I actually thought it was one of the prettiest cars they ever made tbh (the 75)

Edited 3 December, 201312 yr by Mr Ree

Absolute insult to the once famous brand name.

Does zero for me.

 

Had to do a job inside  one of those other ones they brought out a couple of years ago, whatever they're called

I was absolutely horrified at the absolute classless poor fitting nasty cheapo interior.

 

 

 

 

 Carrying on the Longbridge tradition then 

 Carrying on the Longbridge tradition then 

Longbridge admittedly hasnt been the best of plants, but they did produce some good cars. These MG knock offs are not one of them, and make Longbridge look even worse than they were.

 

Supposedly designed by a Longbridge based team. How many chinese bosses are standing over their shoulders whilst they do so?

Sorry, but these knock offs have chinese written all over them.

The last MG with any heritage was the RV8.

The MG badge was nothing special for years before it was sold to the Chinese.

 

I don't dislike the MG3, having seen a couple in the metal. It's a £10k supermini and looks fine for the money.

Residuals won't be great, and it's not going to be class leading but deserves to sell a reasonable amount.

 

RV8 was essentially an MGB with newer panels..... very few were made, so they have insanely held their value despite being about 40yrs old under the hood

 

MGF / MGTF was the car that kept them going through the 90's really.

 

Quite liked that MG version of the 75.

Fetching reasonable money still I believe, but also been told to check the cambelt has been changed as they are an absolute and expensive horror show to change.

 

You are thinking of the MG ZT.... Fetches good money as a diesel, as its a BMW-sourced 2.0 litre unit.

 

What, the one with an amazing 260bhp from a 4.6 litre V8?

No thanks

 

You mean the ZT260.... RWD, and Ford Mustang engine..... Hardly any of those were made, but like all mustang engines shockingly poor at stock but insanely tunable

 

I know precious little about them. As I say, not really that interested in MG's generally, but quite like the look of that one.

 

Didn't they stick a BMW diesel engine in one of the MG ZR's or whatever they're called too?

 

As mentioned above, the BMW engine was in the Rover 75 / MG ZT.

 

The Z-Cars (Rover 25 = MGZR, Rover 45 = MGZS, Rover 75 = MGZT) were basically a miracle of "engineering on sod all budget" for Rover on ancient designs. They are not a patch on current cars (even then they struggled). But they are peanuts to run, peanuts to buy and rate high on the smiles : cash ratio

Longbridge admittedly hasnt been the best of plants, but they did produce some good cars. These MG knock offs are not one of them, and make Longbridge look even worse than they were.

 

Supposedly designed by a Longbridge based team. How many chinese bosses are standing over their shoulders whilst they do so?

Sorry, but these knock offs have chinese written all over them.

 

 I know what you're saying matey but the last of the MG/Rovers that came out prior to going bump were awful. I drove an MGZS with 300 miles on the clock. The seat adjuster came off in my hand and it rattled like a turkeying heroin addict, it was dire given it was the range-topping 180. A friend had to have the head gasket done on a three year old 1.8 75 (nice car otherwise) 

 If these aren't Birmingham babies we can only hope for cylinder heads that don't pop on a whim, gearboxes that last longer than a few thousand miles and trim longevity that is measured in something longer than days. 

I genuinely hope that MG becomes another success story like JCB or JLR, I really do, the return of work to Longbridge can really be something of a new dawn, even if it does have meager beginnings. 

The cars may have been poor towards the end, but on the whole Rovers/ MGs were not that bad. The head gasketts are a well known problem. Basically all petrol engines would eventually suffer from them. But once sorted, that was it done and dusted.

Apart from that, very capable cars. The engines were actually very good apart from the head gaskett problem.

If I had the money, id happily have another Rover 200/ 25 as a second car.

These knock offs however. Sorry, just look at them. No Rover/ MG has ever looked that bad for a hell of a long time. chinese cars are not a patch on European cars, and I have no doubt this will eventually show through on these.

