[Behemoth]

These times are interesting times and Covid has changed the whole world as we know it and also changed perspectives drastically.
It is no longer a buyer's market when it comes to Buying cars and it is now the companies (sellers) that command their premium as well as extremely long delivery periods. On an average, the waiting period for good / in demand cars stretches from anywhere from 4month- 18 months !
Also, good diesel cars are now a dying breed and there are very limited options now left for the mile munchers or the people who cover great distances daily!
So with that background, let me introduce you to the new addition to our family - the Grey Goose - our MG Hector Plus Sharp - Diesel 6 seater!



If you had asked us a year back whether we would buy a Chinese (SAIC) car, I would have categorically said, no I would not - I was still a fan of European cars and had always loved the Driving dynamics and the build quality of the Europeans. Till that time I had not even seen the Hectors up close - I had though seen lot of Korean cars - the Hyundai's and the Kia's and driven them up close. I had always expected that the Hector would also be similar in quality to the Koreans. Over the past 1 year, I did get to experience the Hector up close with 2 in the close family and that really changed my perspective.
I would not like to debate on the Chinese / Indian / European origin topic, but our choice of car was driven most by what the car offers and the value that we get. At a 20 lac ex showroom price (19,99,800 to be precise) and an on-road price in Gurgaon of 22.77 lacs (including around 16k of accessories)

As per the latest announced Prices for the Hector (effective Jan 2022), the Hector Plus is now close to 20.67 ex showroom and 24.2 Lacs On road (in Gurgaon) - Prices have been shooting up drastically and since Sep 2021 we have seen three price increase (2 of which we had to bear) and now the third one which has come in now. When we had booked the car in Sep, the original Ex-showroom at that time was 19.6 lacs. Due to current inflationary trends over the past few months, prices of Metal/ Plastics and electronics have increase drastically and manufacturers are having a tough time and need to keep increasing the prices or downgrade their products. Costs of vehicles are continuously rising and the value that one gets out of the money paid is gradually diminishing.
So given today's economic scenario, it is better to buy a car now than to wait after 6 months as the same cars will become more expensive!

So let me begin the story with our search process .

We started our car search in the month of Apr 2021 as we knew that our Skoda Laura was going to be turning 10 very soon (in Dec 2021) and we needed to find a car to replace that soon as in Delhi NCR, Diesel cars over 10 years are not allowed. The Laura had been a brilliant workhorse for us and I would say that it had been one of the best cars we have ever owned. Even after 9 years and 9 months with us, it still looked fresh like a 3 year old car and drove like new , without any squeaks or complaints and the thrill of the engine still felt great and best of all it would always give a mileage of 17+ in city and almost 24 on the highways. The Immense boot space was a huge plus point of the car and we have often used it to full capacity with relatives came from out of town or when we used to go to our farm. We even used to take our Labrador in the boot of the Laura (along with Luggage) and he was perfectly happy there. The Laura had a very unique notchback design with a parcel shelf and we would just remove the parcel shelf.

Replacing the Laura with a worthy car was a very difficult proposition as we were spoilt by its driving dynamics, brilliant fuel efficient and responsive engine, huge boot space and the feeling of European solidity. That generation of Skoda's car was built really well. So this is where the search started from.
The Budget we had in mind when buying the car was 15-25 lacs on road. In terms of body style type, we were ok with SUV or Sedan - either would be fine, but high ground clearance was a need as Gurgaon roads are filled with Potholes and also get flooded badly in rains - so a high GC vehicle was needed.

Also, all our cars have been and will continue to be self driven vehicles - we never keep a driver and prefer only to drive our vehicles ourselves - both me and my wife are avid drivers and enjoy driving. We are a small family of 2 + 1 kid (14 years) and 1 dog and only once in a while we have a need for a 5/6 seater vehicle when other family members visit. We do however need a vehicle with a large spacious boot for luggage / and our Dog when we go for trips.

1) Skoda Kushaq : Since we had already had a good experience with two good Skoda Cars (Touchwood!), we were extremely excited about the Skoda Kushaq and thought that would be a good choice for us. We were eagerly waiting to see the car but the multi step reveal process of Skoda was really a test of patience and frankly very unnecessary and irritating to us as a customer - first they had a Concealed Media Drive, then Static Reveal, them Dynamic media drive event and then finally a launch and price announcement, with over a month between each of these events. Even though they want to build the excitement, this approach in my view is not effective and actually kills the excitement for a buyer as it tests their patience. Instead of this approach, they should just have a two step approach -Media Dynamic drive and then followed up quickly by a Launch and Price reveal event.
Anyway we had pre booked the Kushaq and given the cheque to the dealer and were waiting with bated breath to see the car in person when it was to come , to showrooms. When finally the car was available to see in Showrooms (End of June if I remember correctly) I went on the 2nd day and spent a good 30 min checking out the car inside out and frankly I was not impressed. It was as if Skoda had completely toned down the European car building philosophy and made a Korean equivalent car - The Sheet Metal panels were light, the plastics were hard , Interiors were very basic, seats were atrocious and it just did not feel like a Skoda Car at all. It was even lower in build quality than what the Skoda Fabia used to be earlier (Which was the hatchback they had and discontinued many years earlier). The Kushaq did not even hold a candle to the Skoda Yeti and the Skoda Laura that we had owned. Still I went ahead and did a test drive of the Kushaq 1.0 TSI AT and felt the engine underpowered (I was use to the instant torque of the Laura's diesel engine and compared to that the engine felt sluggish. While on paper the Laura had a 110ps 250NM (Diesel engine) and the Kushaq petrol 1.0 TSI also has similar power output figures, the difference when you drive both the cars is like chalk and cheese. Also inspite of the Laura engine being so responsive it was also extremely frugal and would give us a mileage of 18-20 kmpl in mixed driving. After taking the test drive I was convinced that the 1.0 TSI AT was definitely not the choice for me. I thought maybe the 1.5 TSI DSG would still be suitable. However the final straw on the camel's back was that Skoda decided to remove the 6 airbags as offered in the Style 1.5 TSI Manual version and offered only 2 airbags in the Style 1.5 DSG variant ! What sort of flawed logic was this on part of the manufacturer ! I was not at all happy with this logic of Skoda and buying a top end car worth almost 20 Lacs on road and still not getting 6 airbags in the Auto variant did not make any sense to me. So I decided to cancel our Kushaq booking and it was cancelled.

