Good news

[Jcloughie]

I like my new MG in many ways, but it has not been without its faults. I am not trying to compare it with more expensive cars, but it is, so far, being good value for money.

My biggest problem has been dealing with the attitude of the dealer and with their help desk who have had the default response to tell me I must be doing something wrong.

Eventually, they changed the sunlight sensor, but only after I demonstrated to them that when starting the engine in daylight turned on all lights. Up until then, they did not believe me.

They now agree that the cruise does not work properly. I have decided to accept it as it is not a major issue. But at first, they insisted that I was not using it correctly.

After the need for me to put my foot down, they seem to have realised that I may have some points. I complained that the car (an auto), lurches when going forwards or backwards. They did tell me I should expect it to crawl. I said crawl is fine but this is different. I demonstrated it and they were understanding.

They had it yesterday but were not confident that they could make a difference. They could not adjust the rpm on tick over for example, which is 1000 when warm. But that is the designed rpm. He said he would update the transmission software. Whatever they did made a huge difference to the drivability both in heavy traffic and when parking. I emailed the technician to let him know. This is his reply.


Hello, I am glad to hear this. I went to update the transmission control module but it already had the relevant software. So I carried out a replacement module procedure to fool the vehicle into thinking it had a new module installed and updated it that way. That's all I did to the vehicle.

Thank you for letting me know.


Even technology can be fooled. I think that comes into the reboot zone.

John

 

[otherclive]

That is a good outcome, sounds as if the technician knows his stuff. I assume that yours is a dual clutch auto, which don't tend to be as smooth in manoeuvring as torque convertor or CVT automatics., or even compared to a driver who knows how to use a clutch.

 

[Jcloughie]

That is a good outcome, sounds as if the technician knows his stuff. I assume that yours is a dual clutch auto, which don't tend to be as smooth in manoeuvring as torque convertor or CVT automatics., or even compared to a driver who knows how to use a clutch.

I am pretty sure it is a dual-clutch. But the gear change in normal driving is extremely smooth. My previous two cars were torque converters. The Volvo was great. The Ssangyong was awful. When slowing, say for traffic lights, at about 5mph it changed down so severely it felt as though we had been rear-ended. I once went to a Ssangyong dealer and explained it to the service engineer. He said he had never heard of that before. Someone in the waiting room overheard and came over to say his was exactly the same, The tech was a tad embarrassed.

John

 

[Hutch]

Maybe not relevent to the MG's. But I had my 2008 Santa Fe remapped by Angel tuning , to give me more torque. A great improvement, the tech that done it told me to drive the car fairly hard as the engine mapping module will "learn" the driving style over the next 100 miles or so.
Auto gear changes were smoother, better MPG and acceleration and improved towing performance.
Thinking of doing it now to my 2014 Santa Fe.

 

[Buckman]

Maybe not relevent to the MG's. But I had my 2008 Santa Fe remapped by Angel tuning , to give me more torque. A great improvement, the tech that done it told me to drive the car fairly hard as the engine mapping module will "learn" the driving style over the next 100 miles or so.
Auto gear changes were smoother, better MPG and acceleration and improved towing performance.
Thinking of doing it now to my 2014 Santa Fe.

Many cars now "learn" from your driving style and adapt accordingly. One of the reasons I give the vehicle a bit of a thrash now and then.

On our 2004 S80 the adaption was frightening as sometimes when you wanted to power quickly because it had adapted to me driving like a "gentleman", there was a delay while it thought about it and then decided what to do. It was a known problem with S80 and also the Ford Powershift.

 

[Hutch]

I always found that after Mrs H, had been driving our 3 litre Vectra, It always felt very smooth.
Maybe it was because the car was much lighter as she never filled it with diesel.

 

[RogerL]

Many cars now "learn" from your driving style and adapt accordingly. One of the reasons I give the vehicle a bit of a thrash now and then.

On our 2004 S80 the adaption was frightening as sometimes when you wanted to power quickly because it had adapted to me driving like a "gentleman", there was a delay while it thought about it and then decided what to do. It was a known problem with S80 and also the Ford Powershift.

