MG cars- yes or no

[GSD20]

In desperate need of a new car. Usually buy 3 year old and keep them 3-4 years then trade.

I can get a brand new MG for less than the price of a used car and am tempted. It’s got more kit inside, feels okay to drive. I don’t need anything flash just decent enough and with warranty.

Does anyone have one? Would you recommend?

Thankyou.

I work at a small car supermarket so get to see and drive all different brands. Yes they're cheap and cheerful. I don't know about safety so I would research and consider that. I also think they're pretty ugly. However, I feel they offer excellent value for money and I thought the interior looked and felt a lot better quality than I was expecting. I don't know what they're like for reliability. And I would also ask your local garage about repairs and price/availability of parts. For example I wouldn't get an Abarth or Ssang Yong based on issues we have had getting parts. I also wouldn't consider Peugeot and Citroen, I was shocked by how expensive parts are compared to other brands. So overall, my answer is yes, I would definitely consider one but would do a bit more research too.

Are you talking Electric?

Thankyou both of you.

They had petrol and petrol hybrids. I wouldn’t consider fully electric for a few more years!

It'll likely depreciate badly, thats why they so cheap new. How much is a 3 year old one? Could go for that and save some money!

God, no. I hit a deer in my Golf last Autumn and had an MG courtesy car. It was truly the worst car I have ever driven.

They don't score well on safety and they're style over substance. I wouldn't. A reliable used car would be so much better.

Getting parts can be an issue. My mechanic recommended kia for cheap and cheerful.
Personally, I have found that it's better to have a really common car where getting parts is a doddle.

We've got an electric MG. It's excellent value for money, really comfortable and easy to drive. The downside is the infotainment (is that the right word?). The radio is automatically on whenever you start the car engine and you can't change it when you're in reverse, but we're always in reverse at the stage it comes on as we have to reverse off our drive, it sometimes freezes and often you can't connect your phone to the Bluetooth.

If you can cope with those annoyances (our other car has a cd player and only picks up FM not AM and certainly not DAB, so anything more is a bonus) then I'd recommend it.

I have MG ZS and love it. I have DAB radio but only apple play and I'm android so no android auto on my model. I bluetooth my phone anyway. It's not the fast setting off but once you get going it's fine. I've never been one to do 0-70 in less than 3 secs anyway!

Agree with another poster, you can't turn radio off when starting car and always seems to come on at a volume too high for me at times. I like how the volume goes quiet when reversing so you can hear sensors beeping

I love mine, it’s a great drive, really pleased with it. I’ve also had a discovery sport a c max and a beetle and this one is the most easy drive. They really vary by model so check them out.

Mine has car play or android and can pull out quickly unless you have start/stop on which is the same for all cars.

MG ZS seem to be the motability car of choice at the moment. That means in 3 years when they all get handed back the market will be saturated and you wont get much when you sell.

I have the new MG3 Trophy hybrid- it's a really nice car, and hardly uses any petrol. If you have a blue light card, you may also get discount 😀

I forgot to mention that I previously had the ZS, and I didn't love it, the MG3 is a nicer drive, but more compact.

We had a zs when they first came to market and had nothing but issues with it. Well, we called them issues, the MG garage called them features!! Random partying hazard lights and cutting out at roundabouts (to name a few) are not features.
Another issue we had were parts prices. The guy at the garage actually said to me when I went to book in a service "I hate telling customers the price of the services when they haven't got a service plan because they're so expensive..."

Just got home from a trip away where we hired a car and was given a 12m old MG car. It did the job for a couple of days but would not consider buying one.
Uncomfortable to sit in. Bumpy and loud at any speed. The screen for the sat nav was at a really awkward angle so my son in the back could see it better than either me or DH in the front. It was good on fuel though

I have the mg zs.
I do like it, but the road surface noise is loud, and I've had some issues with the stop start feature. On occasions, the engine has just turned off whilst driving at low speeds. Overall, it's a good budget car that, in my opinion, looks good.

Just know MG is just a brand name, like Toshiba or Regatta, that has no affiliation to the original product. Just a name bought by a chinese firm. If they're cheap they're cheap for a reason. I'd be more tempted to buy a 2 or 3 year old car from a trusted local dealer who would fix anything that went wrong. Toyota are usually very good with warranties but you pay for the car in the first place. Need to know budget and size requirements.

I think they have really upped their game for electric cars, I have an electric ZS and it’s great, very cheap to run. I wouldn’t buy the equivalent petrol car. I bought it because it’s basically the best value way to get into an electric car and all the benefits that brings.

MGBs aren't too bad, if you can find a good one. Nice to tool around country lanes with the roof down this time of year.

I have a 3 year old ZS automatic. I needed something quick as my old car had been written off and I was a month into a new job.

It was in the showroom, on 0% finance (i had a decent deposit from my insurance payout) and I could have it in a couple of days.

It is shit and I cant wait until I can clear the finance and sell it on. Its on its second entertainment unit, the android auto still keeps cutting in and out, shutting off my maps while driving.

MPG is in the floor, parts are a nightmare (3 months for a bumper), and one of my reversing sensors has just falled off the bumper and I have been quoted £160 to repair it, as it's not covered by warranty for some reason.

On the plus side, it was red, and red is my favourite colour!

We have an MG5 electric. Mostly love it. Much more comfortable than our Skoda Octavia. Fast acceleration, cheap to run. Very odd wheels when braking though. The one thing that freaks me out. They seem to lock easily. The internal electrics seem to freeze on occasion which is not good but seems to right itself when turning on and off. In summary, I would get one again because the price is good but it's definitely not perfect at all.

I wouldn't. On a holiday a couple of years vack we had one as a hire car - we'd booked a different car and they made out it was an upgrade to the MG. It was shit - shit to drive and uncomfortable too. I see them heaps as hire cars now - so can't imagine they'd have good resale value.

Thankyou everyone.

Sort of what I feared! I only need a cheap runabout to do limited miles so not worried about MPG. It would do less than 4k/year and don’t care what it drives like as long as it works. Its reliability I was stressed about!

I almost bought a polo which was the same monthly price but was 2020 plate with 30k miles and only 1 year warranty. The MG is 2024 with 0 miles on collection plus 7 years warranty.

I am buying on PCP and was planning on having it 3 years. A 3 year old one is the same price because of the deal, the new shape is coming out so a new one has a huge discount making it the same price as a used one.

Maybe I should cancel the order!

If you are doing low mileage, not fussed about MPG and getting rid after 3 years then maybe stick with it. My BIL has the same model as me and he loves it, but he drives a work van so only uses it at weekends.