MG Hector Petrol DCT Smart Trim Likes:
- Value-for-money proposition - cost per feature
- SUV-like road presence
- Petrol DCT available
- Very good rear-seat legroom
- Tesla-like touchscreen with OTA updates
Dislikes:
- Long wait period to own one
- Pedestrian Petrol DCT driving performance
- Subpar Petrol DCT fuel efficiency
- Niggles such as laggy touchscreen
- Long term ownership experience is an unknown
the acronym, if one exists - MG H - reminds me of MDH - the old guy happily promoting the masalas and cooking essentials.
Not just the name, a bunch of things about this car ... hold your thought - let's start with this first
What type of automobile is Hector?
SUV
MPV
MAV
SAV
Saloon
An SUV - no. It's a front-wheel-drive with no AWD option. No tow hook. Nothing to suggest that you can abuse the vehicle and not think about it. And, once you observe the tires for a while, the answer becomes - hell, no.
MPV - most likely.
MAV - no, assuming soft off-roading is one of the activities one should be able to do.
SAV - no.
My insurance company (Bajaj Allianz) has categorized it as a Saloon. According to them, any non-commercial vehicle with a seating capacity of five is a Saloon.
A lot of written content exists about the Chinese pedigree, British brand origins, and whatnot. I am not going to rake that up. Safe to say, it's a Chinese car, most informed users understand that. Volvo is arguably the safest passenger car on the planet, AND it's European. I don't see it on a 4-month waitlist. For the mass market, when it comes to moolah, there's no Chinese or European. It's all about value-for-money.
Our car search perimeter included:
a) Kia Seltos
Smaller in size
Price too high for GTX+ Petrol DCT variant - almost hits 19L ex-showroom
We already have two Hyundai cars in our stable
b) Toyota Innova
No strict need for a 6/7 seater
Whiny engine noise
Association as a taxi
c) Jeep Compass
Smaller in size
Already have a Creta (purists will argue about the comparison)
Pricey
d) Maruti Brezza
Much smaller in size
Weaker engine
Weaker build quality (door thuds, sheet metal, etc.)
e) XUV 500
It is due for a big engine refresh in 2020
The current crop of AT engine is like sitting in a transport bus next to the transmission system - so noisy
Within the Hector family, we narrowed down on Petrol DCT as we have a strict requirement for an AT box.
On-road price & discounts
Hector Petrol DCT
Smart Trim
Ex-showroom: INR 15.28 lacs (first wave of bookings price, as applicable in Chandigarh)
The Smart Trim is one level lower than the top trim - Sharp.
The Sharp Trim costs INR 16.87 Lacs (first wave price) and offers more airbags, electronic controls for the front passenger seat, electronic tailgate button, digital instrumentation cluster display, mood lighting, and the sunroof.
We briefly considered the top trim and then settled for Smart as it checked the right boxes for us - price-wise and otherwise.
Customer Handling Charge: INR 11,600 (read this as Destination charge for loading the vehicle on a transporter and getting it to the destination city from the assembly plant)
Insurance: INR 59 K (Bajaj Allianz) - done through the dealership - includes dep cap, return to invoice, tires and rim protection, engine protection, roadside assistance, key loss protection, and personal belongings loss protection.
New car insurance is now done (read mandatory) for 3 years. The above plan includes comprehensive cover for the first year and third-party for the 2nd and the 3rd year.
There is also an option to prepay comprehensive for 3 years. We neither wanted to pay that much upfront nor wanted to let go of NCB (no claim bonus) for the 2nd and 3rd years. Fingers crossed. We will upgrade the insurance to comprehensive in the 2nd year as per applicable norms and prices at that point.
Please note that you are NOT required to buy insurance from the dealer. You can get it from outside. Not all providers have all Hector models set up in their systems (newness of the brand and variants), so it might take a day or two of wrangling to get that sorted. But, one could easily save 20K in insurance cost if you get it from outside and remove RTI, tire and rim protection from the add-ons. A TATA AIG quote I received with dep cap, engine protect, RSA, key loss, personal belongings was 42K with comprehensive for the first year and third-party for second and third years. We exchanged one of our old cars for the Hector purchase with the MG dealer and got the cash price adjusted against the insurance cost, hence were sort of on the hook to buy it from MG.