Some cars have a method of resetting the adaptive learnt settings back to the factory defaults and start learning again - the automatic gearbox on my Touareg is adaptive and learns my style but it's useful to do a reset after an long towing trip as the change points are quite different to my solo style.

 

[Buckman]

Some cars have a method of resetting the adaptive learnt settings back to the factory defaults and start learning again - the automatic gearbox on my Touareg is adaptive and learns my style but it's useful to do a reset after an long towing trip as the change points are quite different to my solo style.

I must admit I was not aware of any such facility in any of the autos that we have had over the past 20 years. Our S80 was our first auto and bought brand new in 2004.

 

[RogerL]

I must admit I was not aware of any such facility in any of the autos that we have had over the past 20 years. Our S80 was our first auto and bought brand new in 2004.

They're often not in the owners manual - but model-specific forums are good for identifying such facilities.

On my VW Touareg it's - turn ignition on but don't start engine, press accelerator pedal to floor and hold for 10 seconds, release accelerator pedal and switch ignition off.

 

[Buckman]

They're often not in the owners manual - but model-specific forums are good for identifying such facilities.

On my VW Touareg it's - turn ignition on but don't start engine, press accelerator pedal to floor and hold for 10 seconds, release accelerator pedal and switch ignition off.

Yeah there are similar work arounds on the Jeep for other issues.

 

[Dustydog]

They're often not in the owners manual - but model-specific forums are good for identifying such facilities.

On my VW Touareg it's - turn ignition on but don't start engine, press accelerator pedal to floor and hold for 10 seconds, release accelerator pedal and switch ignition off.

How long does it then take for the system to adapt to your driving style again?

 

[RogerL]

How long does it then take for the system to adapt to your driving style again?

Don't know! Adaptive systems aren't easily measured.

 

[Dustydog]

Don't know! Adaptive systems aren't easily measured.

😥

 

[Raywood]

I think the reputation of the dealer is something you need to check before buying. We have used the same dealer now for the last four cars and have had only one problem which was resolved. They have never pointed out any problems which they did not back up with a video to show this and in general we are very satisfied.
At the same time my daughter had her car returned by another dealer without the oil being fully refilled and her partner picke3d his up from the same firm with the steering misaligned which the mechanic who drove it from the garage to the pickup point could not fail to spot but did nothing. Along with a few other more minor but obvious problems the service means they will never darken their doors again.
Possibly a few minor problems would be acceptable if the garage did their job. In the case of the MG I would find another dealer to use if there is one nearby, or just buy from another maker.

 

[RogerL]

I think the reputation of the dealer is something you need to check before buying. We have used the same dealer now for the last four cars and have had only one problem which was resolved. They have never pointed out any problems which they did not back up with a video to show this and in general we are very satisfied.
At the same time my daughter had her car returned by another dealer without the oil being fully refilled and her partner picke3d his up from the same firm with the steering misaligned which the mechanic who drove it from the garage to the pickup point could not fail to spot but did nothing. Along with a few other more minor but obvious problems the service means they will never darken their doors again.
Possibly a few minor problems would be acceptable if the garage did their job. In the case of the MG I would find another dealer to use if there is one nearby, or just buy from another maker.

In 50+ years I've never yet found a franchised car dealer that I would "automatically" go back to, either from the sales side or the service side - and only 1 non-franchised workshop who I trust - they aren't perfect, no-one is, but they deal with the rare issues without any BS and with no question of additional payment - I've also listened to how they deal with other customers, especially those with little or zero knowledge of cars and they're paragons of virtue compared to the rest of the motor industry.

 

[otherclive]

In 50+ years I've never yet found a franchised car dealer that I would "automatically" go back to, either from the sales side or the service side - and only 1 non-franchised workshop who I trust - they aren't perfect, no-one is, but they deal with the rare issues without any BS and with no question of additional payment - I've also listened to how they deal with other customers, especially those with little or zero knowledge of cars and they're paragons of virtue compared to the rest of the motor industry.

