finally took one for a test drive

[aldon]

Went to my local dealer today and took out a magnette tse for a drive.

Salesman gave us key and said take your time.

So i did. Drove it through heavy traffic onto the A27 dual carriageway, and then on to Bramber and surrounding roads.

I am impressed. Sports car it is not, fast it is not, but it does handle very well indeed. Pot holes and speed humps it handles in its stride without a creak from any trim.

Actually went to look at a second hand one but the current offer suites us better as we have 2 cars to part ex. and the 2nd hand one has the wrong mileage advertised, turned out to be an ex Avis car. Nothing wrong with it but advertised with 2k on the clock but actually had 15k so not the bargain I thought.

The dashboard materials are not cheap as a lot of people have stated. Get in a new passat (including the cc) and compare; the MG 6 is far better (soft touch plastics and a positive feel to everything but the steeing wheel wheels. Also no annoying rattles like in the passat.

The engine is criticised for being noisy but only above 4k revs and sounds more sporty than what reviewers have said about it.

At 80mph it is a lot quieter than an A4 and the pedals are in the right place.
Steering is heavily weighted which gave a positive feel to the steering. (similar to the zs).

Whether I buy one now depends on the other half. Just crunching figures. If we stick with the i10 its for economical reasons and nothing to do with the MG6.

In my opinion, if you take out the snobbery factor and can benefit from the latest offer then I would rather have the mg6 than either a VW passat, VW passat cc and an Audi A4 (manual).

I will be slated I know, but it is a very lot of car for the money and if you plan to keep it for 3 years then depreciation is nothing to be concerned about.

Just to add, the insurance quote i have for one is £220, just paid £300 to renew the i10.
(i10 road tax £20, MG6 tax is £200+ )

[Talkingcars]

When you compare the 6 to most current cars it makes a lot of sense, both on cost and quaility.

[Pompski]

Nice honest review, thank you

[Parsec]

Fair do's if you get one, you're brave but I admire you for following your heart. When I took a look at the 6 (Magnette hadn't quite launched) I really liked the interior, and liked the overall profile of the car, but not the details like the light clusters. The Magnette looks better from the rear I must say, but the front end still doesn't say MG to me.

I read up on them a few months ago when I was changing cars and was surprised to read that pretty much every reviewer genuinely liked it as a car, but of course there's reservations about ownership so overall ratings are usually three stars. You could see how it's really a four star car ignoring possible depreciation/resale issues.

If you get one, be sure to spec it up with those big gunmetal wheels and possibly some decals, they look quite tasty then

What colour you thinking of?

[Windy]

Originally Posted by Parsec

I read up on them a few months ago when I was changing cars and was surprised to read that pretty much every reviewer genuinely liked it as a car...

Pretty much every reviewer finds something different to say about it, just read this one that likens the cup holder to Top Gears Chinese Stig:

the MG6 is still a well-sorted, modern-feeling car. The performance is linear, the ride and handling impressive: a nice balance between chassis comfort and responsiveness.

The MG6 is very well assembled and some of the cabin materials are impressive. Still, there are a few rookie mistakes.

The manual gearchange only has five ratios and the shift quality is terrible. The key is flimsy and rattles in the dash when you accelerate hard.

The plastic trim lower down on the centre console is weird looking, as is the handbrake.

The cupholder shoots out from the dashboard at an extreme angle and gives the front-seat passenger a wushu chop in the right knee.

When you tether your Bluetooth cellphone to the car it shows up as “Handfree.” Actually, I quite like that.

Anyway, I enjoyed driving the MG6 because, despite the rough edges, there is plenty of appeal about a car that’s a little outside of the mainstream.

It’s a Chinese MG, a nice conversation piece (too few cars have that quality) and really quite good for the money. Quite good regardless, in some respects.

(Yes it was a Chinese built, but RHD MG6: http://www.nbr.co.nz/article/wr-shan...mg-jf-p-127812)

[shroonie29]

Nice honest review Alan.

Cheers for putting it up

[Car13]

Honest review, have to say as a second hand buy billy bargain, keep for 3 years and the residuals will be as all other 4 year olds.

The one I drove was good and interior was ok, if you get over the fact its no longer a honda hand me down or bmw hand me down, MG have done a good job.

[aldon]

Originally Posted by Parsec

What colour you thinking of?

Was thinking white. Cant decide on hatch or saloon.

Still trying to get the financial numbers to work LOL.

[shroonie29]

Originally Posted by aldon

Was thinking white. Cant decide on hatch or saloon.