2) Kia Sonet - now this may seem like an unlikely horse for us to consider, but given its great 1.5 diesel engine and the Auto gearbox, the Sonet Diesel GTX+ with six airbags was also on our consideration and booking list. After I cancelled our Kushaq booking, as we had no other good choices, I went ahead and booked a Kia Sonet GTX+ Diesel AT. This was to be our fallback option in case no other better car was available - the delivery period quoted was close to 6 months and after our booking in end June (as I recall), we were expected to get the car somewhere in Nov - Dec. So we kept the booking and continued our search for other cars too. The Kia Sonet is a small practical car, with a good engine and auto gearbox and the good things I liked about the Sonet were - good Ground clearance , good frugal and responsive diesel engine, good interiors. The Driving dynamics of the Sonet are also well tuned and it is a good balance between comfort and handling - it is tuned more like European cars with a hard suspension and less like Koreans. In my judgement, the Sonet is also better built and stronger than the Seltos (Could be a platform difference). It also has a bigger usable boot space than the Seltos so to me Sonet GTX+ was a better choice than say a Seltos HTX+, even though they were quite similar in Price. We ended up cancelling our Sonet booking only because wife said that it does not feel like an upgrade from our Laura (In terms of Size and status, and actually feels like a downgrade externally), so with orders from Home ministry, the Sonet booking was cancelled.

3) Tata Safari ( / Harrier) - This was also a worthy contender in our list and we considered it when it was launched. The Safari (and Harrier) is a very nice looking car, but the interiors have started to look a bit dated now compared to other competitors and the other big challenge with Tata is the consistency of fit finish and longevity. So with a heavy heart we decided not to consider the Safari. The Safari is no doubt a well designed car and it is a nice timeless design, but where Tata has faced a challenge is the translation of the design to a final product. It is huge improvement over the original Safari, but given the quality and consistency that all the other players in the market are delivering, it still is not able to reach that level. And when it comes to spending 20+ lacs on a Tata car, we still had doubts, So we did not consider the Safari/ Harriers any further. Also another point I would like to add is that the sales and showroom experience we got at the Tata showroom was extremely underwhelming and nowhere did we feel that we were buying a 20 lac premium car - the way that we were treated by the showroom staff, we felt as if we were buying a 5 lac hatchback car. Now if this is the pre-sales experience, you can imagine how the post sales and service experience would be!

4) Toyota Innova - Another car which was considered was the Toyota Innova Diesel AT. It is a great car in the higher price bracket, but as a self drive vehicle (especially for the wife to drive herself to office), it is not an ideal choice. It also has a very MUV stance and and the taxi reputation, hence we decided not to go for this. Other than that, the Toyota Innova is probably the most reliable choice for any family who needs a 6 seater / 7 seater car and intends to use it for a full 10 years (as mandated now by Delhi NCR laws for diesel vehicles)

5) Mahindra Marazzo - The marazzo is also an interesting car and the Diesel Engine is good one. In this segment, it is also one of the most spacious and it practically can seat 6/7 passengers in full comfort in all rows. However again the Marazzo is more of a taxi segment vehicle and not ideal for self driven cars.


6) MG Hector/ MG Hector Plus - this was really the dark horse in the game and entered at a very last moment in our consideration list. MG had been building prime attention for their upcoming Astor Launch and we thought we might as well go and check out the MG cars. (though at that time the Astor had not been launched ) - so we went and checked out the MG Hector/ Hector Plus and the Gloster. The MG Flagship showroom in Gurgaon is quite impressive (the MG head office is also in the same building) and the overall customer sales experience is quite good. The staff are all very polite and well trained and treat each customer equally well. That was one part of the positive experience when it came to choosing MG as a brand.
The second part which played a significant role in choosing the car was the MG Hector itself. For the right footprint size (4.6m) it offers a lot of space inside for passengers as well as luggage and is filled with creature comforts like Electronically adjustable seats, a great panoramic sunroof, a decent infotainment system with good sound. Apart from that the diesel variant has the Engine and gearbox combo sourced from Jeep - We have experience the same engine in Bs4 guise on our Jeep Compass and it is a great performing engine and probably the most suitable one for a very heavy car like the MG Hector too. The MG hector plus actually weighs in at around 1700+ Kgs (Unladen weight) and is as heavy as the Jeep Compass. The Hector Plus is also possibly 300 Kg more than the Alcazar 7 seater! So even if we say 50kg is additional weight of the diesel engine, 250Kg is the weight of body panels / interiors which is additional in the Hector over the Alcazar. End of the day I hope that this additional weight is part of the Monocoque body and would add better safety and strength to the car. The way that most manufacturers are reducing the thickness of car panels and the underbody members these days, it is a bad compromise.
Even though the Hector is not crash tested by NCAP, I am convinced it is a safer car out of all the other relevant options that we evaluated, based on my own automotive engineering experience. I do hope that MG tests the Hector Platform soon in GNCAP and we can have more faith on the safety of the car.
For peace of mind though, we decided to go only with 6 airbag Sharp version, which is available only in the 6 seater Hector Plus or the 5 seater Hector version. In the 7 seater Hector Plus, there is no 6 airbag version available.

