[Guna]

Originally Posted by deehunk

Since you shared your experience on the forum, please confirm if this was the plastic part which was damaged/scratched. It is too early to comment on the quality based on test drive vehicles. Still the quality levels are better than No.1 manufacturer in India. The discussion on grade of plastics used in Indian cars can be done on a separate thread.

Yes this is the part. You can see the attached image, which references to the picture you posted.


I would like to state these and I am off this topic:

1. Reasons for this scratches are unknown. I still don't think that the people trying to insert the seat belt hook in wrong place can cause this kind of damage. People may tend to insert the hook in the area marked 'A', which is where the buckle should have been. Also notice that the damage is on the vertical place as well. If indeed such act has caused these damages, it is a cause for concern IMHO.
2. There is no doubt that the 'feel' of the plastics is way better than what we see on some of the cars sold in India. But, is 'what you see is what you get'? I am personally curious to find out if the materials are indeed as good as they appear.

[deehunk]

Originally Posted by Guna

Yes this is the part. You can see the attached image, which references to the picture you posted.
[*]There is no doubt that the 'feel' of the plastics is way better than what we see on some of the cars sold in India. But, is 'what you see is what you get'? I am personally curious to find out if the materials are indeed as good as they appear.[/list]

Where did you visit for TD, the Team Lead in E-City showrom is my good friend from 4 years.

[Guna]

Originally Posted by deehunk

Where did you visit for TD, the Team Lead in E-City showrom is my good friend from 4 years.

This is the showroom near Dalmia Circle.

[sreejinair]

check out what we might get on the 7 seater version of the hector, in this video of the wuling almaz

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GaO8fZiHiKc&t=212s

[Pulse500]

I booked Hector Diesel Super on June 14 at Tejpal Motors, Navi Mumbai. Due to tremendous rush in the showroom the next day when test drives started, I was unable to test the vehicle over next 2 weekends. After skipping a few more weekends and to wait for the Diesel test car, finally, I was able to test drive both Petrol Hybrid AT and Diesel versions today morning.

Test drives were very short, and on straight highway. The MG representative accompanying me on the drive was newly recruited and had very limited knowledge of the product, with no product training whatsoever. He had no answers to most of my queries.

Diesel (Smart): The car had some strange strong smell inside the cabin. Not the typical of new vehicles, not diesel, not due to humid / wet seats, not like the bad AC filter, something very strange). Ignoring the smell and wet muddy well due to monsoons, I adjusted the seat, steering and mirror positions, moved the vehicle a bit and tested braking before I started the test drive. The clutch was much harder than my XUV500(D), travel also long, but lesser than XUV500. Gear shifting was on the rougher side but latched accurately each time, no rubbery feel and no bouncing back effect. Clutch engagement was not linear though, initially felt jerk during starting off as the clutch engages too early and too sharply, I had to re-calibrate my pedal usage. There was noticeable turbo lag. Second gear also felt sluggish compared to my XUV500 and Nexon(D). However, once I crossed the 40Kmph mark shifting to the third, the engine felt very powerful and responsive. NVH levels were good at lower RPMs, however became intrusive at higher RPM. The dash display warned once the speed touched 80Kmph mark. I could see the instantaneous mileage fluctuating between 6.5 Kmpl to 40Kmpl (when clutch was disengaged at the time of shifting gears). Suspension was found to be slightly on softer side and could feel some body roll during U turn. Steering was very comfortable to hold, rightly sized and light, and could mask the weight of the vehicle well. Could not figure out feedback much due to very short drive. MG representative could not answer any of the queries related to the features, how to reset average fuel consumption counter and other parameters. Obviously, he was in a hurry to rush back for other customers waiting for test drive.