As for whether they are successful or not. I am stuck between not wanting the employees at Longbridge to lose their jobs, and wanting to see what is basically a chinese company producing rubbish chinese knock offs go to the wall. If someone like Jaguar took on all the emploees from Longbridge, then id happily pray for the day when this outfit went belly up.

MG have already gone. This is not MG. It is someone calling themselves by that name, and producing cheap knockoffs. So no reason to hope they are a success.

RV8 was essentially an MGB with newer panels..... very few were made, so they have insanely held their value despite being about 40yrs old under the hood

 

MGF / MGTF was the car that kept them going through the 90's really.

 

 

You are thinking of the MG ZT.... Fetches good money as a diesel, as its a BMW-sourced 2.0 litre unit.

 

 

You mean the ZT260.... RWD, and Ford Mustang engine..... Hardly any of those were made, but like all mustang engines shockingly poor at stock but insanely tunable

 

 

As mentioned above, the BMW engine was in the Rover 75 / MG ZT.

 

The Z-Cars (Rover 25 = MGZR, Rover 45 = MGZS, Rover 75 = MGZT) were basically a miracle of "engineering on sod all budget" for Rover on ancient designs. They are not a patch on current cars (even then they struggled). But they are peanuts to run, peanuts to buy and rate high on the smiles : cash ratio

Tar for that. Interesting.

 

From what I've heard, mechanical bibs and bobs aren't a major sourcing problem, but body and trim parts are?

Tar for that. Interesting.

 

From what I've heard, mechanical bibs and bobs aren't a major sourcing problem, but body and trim parts are?

 

XPart won the rights to distribute parts a while back, so you are pretty much spot on. Some panels (ZS MK2, TF front wings) are hard to get hold of, but the rest are normally easy to obtain through the usual new / second hand channels.

 

Parts are still shocking cheap it you know where to look, as the tech is so old / reliable.... I already got burnt on here for asking why an octavia remap was around £4-500 whilst a full custom remap for the K-Series with the MEMS3 ECU was £250. (Please, dont quote this sentence.... its been done to death). Mobile mechanics who specialise in MG/Rover will come to your place and do a Headgasket change (inc. waterpump and tensioner) for 300 + fuel. High costs are normally because lazy mechs cant be ****ed to work on a car with the engine in the middle.

 

Trust me, I dont wear rose-tinted specs.... The octavia is coming because I need reliable work car (rather than my 10yr old convertible with niggles), but if this MG grows to a point where they knock out another decent convertible, I'll be happy.

 

P.S - To the guy above who wanted Jag to buy them out.... you would prefer an Indian owner (Tata) to Chinese?

 

I know a body shop manager who bought a cat C MG 25. It had a front end knock that required a new bumper bonnet and n/s wing.

He couldn't source the particular wing for that model. Had some cut out panel in it, so he found a standard one, used the old one as a template and cut the hole out carefully to match.

Looked excellent when completed.

The cars may have been poor towards the end, but on the whole Rovers/ MGs were not that bad. The head gasketts are a well known problem. Basically all petrol engines would eventually suffer from them. But once sorted, that was it done and dusted. Apart from that, very capable cars. The engines were actually very good apart from the head gaskett problem. If I had the money, id happily have another Rover 200/ 25 as a second car. These knock offs however. Sorry, just look at them. No Rover/ MG has ever looked that bad for a hell of a long time. chinese cars are not a patch on European cars, and I have no doubt this will eventually show through on these. As for whether they are successful or not. I am stuck between not wanting the employees at Longbridge to lose their jobs, and wanting to see what is basically a chinese company producing rubbish chinese knock offs go to the wall. If someone like Jaguar took on all the emploees from Longbridge, then id happily pray for the day when this outfit went belly up. MG have already gone. This is not MG. It is someone calling themselves by that name, and producing cheap knockoffs. So no reason to hope they are a success.

 

 I appreciate the sentiment, I really do. The original is never as good as the copy- but surely one only needs to look at the formula around the world to see what investment does?