We also did evaluate the MG ZS EV for a brief period of time - it is a vey nice proposition for an electric car in India. But the challenges with the EV that we realised were:
1) too small for our requirements
2) Realistic range would around 250km on a full charge and with my daily driving of 98km to and fro from office, I would practically have to charge it every other day and the I am sure on every second day I would be having range anxiety on whether I would reach home or not in case I got stuck in a traffic Jam!
3) We currently have an 11KW electricity connection in our home (it is an independent house) and for charging the car we would need to add another 7.5KW of load to our existing connection, which would mean upgrading the incoming cables and also paying security charges etc to the Electricity supply company and the overall cost would be more than 2L for the same. Also the electricity supply situation in Gurgaon is still bad and in summers we still have power cuts of upto 4 hours every day.
4) though the usage cost per km may be low initially, after 4-5 years, the battery would naturally degrade and the expected range would drop to maybe 60% , which would make the car unusable from my perspective due to very limited range. After 7-8 years the battery replacement would also be required and that would be quite a costly affair.

Given these constraints, we decided not to go for an electric car at this stage - but this diesel car is probably the last diesel car that we are buying and our next car would surely be either an EV or a PHEV (Plug In Hybrid Electric) if they become available in India. I still feel that for India, a car like the new Skoda Octavia IV - which is a PHEV would be an ideal choice and what would give people the best of both worlds.
Another EV we would look forward to is the Skoda Enyaq - that is also planned to come to India in 2022 and we may consider that as a replacement for our Jeep Compass after 3-4 years.

Buying experience :

We had booked the MG Hector Plus on Sep 1st through the MG Flagship showroom in Gurgaon. The Service advisor who was engaged with us was quite knowledgeable and polite. We were initially committed a delivery period of 4-6 weeks and were actually expecting to get our car before Diwali at least (which was around 8 weeks later). But as luck would have it, the deliveries kept on getting delayed due to the semiconductor shortage. I believe that even the MG Astor's launch had a hand to play in the delay of the delivery of our car. MG Has a production capacity of around 3k cars per month and in the run up to the launch, they has split the production almost 50:50 between Hector and Astor. So in the months of Oct/Nov/Dec they produced around 1500 of Hectors and 1500 of Astors per month. This coupled with the semiconductor shortage led to the delivery period being stretched from initially 6 weeks to 10 weeks to 12 weeks and then finally to 14 weeks till we got delivery. Our car had reached the Dealership around 10th Dec, but given that it was to be a company leased car, we did a PDI first on the 11th and then had to wait till 19th Dec to take the car delivery. The 19th was chosen as it was an auspicious date also and a weekend.

In the time that we were waiting for the car to be delivered, we also saw the MG Astor. Though the Astor is a very nice car (better than the Kushaq for the same price), it did not fit our space requirements and also did not have a diesel engine. I had already shared my views on the Astor in the Astor thread when I had seen it. With the Astor's success MG is making the jump from a 3k/ month company to a 6k/month company given that it is able to sort out its semiconductor supply issues. Current waiting periods for the Astor are now stretching to over 9-10 months. The launch of the Astor gave us some more confidence in the company as it is vital for a company to sell good numbers in India for a better future. Companies like GM and Ford had been let down by their lack of new launches and also the low sales that they were able to generate.

The overall sales experience with MG sales teams was pretty good and I would rate them 9/10 on sales experience. The 1 point deduction is for shifting delivery dates which I know was not too much in their control in this period.
For the Insurance, we finally went with the MG Insurance which is through Reliance General and is Zero Dep and RTI and covers Engine damage too. The cost was around 76k. I had compared it with the offer from Acko, which was coming to around 62k for similar coverage - but still we went with the MG offered Insurance for peace of mind.

Some additional accessories we opted for from the MG Accessories catalog:
Laptop Tray : 6733 (Very expensive and low quality, but we still went with it for occasional usage)
Mud Flaps: 506 (essential)
Infotainment Screen Guard: 549 (essential)
Air Purifier: 2816 (This is Good quality)
3D Mats : 6049 (these are good quality)

LIKES (In random order!)

1) Very big and spacious inside (with captain seats also adding to the comfort). There is a huge amount of headroom & Legroom in first two rows. (Third row will anyway be kept folded down in our case). The floor in the second row is also fully flat and there is no transmission tunnel at all. This makes it easy to go into the third row. The Third row seats also fold fully flat down and are not inclined.
2) Nice big panoramic sunroof - in fact this is the first car we have bought with a sunroof. The big panoramic sunroof allows in a lot of daylight and make the space appear even more spacious.
3) Nice supple ride quality at slower speeds. At city speeds the ride is quite cushy and absorbs bumps well. It is much more comfortable at city speeds compared to our Compass. However at fast Highway speeds the Compass has more controlled movement and is more stable. We are both safe drivers and generally prefer to keep speed below 90Kmph even on highways.
4) Huge boot (with third row folded down). As per my calculations (as also shared on the boot space calculation thread, the usable boot space of the Hector Plus (without blocking any rear view) is 458L. There is also plenty more space till the headliner and height from floor of third row folded seats to roof is 84cm.
5) The Ingress and egress into the car is very comfortable and just the correct height off the ground. So no sidestep is required and seniors are also able to get into the car easily.
6) The Driver's view and vantage is quite good and the forward visibility is quite good (Better than the Compass) and one gets a nice commanding feel while driving it. Wife immediately pointed it out that the view of the Driver is quite good. In case of the Compass, the long hood tends to block the downward view a bit. Also, the overall vehicle height of the Hector is 12cm more than the Compass, and the driver seat is positioned higher than in the Compass.
7) Good quality seats all around with nice premium leatherite - the seats are quite nice and firm and hold you well.
8) Good plethora of Safety features - 6 airbags, ESP, Hill Hold Control, TCS, All round Disc Brakes, ABS, EBD etc.
9) Great Diesel engine - right capacity for this heavy car. Proven engine already doing duty on the Jeep Compass. Now it is even better (less polluting) in BS6 guise. The Torque though is more linear. The fuel efficiency we have seen so far in 250km of driving is between 14-15kmpl in mixed use, which is quote good. In our Jeep Compass we get around 15-17 in mixed used.
10) The new features of the 2021 Hector plus over the 2020 Hector plus are : 18 Inch alloy wheels - these fill up the wheel wells better. The Ventilated seats - haven't used them yet, but they should be useful in the summers. The Auto Dimming IRVM - the new Hector Plus has an auto dimming IRVM compared to the earlier Standard IRVM in the 2020 version. The 2021 Hector Plus also has wireless phone charger (pity though the phones we use don't have it yet)