Petrol (Sharp): Had no smell as the Diesel version, but still had the muddy well as expected during rains. Following my regular procedure of all adjustments, I shifted to Drive mode to test braking effect before the drive. There was no parking brake indication, but I felt it was locked as soon as I started to release the brake pedal. Unlike the mechanical lever in Diesel Smart variant, this Petrol variant had electronic parking brake switch, and on releasing it, I could feel everything normal. There was a turbo lag, but gear shifts were smooth. There was a slight rubber-band effect I felt below 40Kmph, after which things felt smoother. Instantaneous mileage display fluctuated between 2 to 6.7 Kmpl on straight highway ~60 Kmph speed. The drive was very short, roughly 2.5Km and left me dissatisfied. When engaging the “P” mode, I could notice that vehicle did not lock it’s wheel, it had gone into Neutral and vehicle started slowly rolling on the slope with engine off, although the P light turned on. Electronic parking switch engaged the brakes properly, the “P” mode was definitely unreliable as the same effect could be easily reproduced. MG rep had no answers to any queries.

Overall, I liked the vehicle’s build quality, well organized engine bay area, however I strongly felt that MG has to sort out several initial niggles, fine tune the clutch and provide matching 5 year warranty for the electronics too. Engine bay area had most pipes made of flexible thin plastic or possibly silicone, which may have high cost of replacement as plastics are not covered under most insurance policies.

There is no timeframe provided yet for the deliveries to begin. Response from MG team was also vague. It took them nearly 3 weeks to provide me booking reference number after the cheque payment. MG claimed the dealer allocates the vehicle, while the dealer said both MG and dealers together decide allocation.

I strongly feel I should wait for real feedback from buyers before I issue the cheque. I did face several niggles with the XUV500 from the first batch I bought in 2011. I no longer have time and energy to become guinea pig once more. I will also keep options of other manufacturers open.

[autozoniac]

Originally Posted by Pulse500

I booked Hector Diesel Super on June 14 at Tejpal Motors, Navi Mumbai.

Was that a Hybrid or the DCT you test drove, as the Hybrid comes only in manual transmission. Did you feel any jerks initially from the auto gearbox ?

Originally Posted by Pulse500

I booked Hector Diesel Super on June 14 at Tejpal Motors, Navi Mumbai.

The 'P' mode didn't lock the wheels ? Are you sure ? This is a shocker as its a major flaw.

[Pulse500]

Originally Posted by autozoniac

Was that a Hybrid or the DCT you test drove, as the Hybrid comes only in manual transmission. Did you feel any jerks initially from the auto gearbox ?

Thanks for the correction. I drove the DCT, non-Hybrid.

I did not feel any significant jerks. The creeping start was a bit slow and later I could feel some of the gear up-shifts. However, the drive was too short to find refinement flaws or make objective judgement.

[Pulse500]

The Navi Mumbai showroom has a cross section of the Hector door and a shock absorber on display. I captured some pictures with mobile. Apologies for the poor quality and bad angles)

[fz_rider]

Well, the doors really do feel heavy and the quality looks solid. The shut lines needs some working, but overall the product looks good. Only time will tell how good is the build quality. Some other points:

Panoramic roof looks amazing.
You have to climb into the car.
Acres of legroom at the back, but under thigh support is less.
Loaded with gizmos, instant attraction to prospective buyers.

[NAVREVV]

Originally Posted by Pulse500

Engine bay area had most pipes made of flexible thin plastic or possibly silicone, which may have high cost of replacement as plastics are not covered under most insurance policies.

Plastic components are covered under insurance which attracts 50% depreciation in case of Normal comprehensive insurance and 0% depreciation in case you have taken zero depreciation coverage.

[deehunk]

Originally Posted by Pulse500

. Engine bay area had most pipes made of flexible thin plastic or possibly silicone, which may have high cost of replacement as plastics are not covered under most insurance policies.

I strongly feel I should wait for real feedback from buyers before I issue the cheque. I did face several niggles with the XUV500 from the first batch I bought in 2011.

Please don't mistake my words, you are one of the most active member talking about Hector, but your concerns about flexible thin plastics is unwarranted. Please share the images of your observations, we can clarify your doubts. The modern day cars comes with heat resistant plastic engine intake manifolds, so curious to know about your concerns.

