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I rent a lot of cars and so have some basic expectations which sadly weren't met with this car. The cruise control is neither intuitive nor effective. Secondly, the car has no power when going up a very moderate incline at 110kph. The car naturally slows but when accelerating, nothing happens even when I put my foot completely to the floor. Zero… Read more
confidence in an overtake scenario. Also, the panels are thin and dent easily and the front suspension is rattly. The angle of the windscreen or the glass itself creates excessive glare such that the dash reflects off the glass when driving towards sunset. The cabin has little sound insulation and the speakers are rubbish (far too much bass). The fuel efficiency is not as good as other cars in the same class. The small engine will tire quickly. I would definitely buy a Kia or Hyundai over this as the ownership costs will be better long term with these brands.
3000km, back to service centre. Coolent averywhere, no apparent reason ?! Show details
A car that not only delivers in price but performs on equipment, safety and reliability! The claimed 7.1 combined is true and accurate! The fact nothing has gone wrong and buying cheaper can mean now…buying better! Show details
Not a nice car – We had this car as a rental, and overall it was pretty average in some areas and downright awful in others. Let’s start with the average: the aircon worked well, the infotainment system was decent with Apple CarPlay (but no android auto?), its pretty stylish, is seemingly quite safe. (4 star ANCAP etc.) and handled surprisingly well it felt fine… Read more
on the road.
Now for the bad. The engine was unbelievably loud and felt painfully underpowered all the time unless you were doing 50 kph or less. To get from 60 to 100 kph you have to have your foot flat to the floor and you still wish there was more! The seats were terrible—granted, we’re larger-framed people, but they were uncomfortably tight, had no support and the seatbelt clasp dug into our sides. To make matters worse, the seats didn’t breathe at all. The cheap “leather” had no perforations, so your back ends up drenched in sweat, and they became scorching hot in the summer sun.
Fuel economy was poor, mostly because the engine was working so hard to keep up. The interior looked nice but felt cheap—which I can forgive in a budget car—but the build quality was disappointing. There were rattles everywhere, and the center console flexed under the lightest touch.
On the bright side, it does have a 10-year warranty, and it never broke down or left us stranded. But in the end, it was simply cheap and underpowered and by the end of our 3 weeks with it I was thrilled to see the back of it!
Highly recommended – Love my MG ZS. Had it for 4.5 years and just traded in for same model with 10 year warranty. Great on the open road and around town. Value for money is excellent. I can’t believe the questions on this review when they have a seven year warranty just take it back to the dealer! Show details
MG warranty not worth the paper it's written on!! – Had various defects since purchasine new in Dec 2022. Have been trying to make contact with MG with over a month without any success. Been stonewalled at every turn. Really, disguistingly, herrendously horrible customer service. DON'T BUY MG!!! I have seriius safety issues with my car which they won't fix, and you can't contact MG directly. This company is a joke!!! Show details
Failure of breaks – My daughter got her brand new car in 2023 and has taken it back several times and her husband did the same thing about the brakes making squealing sounds and not stopping correctly. They both told brakes are not covered by warranty and nothing they can do about the brakes squealing and when checked they was told nothing wrong with them. Well… Read more
luckily everyone is ok because a few weeks ago my daughter brakes did not work and she hit the back of another car as she could not stop. She was doing the correct speed and kept her distance but the car in front stopped with out warning and when she hit the brakes the car kept going. Thank MG Perth
VERY UN-EXCITING – VERY UN-EXCITING. Unfortunately, was stuck with this rental car for 5 days. Undertook city, Motorway and Highway driving in this time. Very poor steering and suspension, wanders all over the road, especially on concrete Motorway. Terrible suspension on average and poor road surfaces. Uncomfortable and unsupportive seats for anything more than a… Read more
trip to the local shop. No centre console arm-rest. The perfect car if you would rather stay at home, as there is NO JOY OR EXCITEMENT if you take this thing on the road. Hopeless if you want to overtake anything on the open road. Control stalks are opposite to normal Aust set-up, cruise control somewhere near your left knee! Drivers seat slides are so wobbly when you adjust seat, makes you wonder if the seat would stay anchored to the car if you had a smash. Cannot fit 2 suitcases flat in the boot. Parcel shelf hopeless. One POSITIVE - does NOT have key-less entry or push-button start, no lane departure beeping and other annoying safety systems!