DISLIKES (again in random order)

1) Puny horn for such a big car!
2) Big A pillar which obstructs the view & can hide a cyclist or even an Auto!
3) Only touchscreen based controls for the AC unit - would have preferred Manual controls too
4) Slightly laggy touchscreen (sometimes)
5) Driver Information system while overall designed very well with a great integration of Digital + Analog dials has a Tachometer which sweeps Counterclockwise and feels a bit counterintuitive. Also it is placed on the right side instead of the typical left side. It would have been better if the Speedo and the Tacho were swapped in position and the Tacho also had a clockwise movement like the Speedo.
6) At higher speeds (80kmph +) on cemented roads/ bumpy roads, the noise in the cabin is a little boomy as the cabin size tends to amplify the sound.
7) I personally don't like the cool white LED headlights! I prefer the 4200K HID lights which I have now on my Compass and prefer the colour and output more as compared to the Bifocal Projector LED headlamps on the Hector Plus.

Now let me get into the specifics of the car in various aspects:

1) Exterior appearance and build quality
The Hector Plus is the second generation evolution of the Hector in India and in terms of design they have made it more elegant and classier looking than the Hector. Gone are lot of chrome bits on the front of the car and the rear is also much simplified compared to the Hector. This is a good thing as I prefer a cleaner design. The front of the car now looks quite butch and appealing - It almost gives off a nice Land rover kind of design vibe. I also did not opt for any flashy extra chrome anywhere - the Morris Garages lettering that many people put on their cars is optional and I didn't want that at all and prefer the clean look. The car looks best from the front 3/4 view and looks well balanced and appealing.





Coming to the side, here one can make out some awkwardness in the proportion - the size is still the same as the Hector (barring a few mm of modifications to the bumpers). The new 18 inch wheels though ow add more character to the car and fill up the wheel wells better. The overall outer tyre size remains similar but as the Rims are now 18 inches instead of the 17 inches offered earlier, it appears visually better. In the Havana Grey colour, the car tends to look understated and elegant, just the way we prefer it.
When we come to the rear of the car, that is the view I find most unappealing and awkward.



To me it seems like a frowny face (somehow I tend to search for human elements even in car designs!). It also has a kind of Darth vader type of look in the rear end which feels odd! But design oddities are quite a normal these days and given the way that Hyundai Creta and Kia Carens looks are, cars are becoming more and more odd looking by the day. I am not a fan of this design direction though!

2) Interiors and finishing The Interiors of the Hector Plus is a mix of Black and Smoked Sepia Brown in the Hector Plus Sharp variant. MG is one of the few companies who give three different trim colour options in the Hector range - they have a full black interior in lower variants like the Shine variant of the Hector. Then in higher variants of the Hector, they have Black and Beige combo and in the Hector Plus, they have a Black and Sepia brown combo.



We like the Sepia brown colour and it should be easier to maintain that other lighter shades (the Compass that we have has ivory white seats).




The interior space of the Hector plus is its biggest strength - the sheer amount of Legroom and headroom on offer is quite good. The reclinable and slideable Captain seats in the second row also take the experience to the next level and passengers in the second row get full flexibility and comfort. The long panoramic sunroof also adds an airy feel to the cabin. The Hector is a decently tall car and to compare the Dimensions of the Hector Plus with a few other cars:

Hector Plus : 4720 mm Length x 1835 mm width x 1760 mm Height.

Hyundai Alcazar: 4500 mm Length x 1790 mm Width x 1675 mm Height

Jeep Compass: 4405 mm Length x 1818 mm Width x 1640 mm Height.

So the Hector Plus is over 315mm longer, 17mm wider and 120mm Taller than the Compass. Also another key difference is that the Hector Plus's ground clearance in the centre area (between wheels) is around 180mm while that of the Jeep Compass is300mm - which means there is more cabin body height inside the cabin. As a result if you see the MG Hector on the road from rear, it appears like a tall and Lanky design - this is just because the proportion of the Height to width ratio is very different from other cars on the road.

The lesser height of the Hector cabin off the ground makes it a bit easier to get into the car. But the flipside is that it has lesser ground clearance in the middle for breakover. But in the Jeep Compass, even though the GC at the middle is very good, in the front the lowest part of the air dam it is at 150mm which is very low and this limits the approach angle of the Compass. In the case of the Hector, the lowest part of the Air dam is 175mm off the ground which is slightly better.

For my Compass, I need to get the Air dam changed to the smaller profile one they offer with the new model as that will help reduce the front rubbing on the ground. I have noticed this in a market near our house, where there is down ramp which joins with the flat road - here the Compass air dam rubs the road when entering the road while the Hector's does not - even the few mm of difference (25mm) is making a difference here.