Temp number: INR 300
Fast-Tag: INR 500 (mandatory for all toll payments beginning December 2019)
1% TCS: INR 15,280 (Income tax department must know about all new car purchases)
We have not paid the car registration fee, yet. We opted for the manual process as we are looking for a low-cost vanity number. For vanity number registrations, the Chandigarh vehicle registration process allows paper file submission for registration. For all non-vanity registrations, the dealer assigns a permanent number before the car is handed to you.
No discount offered. We had accrued 14K points for the wait (1K points per week of the wait) and got the following accessories:
Cabin mats and trunk mat - INR 4,458
Wind deflector for windows - INR 2,286
Mobile phone holder - INR 711
Trunk organizer - INR 1,480
Door protector - INR 1,771
Bumper corner protector - INR 900
Number plate garnish - INR 478
Cushion set - INR 2,288
Of these, the dealership had the mats and wind deflectors in stock. Other accessories have been ordered and will get them affixed (take possession) on the first tune-up.
Extended warranties & service packages
We could have used the points for extended warranty or service packages as well but we decided against it. The car carries 5 years unlimited km warranty. The touchscreen unit carries a 3-year warranty. The battery carries a 1-year warranty.
The transmission is covered for 5 years as well.
We will see how the ownership experience goes.
Booking:
We booked a Grey Petrol DCT in the third week of July (on the last date of the first round of reservations) and given a tentative delivery date of January 2020.
Fast-forward to mid-October - we receive a call from our assigned booking agent offering us a White Petrol DCT immediately. It was a pleasant surprise as almost three months were shaved off from the waiting period. The only caveat was a different color. We don't have anything against White, so we said yes.
There could be several reasons for why we got an early delivery:
1. people holding off for 2020 models this late in the year
2. rumor mills for underwhelming Petrol DCT performance
3. rumor mills for sub-par fuel efficiency on Petrol DCT
4. weak market sentiment and people holding off on plonking down on new automobiles in general
5. people holding for BS-VI models due in January 2020
6. people caring for the speculated 6-seater Hector due in 2020 Q1
or something else - who knows?
Delivery:
We inspected the car in the stockyard on the same day the agent called us for early delivery. Things appeared to be okay.
We initiated the financial proceedings.
Got the paperwork sorted and in order. Scheduled the delivery for Dhanteras.
The delivery experience was okay. Nothing spectacular.
The delivery team covers the car in a red drape.
You get to take it off.
Flashlights dazzle the eyes. Loud Hector-brand music plays on the showroom speakers. Among cheers, you get the keys.
There was also a cake-cutting ceremony - a sumptuous chocolate-topped-and-filled cake from Coffee Bean and Tea Leaf.
I could be wrong but MG Hector is not the sort of automobile (not for any particular reason) that would be a person's / family's first car ever. So, I will skip the delivery experience details. Suffice to say that it was okay.
PDI:
1. Goodyear tires (the only option as Hector is on a waitlist and vehicles are assigned and not selected from a lot)
2. ODO had 12 Kms
3. Spare tire (not an alloy) and accessories appeared okay
4. Lamps and lights okay
5. Paperwork okay
6. Overall, it seemed to be okay
The car was running on reserve fuel, so got it filled at our usual fuel hangout place. She drank 54 liters of regular, unleaded Petrol — some thirst.
Initial Impressions:
Due to the Diwali holiday and reluctance to take it out in massive traffic jams, the vehicle's ODO has not hit three digits, yet, about 90 Kms total so far. So, things are subject to change, but a lot of things won't change, so fair to share the observations and impressions.
1. Road presence
Good. Beefy. Commands and needs room on the road and parking lot.
2. Build and Stares
People no longer stare and spend time looking at the Hector, at least not mine. I guess they must have seen a few. It's a precursor of things to come - novelty only lasts so long. People are already on to the next shiny something.
The car itself is well built - doors thud, they are heavy. You feel safe inside the car.
There are noticeable panel gaps and something that can be corrected in future iterations of the car.
It's early to comment on the build reliability but the interiors are not meant to exude luxury. They are well-appointed but with hard touch plastic all around and faux leather - expectations need to be aligned.
