VERY ALARMING SITUATION

[KeithS]

Firstly sorry to post on this section as I have an MG3 HYBRID, but given the seriousness of the situation I feel it's worth making this is widely known as possible.
These vehicles come from factory with Khumo Solus HS63 195/55 R16 87H tyres.
THESE TYRES ARE OBSOLETE and are completely unavailable.
I have spoken to Khumo UK headquarters, who confirmed this to me, and also made clear that in the event of an irreparable puncture on one tyre, it is strongly advised that for vehicle safety, ONLY THE SAME MAKE AND MODEL OF TYRE, be fitted on the same axle front or back.
Therefore an owner will be required to purchase TWO (matching) tyres to resolve one puncture. This will be the case irrespective of the age or the mileage of the vehicle.
Having spoken with both my selling dealer, who was shocked to learn of the situation but at the same time confirmed there would be no contribution by the dealership towards the second tyre, and MG UK Customer service who also confirmed the same; this will mean that today I will be purchasing two new tyres to repair a punctured tyre on a car that is six/seven months old and only covered 4,000 miles.
As I explained to MG UK, I feel that as the situation currently stands, all new MG3 HYBRID cars are being sold to the public with a known OBSOLETE component, which given that it's a tyre, as the most fundamental part of the car, and as a result will leave the owner, which even by the admission of the selling dealer, an unreasonable expense.
Unfortunately this rather paints the picture of a manufacturer who (admittedly like all Manufacturer's) is looking to sell as many of the product as possible, but with total disregard for their customers!

 

[Deathmendockx]

I work in a tyre shop in Belgium.
And do confirm tires are shit.
Made for perfect conditions only: sunny ( eg Australia).

I do confirm also tyres are unavailable here; I cannot order them.

 

[David38]

Wouldn't worry me on changing axle pairs, in fact I changed all four on the previous make of car.
All the years of my motoring I've been under the impression that best practice is the same tyre on each axle.

 

[Aitch1]

Below is a message I put in the general discussion section of this forum.
It's certainly quite concerning.Even more concerning is what could be IMO best described as a couldn't care less attitude by MG UK, who essentially said you are on your own. I think this shows the budget nature of the business case that MG choose to work under.

Firstly sorry to post on this section as I have an MG3 HYBRID, but given the seriousness of the situation I feel it's worth making this is widely known as possible.
These vehicles come from factory with Khumo Solus HS63 195/55 R16 87H tyres.
THESE TYRES ARE OBSOLETE and are completely unavailable.
I have spoken to Khumo UK headquarters, who confirmed this to me, and also made clear that in the event of an irreparable puncture on one tyre, it is strongly advised that for vehicle safety, ONLY THE SAME MAKE AND MODEL OF TYRE, be fitted on the same axle front or back.
Therefore an owner will be required to purchase TWO (matching) tyres to resolve one puncture. This will be the case irrespective of the age or the mileage of the vehicle.
Having spoken with both my selling dealer, who was shocked to learn of the situation but at the same time confirmed there would be no contribution by the dealership towards the second tyre, and MG UK Customer service who also confirmed the same; this will mean that today I will be purchasing two new tyres to repair a punctured tyre on a car that is six/seven months old and only covered 4,000 miles.
As I explained to MG UK, I feel that as the situation currently stands, all new MG3 HYBRID cars are being sold to the public with a known OBSOLETE component, which given that it's a tyre, as the most fundamental part of the car, and as a result will leave the owner, which even by the admission of the selling dealer, an unreasonable expense.
Unfortunately this rather paints the picture of a manufacturer who (admittedly like all Manufacturer's) is looking to sell as many of the product as possible, but with total disregard for their customers!

Hi Keith. I had a puncture a few weeks into ownership and made a few enquiries about these tyres. This a quote from an earlier post... "Addition to my previous comments. Asda tyres (Who knew Asda did tyres?) have the Kumho tyres for the MG3 Hybrid. Fitted at a local garage for £75.75."

 

[siteguru]

Whereabouts in the tyre is the puncture? If it's a nail/screw through the tyre in the centre 75% of the tread pattern then it's easy to repair.

 

[DMeine]

Here in Germany you always have to pay for your tires yourself if they are defective and need replacing, no matter how new the car is, because the garage can't do anything if the tires are damaged through use. It's logical that you should always replace tires axle by axle, because tires wear out and the tire circumference changes as a result. If the difference in tread depth is 2mm, both should be replaced.

 

[MG Clive]

Wouldn't worry me on changing axel pairs in fact I changed all four on the previous make of car.
All the years of my motoring been under the impression that best practice is same tyre on each axle.