Faulty start – I have a MG ZS 2023 since purchased it sporadically doesn't turn over first time anyone else have these issues being told this is normal but I've never owned a car that doesn't turn over first go unless it's faulty Show details
Terrible! – I just got back from a test drive in the mg zs excite - was thinking to buy it for my wife.I have never driven such a gutless car since my friends old datsun 120y in the 80’s.I realise its no racing car but I couldnt believe how unresponsive it was.I certainly wont be buying this car. Show details
Absolutely Rubbish – I rented a 2021 MG ZS while in Tasmania (I was supposed to get a Stonic…) absolutely horrible car to drive in any situation. Open highways, terrible, Twisty mountain roads, Twice as terrible, around town, THRICE as terrible. I cannot even imagine how people spend money on AND own these things. Show details
Perfect value for money – I have a 2021 MG ZS small compact SUV. I use my car daily for private use. I have a small family and it’s perfect size for what I need. I have had no problems with my car or with the dealership. It has everything that you need for a small price compared to other brands. I do wish they had a back interior light and air con vents in the back however the air con is extremely ice cold so it reaches the back. Show details
I bought this car, regretted so much – It is fine for the first 5000km I drove. Then it starts having alignment issue. Within the next week, the EPB system fault. Only had it for for 2 month. What is worst is, calling for road side assistance from MG is so bad. I waited 4 hours, for them to even try to get some one over here. As I typed there is still no one here. I have a Mazda that I drove 100k ++ with no issue like this. Regret this thing Show details
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quite nice - except for the terrible engine and the miserable transmission – I am from Germany and got this MG ZS as a rental for more than 8 weeks. Used it daily. Observations: Positive - room offered quite nice - seating is comfortable - rear seats are foldable - touch screen size okay, easy to handle - handling is good - fuel efficiency is good Negative - engine is - particularly for someone from Germany - the weakest… Read more
part of the car: 4 cylinders, too little horsepower, always noisy and uncultivated, having difficulties climbing up the blackall range in QLD. The engine is simply too little for this size and this weight. - transmission is a similiar disaster: auto transmission consists of only 4 speeds which makes its behaviour erratic
With a better engine and a better transmission, this car would have the qualities of becoming a true competitor to the european brands.
mg zst vibe suv – dont buy this cars why they tell u one thing to another on the information doesnt give u the full price so many hidden catches, we test drove a hs zst suv was told we be getting the same car but until we got this suv vibe thinking why the wheels calipers not painted after the salesman said no this a different car I said before sign the papers I… Read more
like to test drive it but dont have this car only have the hs type so we bought it was told have to have schmick rubbish dont get fooled $950 5 years and they charge u $50 each time on top havnt used them rather me money back im taking this to fairwork commission now I want me refund back, also these vibe cars engine so noisy had me dad mate look at it he thinks the bearings the engine dont seem right the mechanics in dandenong said this normal thing a new car u shouldn't hear this noise for a petrol carts loud I wish had known would of saved our money and bought something in nissan dandenong then a 7 years warranty because the mechanics know nothing ask them they cnanot answer also told me $280 service they dont make money but hey u on a salary why whinge for,doesnt matter chinesse car or not what matters they fooled us who next if u buy one make sure u test the car and demand it the one u want to buy or walk away know car salesman my uncle was one and a good one
Ok for the price – I've had this car for 2 months now, it's definitely a downgrade from my Hilux. Great run around car easy to drive, worst part is the acceleration, it's terrible but I'm sure we'll get used to it. Show details
Best car I've ever owned – Stepped up from a Japanese made Mazda2 into a ZS Excite and it beats the Mazda hands down in every department. 2 years old in March and it's behaved faultlessly after 30,000K. Build and panel fit are great, engine surprisingly powerful for a 1.5 litre and fantastic around town for easy parking and huge freight area which is twice as big as my… Read more
son's Mitsubishi ASX. Brought a big chest freezer home in it last month with room to spare!
