MG ZS - Reliability and safety

There’s an element of ‘buyer beware’ when choosing an MG, based on the opinions of owners who answered our latest Driver Power survey, because the brand finished 32nd out of 32 manufacturers when it comes to customer satisfaction. There were very few reasons for owners to stay loyal, and with more than 28 per cent of owners experiencing a fault of some sort within the first year of ownership, only four manufacturers in the survey proved to be more unreliable.

As with a number of its small SUV rivals, the MG ZS fell short of a five-star rating from Euro NCAP. Like the Renault Captur, the ZS received four stars when it was tested in 2024, the reason being that the safety body wasn’t satisfied that the car would be able to deliver the same level of protection to differing sizes of occupants in all seating positions. The ZS also fails to prevent front-seat occupants from hitting each other in a side impact.

Warranty

If our Driver Power survey results ring alarm bells, this fact may bring some reassurance: all new MGs come with a seven-year, 80,000-mile warranty as standard. This is among the most comprehensive cover packages available on the market.

A one-year breakdown service, provided by the AA, is rather disappointing, though, when rivals such as the Dacia Duster come with cover that matches the length of their warranty period. The latter does only have a three-year warranty, though.

Servicing

While hybrid cars tend to be fairly cheap to maintain, MG’s service plans aren’t the best value, with costs estimated to be around £730 over three years. That’s not too dissimilar to pure-petrol cars of a similar size – and considerably more than the Dacia Duster’s three-year maintenance plan, which costs around £470.