Item: Used MG GS 2016-present
Rating: 2
Author: What Car? Team

The <a href="https://www.whatcar.com/dacia/duster/4x4/used-review/n864">Dacia Duster</a> isn’t the most sophisticated of cars, but it is spacious, inexpensive and can even be found with a choice of a small turbocharged petrol or ultra-efficient diesel. There’s even a four-wheel-drive version for some light off-roading.

Another good value SUV with the option of four-wheel drive is the <a href="https://www.whatcar.com/ssangyong/tivoli/hatchback/used-review/n17889">Ssangyong Tivoli</a>. The boot isn’t massive and it doesn’t have the nicest finished interior, but you do get a lot of equipment for not an awful lot of money – plus, there are even diesel and four-wheel-drive options available.

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What is it like?

Ownership cost

Advice for buyers

Our recommendations

Alternatives

There haven’t been any recalls launched for the GS yet, but some owners have had issues with the rear boot lock and its remote opening, headlights that fog up and hold water and issues with the automatic gearbox. Have a good look over the car when you go to view it to make sure everything is working correctly.

Sadly, there wasn’t enough data to include the GS, or indeed <a href="https://www.whatcar.com/make/mg-motor-uk">MG</a> as a brand, in the latest What Car? Reliability Survey. One reason for this is that MG doesn’t sell a huge number of cars in the UK. However, MG provides a five-year/80,000-mile manufacturer’s warranty with the GS, so even the earliest example will still have plenty of cover left.

If you would like to see the full reliability list, head to the <a href="https://www.whatcar.com/news/2018-what-car-reliability-survey/n17798">What Car? Reliability Survey</a> pages for more information.

Hatchback

MG has a long heritage in the UK, and while these days it is owned by Chinese firm SAIC, it is slowly but surely beefing up its model range.

Kicking things off is the MG 3, a rival for affordable hatchbacks such as the Dacia Sandero and Skoda Fabia. Then there’s the ZS small SUV, which faces off against the likes of the Renault Captur and Seat Arona. And at the top of the range is the GS, which goes up against Dacia’s Duster and the Ssangyong Tivoli.

While any future MG products are likely to be introduced in China before coming to the UK, design work is still undertaken in the UK. MG’s design studio is based at Longbridge, where the brand made its name with models such as the MGB GT.

MG MOTOR UK

SUVs are expensive, right? Not so the MG GS. But does that make it a good used buy?

Used MG GS 2016-present

With only one petrol engine option and no diesel, the MG GS is certainly not the cheapest large SUV to run on a daily basis. Manual versions have an average NEDC economy figure of 46.3mpg with automatic versions getting 45.6mpg. That difference doesn’t sound that great, but if you’re buying a GS registered before 1 April 2017, the yearly road tax figure is £140 for the manual and £155 for the automatic. Any GS registered after that date will be charged a flat-rate fee of £140.

Servicing is due every 15,000 miles and you can set up a service plan if you need to spread the cost.

Plenty of space for the money, but you pay for that in terms of a poor ride, low refinement and a cheap-feeling interior

Prices for an early <a href="https://www.whatcar.com/make/mg-motor-uk">MG</a> GS start from about £11,500. Most have done fewer than 10,000 miles and come in mid-range Excite guise. £14,500 will find you a year-old top-of-the-range Exclusive model with under 10,000 miles, which is a useful saving over the £19,500 list price of a new one.

Check the value of a used MG GS with <a href="https://www.whatcar.com/car-valuation/">What Car? Valuations</a>

Since there’s only one engine available, it’s really a choice of manual or automatic. We’d stick with the manual because it’s cheaper to run.

Of the three models on offer, go for mid-range Excite because you get cruise control, Bluetooth, DAB radio, an 8.0in colour touchscreen with MirrorLink and rear parking sensors with a reversing camera. The base Explore version may come with air conditioning and auto headlights, but it misses out on simple stuff such as remote central locking – which is odd.

Top-of-the-range Exclusive cars do get sat-nav and full leather, but the fact the interior isn’t that plush means it never feels that luxurious and, therefore, isn’t worth the additional expense.