However it really comes into its own on the highway with cruise control and the excellent fuel consumption is actually a tad better than the little Mazda.
Roomy and with more cabin space than my old Toyota Avalon which we also kept as our car for long trips and it has a far higher and safer driving position.
No complaints with the braking and transmission. At the age of this car, with previous Falcons and other Australian cars that I drove as company vehicles when I was a manager before I retired, most of them would have been in and out of the workshop a few times by now for annoying things like starter motor, water pump, wheel alignments, split hoses etc. problems.
My only concerns are the road noise which comes mostly from the low profile tyres and the somewhat jerky hill start feature, but more than happy. I don't drive like an idiot so I find the car is smooth and peppy enough for me as I don't drag people off at the lights or hit roundabouts at 80.
Fantastic for the price no problems – I've had this car for 1.5 years with no issues to date. 7 year warranty and roadside assist is perfect. It is on the smaller size between a Mazda cx3 and cx5. Has suited my 2a 2c fine. It is cheap on fuel and I love the reverse camera. No issues and for the price even better. Update it's been over 3 years and still no issues. Show details
Nice Car – Unlike those who drove one for 3 days and then thought they could do a review on the car, I've had mine for a little over 12 months. It has 115 horsepower and weighs only 1284kg. Performance is good. I prefer to drive in sports mode as the gearbox is more eager to keep the engine revving when needed. It handles really nicely, I live in the… Read more
country where the roads are windy and it has heaps of grip even in the wet. It drives very nicely.
The only issue I have had is a rattle in the rear view mirror and MG are going to replace that under warranty. I've had my first service which was fixed price and all went well.
I was a little worried about buying this car but so far, after 1 year it's been perfect ... and it looks great too !
Scary – I've had an MG ZS Excite from the rental car company for 2 days. It refuses to accelerate after stopping, but then suddenly lurches, the braking is incredibly non responsive, so peak hour traffic is more scary than it should be. It randomly revs when driving, the aircon blows warm, then cold, then warm, then cold, but never stays cold. Today it… Read more
refused to go into reverse gear part way through a 7 point turn to get out of a tight car park, such that I was blocking all traffic (what fun!). After restarting it reversed when the gear shift said it was in drive, and reluctantly went forward when in low. Then it was all ok again. I have no faith in the car to get me from A to B, it is stressful.
One of the worst care I ever driven – This China made car is absolutely terrible everting about it is just poor quality, drives very strangers braking feels like is not braking properly, there is no acceleration what’s so ever, when you put your foot down to the ground is nothing happening. I absolutely hate everything about this car the sounds it makes the look the way is build. 2023 model is build worst then any German car from 2010 Show details
- +3
I wouldn't recommend this base model car its very cheapo – I rented this car for 4 1/2 days In Darwin NT from Bargain Car Rentals at first glance its a nice-looking car, but once you get into the car things kind of change. i keep this review short I didn't like the interior and coming from a Subaru Forester all the stalks and controls are reversed in the conversion from a Euro car to an Aussie Car so the… Read more
indicator is on the left and the wipe is on the right and i can't tell you how many times i indi-wiped. The Cruise Control and speed limiter is confusing and it took me to the 2nd last day of the rental to understand the cruise control. Also the Speedo and Taco is swapped, as well the trip computer is cheap and limited in functions, the Center entertainment system reminds me of a cheap Android tablet from Ebay very glossy and dull but it ran Apple Car Play but not Android Auto, also the background settings in the Entertainment center are very limited you cannot program much of the car like i can with my Subaru the only thing you can program is the mode of Steering . in regards to Driving the car it was ok there might it kept up to speed, Otherwise, this base model MG ZS is cheap and has no thrills and i really don't recommend buying one as a everyday its more of a Company car, cheap rental car alternative. The key is chunky and looks 2000's compared to my Subaru and there is no push button start and there is no key lock on any of the front car doors to open the car manually. Anyway The Euro conversion wasn't my cuppa tea and car kinda had that 10 years ago look in the inside.
