MG HS SUV Exclusive 1.5T-GDI 5d Owner Review

After a year and 15k miles, the car has been excellent. I'll start with the grumbles, and with the exception of one, they are mere grumbles.

So the only actual issue has been the infotainment screen going blank three or four times. Stop and restart and its sorted itself out instantly, but its annoying nonetheless as all the HVAC controls are touchscreen. Its being looked at when it goes in for its service next week, but ultimately its all under warranty so I'm not concerned.

Most reviews will slate the infotainment system, and indeed it is quite slow, however, 99% of us will just plug our phone in and use apple maps and / or amazon prime music, so its a little moot. The inbuilt sat-Nav is largely pointless, in 15k I've never even started it, why anyone would use it in the face of Apple or Google maps is anyone's guess.

The lag between switching screens is a little tedious, a couple of seconds to switch from Apple carplay to the HVAC screen, but you do it with the steering wheel button so again, its really not an issue, and if you set it to auto it just does its thing anyway and you don't need to use it.

Sure, the engine is not the most refined unit, and it doesn't like being thrashed, but its a family SUV so why anyone is surprised by that I don't know. Its torquey enough and happily does the family duties. Its quiet at low to modest revs and over taking isn't an issue. Its actually a GM engine, found in various cars the world over, its a common as much engine, nothing special, exactly the same thing you'll find under the nose of various Vauxhalls.

On to the positives, and aside from the price (we paid 21k brank new for an Exclusive in July 2021) the passenger space is superb. Our 10 year old is already 5'4 and he's going to be well over 6 foot, so rear legroom was paramount for us. Only car I've been in that's comparable for rear legroom is a Skoda Superb, and that's a huge car. It will happily take four six foot+ adults (and we're talking proper 16 stone adult men) in comfort. The trade off is a boot that's maybe not as big as it should be, but its perfectly good enough, we take it to France and there's enough space.

We've averaged 39mpg over the year which includes all kinds of driving, for a petrol you can't really moan. The wild claims of our previous BMW and German cars which were supposed to do 50+ but actually yielded similar 40ish figures does at least make MGs claims of late 30's economy to be perfectly truthful (we're looking at you Audi, quoting 60mpg and getting 42)....

Essentially, inside the build quality is good, and its not just good for the money, its is actually genuinely good. The touchy feely stuff is on par with anything European (and feels significantly better than Kia) and the sports style seats I personally find very comfortable, but they're a bit at odds in a family SUV. Still, six hour drive to france and they're plenty good enough,

So, would I recommend it. On a lease? No, go lease a Mazda CX-5, its just a better car and the residuals are better, BUT, and I suspect this is where the pricing comes into play, if you want a quiet, comfortable family car that does the daily duties, and comes with seven years peace of mind, nothing comes close. The aforementioned CX-5 is best part of ten grand more and only gets three years, even Kias Sportage is an extra 8K, which as a purchase proposition puts it firmly in a different class.