On the Seating comfort, the Driver seat is very comfortable and contoured. It is also very easy to find a good driving position and the view out from the Driver side towards front is good and commanding. You also get a feeling of sitting at a good height off the ground (the seating position is higher than the Compass too). The front bonnet edges are visible and you get a good idea of the bonnet length when driving - I find bonnet visibility to be a good thing as it allows you to estimate the frontal position of the car in a better way. The front two seats are also ventilated seats - this was one of the additions made in the 2021 model (The other additions with Auto Dimming IRVM, and wireless charger for phones)


The Hector Plus Sharp also comes with 360 Degree cameras and front sensors too (though only 2 front sensors are there) for ease of parking. I however don't rely too much on front and side cameras are the views tend to be quite distorted and deceptive at times. The Rear camera and parking sensors (4 at back) are quite useful though.

Coming to the Driver Information system the Sharp version features a Hybrid Digital+ analog combo with two analog dials (speedo on left and Tacho on the right )





The Tacho does a counterclockwise sweep and feels weird though. The central Digital display is a high res 7 inch display which displays things like Trip details, TPMS, Radio station and supposedly Navigation directions (haven't tried this yet). I really like the colour scheme and the good integration of digital with Analog (apart from the Tacho).




The Central Infotainment system which is a 10 inch Tablet kind of display in Vertical format has been talked about quite a lot in other reviews and also in the TBHP review in terms of its features. But I still miss the good old analog controls for things like AC controls. Another point to note is that the Infotainment system has pretty big bezels - almost over and inch on all sides, so MG has a potential to further increase the size of the display in future Hectors - but somehow I feel that the way larger and larger displays are coming in today's cars, they are distracting for drivers and not really adding any benefits.
I would have been ok if there were a good 7 inch infotainment with physical buttons for things like AC controls - this is less distracting. This is how our Jeep compass Infotainment system (in 2017 model) but even in the new Jeep Compass they have changed over to a very large display which is also positioned higher. Anyway, seems like tech and large screens are here to stay in all future cars and cars are becoming Platform as a service vehicles where consumption of data and content in cars will also become a big thing and which is what MG is further attempting with the MG Astor.
A lot of the hype about MG cars was about the voice based controls in the Hector - I personally did not find it too accurate and it would not interpret my commands 50% of the time, while when my wife gave the commands it would interpret it 90% of the time - Shows clearly to whom the car's loyalties lie!

The Speakers of the Hector are from Infinity and consists of 4 speakers + 4 tweeters + 1 subwoofer (in boot) . The Sound quality of the system is quite decent for an OE system. I still feel though that the sound quality of our Skoda Laura was better (even without the subwoofer)



One of the big elements which helps make the Interiors feel more roomy and airy is the panoramic sunroof. The sunroof also has a motorized shade which covers the whole length of the sunroof. In early generation Hectors, the material of the sunshade was quite thin and flimsy. In the new Hector plus it is decently thick and completely opaque.

The Second row captain seats are also quite spacious and given the flexibility of adjustment of back recline too, can be more comfortable than traditional bench seats. They also have armrests for the passengers to keep their arms comfortably. The design of the captain seats is quite similar to the front driver and passenger seats. But unlike the front seats which are electrically adjustable, these seats only have manual adjustments.

I have already talked about the boot space (with third row folded down) - it can be quite useful. Coming to the third row of seats, the less I talk the better !
They are only usable for short journeys for adults or for small kids. The sitting position is quite knees up and the legroom is very limited. Only way for an adult to sit decently is to sit in the middle and stretch out their legs between the captain seats.



The Tailgate is also electrically operated and can be opened by the button on the tailgate lid or by the smart swipe feature (I have not enabled that though as I do not want to use it). One of the peculiar things about the Hector's tailgate is the way the whole taillight assembly also is part of the tailgate and when the Boot is open it looks kind of weird. This is quite different from the Jeep Compass's tailgate where half the tail lights are on the tailgate and half on the body.
The Benefit though of the Hector's design is that the tailgate opens very wide and the usable boot width is also almost 125cm at some heights, which is more than the width in most cars which is around 100cm.

3) Engine and gearbox

The Engine like I mentioned earlier is the same 2.0 MJD engine from Fiat as the Jeep Compass in Bs6 guise. It is tuned slightly differently compared to the Bs4 engine in the Jeep Compass that we have. The Bs6 version feels a bit less noisy and also has a more linear torque curve. Power numbers are very similar in both the cars. The Hector has a bit better NVH damping for engine noise compared to the Jeep Compass and at idling the engine noise is heard less. (or it could be that the Jeep Compass's engine (which is now 4.5 years old) is more noisy because of age too.

The Gearshift lever of the MH Hector is placed a little bit more in a forward position compared to the Jeep Compass, but one gets used to it pretty quickly and I did not find it awkward. The Gearbox is also sourced from Fiat along with the engine and is probably the same one doing duty in the Jeep Compass. It is decent gearbox with slightly long throws (compared to the Skoda Laura's gearbox). The Reverse is also engaged in the same manner by lifting the ring like it is in the Jeep Compass.

4) Safety features

The Hector Plus 6 seater is one of the variants which comes with 6 airbags (The 7 seater Hector Plus does not have 6 airbags as it comes only in the lower variant). Only the Sharp variants come with 6 airbags in the Hector Plus. I feel that in today's age we should go for as many airbags in the car as possible. Apart from that it also has electronic safety aids like ESP, Hill Hold control, TCS, ABS and EBD. The Body of the Hector Plus is also quite heavy and panels do not feel flimsy or light. The doors also are heavy and have Side impact protection beams.
In my assessment, if the Hector were tested for Crash ratings by NCAP, it should get around 4 stars, but we will know only when the test happens. Many other smaller cars like the Triber/ Magnite and many others are getting 4 stars these days so I don't see any reason why the Hector should not be able to achieve it.
Anyway, hope that GNCAP do test the Hector soon.

