MG ZS Petrol or Hybrid

injectionday

Hi, I'm looking to buy a new car and am very interested in MG ZS especially because of the lower prices compared to other options.

I'm unsure whether it may be worth going for the hybrid rather than the petrol manual version. The price difference is about £2k.  I've never driven an automatic before and I'm concerned about the life of the battery being 8-10 years before it needs replacing.  I got my current car new and have kept it for 12 years and would want to do the same with my next car.

I drive around 8,000 a year. Mainly around town with some longer motorway drives about every 6 weeks. My main concern is they the car is reliable and value for money rather than how it looks.

RogerPensionGuy

Both cars are great. 

I suggest you test drive both. 

See which one suits you best.

Then just buy that model at the lowest possible price and maybe get dealer to throw in a few extras after price is fixed for free.

The reduction on RRPs are up to 30 odd % plus, these cars represent very very good value IMHO. 

flaneurs_lobster

Naive possible MG car buyer here.

How true is it that hybrids are inherently far more complicated than their equivalent petrol-only models and are therefore more prone to breakdowns and/or faults?

They obviously cost more too.

Is the fact that this is a new car purchase (with a 7 year warranty) mean that this reliability concern is irrelevant?

And when that battery does give up, does the hybrid just become a petrol car or is it more complicated than that?

knightstyle

I would insist on getting agreement that if the car is off the road due to a fault, waiting for upgrade etc. they will supply a replacement car.
I would go for the automatic hybrid one.

Bigwheels1111

My friend has Two cars, A Prius Hybrid with 200k on the clock & an MG ZS EV with 25k on the clock.

The Prius is a mini cab, he serviced it himself, So has saved thousands and thousands of pounds.

At 115k the electric water pump went, £200 genuine new pump + £20 antifreeze and 1 hour to replace by

two idiots, Me and him. At 185k the Hybrid battery went, new genuine replacement was £1375 fitted with 3

year warranty.

It has never broken down in 10 years of ownership, the faults above did not stop it driving.

Just caused the 55/60 mpg to drop to 45 mpg.

Service cost, £50 for parts at Toyota for mini cabs offer. Oil + Filter + Sump washer + Air filter + Pollen Filter.

Only other parts fitted in 200k miles, Spark plugs every 50k and new brake pads pads.

The MG ZS, Other than servicing nothing has gone wrong.

Service cost £750 for 5 years in 2021.

He leaves it at Sainsbury's in the morning at 06.00am to charge for free, 3.5 hours later his wife picks up the car after walking the kids to school. Two charges a week fill the battery.

23k miles of free charging so far.

In 2 years or so I will be upgrading my car, Two thing that will affect my decision.

Do I have a home charger, Yes, EV it is. Cheap overnight charging. Test drove an MG S5 a few days ago.

WOW, Nice to drive, comfortable driving position & fast of the mark.

Charger, NO.

Hybrid or Plugin Hybrid.

I test drove the MG HS Plugin on the same day.

I liked the look and styling more than the S5, Plus the interior of the HS.

The Toyota Corolla estate is high on my list.

10 year warranty, even secondhand ones can get the warranty if you just get a Toyota service done on the car.

photome

Make sure you do a prolonged test drive…I have driven multiple cars over the past few years and the MGHS ( I know it’s not the ZS) is one of the worst cars I have driven , it was the auto gearbox that was bad, when pulling out of a junction I never knew exactly when it was going to go, had it a week and was glad to see the back of it

the infotainment screen was also poor

this was about 3 years ago so they may well have improved both since then

WellKnownSid

flaneurs_lobster said:

How true is it that hybrids are inherently far more complicated than their equivalent petrol-only models and are therefore more prone to breakdowns and/or faults?

Generally untrue.  Ish.

'Strong' hybrids that don't plug in tend to use simpler, older or under-run engines because they can - they don't need to produce as much power, may lack variable valve timing, water pumps etc so a simpler timing train - they also won't have conventional starter motors, alternators, etc probably no turbo and simpler emissions control because of how they're run.  The gearboxes also tend to be simpler - a very simple CVT or a few cogs and actuators - fewer 'speeds', no reverse gear, that sort of thing.

Plug-in hybrids are a bit of an odd one.  They quite often have all of the parts needed for a full-fat EV just quarter to half the battery size.  Plus they have an engine and gearbox which may be just as complicated a setup as the ICE car.  They seem to be a solution looking for a problem ("I cover 36 miles commuting during the week and then do a 900 mile road trip every weekend").  Judging by the number of factory-wrapped charging cables you see in the boot of PHEVs on Auto Trader, one can only assume that they make really poor EVs.

chrisw

Bigwheels1111 said:

He leaves it at Sainsbury's in the morning at 06.00am to charge for free, 3.5 hours later his wife picks up the car after walking the kids to school. Two charges a week fill the battery.

23k miles of free charging so far.

How does he charge it for free? Most Sainsbury's are around 72p per KWh which is quite expensive and around 10x the home charging cost.

Bigwheels1111

chrisw said:

Bigwheels1111 said:

He leaves it at Sainsbury's in the morning at 06.00am to charge for free, 3.5 hours later his wife picks up the car after walking the kids to school. Two charges a week fill the battery.

23k miles of free charging so far.

How does he charge it for free? Most Sainsbury's are around 72p per KWh which is quite expensive and around 10x the home charging cost.

His local still has the 7kw free charges, the ones you need your own cable for.

born_again

injectionday said:

Hi, I'm looking to buy a new car and am very interested in MG ZS especially because of the lower prices compared to other options.

I'm unsure whether it may be worth going for the hybrid rather than the petrol manual version. The price difference is about £2k.  I've never driven an automatic before and I'm concerned about the life of the battery being 8-10 years before it needs replacing.  I got my current car new and have kept it for 12 years and would want to do the same with my next car.

I drive around 8,000 a year. Mainly around town with some longer motorway drives about every 6 weeks. My main concern is they the car is reliable and value for money rather than how it looks.

Go for the full EV.
MG offer lifetime warranty on their batteries.

If you can charge at home.

WellKnownSid

Bigwheels1111 said:

chrisw said:

Bigwheels1111 said:

He leaves it at Sainsbury's in the morning at 06.00am to charge for free, 3.5 hours later his wife picks up the car after walking the kids to school. Two charges a week fill the battery.

23k miles of free charging so far.

How does he charge it for free? Most Sainsbury's are around 72p per KWh which is quite expensive and around 10x the home charging cost.

His local still has the 7kw free charges, the ones you need your own cable for.

Local garden centres offer £1 for an hour of 7kW - good for 28 miles. You get the pound back if you buy something.