VIBRATION ISSUE - hot off the press!

[jamherber]

Posting on behalf of another UK XPower complainant, who has just received this email message from his dealership:

TLDR, dealerships have been told to withdraw any offer of Stage 2 "fix" repairs.

Quote:

"I am sure that you can appreciate that due to social media, and other external outlets reporting on the characteristic vibration that appears on MG XPower, that there have been a lot of internal meetings regarding this matter. There were important meetings with the factory over the weekend to discuss this, especially due to the presence of the bulletin.

The decision has been made to not carry out the replacement of these components on any further vehicles. I do apologise for any disappointment that this does cause, however, as suspected, the bulletin was not an official or final one, and the fitment of the suspension components will not alter the drive of the car. In a nutshell, there is no point carrying out a major replacement of components in these vehicles, as the drive and performance will remain the same following fitment.

We are listening to driver feedback, and we will continue to seek ways to improve the comfort and performance of MG XPower going forwards.


Our engineers are looking into it because of this, even though, there is no fault present or repair required, but as I alluded to when I phoned, we don’t want customers to be disappointed, and we are very proud of MG4 and XPower vehicles."

That is massively disappointing to hear - so they really don't care about existing customers at all (as we suspected from previous responses).

On the back of this response, we certainly won't be buying another MG/SAIC product in the future and will be sharing our experience with friends and family so that they can make informed decisions but potentially, they have lost a lot of future custom through this very very poor decision.

 

[WibbleWobble]

This response doesn't surprise me in the least. I've had a 5 month battle with them to reject my Xpower. Succeded in the end.

Is anybody a subscriber to Which magazine ? They have a good technical team and have published a number of reports into faults with MG's that MG owners have complained about. Might be worth getting in touch with them.

 

[Freeagain21]

This response doesn't surprise me in the least. I've had a 5 month battle with them to reject my Xpower. Succeded in the end.

Is anybody a subscriber to Which magazine ? They have a good technical team and have published a number of reports into faults with MG's that MG owners have complained about. Might be worth getting in touch with them.

DM sent - would appreciate your insight.

 

[JonnyG]

..........We are listening to driver feedback, and we will continue to seek ways to improve the comfort and performance of MG XPower going forwards.

Our engineers are looking into it because of this, even though, there is no fault present or repair required, but as I alluded to when I phoned, we don’t want customers to be disappointed, and we are very proud of MG4 and XPower vehicles."

Sounds like BS to me if the new XPower models since Nov 2023 do not exhibit the same vibration.

MG have obviously found the cause of the vibration and amended parts on these newer cars.

As I always suspected it will not be cheap to retrofit so they are backing out of doing the work ??

 

[Freeagain21]

A very relevant and similar case study from the Motor Ombudsman:
https://www.themotorombudsman.org/.../jerky-vehicle...
The Motor Ombudsman adjudicator contacted both the repairer to understand what next steps were being taken, and the consumer to understand the course of action.

• The customer confirmed that they did not wish to take the car back for further assessment, and requested that The Motor Ombudsman considered their case in order to determine if a right to reject existed.
• The adjudicator noted that the Vehicle Sales Code relies on the Consumer Rights Act 2015 (CRA) for its definitions as to what constitutes a breach of contract. Therefore, if the vehicle suffers from an issue when pulling away, that is not present in other like-for-like vehicles, there may be a breach of the contract and the Vehicle Sales Code.
• The adjudicator considered there to be an issue with the customer’s car, because otherwise, the repairing branch would not have been in contact with the manufacturer to look for a remedy if it occurred with all other equivalent models.
• It was equally noted that, simply because an issue is present across the whole model range (i.e. it’s a characteristic), this does not mean that the car is deemed to be of satisfactory quality, meaning a breach of the Code still exists.
• The Motor Ombudsman adjudicator commented that, if a business surrenders their right to inspect and repair the goods themselves, on receipt of a complaint regarding the quality of the vehicle (which an e-mail between the consumer and the business supported), then they are effectively waiving their right to repair the vehicle themselves, and are in effect outsourcing that work to another business in the manufacturer’s network.
• Such a repair was undertaken, and failed to correct the issue, so it was determined that the right to a repair under the Code had been spent, meaning a further remedy would need to be considered i.e. either a partial refund which is proportional to the inconvenience of the issue, or a rejection of the car.
• The adjudicator concluded that, as the issue relates to the control of the vehicle, the option for a partial reduction in the cost of the car would not be appropriate.
• Therefore, rejection of the vehicle by the customer was considered to be the most suitable remedy based on the facts of the case.