[vsun]

Friends, I need to provide some more information regarding my previous post. Link to that post: https://www.team-bhp.com/forum/india...ml#post4617967 (MG India's first SUV named Hector. Edit: Launched @ 12.18L)

I missed to mention about one more mail to me from MG. Excerpt from that mail is bellow:

I would like to inform you that our system can work even at a low connectivity (2G) network. However if there is no network connection at all, the system will not process any request and all the requests given during that time frame will not be processed and will stay cancelled.

Moreover, whenever we give a command to MG Hector a notification comes to you as well, that the command is processed and you have the right to cancel the same in real time.

The other concern, can we turn off the internet connectivity of the car, to which I would like to inform you that as MG Hector is an Internet car, and it has features like E-call which are auto triggered in case of an accident where the car itself calls the pulse hub center, who activates the emergency protocol and further I can assure you that the safety of any data regarding to car is stored at an 24X7 monitored data storage center which we have in collaboration with tech giants like Microsoft.

So, I would request you to be rest assured about any such things and enjoy the drives in MG Hector.

Even after this mail from MG, my concern regarding the remote commands (from mobile app) has not yet cleared. Need some more clarity on this. The issue (giving remote command to the car to do something) involves the network connectivity at two places:
1.Network at the receiving end, where the car is physically present (airtel network).
2.Network at the location of registered mobile (any network that the sim in the mobile has).
In this scenario, I am still skeptical that the processing at one end may be completed immediately, and the same at the other end (receiving end) may be delayed.

Regarding switching off/on the internet connectivity of the car, I may assume that the car's internet connectivity cannot be turned off by the user.

I will never activate "Listen for Hey Siri" on my phone, as the phone may be listening each and every sound around it, and processing it to know whether it is "Hey Siri" command or not.

[srishiva]

Originally Posted by vsun

Regarding switching off/on the internet connectivity of the car, I may assume that the car's internet connectivity cannot be turned off by the user.

I will never activate "Listen for Hey Siri" on my phone, as the phone may be listening each and every sound around it, and processing it to know whether it is "Hey Siri" command or not.

Well, they do mention that requests need second confirmation and will also tell you if the command cannot be executed (network issues) and such commands will not be stored and will be dropped.
The mobile app has to be active to pick up your command. Are you worried about what it listens to inside the car ? I hope someone will record all the data between the app and the car to their cloud server. That should clear when and how much data is being shared with MG.

[Pulse500]

Originally Posted by NAVREVV

Plastic components are covered under insurance which attracts 50% depreciation in case of Normal comprehensive insurance and 0% depreciation in case you have taken zero depreciation coverage.

You are right, motor insurance does cover rubber/nylon/plastic parts. They are not categorised as consumables.

With such flexible tubes, there will be fewer "O" rings, washers or seals needed than when using metallic connecting pipes between different sub-systems of the vehicle and actually may also reduce chances of leakages. I guess, flexible tubes, with similar diameter and materials will also reduce part count, codes and inventory, tubes can be cut and used for multiple purposes, saving time and costs. And leakages, if any, could be easily fixed than ordering and waiting for right parts with right bends for the vehicle variant.

I was unnecessarily worried they would get nicks and cuts with tools that mechanics will use during repairs or servicing and would be categorised as consumables.

[vsun]

Originally Posted by srishiva

The mobile app has to be active to pick up your command. Are you worried about what it listens to inside the car ? I hope someone will record all the data between the app and the car to their cloud server. That should clear when and how much data is being shared with MG.

My mentioning about "Hey Siri" is an off topic statement.
Worried when I see the news articles like : ''Google contractors listening, recording your bedroom talks via Assistant''.
Link to the news :https://www.business-standard.com/ar...1101002_1.html

Coming to MG Hector, the brochure speaks about 'Voice Assistant'. says, over 100+ voice commands activated by saying "Hello MG", for hands-free control. So, the car is listening to our conversation. I don't think that it records our conversation and send it to some cloud server.