Our favourite <a href="https://www.whatcar.com/make/mg-motor-uk">MG</a> GS: 1.5 Excite

<h2>What we're looking for:</h2><ul><li>Plenty of space for all passengers</li> <li>Large boot with lots of clever storage solutions</li> <li>Good fuel economy and running costs</li> <li>All-round comfort</li> <li>High-quality interior finish</li></ul>

We define a large SUV as anything longer than 4.5 metres. These cars aren’t usually particularly cheap to buy or lease, so in return we expect a roomy cabin, a lengthy list of standard equipment and excellent cruising refinement. A few models in this class are two-wheel drive, but the vast majority have four-wheel drive for at least a modicum of off-road ability.

The Mazda CX-5 is firmly road-focused, but its 2.0-litre petrol engine is a strong, refined performer, making it looks good value for less than&nbsp;£25k. If you can stretch the budget a fair bit, the Audi Q5 provides a combination of comfort, driving prowess, quality and space that's hard to beat. Unlike some rivals, it can't be had with seven seats, though.

A more affordable, yet well-equipped alternative is the Peugeot 5008. It’s more than capable of coping with family life&nbsp;– and all versions have seven seats as standard.&nbsp;

Large SUV

Parking sensors are only available on the rear of the GS, so make sure when checking the car for scrapes and dents that you pay close attention to the front. Make sure the alloys are in good shape too because repairs can get expensive.

The interior does use some hard plastics that can show scratches.

One thing to be aware of is that the MG GS hasn’t been tested by Euro NCAP. Now, not every car on sale is tested, so this isn’t a massive issue on its own. However, MG’s other models – the MG 3 and ZS – achieved only three-star results out of five, which should give you an idea where the GS would come. If safety is your major concern, you might want to look at other large SUV rivals that achieve a full five-star result.

For those who are old enough to remember, <a href="https://www.whatcar.com/make/mg-motor-uk">MG</a> used to exclusively produce sports cars, much like Porsche. Trouble is, there isn’t a huge amount of money in sports cars and what the buying public really demands are SUVs. Porsche relented over a decade ago and added an off-roader to its line-up and so did MG with this, the GS.

A used GS significantly undercuts its rival from Stuttgart on price, and competes with the likes of the <a href="https://www.whatcar.com/ssangyong/tivoli/hatchback/used-review/n17889">Ssangyong Tivoli</a> and <a href="https://www.whatcar.com/dacia/duster/4x4/used-review/n864">Dacia Duster</a>. However, unlike its rivals, you can’t have four-wheel drive with this MG.

The engine range is limited to just a 164bhp turbocharged 1.5-litre petrol unit. You can have either a six-speed manual or a seven-speed dual-clutch automatic, though. Despite having a turbo, the engine needs to be wound up to 3000rpm to reach its best and beyond 5000rpm it can sound coarse.

There’s no getting around the fact that the GS feels like a heavy SUV to drive due to plenty of body roll, a firm ride and a long-throw gearchange. The steering is pleasant enough, however, even if it is heavier than you’ll find in its competitors.

Space up front is plentiful and you get to sit nice and high, which means you have a good view out, plus the bonnet is fairly flat so you can see the extremes of the car quite easily. Room in the back is up there with the best in class and there’s a virtually flat floor. The base of the seat is slightly too close to the floor so your knees will be bent a little more than they should be.

The boot is easily big enough for a holiday’s worth of luggage and the standard split-folding rear seats essentially lay down flat. The only issue is the boot opening, which narrows as it gets to the bottom, meaning that you have to be careful when loading items into the back.

Interior quality isn’t stellar, but given the low price of it new, that’s to be expected. The bigger issue is the design of it. The touchscreen infotainment is okay to use, but only top-spec cars have sat-nav and the system doesn’t have Apple CarPlay. MirrorLink is included for Android phones, but it’s not as good as the stand-alone Android Auto application. Then there are the stereo and air-conditioning controls that are grouped together, requiring you to divert your attention from the road because of its confusing layout and small symbols.

Used MG GS 2016-present review

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