[hydraulicsteer]

One more. Strange to see soo many breakdown sightings for this car. (Source: -FB)

[captain.torque]

Was on YouTube and got this video in my recommendations. We all know how so many Indians love chrome on their cars but it looks like MG has gone overboard with its chrome accessories for the Hector. While over the years, car makers have successfully founded new places on their models to put chrome Hector has trumped them all, I guess. Just look at the nauseating chrome strip on the rear quarter glass and on the wheel acrhes... and don't get me started on the fake side and bonnet scoops!!!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wmDXNsZ2IdY

[madhavan1605]

Originally Posted by hydraulicsteer

One more. Strange to see soo many breakdown sightings for this car. (Source: -FB)

I think as responsible people, we should not forward or share posts / photos without first verifing the authenticity else it nothing but 'Rumours' . There are enough rumour mongers posting false information. The least we could do is not forward the same unless we know it to be true.

[vishy76]

Originally Posted by srishiva

I meant the direction that the needle moves. Am I confused or did we see it moving in anticlockwise direction ? In the last page pics it seems normal.

Yes. It is different for the top end and the lower variants.

The top end Sharp variant gets this instrument cluster with the anticlockwise tachometer and the high resolution colour LCD display nestled in between:


The lower variants get a more conventional layout with a monochrome MID. Looks vanilla and not really befitting a 15 lack car IMHO:


And obviously, the redlines are marked differently for both petrol and diesel variants apart from the above variations.

[jailbird_fynix]

These look nice !

Modded with 18-inch forged Incubus alloy wheels and 225/50-R18 Falcon tyres. The stock configuration is 215/60-R17. Effective price of the upgrade is Rs 70,000.






More details at Link

[nkrishnap]

Had a chance to drive the Hector diesel power vehicle for a good 40 odd kms on the open road and peak city traffic. Decent low end torque and power would keep most happy. The peppiness and the ride quality is no where near the Jeep Compass. Slow speed ride is cushiony and gets wallows as the speeds increase. Tyre noise is on the higher side.

One irritating thing is the clutch play and it is very easy to stall the car. It takes a good amount of time getting used to and half clutching to ensure it does not stall.

[sreejinair]

I dont think this one has been shared before, this looks like a different breakdown than the one shared earlier of Dehradun.

I might be wrong, but this I think is the 5th or 6th breakdown news shared on this thread.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f9sYqUPgH4s

[KK_HakunaMatata]

Originally Posted by madhavan1605

I think as responsible people, we should not forward or share posts / photos without first verifing the authenticity else it nothing but 'Rumours' . There are enough rumour mongers posting false information. The least we could do is not forward the same unless we know it to be true.

I don't see any issues in sharing it. If this was on the Harrier thread with same facts the 'sharing' would have been applauded enough already.

KK

[Karthik Chandra]

MG manages to despatch 1508 Hectors in July'19. Compass is down to 509 units - consistently going down since Mar'19.

[SpideyBoy]

Originally Posted by jailbird_fynix

These look nice !

Modded with 18-inch forged Incubus alloy wheels and 225/50-R18 Falcon tyres. The stock configuration is 215/60-R17. Effective price of the upgrade is Rs 70,000.

Is it me or does anyone feel the humongous size and wheelbase of Hector makes the tyres look puny. These are much better than the stock ones I agree but the size of the car is very huge thereby making the 225/50 tyres look smaller too.

[wheelguy]

Surprised that despite multiple(or at the least a couple of) appearances of Hector breakdowns, it was being overlooked in the name of benefit-of-doubt and fact checking, whereas Harrier is failing to get the advantage of benefit-of-doubt of this magnitude.

I might be wrong, but this is the thought that occurred to me after going through both the threads.

[AGwagon]

Apologies for the longish post. Please excuse reading, if you are not interested in MG or Kia, but given a lot of us here are in the same conundrum I wanted to write a detailed post. So here goes:

Well, as my Hector DCT Sharp is almost ready to be delivered and I have also booked Seltos, I am really confused on which to go for, and for that I together with my wife decided to visit both showrooms over the weekend, even though I knew that Kia would be manic on the first day. I had already sat in the Kia and spend some time in the stationary GTX+ behind the showroom a few days back.

The reason that I am writing this post in this thread instead of Kia, as I feel the post is trying to compare MG than Kia. Subsequent to visiting Kia in the manic crowd, we visited MG just across the road and decided once again to take a longish test drive of the Hector DCT. I am eagerly awaiting to drive the Kia as well this week.