 

[seamust1000]

www.rejectmy.com/contact

 

[tsedge]

That is massively disappointing to hear - so they really don't care about existing customers at all (as we suspected from previous responses).

On the back of this response, we certainly won't be buying another MG/SAIC product in the future and will be sharing our experience with friends and family so that they can make informed decisions but potentially, they have lost a lot of future custom through this very very poor decision.

I appreciate and understand how people are feeling about this.

However, the text of the bulletin appears to say that the reason they don't want to proceed with the component replacements are that they are INEFFECTIVE - ie, they don't resolve the problem. So presumably, it would be a pointless expense.

My thinking here is that probably they have redesigned the car for current production in order to eradicate the issue but their attempts to mitigate and retrofit a solution have failed (at least so far).

It sounds like they are still trying to find ways to resolve it, however and there might be a future fix that does work properly.

So I am not reading it as:
"We've decided not to further help people who have this problem".
I'm reading it as:
"We don't have a good solution at this time".

Now, that's still bad news, and I think they've had a lot of time to come up with a fix, but their track record (undertray and oil leak) is that they eventually find a fix for these kinds of issues.

 

[Freeagain21]

I appreciate and understand how people are feeling about this.

However, the text of the bulletin appears to say that the reason they don't want to proceed with the component replacements are that they are INEFFECTIVE - ie, they don't resolve the problem. So presumably, it would be a pointless expense.

My thinking here is that probably they have redesigned the car for current production in order to eradicate the issue but their attempts to mitigate and retrofit a solution have failed (at least so far).

It sounds like they are still trying to find ways to resolve it, however and there might be a future fix that does work properly.

So I am not reading it as:
"We've decided not to further help people who have this problem".
I'm reading it as:
"We don't have a good solution at this time".

Now, that's still bad news, and I think they've had a lot of time to come up with a fix, but their track record (undertray and oil leak) is that they eventually find a fix for these kinds of issues.

My car is 12 months "old" on 13th October 2024. I complained about the vibration within 24 hours of sale - on 14th October 2023. I think 12 months is long enough.

 

[tsedge]

My car is 12 months "old" on 13th October 2024. I complained about the vibration within 24 hours of sale - on 14th October 2023. I think 12 months is long enough.

I agree, I am not excusing how long it takes. It took 2 years for an undertray fix to emerge and a year for the oil leak to be properly resolved. Both were too long.

 

[JonnyG]

They should at least now let older owners with the issue upgrade to a newer model without the issues with a generous trade in value as compensation. All IMHO.

 

[jamherber]

I appreciate and understand how people are feeling about this.

However, the text of the bulletin appears to say that the reason they don't want to proceed with the component replacements are that they are INEFFECTIVE - ie, they don't resolve the problem. So presumably, it would be a pointless expense.

My thinking here is that probably they have redesigned the car for current production in order to eradicate the issue but their attempts to mitigate and retrofit a solution have failed (at least so far).

It sounds like they are still trying to find ways to resolve it, however and there might be a future fix that does work properly.

So I am not reading it as:
"We've decided not to further help people who have this problem".
I'm reading it as:
"We don't have a good solution at this time".

Now, that's still bad news, and I think they've had a lot of time to come up with a fix, but their track record (undertray and oil leak) is that they eventually find a fix for these kinds of issues.

However, they have know about this vibration issue since the car was launched in the summer of 2023 (confirmed by my dealer's master tech who said the 6 cars on their training course in may 23, all exhibited it).

So it seems all they've done in that time is tried the steering damper (which is well documented as not being effective) and developed a more involved kit to try and address the issue.

Having worked in engineering & manufacture for many years, for this kit to get as far as parts being manufactured and the technical bulletin being written, would mean that testing of this kit would have been completed and would have to have shown an improvement, to warrant the expense of moving to the release stage. So to believe MG/SAIC that the kit is suddenly ineffective when faced with many customers potentially asking for it, is somewhat naïve in my honest opinion.

 

[Freeagain21]

Ouch!

MG named the most unreliable used car brand as top 10 worst manufacturers revealed – Car Dealer Magazine

MG has been named the most unreliable car manufacturer following a survey of nearly 30,000 owners. What Car? quizzed 29,967 owners of used cars up to

cardealermagazine.co.uk

 

[Tuareg]

That's strange, I know 3 other MG4 owners here locally and none have had any major reliability problems and all would buy again. Maybe it's primarily a UK issue with dealers rather than the cars themselves.

 

[Bricktop X PWR]

Ouch!