Yes I'd always change tyres in pairs on the same axle, but having to do it for a £20 puncture repair shouldn't be the only way to go.

 

[5teep]

Firstly sorry to post on this section as I have an MG3 HYBRID, but given the seriousness of the situation I feel it's worth making this is widely known as possible.
These vehicles come from factory with Khumo Solus HS63 195/55 R16 87H tyres.
THESE TYRES ARE OBSOLETE and are completely unavailable.
I have spoken to Khumo UK headquarters, who confirmed this to me, and also made clear that in the event of an irreparable puncture on one tyre, it is strongly advised that for vehicle safety, ONLY THE SAME MAKE AND MODEL OF TYRE, be fitted on the same axle front or back.
Therefore an owner will be required to purchase TWO (matching) tyres to resolve one puncture. This will be the case irrespective of the age or the mileage of the vehicle.
Having spoken with both my selling dealer, who was shocked to learn of the situation but at the same time confirmed there would be no contribution by the dealership towards the second tyre, and MG UK Customer service who also confirmed the same; this will mean that today I will be purchasing two new tyres to repair a punctured tyre on a car that is six/seven months old and only covered 4,000 miles.
As I explained to MG UK, I feel that as the situation currently stands, all new MG3 HYBRID cars are being sold to the public with a known OBSOLETE component, which given that it's a tyre, as the most fundamental part of the car, and as a result will leave the owner, which even by the admission of the selling dealer, an unreasonable expense.
Unfortunately this rather paints the picture of a manufacturer who (admittedly like all Manufacturer's) is looking to sell as many of the product as possible, but with total disregard for their customers!

Driving the MG5 I've had punctures and worn tyres changed for whatever is available and never had an issue.

 

[Alb]

My MG5 was(is) in the same situation so this is not unique to the MG3. I picked up an OEM rim and bought a virtually new tyre from a member here who'd already gone through the "replace two tyres even though only one is damaged" scenario so I now have a full size spare with an original tyre as insurance.
To be fair, the original tyres are very unlikely to be the best for the car so you can look at it as an opportunity to upgrade knowing that the good tyre you remove should be easily sold on in a place like this.

 

[DMeine]

The original tires that are on the ZS Hybrid+ cost €40 each and are a disaster. The rubber is very hard, which does help with fuel consumption but is very loud and does not grip the road well in the rain. I then bought all-weather tires, each of which costs €140, so for 4 original tires I only get one good tire I had it exchanged immediately at the dealer.

 

[KeithS]

Hi Keith. I had a puncture a few weeks into ownership and made a few enquiries about these tyres. This a quote from an earlier post... "Addition to my previous comments. Asda tyres (Who knew Asda did tyres?) have the Kumho tyres for the MG3 Hybrid. Fitted at a local garage for £75.75."