Comparison Hector vs Seltos:
1. Hector is a whole size bigger, both inside and out. Even with the black interiors it looks far more airy than the creme coloured Seltos. I would prefer a bigger car, even though both are only 5 seaters.

2. Paint quality of Kia and panel gaps are much better than MG.

3. Interior dashboard design, I prefer the minimalism of MG and also the drama of the large portrait screen. It is far more colourful and intuitive (but laggy also) than Kia's.

4. The leatherette quality in Kia and the seat design, seemed to be more premium in Kia. Lighter colour does help.

5. While I am yet to TD Kia, I prefer (some) height/commanding driving position in SUVs and would really like to test Kia soon on this, with seating position and visibility (quite a number of people have complaint about the lack of visibility in Seltos owing to the big screen placement)

6. The Sunroof in Kia is a joke and I would rather not have it. It further eats up the headroom, which is at a huge premium both in front and back. Most tall rear passengers will complaint. No complaints in the MG whatsoever, the sheer availability of space gives you a great luxury feeling. Although a big complaint now on MG, while my latest TD the sunroof reeked and made awful sounds, I could also see some watermarks on the blinds. When I asked the SA, he mentioned that the customers wanted to drive with it open in the rain and that has led to water seeping in, and thus the roof mechanism needs a spray lubrication to get rid of the noises. I could see the sense in his argument, but also felt are these this sensitive to a little rain? Is this a common occurrence in other Sunroof cars, do they also need constant lubrication?

7. I could tell that the TD cars at MG were not being handled well or maintained as all 3 of them now had small scrapes. Also the DCT had moisture in one of the headlights (I tried to see if there was any external damage but I couldn't and this got me worried again!) not sure what was the reason for this. The SA also had no clue and blamed that it must have been bumped or scraped.

8. The music system in MG (infinity) is much better (8 speakers + subwoofer and amp), while Kia (Bose) makes do with 8 including the front central speaker and the sub.

9. The screen may not be most responsive and the lack of any physical buttons may be not good to operate while driving, but the voice commands work like a charm in the MG. Although, it works when you don't want it to as well (this happened twice in the 20km drive, although our discussion was involving cars only so the context for MG was there to interrupt).Don't know if this would be annoying in everyday life. Although, the same Hello MG.. has my daughter simply gaga over it, and the big sunroof and screen. She told her choice is only MG, she is just 3!

10. Suspension, power and handling. I was fairly satisfied and happy with my 3rd TD in MG. The refinement of the petrol is also very satisfying, coupled with the commanding ride height and good all round visibility. While, Kia would in my view be very soft, as I could see the rear suspension almost bottom-out with full load.

11. Mileage - I drive close to 70km daily, which is largely b2b but around 20km of highway (nh8), so this is important to me, however, I am also well aware of the class of cars that I am looking at and my expectations are reasonable. For the 3rd time now, I drove MG 10+km and in near peak city traffic with 5 onboard and each time I could manage a 11+kmpl (and yes the 1st km does start from 13kmpl, and I countered that in in my calculations). I however, am now contemplating looking at a diesel CVT Seltos as Hyundai petrols are notorious for their mileage, while their diesel are extremely refined. Also as the HTX+ CVT (other than the 4 airbags and equipment) seems to be slightly better equipped than the GTX DCT, while I am guessing both will be nearly equally priced.

12. Safety- MG will have Kia licked here both with the quality of sheet metal and the plethora of safety kit, simply missing on the autos in Kia. Also the auto e-brake is great to have in the MG and will sorely be missed.

13. AC (yes we live in Delhi) - I somehow in my latest TD felt that AC may be an issue with MG for the amount of glass area. Not sure if this was the case with this TD vehicle as prior to this, I had not experienced this as an issue. However, Kia with the ventilated seats, UV glass, rear sunshades and the overall smaller cabin area would be better IMO. Although the lack of physical air flow control for the rear is outrageous.

14. Durability and how would they be to live with? Well while MG has sealed it by covering all through their shield program, and it doesn't bother me too much if these early cars have some niggles which are promptly rectified by them (same was the case in my just launched XUV), but the recent videos of new cars breaking down, the Chinese heritage and my experience with the headlight and sunroof has made me cautious and second guess. While Kia will come with a similarly shitty and annoying Hyundai ASS, at least till the media drives and TDs are not out there is no one questioning these parameters.

