Talk Morgan Forums Community Vehicle Talk (non-Morgan) Motoring press contacts & MG EV woes

I bought an MG ZS EV in Jan 25. As a car it is great but to have the long range I needed the Trophy model. That means it has a comms box called a T box that handles things like sat nav, SOS call, telling you the weather & amzon music etc etc.

5 months ago the T box failed under warranty. It has now been to the dealer 6 times. This last it has sat at EMG Ipswich for as of today 51 days i.e over 7 weeks.
EMG have done all MG UK asked replacing boxes, chasing wiring, fitting new ariels etc to no avail. They now await a Chinese response & after a week we have nothing.

I have a free EV courtesy car but enough is enough.

I'd like some contacts for the motoring press who might run with the story. Do you know anyone? Or do you know anyone high up in the Grainger Motor Group who might help?

Sorry to hear of your problem John and given all the hardware that's been replaced wonder if its a firmware issue.

It does seem to me more sensible for modern cars to just mirror your phone using for example Andoid auto. I know this is what the Kia Niro range offer and likely many others. Why try to reinvent the wheel by having standalone bespoke systems when familiar apps for phone communication, navigation, radio, music streaming etc. are already available mirrored to large screen display within your car.

Having said that maybe it makes sense for new cars to have their own GPS and associated better placed aerial for navigation, so providing redundancy. I was surprised when we first experienced our now ten year old F54 Mini that it not only had its own built in Satnav but that my bluetooth connected phone had any chosen route automatically mirrored to it via Google Maps app.

It also has android auto. I just think they over complicate things

John, sorry to read this as it was all working out well this EV for your application, at least you have a loaner.

Yep the total pisser is that otherwise it is a great car. THe problem we all face now is what the older mechanic and I discussed at EMG. Effectively the dizzie & analogue dials etc are now replaced by boxes you change. If that doesn't work it gets very difficult.

Frustration or what - PM Alistair he'll know who's cage to rattle ;-)

I always read with interest you EV boys journeys and in particular Shooters Tesla travelling through Europe on business and Hamwich with his MINI and I think yours is the first fail as such.

When they are operating correctly they could suit many shorter distance folk with comfort and I would take a Microlino for us as it fits, mind I don't think the boss would want 5 in the fleet just now...

John, Would a search on the companies House web site give you some names to fire off a stiff note about your problems.

Any car is a hostile environment for electronics. It's surprising that modern cars last as long as they do, in such high temperature fluctuations and dampness and condensation.

Sorry to hear of your issues John. I've heard of a few reliability problems with MGs, but this one seems to be particularly intractable. According to https://www.ceoemail.com, the head of MG Motors in the UK is hao.wang@mg.co.uk, you could try writing to them?

No consolation to you of course, but our Mini continues to impress us. It's now 4 ½ years old, has been completely faultless, costs 2p/mile to run and shows no degradation in range from the battery. We did 100 miles on a day out last week and still had an indicated 40 miles range when we got home.

Reject it John, it’s unfit for purpose. And copy any comms to MG UK to the AA, RAC and trading standards.