3. Internet Inside
The center console display unit merits a thread of its own. It has everything that you need to control all the features and functions (aside from door controls, ignition, and transmission).
There are ten physical buttons (apart from steering mounted controls) in the dashboard area:
1. ESP off
2. Defogger for front windshield
3. Defogger for rear windshield
4. Music on/off
5. Volume up
6. Volume down
7. Car Start / Stop
8. Electronic Parking
9. Automatic Car Holding
10. Parking sensors on/off
Everything else is handled by the touchscreen.
The touchscreen can ALSO take care of music on/off, volume up/down and defogger for front/rear among many things.
There is an
iSmart app (available on app stores) that pairs with the Hector and allows one to control some features of the vehicle - remote air cooling, remote door unlock, remote sunroof (not available for my trim), remote car detect (honk and blink lights), find car, track car, speed alert, accident alert, and many more. I have not test-driven the app in detail, yet.
Android Auto (installed) and Apple Carplay (coming soon through an over-the-air update), Gaana app Premium [3-year premium subscription included] (runs through an embedded 4G SIM), TomTom navigation, FM radio, USB sync, Bluetooth, voice command control, ventilation and cooling, Settings, etc. - all this is viewed and controlled from the 10-odd inch touch screen slapped in the middle of the dashboard.
Too much to cover for this thread - will try and do a separate thread for this.
The sound quality is really good. The bass is powerful.
Air cooling would be better tested in summer months.
Awaiting Apple Carplay as an OTA update - will write more then.
The touchscreen is laggy in general.
Gaana app buffers (presumably due to spotty 4G connection in some areas)
4. Driving characteristics
The just shy of 1500 CC Petrol Turbo motor on duty in the Hector Petrol DCT is super quiet. It's barely noticeable that it's running. With the doors and windows shut, the passengers are fully insulated from the outside world. It's that quiet.
a. Linear acceleration is good - from a standstill, it takes off well and assuming you don't have to brake, it can reach triple digits quite well. However, if there's traffic and you have to brake often, then depending on the rpm bank you're in, it takes effort to take it back to cruising speed.
b. If you're doing less than 2.5K rpm, there's a noticeable lag - VERY annoying (in a brake, accelerate situation)
c. Overtaking ability is below par - needs to be planned
d. Braking is okay, slight sponge in the pedal toward the end
e. It's a big car - you don't feel the weight of the car as such but there's no spirited response from the 1.5 L Turbo motor to get you going. There are some cars such as Genesis (Hyundai's luxury arm) where you REALLY feel the weight of the car that you have to pull even with a V6 motor. That is not the case here. Here, the engine is simply underpowered (or under tuned - God knows what would happen to FE numbers if they aggressively tuned it, if possible) for a car of this size. It would have been amazing if Hector returned double-digit FE number in the city, at least the driving compromise would have been worth something.
Overall, the vehicle is not for enthusiasts.
If you're looking for a fast machine that you can muscle the road warriors with, Hector Petrol DCT is not it - look elsewhere.
5. Fuel efficiency
Yea - very early days. About 90-odd Kms were done in city traffic. My commute is 95% city so I don't expect the pattern and efficiency to change much.
:
:
:
drum rolls
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:
:
5.6 Kmpl so far.
Am I disappointed? Yes.
Did I know this would happen before the purchase? Yes.
Still disappointed? Yes.
Is there a comparable MPV at this price point with this feature set? No.
Would I now buy a Seltos over this if I had a choice? No.
6. Seating comfort
Seats are soft-touch faux leather, I believe. Comfortable.
Rear seat bench has a lot of legroom, less thigh support, though.
Rear seats recline a bit.
The front passengers can both use the handrest over the glove box without interfering with each other.
7. Safety
A few airbags (Sharp trim has even more)
ISOFix baby seats mount points
Three rear seat belts
Height adjustable seat belts in the front
Manual dimming for rearview mirror in Smart trim
TPM for the tires
Just a lot of metal between you and others on the road - which is good
8. NVH
The Petrol version is
quiet, really quiet. You insulate yourself from the outside humdrum once you're in and doors and windows shut - even without any music playing.
The car is able to go over potholes and vagaries of the road with ease - not that I have stress tested this but didn't feel much harshness in the cabin on patchy roads.
Here are some more pictures.