So all in all, I am more confused than ever and in need of some serious guidance . I never quite liked the CSUV segment, however, my brain keeps rationalising why not? and that it the reason for me Kia is entering the fray, else was not keen. and I still like the MG as it just brings much more to the table (for me) than the Kia and feels like an upgrade, which Kia (once the initial euphoria dies down will not)

Could someone please tell me are my apprehensions misplaced with the Hector, and should I just go with it? or would Kia be a more sensible choice. Any ideas when are the media drives happening for the Kia? and when can we expect the TBhp review for both?

[OSH]

Originally Posted by wheelguy

Surprised that despite multiple(or at the least a couple of) appearances of Hector breakdowns, it was being overlooked in the name of benefit-of-doubt and fact checking, whereas Harrier is failing to get the advantage of benefit-of-doubt of this magnitude.

This kind of behaviour is pretty common here. When things like this are related to the germans or Tata/Mahindra, you will most probably see posts after posts and pages filled with discussion but when it comes to other manufacturers, people will not bat an eyelid.

Originally Posted by AGwagon

Although a big complaint now on MG, while my latest TD the sunroof reeked and made awful sounds, I could also see some watermarks on the blinds. When I asked the SA, he mentioned that the customers wanted to drive with it open in the rain and that has led to water seeping in, and thus the roof mechanism needs a spray lubrication to get rid of the noises. I could see the sense in his argument, but also felt are these this sensitive to a little rain ?

Why on earth will a customer want to take a TD in the rains with an open sunroof ? Why did the SA oblige to such a request even if a customer did demand that ? I think he just cooked up a story to hide a possible leak. A sunroof also won't start making noises just by a little water ingress, I have two Honda Citys and both have got sunroofs that are frequently used even in the rainy season to cool the car down quickly but never have they made any wierd noises, one is 7 years old and the other is 2 years old.

Is this a common occurrence in other Sunroof cars, do they also need constant lubrication

No, not at all. Only during the regular service will they lubricate the mechanism with a white coloured liquidy grease, but even this is not done by majority of the service centers untill requested by you. Usually they just check the drains for any blockages.

Also the DCT had moisture in one of the headlights (I tried to see if there was any external damage but I couldn't and this got me worried again!) not sure what was the reason for this.

If possible, get hold of the owners manual and see if anything related to the foging of lamps is written there. Some manufacturers write that the foging is normal and goes away on its own. I am talking only about fog here and not water droplets kinda moisure inside which is not at all normal.

Well while MG has sealed it by covering all through their shield program, and it doesn't bother me too much if these early cars have some niggles which are promptly rectified by them (same was the case in my just launched XUV), but the recent videos of new cars breaking down, the Chinese heritage and my experience with the headlight and sunroof has made me cautious and second guess.

Car having niggles is one thing but the videos and photos shared here are of the Hector being stranded on the road which was not the case when the XUV was launched. More disturbing fact is that some of the cars in the videos/pics have still got their ribbons/temp registration plates on which means that they have not covered a lot of kms but still have broken down.

While Kia will come with a similarly shitty and annoying Hyundai ASS, at least till the media drives and TDs are not out there is no one questioning these parameters.

Hyundai ASS and spares availability is pretty sorted so I guess Kia won't be very different. The only problem I see with Hyundai ASC is that the service centers are filled with cabbies(kaali peeli and Ola/Uber) and that does reduce the 'attention to detail' factor as cabbies are least interested in that and this attitude is then adobted by the technicians even on private cars.

I never quite liked the CSUV segment, however, my brain keeps rationalising why not? and that it the reason for me Kia is entering the fray, else was not keen. and I still like the MG as it just brings much more to the table (for me) than the Kia and feels like an upgrade, which Kia (once the initial euphoria dies down will not)

If you only want a full sized SUV as an upgrade, you should consider the Compass and Harrier along with the Hector. Seltos is Creta sized and cannot compete with the big boys when it comes to street presense/interior space.

Could someone please tell me are my apprehensions misplaced with the Hector, and should I just go with it? or would Kia be a more sensible choice.

If I was in your place, I would have waited for a few months to see how the Seltos turns out in our driving conditions and if everything is fine with it, then go ahead with Kia because I can live with a car that has 20 features less but not with a car that has a chance to leave me stranded somewhere. That is my thinking and yours may be different. Only advise I can give is; don't get carried away by the feature list as living with the car is also got to be easy and fun. It doesn't make sense to have a fully loaded car and then breaking your head with the ASC over problems that arise in its ownership often.