MG named the most unreliable used car brand as top 10 worst manufacturers revealed – Car Dealer Magazine

MG has been named the most unreliable car manufacturer following a survey of nearly 30,000 owners. What Car? quizzed 29,967 owners of used cars up to

cardealermagazine.co.uk

Not surprised.

For me....
Vibes.
Temperature Sensor Failure.
Rear Camera needed replacing.
Constantly lubricating my graunchy mirrors.
SOS e call fails every week.
Still loses all my saved radio stations despite the update.....blah blah blah

 

[salty]

Not surprised.

For me....
Vibes.
Temperature Sensor Failure.
Rear Camera needed replacing.
Constantly lubricating my graunchy mirrors.
SOS e call fails every week.
Still loses all my saved radio stations despite the update.....blah blah blah

I'm still in my "Honeymoon" period,
(so to speak) A fortnight this coming Saturday. So far so good. (Kiss of Death I know) ? It's got it's quirks and foibles, but I knew about them before I got it. But as soon as i put my foot down, they are VERY quickly forgotten. ??
Loving it so far, but obviously time will tell. Certainly not ready for a Divorce, from it, just yet. ???

 

[tsedge]

However, they have know about this vibration issue since the car was launched in the summer of 2023 (confirmed by my dealer's master tech who said the 6 cars on their training course in may 23, all exhibited it).

So it seems all they've done in that time is tried the steering damper (which is well documented as not being effective) and developed a more involved kit to try and address the issue.

Having worked in engineering & manufacture for many years, for this kit to get as far as parts being manufactured and the technical bulletin being written, would mean that testing of this kit would have been completed and would have to have shown an improvement, to warrant the expense of moving to the release stage. So to believe MG/SAIC that the kit is suddenly ineffective when faced with many customers potentially asking for it, is somewhat naïve in my honest opinion.

I didn't say I believed it, I said I thought that's what the bulletin said - some people seemed to have read it as saying "we are giving up", which I think is a misread.

We can't know where the truth lies without inside information. Unless you know the engineering culture at SAIC, your personal experience isn't relevant. We've had several in-depth engineering conversations before where "engineering experts" weighed in with their confident explanations and turned out to be wrong.

 

[jamherber]

I didn't say I believed it, I said I thought that's what the bulletin said - some people seemed to have read it as saying "we are giving up", which I think is a misread.

We can't know where the truth lies without inside information. Unless you know the engineering culture at SAIC, your personal experience isn't relevant. We've had several in-depth engineering conversations before where "engineering experts" weighed in with their confident explanations and turned out to be wrong.

You are of course welcome to your opinion but please don't cast aspersions on my experience and rubbish my own opinion without any knowledge of my own experience - I do find this quite insulting and certainly wouldn't reciprocate in doing the same to you, or any other forum member, to be frank.

If you honestly believe any automotive manufacturer would potentially waste money developing and releasing a kit to fix a problem that was ineffective, rather than canning it at the testing stage, then that's your prerogative.

Also I should add, that if I turn out to be wrong (which I could well be) I will always put my hands up and admit that.

 

[JonnyG]

...............We can't know where the truth lies without inside information.........

Let's face it the whole SAIC / MG / MG UK setup is a shambles IMHO. There is no transparency on anything, and different countries seem to take different courses of action for the same fault. Dealerships seem to have their hands tied by MG UK and you can't get anyting fixed without at least two visits - one to have the issue looked at and another to have it fixed after MG UK or whoever's authorisation is given if your're lucky. That may involve months of waiting both to get a booking at your dealer and then a wait for the right part. All IMHO but I won't be buying another MG for this reason.

As a comparison : Audi UK replaced the brake discs and calipers on all Audi RS3 models around 2013 free of charge for those who had reported squealing brakes. They were completely open about the issue, acknowledged it and kept everyone informed of progress and likely dates for a fitting. It was not a safety issue, just a "characteristic" of the brakes

 

[Smudger558]

I've had my xpower since April and it's on a 2 year lease me and the mrs love the car .it has a slight vibration at 65 /70 which reduced a little after a few hundred miles the car seems to be behaving apart from some Bluetooth issues the car is on the 40 software I do love the car I would be disappointed if we brought it I have read a lot on this forum and it sounds like the majority love there xpower if only mg could get there fingers out there arse and sort people's issues out in a satisfactory way and we might buy / lease another from them in the future

On another point me and the mrs have been on honeymoon and the car has been valet parked for a week hope it works

Sorry if I put this on wrong thread I'm a bit pissed

 

[Freeagain21]

On another point me and the mrs have been on honeymoon and the car has been valet parked for a week hope it works

Congratulations! Valet parking .... how posh are you! ?