Hyundai with Kia, VAG with SEAT and Skoda, Renault attempting the same with Dacia. Money can develop some class acts, just because they had a ropey start doesn't mean there isn't a rosy future. As previously mentioned the 3 is rough around the edges but advances are coming and if this improves and expands the brand (and British fortunes) then I cannot share the notion that this venture shouldn't be a success. Be it Indian or Chinese knock-offs i'll be interested to see where they go with what is left of MG. 

Investment is one thing. Jumping on a famous brand to produce cheap knockoffs is entirely different. VAG couldnt produce cheap knockoffs of Skodas. Theyd never have started up!!!

The chinese are famous for cheap knockoffs. Its just not often they get the chance to legally use the brand name.

Now if things should change to such an extent that the cars look decent, and the components are not all sourced from china, then fine, i shall change my opinion (I dont call Volvos cheap chinese knockoffs), but whilst we have cheap rubbish looking cars, and a load of chinese components which are just put together in Longbridge to give the chinese some credibility, then im afraid cheap chinese knockoffs they shall stay.

Actually, considering how famous this is in china, im surprised the abbrevation 'CCK' isnt widely used.

From now on i call this car the CCK3- (cheap chinese knockoff 3)

I have not seen any new MG on the road tbh. I reckon they will be a depreciation pit for a private buyer. However Autocar are running a Diesel 6 and they rate it pretty well...

I think I've mentioned it before but motorpoint still have brand new delivery mileage mg6s for £9999. The RRP is just over £20k. Ouch!

I was working in Longbridge recently, on a development on part of the site of the former real MG-Rover plant and the current manufacturing facility probably only occupies 5-10% of the site vacated following the collapse of the real company in 2005. So basically, if the Chinese do make a success of importing their wares, there is little to no chance that the production will ramp up in Longbridge, as the area is in the process of major re-development.

Anyway, on one of my little trips, back in March, I called in at the Longbridge showroom, I was intrigued by the MG6 Diesel that had recently been released, I quite liked the look of the car but the instant I sat in one, my potential love affair was over, it was like going back to my 1996 Vauxhall Astra!

I returned a little disappointed, but it was no more than I expected, real shame, but perhaps the Chinese will eventually learn how to make a decent interior and the tide will turn, I hear they have finally got their hands on the rights to restart production of the Saab 9-3, deja vu or what?

Resurrecting this thread as my local Chevrolet dealer has just become an MG dealer again (used to be pre bankruptcy) and are showcasing the MG3 at the local tesco extra. For £9999 you get auto everything, rain sensing, leccy windows all round and cruise control as well as dab, Bluetooth and aux in. Amazing value and everything felt well screwed together and the doors shut with a satisfying 'thud'. I'm going for a drive in the next week so I'll report back

It does not do much for me I am afraid. I would have a Dacia Sandero with the new Renault 0.9 tce 90 bhp triple for £8995 in top Laureate spec. Much more modern engine and a bigger car too.

Funnily enough, both of those are possibilities for my GF's next car.

Looks like the Renault 14 from the side...

The Dacia or the MG?

Dacias are selling well around here, and gaining a lot of respect too it seems, whereas, the re-incarnated MG brand just seems to have lost its credibility, desirability and kudos now very sadly. 

 

VERY rarely see one even though there is a dealer in Chester, just 6 miles away.

Edited 11 February, 201412 yr by Mr Ree

The Dacia or the MG?

the MG

Jonny Smith of Fifth Gear fame ran a Sandero on a test, and liked it. Bargain basement car that does what "it says on the tin" but not much else, even if you wanted it to.

I actually quite like the look of both the 6 and the 3. If I was looking for a new ish cheap ish car i'd certainly consider it.

 

HOWEVER, based on the brief play I had in a 3 when it first came out the real let down is the engine. The rest of it actually felt pretty good.

Saw a white one in Wolverhampton this morning and it didn't look bad 

The MG6 depreciation is epic. 2012 models with less than 20k on for under £7k!!