[AGwagon]

Thank you for giving a detailed response.

Originally Posted by OSH

I have two Honda Citys and both have got sunroofs that are frequently used even in the rainy season to cool the car down quickly but never have they made any wierd noises, one is 7 years old and the other is 2 years old.

This I can forgive as you can't imagine what these sunroofs are going through with the ever popular MG - Please open sunroof . If the car is being sat/driven by over 75- 100 people a day, they would have got the sunroof open and close over 300-400 times per day, multiply this by number of days you will feel that on a personal driven car for over 7 years would also have seen far lesser operations.

Originally Posted by OSH

If possible, get hold of the owners manual and see if anything related to the foging of lamps is written there. Some manufacturers write that the foging is normal and goes away on its own. I am talking only about fog here and not water droplets kinda moisure inside which is not at all normal.

They were almost droplets, so water had ingressed most definitely, how? I am not sure of. The SA maintained that this was a replacement light which was changed as the TD vehicle was bumped by a customer while on TD. The bumper on the side did have a mark, however, my argument was if it was replaced, then also it shouldn't have happened. Don't know if it is to do with the quality of the part or the skill of the technician installing it. I could see no visible gaps.

Originally Posted by OSH

Car having niggles is one thing but the videos and photos shared here are of the Hector being stranded on the road which was not the case when the XUV was launched. More disturbing fact is that some of the cars in the videos/pics have still got their ribbons/temp registration plates on which means that they have not covered a lot of kms but still have broken down.

Well not entirely true but I get the point, my XUV didn't luckily stranded me in a middle of nowhere, but it wasn't the case with others. However, in my experience at least M&M was very proactive in sorting these timely and would provide pick & drop and even sometimes reimburse for fuel or courtesy taxi. But, to many this would not be an acceptable outcome at all and they are best to stay away form new launches until these kinks gets worked out.

Originally Posted by OSH

Hyundai ASS and spares availability is pretty sorted so I guess Kia won't be very different. The only problem I see with Hyundai ASC is that the service centers are filled with cabbies(kaali peeli and Ola/Uber) and that does reduce the 'attention to detail' factor as cabbies are least interested in that and this attitude is then adobted by the technicians even on private cars.

Agree completely. Their behaviour and total disregard of the customer's requests and suggestions pisses me off. They are just too busy to attend to anything which is not ordinary course and I like to keep my cars in a certain way and not get trapped with whatever the SA tells you to do.

Originally Posted by OSH

If you only want a full sized SUV as an upgrade, you should consider the Compass and Harrier along with the Hector. Seltos is Creta sized and cannot compete with the big boys when it comes to street presense/interior space.

I did consider Compass and Harrier, but autobox is a must for me. Compass diesel Trailhawk is out of my budget and a bit unnecessary, petrol auto is THIRSTY as hell! Harrier doesn't have an Auto

Originally Posted by OSH

If I was in your place, I would have waited for a few months to see how the Seltos turns out in our driving conditions and if everything is fine with it, then go ahead with Kia because I can live with a car that has 20 features less but not with a car that has a chance to leave me stranded somewhere.

So you have written off Hector completely? But are willing to give a chance to Harrier (which is having its own issues) and Kia (without 6 airbags)? Interesting.

[Sreejith V]

Originally Posted by sreejinair

I dont think this one has been shared before, this looks like a different breakdown than the one shared earlier of Dehradun.

I might be wrong, but this I think is the 5th or 6th breakdown news shared on this thread.

Originally Posted by hydraulicsteer

One more. Strange to see soo many breakdown sightings for this car. (Source: -FB)

This is the differentiating factor for ‘Team-BHP’ forums. Unlike other paid medias, you will get all positive and negative information here.

Since I am in lookout for a new road companion from this class (Compass/Harrier/Hector), I am more interested in news related to reliability of these cars rather than news related to ‘Bling’ factors. My family members, especially kids, are going gaga over ‘Bling’ or ‘Wow’ factor of Hector. But, I am sceptical now. In all the photos and videos, the car is in the middle of the road and that makes me feel that those are authentic breakdowns.

After buying the car, ‘Bling’ factor will be of least importance if the car doesn’t have drivability and reliability. I don’t want neither to be in the middle of the road and yelling for help to get towed nor to visit the service center frequently, under warranty, to fix the niggles.

After seeing all these information on real life, on the road experiences, official review(for which I am eagerly waiting for) is becoming more important for me, to take a decision.