5) Driving experience and Ride quality

The Ride quality of the MG Hector Plus is tuned more towards the comfort side and the suspension is soft. At speeds upto 60kmph it is quite absorbent and pliant. At high speeds over 80, if the road surface is undulating, it takes a longer time to absorb and nullify the movement. The Jeep Compass on the other hand has a hard suspension in which at slow speeds, one can feel potholes and imperfections in the road, but after 60, the suspension comes into its forms and become more comfortable. The Jeep Compass is better for Highway dynamic riding while the Hector is better for slower speed medium speed riding.
The Steering of the Hector is also quite light and it does lack feedback, but it is quite easy for city maneuvering. While in the Jeep Compass it has a lot of feedback and is responsive. To give an analogy, the Jeep Compass feels like a young spirited horse (2 year old) who wants to run wild and free and resists your directions, but is more fun to ride. While on the other hand the Hector is like a Mature 7 year old horse who also has the same power and follows directions willingly, but is less fun to ride.

6) Others

Some other key aspects of the MG Hector which I want to mention:
a) All Lights (Interior as well as exterior) Are LEDs in the Sharp variant. The LED headlights in the Hector Plus are projector type bi-beam LED units with a CCT of around 6000K (this is too white for my liking, and I prefer the 4200K headlighting I have with the retrofit HIDs on the Jeep Compass)

b) The Cigarette lighter socket is placed inside the Driver armrest compartment and this needs to be used for connecting any air compressors. This is an unusual placement for the socket - I was searching for it all over the car and could not find it and then one day I opened the compartment to see that it is inside the armrest compartment!


c) there are plenty of USB Sockets all around the car - one in the front for the Driver, 2 in the centre row and 2 in the last row.

d) The Driver and passenger side sun shields both come with mirrors and also have lights.

e) The warranty of the MG Hector plus is 5 years/ unltd kms as standard and one can also avail the MG Shield package to cover consumables at a fixed price (for next 5 years if desired) and service interval is 15k kms/ 1 year for regular services.


In Conclusion:

At the price as which we were able to get the Hector Plus, It is good value as the MG Hector plus offers us:

1) Spacious car with captain seats and a huge boot space (good for our dog)

2) A brilliant, time tested Diesel engine (same as our Jeep Compass, but in BS6 Guise) and a Jeep sourced gearbox, for a perfect Engine- Gearbox combo

3) The safety of 6 airbags (for peace of mind, even though the MG Hector is not crash tested yet)

4) Nice to have features like the Panoramic sunroof, electric Tailgate, Electric Driver and Passenger seat adjusts

5) All essential Features like ESC, Hill Hold, etc

6) A great sales and service experience - in today's age a lot of companies are just failing miserably in this department - they may have good cars but they have miserable sales teams who hardly make an effort to sell!

7) The MG Hector Plus is just the right size (around 4.7m) to take to any city / mall parking and not having to worry about the car being too big or long. It is also not very high, so it is very easy for parents / seniors to get in an out of the car and no side step is required.

8) at this price bracket we can easily take the car to any city/ village in UP and not be worried about anyone vandalising the car or any damage - it is a sad reality in many cities.

These points are just a quick summary of the positives which finally convinced us to buy the car - it is more of Head decision as it was the most practical choice for us. We hope to continue riding our Grey Goose for 8-9 years and will keep on updating our thread as we use it over the years.

[Aditya]

Thread moved out from the Assembly Line. Thanks for sharing!

[Kosfactor]

Around the time of its launch , I had some time to kill and happened to be infront of the MG showroom. This was when this vehicle had very long waiting period.

So I walked into the swanky showroom to be greeted by an equally well trained or I must say he was more of a brand ambassador in that sense, so I was allowed to sit inside and I looked up to see the insane sunroof and equally well decorated showroom ceiling.

Totally impressed with the way MG has presented the entire show, it has changed what people expect of a large cross-over overnight. As soon as it released XUV's sales reduced significantly, the last time this happened was when Creta entered the market.

I wish you get to keep this car for long & have lots of fun driving while being at it.

[achyutaghosh]

Ah, was waiting for this one. Congratulations on your Grey Goose, Behemoth, and of course for a fantastically detialed review in your own inimitable style.

Between the Compass and Hector Plus, you seem to have all the motoring bases covered- one is compact, fast, stiff and fun to drive- perfect for the weekend fun drive on the open highways. While the other is spacious, feature loaded and comfortable- great in the city and for family trips. Personally, i would never buy a Chinese car but with your requirements, the Hector Plus seems to be a great buy. BTW did you ever check the XUV700 during your buying process? Everyone seems to consider that nowadays

I agree with your assessment of the Safari/Harrier. Great exterior design let down by not so great interiors, and of course the overall sales experience. I had test driven the Gloster and the MG sales folks kept following up for months. The Tata guys never followed up after their test drive!

This new grey shade looks very much like Fortuner's grey metallic, and is as you said- low profile, yet elegant. And i really love the sepia brown interiors. Looks better than the Compass whites! How is the boot space with all rows up?

And your labrador in the Laura boot is news to me. Guess you can do so because on the notchback design. My bully has issues sitting in the 3rd row so your labrador is an angel.

Enjoy your ride, drive safe, and keep updating this thread.

