[manpreetsj]

Originally Posted by AtheK

I had missed your post, while you can easily find Matt wrap pics on google for other cars, I am now thinking of going for Matt ppf on black, looks pretty good and luckily wife is warming up to the idea of buying black Color as usually it’s not too hot in Bangalore.

https://www.Youtube.com/watch?v=Jvc9TQnI-lk

Check the last two minutes of this video, it’s been done on a black gloster, hector should look the same.

Couple of friends own Hector in Black. One bought in 2019 and another in Feb 2022. Both didn't go for any coating. Get it cleaned daily, parked in basement mostly. The colour continues to have shine and looks all fine. Swirl marks may be visible if looked at from up close.

Even my i20 (Dual tone edition) has black roof. Over last 5 years without any care, it has gathered some swirl marks but doesn't look old at all. A bit of wax polish makes it look new.

Maybe you shouldn't do the flagship mobile treatment with Hector (put phone in cover from day 1). Rather, use car as is and wrap it after 2 years and give it your own facelift.

This car looks best in black! You won't go wrong with it.

[maverickiller9]

My SA says the same. Still hoping by next week though. I have not negotiated the insurance part as of now. Shall I do it now or during the payment time?

Originally Posted by manpreetsj

Guys! Any updates on Savvy Pro expected delivery status?

My SA says the dispatches details from factory has not come in yet. However, delivery for lower variants have already started.

Earlier SA said by month end it should be delivered. It's 25th already. Post dispatch, it takes 4-5 days to reach stockyard and then PDI and delivery can be scheduled. Difficult to have patience now after waiting for 1 year for this car!

Also, those planning to buy it - I have negotiated on insurance. On road price includes 66k worth of insurance. I have negotiated it at 43k (23k savings). You just need to bring quote from outside with all add-ons that MG provides. I'm not sure whether I will be able to negotiate on essential kit.
Anything else you feel I can negotiate on?

[manpreetsj]

Originally Posted by maverickiller9

My SA says the same. Still hoping by next week though. I have not negotiated the insurance part as of now. Shall I do it now or during the payment time?

I am buying car under company lease, hence had to negotiate in advance to get proforma invoice to start internal process. You may do it around PDI. I will be finalising accessories and try negotiating further on same during PDI (as it is 2-3 days prior to delivery date).

[arsh9191]

Originally Posted by manpreetsj

I am buying car under company lease, hence had to negotiate in advance to get proforma invoice to start internal process. You may do it around PDI. I will be finalising accessories and try negotiating further on same during PDI (as it is 2-3 days prior to delivery date).

Did you get this reduced quote from the MG Flagship store at 32nd milestone in Gurgaon ? Will be helpful for me to negotiate. Have booked a savvy pro - the amount quoted by them as of now is around 60k.

[Lord-Lannister]

After so much deliberations, finally have booked the car. Savvy Pro in Havana Grey.

This was the first time wife saw the car, and her first thoughts were - "it's intimidatingly big, I love it".

Personally coming from a humble Fludic Verna, I was blown away by the interiors and the heft you immediately feel from the doors has a lasting impression.

Waiting time is seemingly 1-2 months, with assumption of sooner than later.
Adding Mumbai price sheet for ref.

[manpreetsj]

Originally Posted by arsh9191

Did you get this reduced quote from the MG Flagship store at 32nd milestone in Gurgaon ? Will be helpful for me to negotiate. Have booked a savvy pro - the amount quoted by them as of now is around 60k.

Yes! 32nd milestone one. But suggestion would be to take quote from outside via agent or website. 43k is the best I could source via my corporate connect. That too MG could match.

Originally Posted by Lord-Lannister

After so much deliberations, finally have booked the car. Savvy Pro in Havana Grey.

This was the first time wife saw the car, and her first thoughts were - "it's intimidatingly big, I love it".

Personally coming from a humble Fludic Verna, I was blown away by the interiors and the heft you immediately feel from the doors has a lasting impression.

Waiting time is seemingly 1-2 months, with assumption of sooner than later.
Adding Mumbai price sheet for ref.

For sure the facelift screams premium. I'm so happy I didn't go for previous gen and waited for this one. Congrats and welcome to club! Hope for quicker delivery!

[maverickiller9]

My 6 Seater Savvy with ADAS, has been alloted and is on way. Hoping to get it by Tuesday, maxx Wednesday.

[gmalik30]

Hi,
Just a quick thought, personally love the interiors of the car. Had an opportunity to have a look at 32nd Milestone, Gurgaon but as no Test Drive Vehicles are available still confused. Thinking of moving from Honda City now after 6 years of hassle free ownership. Had shortlisted the Tuscon but the price just does not justify the badge. With X1 being launched yday maybe will take a test drive. But having said that till my TD vehicle arrives, any feedback on does MG feel to big to drive on city roads. My driving would be 90%city DNCR and 10% highway.

Thanks

[arsh9191]

Originally Posted by maverickiller9

My 6 Seater Savvy with ADAS, has been alloted and is on way. Hoping to get it by Tuesday, maxx Wednesday.

Which dealership are you buying from ?