When we bought a Skoda Estelle as a run about we used an old established Skoda dealer which was a family firm. Then many years later when we bought a Superb we used them for servicing etc. Skoda then removed them as franchised dealership, but they were still an approved Skoda service Center. Then they acquired the Subaru franchise and I had the Subarus looked after by them. Then they dropped the Subaru franchise and my nearest other franchise was north of Swindon. One reason why I parted company with the marque. Throughout my experience with this small family dealership was positive. Not all are tarred with the same brush. One reason we moved our loyalty to Kia again after a 14 year gap was that there is a well established dealer ship that supplied my Sorento back in 2005, only a 10 minutes walk away if I cut through the hedge line which can be quicker than driving at busy times. The 7 year warranty also influenced our thoughts too.

 

[trevormonty]

Some dealers go extra mile to find faults you never knew car had. Work VW caddy went in for coolant leak and they wanted to charge £250 for replacement battery. Must be high gold content in those VW batteries. After convincing them we'll take our chances with old battery, few weeks on not had and issues with flat battery.

 

[Hutch]

How long does it then take for the system to adapt to your driving style again?

On my older Santa Fe, 2008, it was over 50 to 100 miles.

 

[Buckman]

One thing that really annoys me is the charge for topping up the windscreen washer, especially when you topped it up a few days before the service. Not a huge amount, but still annoying as on top of the £3 charge you pay VAT at 20%

 

[RogerL]

One thing that really annoys me is the charge for topping up the windscreen washer, especially when you topped it up a few days before the service. Not a huge amount, but still annoying as on top of the £3 charge you pay VAT at 20%

With VW, that's done for free with a service plan - and they leave the rest of the concentrate in the boot.

 

[Jcloughie]

One thing that really annoys me is the charge for topping up the windscreen washer, especially when you topped it up a few days before the service. Not a huge amount, but still annoying as on top of the £3 charge you pay VAT at 20%

I agree with you, also for white grease for hinges.

But I thought that places stopped making such embarrassing charges years ago. Not something that has been tried on me. I would tell them where to go out of principle.

John

 

[Hutch]

I either top up my screen wash before the service, or tell them Not to do it. Had the Santa Fe serviced this last time by Halfords, a 90 k Full service, ( out of sync) could see everything being done, able to talk to the tech , before and afterwards. Full service, all filters, oil air and cabin . For £309. My local Independent in the village who I would have preferred to use was quoting £400 .
Sorry £100 in my pocket.

 

[Dustydog]

I either top up my screen wash before the service, or tell them Not to do it. Had the Santa Fe serviced this last time by Halfords, a 90 k Full service, ( out of sync) could see everything being done, able to talk to the tech , before and afterwards. Full service, all filters, oil air and cabin . For £309. My local Independent in the village who I would have preferred to use was quoting £400 .
Sorry £100 in my pocket.

Let’s hope he survives. Once he’s gone I wonder if the big boys will still indulge you😉

 

[Hutch]

They will carry on DD, does great work wonderful engineers and techs. Booked almost two month ahead for servicing, MOT about a week, tyre changes same day normally.
Luckily I know the lads personally.

 

[RogerL]

I either top up my screen wash before the service, or tell them Not to do it. Had the Santa Fe serviced this last time by Halfords, a 90 k Full service, ( out of sync) could see everything being done, able to talk to the tech , before and afterwards. Full service, all filters, oil air and cabin . For £309. My local Independent in the village who I would have preferred to use was quoting £400 .
Sorry £100 in my pocket.

Differences in hourly rates are easy to quantify - any further reduction in overall cost will be down to the quality/price of parts and fluids used - that's why I source the parts and fluids myself and just pay my trusted indy for the labour.

The emissions equipment fitted to modern cars requires a very high specification of oil to avoid contaminating that equipment, sometimes in surprisingly large amounts and this represents a big part of the cost of servicing - this is an area where many workshops reduce costs by using one cheap grade of oil for all cars instead of the grade specified by the manufacturer, in some cases this includes franchised dealers - it's not unknown to use a cheap 10W-40 when they should be using 0W-30 ACEA-C3 to a particular manufacturer specification.

I recall when I had my 2011 Hyundai Santa Fe that many Hyundai dealers were using oil incompatible with DPFs even on cars fitted with DPFs - by circluating that knowledge around various forums several dealers had to replace oil with the correct specification, at their own cost, but I'm sure many owners were unaware and may have suffered premature DPF failure - I don't believe that Hyundai dealers were unique in this sort of ignorance.