Range with an almost full tank.
Tire pressure monitoring. Readings on cold tires.
Central console with touch display and transmission system.
The transmission system is butter smooth - effortless switching between gear modes.
Buttons below the AT lever.
Electronic parking (automatically switched on when car cold boots. Not sure if there's a setting that can disable this - haven't had the time to dig the console features)
Parking
Reverse
Neutral
Drive/Sport mode
Ports:
High-speed charger (2A)
Aux input
USB input
Cigarette lighter port tucked away in the glove box.
Fuel lid open button
Bonnett open button
Rear-view mirror adjustment
Headlight elevation adjustment
Air vents
Hard touch plastic all around
Emergency flasher lights button
Start/Stop button
Left stalk for wiper controls
Steering wheel - big and not very comfortable
Comes with tilt and telescopic controls
Has soft padding on top but one can feel the hard material underneath
Hosts a bunch of buttons:
Cruise control
Volume
Media next/back
Voice command
Receive call/disconnect call
Rearview mirror
Manual control for dimming
Driver side window buttons
The window up/down buttons for the driver and front passenger are way up - not intuitive - I have hit the rear window buttons more often while trying to manage the front windows
Car key is shown in the storage area (three buttons - lock, unlock, trunk open)
Live fuel efficiency when driving the car.
The maximum is 40 Kmpl when foot removed from the throttle and using the momentum to coast.
Electronic parking brake (P with the circle)
Automatic vehicle holding (A)
Parking sensors (third button)
Automatic vehicle holding - if active will keep the vehicle in a stationary position even when Drive mode is engaged at a stoplight or stationary in general
Hector hesitates to take off when it disengages the Automatic vehicle holding mode on the press of the accelerator as compared to the car being in Drive mode and brake pedal released.
Automatic vehicle holding indication in the left dial of the instrument cluster
Airflow controls in the central unit
Large doors, heavy
Under the hood. Should say - turbo lag inside.
Soundproofing - very effective
Rear seat air controls
Great review ! Wish you a happy ownership experience. A feature-rich car with aggressive looks. That's what sells in India. MG now joins a small list of manufacturers who have figured out that trick in India. I am sure they will do well here.
One question. Even though 5.6 kmpl looks low, I think it is decent mileage in city for a 1.6-ton petrol automatic. Is the displayed mileage the same as what you get using the tank to tank method?
Congratulations on your purchase. IMHO, i think everyone in this forum thinks it scores very high points on Feature-to-Price aspect.
I think that 5.6 kmpl will go up by 2 - 3 after your first service. Also, if your in-city driving mostly in bottleneck areas (e.g. For Bangaloreans, if your house is near KR Puram and you work near Silk board) these figures are not actual in-city mileage ones.
What is the on-road price difference between the 'Smart' and 'Sharp' variant.
Congratulations on getting your hands on the very first dispatches of the Hector.
Thank you so much for a very comprehensive ownership review. I had been waiting for one for so long. Needless to say I will be dropping in as you update the thread.
From your test drives, did you feel that the petrol hybrid MT has a better engine response and tractability?
When you get the time, do share a pic of the car fully loaded with 5 passengers and luggage. I have a feeling this car would squat like a Safari.
Liked the pictures. Detailed initial ownership review of the DCT. Hopefully the mileage figures get better. But despite that, don't see it going over 7. Maybe 8 if you're careful. Shouldn't expect more from a 1700 kgs car. Petrol and SUV seldom go hand in hand. The diesel manual has the edge if you choose the Hector.
A review on par with official review, congrats on your purchase and wish you happy ownership.
Congratulations on the purchase & wish you loads of safe & happy miles with smiles.:)
Very unbiased, matured & well articulated review, it calls a spade a spade, yet it is very assuring that there is no regret on the buy & you very well knew what you are getting into.
Great Review. Please keep posting updates. I expect the Petrol DCT powertrain to be problem free (apart from the sluggishness and the fuel consumption) as it is the tried and tested one which has sold more than a lakh units in China.
I used to get a mileage of 7-7.5 in a Polo in Mumbai traffic. I will be happy if I get 5.5 in this giant.
Since you booked almost at the time booking closed and I have booked just when they opened maybe now I can hope for an early delivery in November.