[manpreetsj]

Originally Posted by gmalik30

Hi,
Just a quick thought, personally love the interiors of the car. Had an opportunity to have a look at 32nd Milestone, Gurgaon but as no Test Drive Vehicles are available still confused. Thinking of moving from Honda City now after 6 years of hassle free ownership. Had shortlisted the Tuscon but the price just does not justify the badge. With X1 being launched yday maybe will take a test drive. But having said that till my TD vehicle arrives, any feedback on does MG feel to big to drive on city roads. My driving would be 90%city DNCR and 10% highway.

Thanks

I don't think it would be fair to compare 25 lakh worth car with 50L one. However, with new 1.5 3 cylinder engine on X1, Hector has more powerful engine! Hence, decision should be based on whether you want to pay 25 or maybe 30 lakhs extra mainly for BMW tag / snob value?!

Coming to Hector - I'm from DNCR and will have 90% drive within city (per day 20kms avg). I test drove it 3 times (once drove plus variant) last year. It is effortless to drive. You get ease of driving like hatch and commanding view+seating position of SUV. Also, the comfort is unmatched. I will be more than happy to go on long drives in this one!

Update on allotment - I will get delivery date details tomorrow hopefully as dispatches have started for Savvy Pro variant.

[amit_2025]

Originally Posted by gmalik30

Hi,
Just a quick thought, personally love the interiors of the car. Had an opportunity to have a look at 32nd Milestone, Gurgaon but as no Test Drive Vehicles are available still confused. Thinking of moving from Honda City now after 6 years of hassle free ownership. Had shortlisted the Tuscon but the price just does not justify the badge. With X1 being launched yday maybe will take a test drive. But having said that till my TD vehicle arrives, any feedback on does MG feel to big to drive on city roads. My driving would be 90%city DNCR and 10% highway.

Thanks

I considered cars from the Hycross (even booked) Meredian, X1 as well as Pre worshipped Germans but the Hector felt the most plush of them all. Of course different price points have different strengths and compromises and the engines on offer are most definitely not for enthusiasts. I am not comparing the Hector to cars with 2x the cost, but personally just couldn't find value in spending almost 2x for the badge

As far city driving is concerned, there are 2 aspects i.e. driving dynamics and size. Driving dynamics are spot on for a city car and it is very sedan like to drive; however the size is a variable depending upon your place of residence, the traffic and road conditions of your usual commute as well as the parking space available.

With your current car being a City, don't think you would find the Hector too big. If at all, the upgrade in terms of seating and driving positions would be huge

[recalcitrant]

Hey folks,

Had taken delivery for my Sharp Pro Starry Black CVT Hector on Wednesday, 25th of January. Here's my initial observations post (been meaning to write earlier, but have been so so occupied)

Accessories, price & delivery experience

Took the delivery around 5pm on a weekday (the day before the Republic Day), and it was a pretty standard affair. There was another black Hector Plus that rolled out just before mine and the SA informed me that mine was the second delivery in Bengaluru (the delay attributable to the commissioner's approval coming in late for Karnataka)

Many folks have asked on the forum regarding the on-road pricing, accessories list and mandatory asks from the dealers. So, here was my breakdown:

Sharp Pro CVT Starry Black
Ex-showroom: ₹ 20,77,800
TCS: ₹ 20,778
RTO tax: ₹ 4,17,008
FASTag: ₹ 600
Number plate + registration fee: ₹ 2,238
Insurance (got from Acko - 1 yr own-damage + 3 yr third party, return to invoice, zero depreciation, engine + consumables cover, during repairs): ₹ 34,878
Accessories (screen-guard, steering-cover, car-cover, number plate holders, sun-shades, mudflaps, manual book, ownership folder): ₹ 9,111

Total (excluding PPF, silencer & undercarriage coating): ₹ 25,62,413
PPF (Garware 200microns self-healing TPU), silencer & undercarriage coating: ₹ 1,34,036

Dimensions, looks and stance

Coming from a sedan that I drove for 6 years before this (Hyundai Elantra 2016 2.0 Petrol AT), this was a marked change for me. I've never driven large SUV-ish vehicles for a sustained period and was apprehensive of potential blindspots.

The first drive to home cleared all those worries. The car is big, no doubt about it. It's almost as wide as a Fortuner and way longer than my old Elantra (which was itself a pain to handle in the weirdly designed basement parkings in Bengaluru). But I never not felt at home in Hector. Feels like the proportions are spot-on to provide a very fine balance of space on the inside (more on this later in the post) and manoeuvrability. It feels (almost) like I'm driving wife's Jazz. No issues, whatsoever, except perhaps that the view from the IRVM was not very helpful (solved it later though, added a RedTiger dashcam that clamps to the IRVM and affixed its rear camera near the rear number plate light).