Find out how MG ZS ZS11 Excite compares to other Midsize / Medium SUVs
Know better, choose better.
Good MG ZS 2022 – Bought June 2022. The cheapest SUV on the market. Love the diamond red colour. It's a bit slow going up steep hills but I don't expect much more considering the size of the engine. It picks up speed quickly when going along the expressway, a flat road, I went from 60K's to 100k's in a matter of seconds. It pings when seatbelts aren't on, when a… Read more
door isn't closed properly, when its low on petrol and lots more. It took me a while to realise it will not start if the car isn't in park. (I thought it was the battery the first 3 times). The only thing wrong is the roof, when it's raining or just sprinkling, the rain comes in, dripping on my legs and the inner doors, even if the windows are only open 2 inches. I also think the accelerator and brake pedals are too close to each other.
It was made like this on purpose – Just deleted a 268 word review. I was trying to build in objectivity to the 2022 model MG HS review. I couldn't. Hired the car from a rental company in Melbourne. The rental company was great, the car not so much. The primary problems I found, horrendous accelerator action, poor warning systems when changing lanes, clumsy dash controls, cruise… Read more
control was uninspiring and not intuitive to use, clunky drive train, air con never got particularly cold, steering didn't have good road feel. On the positives, the stereo boasts apple and google systems and the paint job looked cool. Had use of the car for a week.
Transmission CLEARLY in ‘Drive’ reversed into a Pole? – Had a similar experience to a few on here!… was in a carpark with an empty car space to my left then a large pole. I reversed out, stopped, changed transmission and went to drive off…the car went backwards instead and I smashed into the pole. I am just thankful I didn’t hit anyone!! My car is now damaged. I have contacted MG Aust. I took my car to… Read more
Rex Gorell in Geelong to check for error codes….of course the report found nothing, I knew that would happen! Looks like I will now have to claim through my insurance….I encourage anyone with these cars to report issues like this to MG Australia immediately, as it is a serious safety issue…don’t care about my car as it can be fixed but I couldn’t live with myself if I had hit someone and pinned them to the pole!!! I will be first in the queue if there is ever a Class Action!!!
Great value but a hit and miss – Have owned several vehicles over the years ranging from budget and dependable Ford, Hyundai, Daewoo (also made a machine gun...google it), Nissan, Mazda to higher-end and least reliable Peugeot and Audi. It can be difficult to find unbiased car reviews online. Some owners unconsciously lie to themselves (and the readers) into thinking they made a… Read more
wise purchase and give a 5 star review. No car is perfect so no car can possibly be 5 star. On the other side of the spectrum and hilariously, some negative reviews appear to be politically influenced (likely from the far-right) who (in their delusional, semi-schizophrenic state of mind) somehow have reached the conclusion that posting a bad review on Xi's side hustle (SAIC) will influence the geo-political status-quo.
- Pros of the MG ZS Excite 1.5L Great value for money. After inspecting and test driving all other brand new cars around $20k mark, I can assure you that the ZS is the best value for money Australians have ever come across. The build quality and features/extras are very generous. Splendid interior for a budget car. Beefy chassis/body. Doors close with that satisfying thud we all appreciate. Bonnet weighs a ton (wether this is a plus is subjective). Engine sounds great. Throaty rev gives the impression of a much more powerful engine rather than a buzzy sounding rev typical of smaller engines (Toyota Yaris comes to mind). Handling is surprisingly good for the price. Bends and corners can be enjoyed. Body roll is minimal compared to similarly priced compact SUVs. Reversing camera is clear even at night. infotainment screen is responsive and smooth. Roomy rear seats for fat kids. Comfortable driving position for 6 foot tall (MAN)
- Cons of the MG ZS Excite 1.5L I understand why a manufacturer has to cut costs somewhere to keep the RRP as low as possible but in my humble and informed opinion, it was a huge mistake cutting cost on the drivetrain. The gutless, underpowered 105hp engine isn't suitable for this size/weight of a vehicle and so the transmission often times does not select the correct gear which is unacceptable for any car. I've had to drive in sport mode so the trans can hold gears a little longer and shift later. This corrects the issue but at the expense of fuel economy. Some interior plastic are unnecessarily flimsy such as the manual seat height adjustment lever. Suspension is too hard for my liking. Can feel all road imperfections up my spinal column which is gross. Even worse is the whiplash from taking speed bumps over 10km/h. Atrocious, however this is probably a trade off to having better handling and less body roll though I'd personally prefer a smoother ride over sharper handling. Cabin noise is unacceptable for a new car. Possibly due to the cheap tyres or lack of sound deadening under the chassis or it could be due to poor aerodynamics.