Many thanks for responding, and indeed Asda do stock Khumo tyres. Unfortunately the issue is not with the brand but the model of the tyre, which in this case is a SOLUS HS63 in 195/55 R16 87H size.
It's perfectly possible, as many may will advocate doing, fitting another model of Khumo tyre or indeed any other brand or model as long as it is the correct size and rating, and indeed there are an abundance of different makes and models of tyres of the correct size, and the same or higher rating.
Just to be clear for those who are unaware:-
195/55 R16 refers to the size of the tyre which HAS to be absolutely identical.
87H refers to the weight and speedrating (87 is the load capacity - i think 1200 pounds, H is the speed rating - upto 130 mph), and theoretically it should be OK to fit a tyre that is rated higher, for example 91V.
However, for safety reasons, due to differing tread patterns and tyre performance, having different makes and models on the same axle is a serious safety concern. When I asked Khumo UK what they suggested they recommended, I think from memory, but I'm not sure a HS52 Khumo tyre, but the key point that they made was, that I would still need TWO of those alternate tyres for the same axle, as they reinforced the point that it would not be safe having one model of Khumo tyre on one side with a different model Khumo tyre on the other.
Furthermore when I spoke to the sales manager at Glyn Hopkins Mill Hill (the selling dealer for my car), he also reiterated the importance of NOT MIXING TYRES ON THE SAME AXLE (sorry capitals, but I think an important point to make clear!).
Additionally MG UK Customer service gave broadly the same advice. Beyond which they offered no assistance in anyway, shape or form, and essentially explained I was on my own! Fantastic way to endear your customer to your products!!!!!!
My point of contention, if you bought a brand new MG3 HYBRID, and I was told no mention to a customer would be made when selling the car, and happened to pick up a puncture within a few miles,even though the tyre on the other side of the puncture would be brand new and completely unworn, you would have to replace both the punctured tyre and the opposite undamaged one!
I for one think that it's unreasonable to sell vehicles with such a fundamental component which is obsolete requiring double the cost to make the car safe and drivable.
There are plenty of 'horror stories' in the media regarding both dealers and Manufacturer's failing to meet, what in any other industry, would be an acceptable standard of service. The fact is unlike other consumer purchases a car is clearly a high value product, with equally high rectification costs.
The dealers don't want to be out of pocket, and what is increasingly the case in the world's harsh economic environment, neither do the manufacturers. In fact whilst MG offer an industry leading seven year warranty, I am now gravely concerned as to its validity and level of cover.
So using their corporate might they smother over issues, or leave the consumer to battle with their enormous legal teams, in the certain hope that the customer will give up!
MG are currently well documented on YouTube by the owner of an MG4 X POWER, with a known and identified vibration at motorway speed, with MG documentation that the customer had sight of, confirming the issue. However given the cost of rectification, they chose the favourite industry line 'this is just a characteristic of the car', completely ignoring their own internal communications.
There are certain issues MG and other brands cannot wriggle out of, such as the Emmision fault light that took three attempts and a new EGR valve to sort out on my MG3, and in fairness the final attempt coincided with a proactive approach by both MG Technical and MG Glyn Hopkins St Albans, asking me prior to the third failure to bring my car back for this known failed part to be replaced, BUT when the metrics of cost to benefit ratio are not there then you will see MG 'pull up the drawbridge', and leave the customer wearing the problem!
With regard to the behaviour of MG, aside from the EGR situation which at least showed glimmers of wanting to maintain customer satisfaction, albeit over a major mechanical failure; their business model is to sell very well equipped cars for thousands less than the competition, but offer little or no back up in the event of a problem.
IMO the moral is, if buying an MG do so with your eyes wide open, knowing they have little or no concern of any problem that could be too costly to sort out, and which there is a possibility of obviscating their responsibility.
This I suspect is their business model, and they clearly are sticking to it.
Sadly for them, in the long run this will come back to bite them, particularly with cars as expensive of the Cyberster, where the customers will have much greater expectations!

 

[KeithS]

Sorry for my long above post, but BTW, I today had fitted two new GOODYEAR EFFICIENT GRIP PERFORMANCE tyres fitted, at a cost of £228.00.
These are a staple range of tyres from Goodyear, and if I should suffer the same issue on the rear axle tyres, I will be ditching the Khumos for these.

 

[David38]

Out of interest I've looked at Asda website and they are not quoting for my 18" tyres with Khumo Solus for my 1.5 Hybrid+

 

[KeithS]

Out of interest I've looked at Asda website and they are not quoting for my 18" tyres with Khumo Solus for my 1.5 Hybrid+

I think you will find the Solus has been discontinued.

 

[MG Clive]

Out of interest I've looked at Asda website and they are not quoting for my 18" tyres with Khumo Solus for my 1.5 Hybrid+

18", are you looking for the correct size @David38 ?

 

[David38]

Yes it is a Trophy and that's what spec. says.
7.0Jx18
215/50R18 92or96V
Built Sept. 2024
Do you think I might have same or better tyres?
( I will look at tyres/wheels to be sure what I have)

 

[MG Clive]

Yes it is a Trophy and that's what spec. says.
7.0Jx18
215/50R18 92or96V
Built Sept. 2024
Do you think I might have same or better tyres?
( I will look at tyres/wheels to be sure what I have)

OK, sorry, we're in the MG3 Hybrid forum, so I thought we were discussing the MG3 Hybrid, but I've just noticed your Profile says ZS Hybrid.

 

[MartinSEsr]

Wouldn't worry me on changing axle pairs, in fact I changed all four on the previous make of car.
All the years of my motoring I've been under the impression that best practice is the same tyre on each axle.

You seem to have missed the point - he has 1 puncture and should have just replaced 1 tyre. He has to replace 2 tyres at double the cost as the required tyre is obsolete.

 

[David38]

MG Clive
I have on the car Giti Comfort 2
215/50R18 96V XL
Google can't find anything on Comfort 2, only Comfort.
So I'm assuming I can't buy for like in the UK.

Deathmenclockx
Are Gigi a rubbish make too?

Anyone
Come across Giti?
Are they Budget, Medium or Premium range.

MG Clive
The OP acknowledges he is not in MG3 correctly.
Others also have commented they have other Hybrid models.
Sort of universal are tyres.
Sorry from me.

 

[DMeine]

@MG Clive
Since both vehicles have the same drive train, some topics overlap and therefore MG3 entries can also be found in the ZS Hybrid Forum.