[Behemoth]

Originally Posted by achyutaghosh

Ah, was waiting for this one. Congratulations on your Grey Goose, Behemoth, and of course for a fantastically detialed review in your own inimitable style

BTW did you ever check the XUV700 during your buying process? Everyone seems to consider that nowadays

Enjoy your ride, drive safe, and keep updating this thread.

Thanks Achyuta! We would have loved to get the Jeep Meridian instead, if only they had launched it sooner and also at a 30L price
But seeing current trends they will probably launch at 40L+

The Boot space of the Hector plus is 155L with all seats up, which is ok for 2 small cabin suitcases + 1 duffel bag.

We did not consider the XUV700 at all as I have not been a fan of the overboard design language of the XUV500 and the XUV700. But the price at which they launched the XUV700 was just unbelievable and definitely a crazy deal. I got to see the XUV700 of a friend in Office who bought it recently and the car is actually quite decent looks wise and the I liked the interiors a lot. They are quite fresh.
However, like Mahindra's most new cars, they are overbooked and waiting periods are typically 1 year+

Hope to have a good ownership experience with the Hector Plus as the Heart is strong

[TSEA]

Originally Posted by Behemoth

So with that background, let me introduce you to the new addition to our family - the Grey Goose - our MG Hector Plus Sharp - Diesel 6 seater!

Congratulations Behemoth on the new purchase. Your observation on the "nice commanding feel" from the drivers seat, is absolutely what I liked most in this vehicle. Enjoy your ride!

[Behemoth]

Thanks TSEA!
Yes it is quite good in this aspect and even my wife also felt it immediately compared to our Compass.
Also I had also initially booked a Burgundy Red - same as yours, but as luck would have it we changed our booking to the new Havana Grey colour which was launched in Oct.
Enjoy your drive too and let's keep connected.

[KI07]

Congratulations on your purchase and wishing you a lot of happy miles!
I loved the colour and the MG looks best in it.
Even we sold of our Laura TDI recently and have been looking for a replacement.
Hector Petrol has made it to our shortlist and the car indeed has heavy doors!
We have other cars(Ciaz RS) for primary use and the next purchase is for a 'feel-good','status symbol' vehicle.
Do you feel it can somewhat match the Laura? Or should we push to the New Skoda Octavia?

[Behemoth]

Originally Posted by KI07

Congratulations on your purchase and wishing you a lot of happy miles!
I loved the colour and the MG looks best in it.
Even we sold of our Laura TDI recently and have been looking for a replacement.
Hector Petrol has made it to our shortlist and the car indeed has heavy doors!
We have other cars(Ciaz RS) for primary use and the next purchase is for a 'feel-good','status symbol' vehicle.
Do you feel it can somewhat match the Laura? Or should we push to the New Skoda Octavia?

Thanks KI07!
Yes the Laura TDI was an amazing car and very few cars can even come close to that now. The Hector Petrol though may disappoint you on the engine front as for such a heavy car it feels a bit underpowered. If you are open to a Diesel car, I would recommend the Diesel Hector instead.

If Petrol Auto is your key criteria, you could wait for the Slavia too and get that in the 1.5 DCT version or 1.5 manual version. The new Slavia would have the shortcomings of the Kushaq corrected and also has a large boot space like the original Laura - though instead of a notchback design they have gone with a conventional boot design for the Slavia.

[manpreetsj]

So happy to see Hector finally getting some love in this forum! The official review thread has less than 50 pages of posts made over last 2-3 years.

In our search for a car in the budget of 20 Lakhs, we also finalised Hector, as we found it to be a complete car which gives a feeling of upgrade over current hatch and is the best VFM option.

Appreciate your detailed review. Do keep sharing more on your experiences & learnings!

[darthvader001]

Congrats on your new ride and welcome to the Hector Owners Club :-)

It is no longer a buyer's market when it comes to Buying cars and it is now the companies (sellers) that command their premium as well as extremely long delivery periods. On an average, the waiting period for good / in demand cars stretches from anywhere from 4month- 18 months !

Yes true. I too mentioned this in another thread. Currently it is a sellers' market. By the way, we got our Hector delivered in July 2021 almost 5 months post booking. However for me the delay mainly was due to color choice (Blue) otherwise I was getting any other color available within 2 months (Mar/Apr '21 when there were no insane waiting periods). It was worth the wait for me and getting the Blue one was not an easy.

If you had asked us a year back whether we would buy a Chinese (SAIC) car, I would have categorically said, no I would not - I was still a fan of European cars and had always loved the Driving dynamics and the build quality of the Europeans. Till that time I had not even seen the Hectors up close - I had though seen lot of Korean cars - the Hyundai's and the Kia's and driven them up close. I had always expected that the Hector would also be similar in quality to the Koreans. Over the past 1 year, I did get to experience the Hector up close with 2 in the close family and that really changed my perspective.
I would not like to debate on the Chinese / Indian / European origin topic, but our choice of car was driven most by what the car offers and the value that we get. At a 20 lac ex showroom price (19,99,800 to be precise) and an on-road price in Gurgaon of 22.77 lacs (including around 16k of accessories)

Yes I agree with you that the choice of car should be driven more by what the car offers than their parent company ownership. Also the MG has 70-80% localized manufacturing. Earlier Hyundai products used to be VFM but not anymore. Their hatchbacks themselves are touching 15 lpa. Hence newer entrants should be patronized until they're not VFM.

It also has a kind of Darth vader type of look in the rear end which feels odd!

A different perspective, you have. I'm imagining it too, after you said.

I also did not opt for any flashy extra chrome anywhere - the Morris Garages lettering that many people put on their cars is optional and I didn't want that at all and prefer the clean look.

Exactly! I didn't like the MG lettering which I felt is overkill. My wife wanted it too but somehow I could convince her out of it.

