a number of them) at Botley that have absolutely no knowledge on some pretty basic things regarding EVs. The lady on the service desk that I dealt with (although clearly not a master of customer service!) was just repeating what the mechanic was telling her.

It was all quite unbelievable.

I’d recommend avoiding if you can.
 
Last edited:
Support us by becoming a Premium Member

Latest MG EVs video

MG ZS EV Retrospective & First Look at the MG S5 EV | Live Q&A with Owners & MGEVs Panel
Subscribe to our YouTube channel
Back
Top Bottom