Finally, a peculiar quirk of the 1.5L naturally aspirated DVVT engine is its consistency. Being variable valve timing, the performance of the engine varies from day to day and even trip to trip. It can sometimes feel smooth, responsive and fun to drive and at other times it can feel sluggish and uncomfortable so whenever a review is posted about the poor drivability, it has been based on the engines variable valve timing state which is controlled by the ECU and influenced by ambient air temperature, fuel quality, oil quality et cetera.
Value for money – This is a cheapest new SUV on the market in Australia it’s definitely not the best. I’ve had my 2021 ZS Excite for 9 months now and the only issue I have is it needs more power when driving through the hills. Other things that MG should have fitted though are : Android Auto with Apple CarPlay instead of just Apple CarPlay Adjustable steering… Read more
reach as well as adjustable steering height instead of just adjustable steering height And a more powerful 4 cylinder engine
Worst car I’ve ever driven – Used as a hire car for 3 days. I've pulled over to share my experiences on the MG that Avis has given me. I never write in the internet but needed to conduct a community service bulletin to save anyone from this poorly engineered heap. 1) Oh cool, the head lights block out the front car. Nope, just random square shapes that don’t align with… Read more
anything and leave a hole in the dark 50m in front of you in your lane
2) The digital speedo pulses around the number with these random bars not linked to anything. Think it shows you’re accelerating or decelerating. Distracting.
3) Nav system still hasn’t loaded after 10 min.
4) Variable torque gearbox. As in it randomly increases throttle and torque mid gear to give you a soothing jerking sensation.
4) Hit big red Super Sport button. Lights go red and it told me "MG Pilot Quit" on the dash.
6) Brakes are clearly share the same wood the gearbox is made from. Variable also which is nice and pulses on the decel like the accel.
7) Won’t let you use paddle shifters in normal mode. They’re just plastic pull tabs to hold on to during wild acceleration.
8) Put selector into manual, goes into support sport and I lose the MG Pilot dude…
9) Cruise control increments in 5 mph adjustments only
10) Cruise control up hill jerks the throttle terribly
11) When you engage cruise control it takes the digital speedo to a new screen every time.
12) Slowest CPU of any car media system I’ve ever used. A second plus from a push to action.
13) Mid corner feed some throttle in. Nothing happens. Take foot fully off to coast. Then engine revs 1500+RPM with no affect.
14) Lane keep assist generates self induced oscillations and departs wildly from the lane if you very lightly hold the wheel.
15) Lane assist causes car to tug on wheel and bounce you off lanes and then has about a 8 degree dead zone as the electric steering disengages while it does it’s own inner loop life questioning.
16) Sport mode does nothing back make things jerkier.
Basic chinese cheap chips – New car FAILED with in 2 weeks of purchase and service staff took 2 days to repair the car, waste of time waste of money ON MG, chinese cars has long way to go to match reliability standards Show details
Great Car for the price – This is my 3rd MG and upgraded to the SUV and never looked back. So good on petrol roomy and easy to park. All car for the price you pay for this. Essendon MG Victoria have been outstanding Show details
Most Gutless Car I have ever driven – Have had this car as a rental for a couple of weeks the interior is nice but it is a terrible car to drive. The engine is too small for the size of the car making it sluggish when it goes up a hill and the brakes feel terrible in the wet. Would never in a million years buy this car, can't wait to get my normal cat back so I can ditch the rental. Show details
This is my new car post car accident – I sell Lorraine Lea this car, it is easy to drive and its features are easy to operate. Its comfortable. I use this car everyday and feel great driving it. Show details
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