New MG ZS high fuel consumption and frosty glass shattering

tifo

rdr said:

In your position I would be tempted to get rid of the car, buy a cargo e-bike and/or some individual bikes and put aside a budget for taxis or by the hour (Zipcar et cetera) hire cars.

I need a car for home, school runs, shopping, and work when I do it (on LCW at the moment due to conditions).

Herzlos

rdr said:

Herzlos said:

If you're only doing 4000 miles a year, then does a lot fuel economy matter that much in the grand scheme of things?

33mpg @ £1.60/l gives you about 22p/mile or £880/year.
22mpg @ £1.60/l gives you about 33p/mile or £1320/year.

So you're paying about £440/year more in fuel, but how much will you have lost in depreciation already?

I can understand if you want rid of the car anyway, but I don't think it makes sense to do it based on fuel economy alone especially since a large part of the problem is your driving patterns; the 9mph average speed over presumably short journeys, which is going to be horrendous in any car. My 1.5 diesel will do over 60mpg on a long slow run, but easily low 20's on the local journeys.

Indeed, it is surprising how big a difference you need in fuel consumption to make it worth changing the car with all the attendant costs.
If you are really concerned about fuel costs most sensible thing to do is to look at not using the car for some of those journeys. In your position I would be tempted to get rid of the car, buy a cargo e-bike and/or some individual bikes and put aside a budget for taxis or by the hour (Zipcar et cetera) hire cars.

I think fuel economy (and tax) are really just hammed up to sell cars, and is just a diversion from the total cost of ownership (TCO). People can easily be talked into upgrading to save money, spending £200/month in payments to save £50/month on fuel.

It's different for high mileage users, and a useful comparison when buying a car in that I'd rather choose one that gets 40mpg than one than gets 20mpg, but it doesn't generally make sense to trade in the 20mpg car for the 40mpg car.

At 4,000 miles a year, whilst I don't think the fuel economy matters much it's still likely too many miles for a taxi to make sense. For the drivers doing 2000 miles a year (I think there was one on here recently) then it's a different matter.

tifo

I've sold this car through an online marketplace at quiet a loss. I again offered it to the dealer I purchased it from and have been negotiating with to return it but they were not interested in return and their offer to buy was much less than what it's sold at. Every time I ask them they drop their offer by a few hundred pounds, citing the 'market'.

Do I have a claim against the dealer for the money i've lost (approx £3,000 in price and all the fuel i've been having to put in at 18-19mpg).

To be clear, i've had to sell it because of the excessive fuel consumption.

Grumpy_chap

You had the brand new car for 18 months and depreciation was only £3k.
Is that correct?

If so, that seems like a "win" financially and no loss that could be claimed for.
I understand you experienced frustration and inconvenience but they can't really be monetised.

Hope you can now move on and enjoy your next car more.

tifo

The market price is near £20,000 (that's what online marketplaces were showing a few months ago and they sell for at the moment) and was £22,000 in December 2022. Because used car prices, esp for newer cars, are very high and have been for a year.

The reason I was asking is that i've wanted to give it back within the first month of purchase but the dealer has never accepted there's anything wrong with it. Had I done that i'd have got £21,000 back (finance cleared) and also not paid the near £5,200 payments i've made. I know i've had use of the car in that time.

Herzlos

What did you buy it for and what did you sell it for? When did you buy?

You can try and take them to small claims court for your losses but you've got virtually no chance of success. Your low economy seems to be a symptom of your driving (averaging 7mph), and it sounds like you didn't lose that much between purchase and trade in either. You also could have sold it to the trade for the £22k in December, so the dealer can't really be responsible for any market changes since then. They made it clear at the start that they wouldn't give you a full refund on it.

Stubod

tifo said:

....
Do I have a claim against the dealer for the money i've lost (approx £3,000 in price and all the fuel i've been having to put in at 18-19mpg).

..no chance....

Krakkkers

I retired a short time ago and the diesel Focus i have used to average 62 mpg on my commute doing around 17000 miles a year.
Now i only do 3000 miles a year and it averages 37 mpg.

tifo

Herzlos said:

What did you buy it for and what did you sell it for? When did you buy?

You can try and take them to small claims court for your losses but you've got virtually no chance of success. Your low economy seems to be a symptom of your driving (averaging 7mph), and it sounds like you didn't lose that much between purchase and trade in either. You also could have sold it to the trade for the £22k in December, so the dealer can't really be responsible for any market changes since then. They made it clear at the start that they wouldn't give you a full refund on it.

Unfortunately, my glass shattered for no reason in December 2022 just as I was going to sell it (cazoo at that time, had handover booked too) and I wasn't able to buy this dealer only part until the new year and get it fitted. As i've pointed, MG don't take any responsibility for that or anything else.

The matter has been ongoing since within 1 month of purchase and just because they've never agreed to anything doesn't mean it stops. Like, for example, PPI complaints it can take years to resolve. That's what I think. Unfortunately for me I don't have any more patience to pay so much in fuel costs.

Whilst it may average 7mph in very local drives, this is not the case on motorway and it can only ever do 33 mpg on this at a constant, more or less, 70-75 mph. That's not what the specs say it should do. On 10-15 mile drives, some at 50 mph mostly at 30 mph it will do around 26 mpg. That's still low.

Herzlos

It's unfortunate timing with the glass but with glass it's hard to prove it was a manufacturing defect or something like a stone chip. It's why I'd never touch something with a panoramic roof.

Going by honest johns real-mpg you're economy was low, but if I recall correctly the dealer took the car out a few times and reported a mileage in the mid 30's which seems to be more in line with the real economy figures.

Again, it's unfortunate because it's almost impossible to prove a high fuel consumption is a defect and not a driving style or wear and tear / contamination, unless a mechanic can reproduce something awful.  My fuel economy varies wildly from mid 20's to mid 60's depending on conditions and it's lower than I'd like but I certainly don't think I'd have a case for mis selling.

You may be technically in the right about the glass and fuel economy being defects, but you'd have a near impossible time proving that to a judge without spending a fortune in expert reports, on a car you no longer have. So you're best at this stage just taking the loss and moving on. I honestly don't think it's worth the time and hassle trying to fight it any further.