The Ingress and egress into the car is very comfortable and just the correct height off the ground. So no sidestep is required and seniors are also able to get into the car easily.

Somehow I felt the bucket seat exit kind of uneasy. Everytime I exit, the side of the seat creates multiple steps.

Only touchscreen based controls for the AC unit - would have preferred Manual controls too
Slightly laggy touchscreen (sometimes)
Driver Information system while overall designed very well

Yes felt same with the AC controls but got used to it now.
For the maps in Infotainment, did you get tomtom or MMI based?
The DI is system is good but it is missing a very important feature i.e. instant fuel economy kmpl. For some reason they removed this feature in the 2021 model compared to the 2019 one. Now they're showing average speed kmph instead but who might need average speed?

[KI07]

Originally Posted by Behemoth

Thanks KI07!
If Petrol Auto is your key criteria, you could wait for the Slavia too and get that in the 1.5 DCT version or 1.5 manual version. The new Slavia would have the shortcomings of the Kushaq corrected and also has a large boot space like the original Laura - though instead of a notchback design they have gone with a conventional boot design for the Slavia.

I had been waiting for Slavia, love the interior look, but from the outside(especially the front and side stance ),
I don't like the window line being slightly upwards, even though I believe Slavia will do wonders for the dying sedan segment, I don't think it's for me.

[vasanthn21]

Thanks for the detailed write-up. It was interesting to see the various vehicles considered and why you finally decided to go with MG Hector. Makes sense with your ask.

Originally Posted by Behemoth

Coming to the side, here one can make out some awkwardness in the proportion

The side profile somehow reminds me of the Honda Mobilio, although Mobilio is probably a lot smaller.

Originally Posted by Behemoth

One of the peculiar things about the Hector's tailgate is the way the whole taillight assembly also is part of the tailgate and when the Boot is open it looks kind of weird. This is quite different from the Jeep Compass's tailgate where half the tail lights are on the tailgate and half on the body.
The Benefit though of the Hector's design is that the tailgate opens very wide and the usable boot width is also almost 125cm at some heights, which is more than the width in most cars which is around 100cm.

Doesn't this mean that if the car is stopped at night with the tailgate open, the vehicle will not be visible from a distance due to lack of tail lamps, barring the reflectors? (I am assuming the lights along with the reflectors are only reversing lights)

[Bibendum90949]

Congratulations Behemoth on your new ride. Thank you for sharing such a detailed buying and initial ownership experience. I was little skeptical when you indicated to me couple of months back that you're zeroing in on Hector plus. My thinking was after having used and thoroughly enjoyed two solid Euro cars(Yeti and Laura) how could you pick up a Hector. I really thought you would end up with Kushaq or later Slavia. But then you've done the due diligence and your use case and budget perfectly made this one the car of your choice.

Such a positive review coming out of you, being an ex owner of Laura and Yeti and now the Compass, talks something about the Hector plus. Even I had this mental block of it being from SAIC and my initial driving impression of Hector back when it was launched wasn't as great. But now, I'm hearing lot of good feedback from owners themselves on MG cars like Astor and ZS EV. You've made the right choice. When XUV 700 and Safari fell out of your favour, it was Hector plus all the way. Would you have considered Kia Carens if this purchase were to happen this year?

Knowing your ways of maintaining cars immaculately, I'm pretty sure you'll have a long fuzz free ownership with Hector too. This is also a testament that you're indeed a diesel lover like me. Picking up a diesel car even after NCR rule says a lot and your love affair with 2.0 litre diesels continue. I really appreciate your clarity on thought on what you want. Wish you many many happy miles of safe and enjoyable motoring.

cheers,
bibendum.

[Behemoth]

Originally Posted by vasanthn21

The side profile somehow reminds me of the Honda Mobilio, although Mobilio is probably a lot smaller.

Doesn't this mean that if the car is stopped at night with the tailgate open, the vehicle will not be visible from a distance due to lack of tail lamps, barring the reflectors? (I am assuming the lights along with the reflectors are only reversing lights)

The size is very different from Mobilio in terms of height and width and it looks quite different in reality.

Yes even I felt that if the tailgate is open at night the tail lights would not be visible at night - will check this physically at night to verify. Will have to be careful if stopping on dark roads at night and opening tailgate! This is also the same design of tailgate which the Audi Q5 has - it also has tail lights entirely on the tailgate like this.

Originally Posted by darthvader001

Congrats on your new ride and welcome to the Hector Owners Club :-)


Yes true. I too mentioned this in another thread. Currently it is a sellers' market. By the way, we got our Hector delivered in July 2021 almost 5 months post booking. However for me the delay mainly was due to color choice (Blue) otherwise I was getting any other color available within 2 months (Mar/Apr '21 when there were no insane waiting periods). It was worth the wait for me and getting the Blue one was not an easy.

Yes felt same with the AC controls but got used to it now.
For the maps in Infotainment, did you get tomtom or MMI based?
The DI is system is good but it is missing a very important feature i.e. instant fuel economy kmpl. For some reason they removed this feature in the 2021 model compared to the 2019 one. Now they're showing average speed kmph instead but who might need average speed?

Thanks! The blue is also a very nice colour and is unique. It was worth waiting for
In the Infotainment, the maps in mine seem to be Navimaps .. Though the system is probably TomTom.
In my DIS, I do get an option to see instantaneous Fuel economy too in one of the screens - maybe in a later software update they added it back.

Originally Posted by Bibendum90949

Congratulations Behemoth on your new ride.

Thanks Bibendum

Yes, after Laura there are very few worthy cars to fill its shoes. This one still came the closest and within our budget! Next one hopefully will be Skoda again with Enyaq / Enyaq Coupe (if they launch in India!)