So far, I have driven the SUV for 2,600 km and found the fuel efficiency to be pathetic.
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Hi guys,
A little about my cars first. I have a BMW GT Sport Diesel (2016), Innova Crysta ZX Diesel (2019), Seltos GTX Diesel (2020), XUV 700 AX7L Petrol (2021) and the MG Hector Plus Petrol (2023).
Basically, we were looking for something in the range of 20-30 L. We tried Compass (didn't like it), Superb (OKish), Octavia (Okish), Seltos (Amazing, but 1 month waiting time), Harrier/Safari (pretty basic), Had a horrible prior experience with Maruti, so didn't want to even consider, Innova Hycross (wanted petrol hybrid, but loooong waiting). So, we went to the MG showroom, saw the car, liked what we saw, took a very small test drive (more on this below), and booked a SILVER car on 23rd Jan.
Got a delivery time of 1 month. Were told that a WHITE color car was standing with them - the customer's loan was not being passed by the bank - so if the loan is not passed by tomorrow (24th Jan), we can offer that car to you. On 24th, got the call early morning that the other guy's loan is not going through, so if you want the car, it was yours. We abandoned our wait for the silver color, and went to the showroom on 24th Jan, and got delivery by evening after completing formalities.
Since we wanted the car before 31st March, we had also booked a silver Seltos just in case our original Silver Hector Plus was delayed beyond 31st March. Cancelled the Seltos booking eventually.
Why didn't I notice these things during the test drive. The answer is - I was given an unregistered vehicle for a test drive. It was not a TD vehicle, but a vehicle which must have been sold to someone else later. Since it was not a TD vehicle, agency guys wanted to have as less KMs on the odo as possible, so took a TD of about 2 Km - and you can very well imagine how much you gauge in a TD of 2 Km.
On the morning of 24th, before delivery, I did a thorough PDI, the Odometer reading was something around 25-30 km. So, my car was not a TD vehicle or a used vehicle. It was brand new in all aspects.
On this being a "hit job" - I am not into Automobiles as my profession. I have no affiliations or hard feelings about MG. I have absolutely no skin in the game for me to try and tarnish their brand.
I clicked the videos/pics on 19th, but typing this today on 23rd night. The current reading on the Odometer is 2,653 Km.
Some observations
- The Audio system is BONKERS !! I drive the car almost daily but always have other people with me, so can't really turn up the audio. 4-5 days ago, I had a chance to do about 100km alone and got absolutely blown away by the deep lows and crystal highs of the audio system. I tip my hat to the audio team. Recommendation to all - Listen to any and all songs from the album Paper Trail by TI. It's from 2010ish, but still as awesome as it was back then.
- Auto turn indicators are a nice touch, but for us Chandigarhians, they are a bit of an issue since we have to traverse Roundabouts, and the car just keeps on giving random left/right signals all the time while you are navigating the roundabout - indications which are not the correct direction where I'm going to go.
- Fuel efficiency is pathetic. I'm getting 7-8kmpl on a 50-50 mixture of city and highway driving with a reasonably light foot - never crossing 90-95 in the last 1,000 km.
- I have noticed that the screen takes a lot of time to turn on when the car has been parked for more than 2-3 hours. BUT if you start it in less than 2-3 hours, 50% of time it turns on quickly (2-3 seconds), but the rest 50% is again the long wait.
- 50% of time when I turn on the AC, I hear a 0.5-second phusshhhh sound from under the car - like pressure being released. Don't know why.
- About 20% times when the car is accelerating, around the 60-70 kmph mark, there is a clanking sound from under the car with a small jerk. Don't know the reason, but it certainly is not the sound of some rocks hitting the car floor.
As proof, I have uploaded a few videos of the car to Youtube (didn't know where else to upload them). Links below : (Please click on the links since Youtube seems to have converted some videos into shorts, and their thumbnail isn't showing here. There are a total of 6 videos).
Photos of my car are below
Update
I tried, but I could not make a good enough video of the gear shift delay, and the rear camera delay thing - it did not happen while I was making the video. It happens for sure, so will try again to make the video.
I understand that the issues I'm facing might be isolated and other owners might not be facing these issues, but that certainly does not make my review a "hit job" on the reputation of MG. As I said, I have nothing to gain from bad-mouthing the car. I was once in your shoes - with the XUV 700. My car - despite being the first AX7L of the Chandigarh region - didn't have even 1 issue with it - and the whole world was going crazy at the numerous faults in their cars. They were bad-mouthing the brand, while I was defending it.
I highlighted all these issues to MG on their Twitter (agency and service guys were clueless), so MG people are coming to my place on Sunday to check out the issues. Will update what happens.
After this post, I am always ready to answer any questions, but if there are still doubts, the mods can nominate 1 person who can come and check out my car at my home in Chandigarh. This is the maximum proof I can give.
I hope my review will be seen in a better light in view of the proof I have provided.
Cheers!
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