Still trying to get the financial numbers to work LOL.

Saloon

Now crunch the numbers Alan

[mattie007]

Good review, seems similar to what most people say. I was tempted by the £3k part ex but I want a Magnette TSE which would still make it £17k. However the GT S is a bargain, £12k for a car that size!
Still not sure why the press have a dig at the so called poor dash materials. I got to sample a £38k Volvo S60 last week. Nice car but some of the plastics were awful
quality for a car 3 times the price of a 6.

[Stevedx]

wish I could afford one!

Where was it, I am only in Brighton and didnt think anywhere down here was doing the new MG's yet!

[aldon]

Originally Posted by Stevedx

wish I could afford one!

Where was it, I am only in Brighton and didnt think anywhere down here was doing the new MG's yet!

Rivervale cars at shoreham.

I asked about there commitment to MG and got the following details.

They are fully committed and will be selling MG's for years

They have an advertising budget of £20k, apparently far more than MG require but they admit is not a lot.

They have sold more 6's than they expected to since they became an MG main dealer earlier this year.

Which is all very strange. They have the MG signs outside, but go in and it is all Mazda. One leaflet on the counter, a second hand TF and the silver 6 on the front. The demonstrator 6 was hidden around the back he also said they had a couple more 2nd hand 6's in stock but I didn't see them.

It's almost as if MG have a very limited target for sales.

[aldon]

Oh, forgot to say the handbrake, is nothing to moan about. It actually feels more natural to use your trigger finger than to to use your thumb.

Cup holder was weird. I wasnt expecting it to shoot out diagonally actually made me laugh. Didn't feel any cheaper than the saab 9-3 pop out cup holder (even if that is a work of art).

[Gary Gee]

The one I drove must have been a pile of poo - left me with no desire to buy one at all, tbh I can't really remember it now, not a good sign tbh. Was only when Pinkstones opened in Newcastle so only a few months ago.
Trouble for me is I have Fords of Winsford only about 20 mins away, for 10k less that a Magnette I could have a huge choice of alternatives, some only a few months old.
I think with the 6 you'd soon tire of the " Of course its a real mg, erm, the Chinese bought the name and slapped it on a roewe, so as much of an mg as anything else" speech.
I'm an MG fan, had MGs of one sort or another since '92 and I'd honestly rather splash the cash on a Ford (the new Mondeo looks tempting), VW, Skoda, Vauxhall, Toyota, Subaru, Kia, Hyundai, etc
All of which are as much MG in my eyes as the 6 is.

[Gary Gee]

Originally Posted by aldon

They are fully committed and will be selling MG's for years


They have sold more 6's than they expected to since they became an MG main dealer earlier this year.

They can only sell them until saic gives up in the UK, I would think the stunning sale figures so far point to that happening sooner rather than later.

How many did they "expect" to sell? None? Unless they shifted the entire Aug sales for mg then they ain't done that good tbh, have they?

[scooter]

Have driven the diesel and it is a very much better car, much more power and a great six speed gearbox.

[aldon]

tbh I don't think I would want a diesel.

Traffic in 'not so sunny Worthing' can be horrific. I had a year with a Saab diesel in Yorkshire and was always worrying about the dpf etc despite never sitting in a traffic jam.

Petrol I drove would more than meet my power requirements. (saying this with an i10)

[Gene Hunt]

Originally Posted by Gary Gee

They can only sell them until saic gives up in the UK, I would think the stunning sale figures so far point to that happening sooner rather than later.

How many did they "expect" to sell? None? Unless they shifted the entire Aug sales for mg then they ain't done that good tbh, have they?

...........same here i'm afraid. Some old chinese car with an MG badge stuck on,should have been left to die When MG Rover went bust. The sales figures speak for them selves.

[aldon]

Originally Posted by Gene Hunt

...........same here i'm afraid. Some old chinese car with an MG badge stuck on,should have been left to die When MG Rover went bust. The sales figures speak for them selves.

Same could be said about some boring german car that should have been left to die around the MKIV.

[Talkingcars]

The best was the mk2, after that they got over weight and lardy assed.

[Gene Hunt]

Originally Posted by aldon

Same could be said about some boring german car that should have been left to die around the MKIV.

..........i think you will find the mk5 GTI was the ''return'' of the true GTI. Mine is the limited ED30 230 bhp version hardley boring.

[aldon]

Originally Posted by Gene Hunt

..........i think you will find the mk5 GTI was the ''return'' of the true GTI. Mine is the limited ED30 230 bhp version hardley boring.