Here's a photo with me against the side profile (I'm 5'9"):


Coming to the most hotly commented on topic about the new Hector - the grille. Visit the car in person, and you'll know that it doesn't look out of place at all. It blends-in quite well with the curve of the front-end and doesn't look plodded on unnecessarily (this is true IMHO especially on black body colour)


The car looks absolutely brilliant from the rear 3/4th. I feel this is probably the best angle for the new Hector (please excuse the random reflections. These were taken in a hurry at an under-lit highway pit-stop):


Another side profile:

Interiors and gadgets

I'm a sucker for screens (I have 5 televisions at home, much to my wife's annoyance). The infotainment screen on the Hector is high-res with very good brightness and clarity. Android Auto and Carplay both look amazing and are very helpful with this big a real-estate. The touch response is totally lag free with Android Auto and Carplay (even with the MapmyIndia app), but lags a bit when handling settings / HVAC screens. Looks like the software implementation from MG is the culprit here, and not the hardware. This gives me hope that this can be rectified in upcoming OTA updates (a man can dream). Nonetheless, it's not unusable / irritating. It's just something that will lessen your smile at times though)

The materials used inside are top class IMO. It all comes together rather well and lends the cabin a very plush look. The fit could've been better in a few places though (eg. fonts are inconsistent, a few hard plastics in few places are not aligned 100% perfect), but this is me trying to find flaws. Wouldn't have noticed them if I hadn't had a look with the question "so what is not good?"

Seat ventilation works flawlessly and is not noisy either. Speakers are AMAZING! However, there is a big output quality difference b/w playing through Android Auto / Carplay and through the installed JioSaavn app. The loss of fidelity through bluetooth is quite quite apparent (still very good though). But listen to a good punchy bass-heavy track through the Saavn app and you'll be blown away

The seats are super comfortable, but the jury is still out since yet to spend 5+ hours in them at a stretch. What really annoys me though is the lack of memory seats. I and wife swapped front seats very often and given the height difference, adjusting from scratch everytime is a big pain

Here are a couple of pictures of the interiors:

Performance, suspension & fuel efficiency

This is NOT a performance-oriented car. Please don't expect push-back-to-the-seat exhilarating acceleration. That's not going to happen.

The acceleration is adequate. Sedate drivers will be at ease. Overtaking is easy, you get the power you need, nothing more. Tried Sport mode very briefly just to test out if there's a massive difference. There isn't. The throttle response improves slightly. But only slightly. Not sure if this will change over time (for the better?) - older Hector owners please chime in on this topic.

Coming to the strengths of the car: the almost perfect balance between comfort & handling. At slow speeds, you'll almost glide over bad patches. Rumble strips? Where the rumble at? Body roll is there, owing to the tall stance and soft suspension setup, but isn't that bad. There might be more body roll while tight-cornering at 100+ speeds, but probably you should look elsewhere if that's what you want to do. This car is not meant for that. Overall, very happy with the suspension and handling prowess of the car. My other option, the Meridian is in a different league altogether though when it comes to suspension and handling. But that engine... why, Jeep? Anyhow, I digress.

As of writing this post, I have clocked 328km on the odo. Just came back from a 133km round trip on the Kolar highway. The onward driver was your truly (semi-sedate - was testing its legs, so did push it slightly, but not too much)
Here's the iSmart screen for my driving (FE of 11kmpl):


Wife jumped into the hot seat for the return drive. She drove more sedately and managed FE of 13.7kmpl. Will do a empty to empty test later.


That's all for now, folks. Taking the car to a Bengaluru-Goa trip the coming weekend. Should have more points to talk about when I return (praises hopefully)

[manpreetsj]

Originally Posted by recalcitrant

Hey folks,

Had taken delivery for my Sharp Pro Starry Black CVT Hector on Wednesday, 25th of January. Here's my initial observations post (been meaning to write earlier, but have been so so occupied)

First of all congratulations on bringing home new Hector! Thanks for sharing Initial observations/ walkaround.

Couple of questions -
1) if you test drove 2021 Hector earlier, did you feel any diff compared to that? Or other than looks, everything else remains as is?

2) Infinity system comes with local sub/amp or the imported one (supposed to be better)? Few months back they had replaced original one with locally sourced one due to supply issues.

[ulag62442]

Originally Posted by recalcitrant

Hey folks,

Had taken delivery for my Sharp Pro Starry Black CVT Hector on Wednesday, 25th of January. Here's my initial observations post.

Thanks for the detailed write-up. I have booked mine as well (Savvy Pro) and waiting to hear from the dealer on availability. Couple of questions:

1) Is there an option to use wired CarPlay? Does the sound fidelity improve in that?

2) I see you are already doing highway trips. Is there no initial run-in period of 1000 kms for the car?

3) What's the FE like in city traffic?

[recalcitrant]

Originally Posted by ulag62442

1) Is there an option to use wired CarPlay? Does the sound fidelity improve in that?

2) I see you are already doing highway trips. Is there no initial run-in period of 1000 kms for the car?

3) What's the FE like in city traffic?

1. AFAIK, even while using wired Android Auto /CarPlay, the audio plays through Bluetooth. It's just handshake and auth negotiation between car and phone happens through wire rather than through Bluetooth in wireless systems. Let me know if my understanding is incorrect and will unpair and try the wired route

2. Manual mentions 500km of run-in period. The highway run was conservative, mostly tried to kept below 80kmph, varied speeds etc

3. Have been getting 7.8 - 8kmpl in the horrible Bengaluru traffic in normal mode. Haven't tried eco mode yet