An alternative view is they just wasted £15.5k on a heap of junk when they could have bought a used Toyota and had a better car with the same warranty.

"heap of junk" is maybe a little unfair!. But regardless, some people will never be able to get beyond the, 'new car is better than a used car', mentality (my MIL is one of them).

Customer service was mentioned earlier, and while I have no idea if Dacia is better than MG overall, this is clearly going to vary from dealer to dealer. A customer who feels they have been treated right by the dealer is much more likely to accept/tolerate (within reason) reliability and/or quality issues.

And as some of a Dacia is out of the Renault parts bin, aftermarket spares are an option. MG not so.

Just checked eurocarparts website for MGZS breake parts. None available

Dacia everything available.

You can get brake pads easy enough, simple google search confirms plenty of options The duster actually looks expensive in comparison, over £1,600 dearer when you apply discounts, 3 year warranty vs MG 7 year warranty, 1.0 engine Vs 1.5 mg engine, Duster considered less spacious than the MG, the cheapest duster spec wise has less toys than the MG. Good to see some competition at the budget end of the market

When it's new most people won't br buying spare parts anyway as they will be getting any servicing done at the dealers.

1.0 engine Vs 1.5 mg engine

That doesn't tell the whole story though as you are comparing a n/a 1.5 with a 1.0 turbo. Yes, look at the 0-60/62 times and you'd get the impression that the MG is much faster (and frankly I am a bit baffled by the difference). But unless you are a boy racer, torque is a more relevant gauge of how the two will feel and compare in "normal" driving.

The MG has 141nm @ 4500 rpm, the Duster has 160nm from 2200-3750rpm. I have not driven one myself, but pretty much everything I have read about them says that the MG 1.5 is not a very nice engine. Unrefined, thirsty, doesn't like to rev and doesn't feel like it has the power it does. So I have no doubt extracting that near 2 second advantage to 60mph the MG has would require a complete absence of any mechanical sympathy!. So I also have no doubt that while the Duster is never going to feel fast (or possibly even nippy), I'd expect it to be more pleasant to use in everyday driving, and to be more relaxed at motorway speed due to the extra torque at much lower revs.

Duster considered less spacious than the MG

As for spaciousness, I'd be interested to know who is considering the MG to be more spacious?. When looking at two cars of a similar type (before seeing them in the flesh), a good means to determine interior space is to look at the wheelbase (the distance between front and rear wheels). The Duster's wheelbase is just under 10cm longer than that of the ZS, quite a lot for two cars so similar. So without getting in both with a tape measure, I find it unlikely that the MG is anything other than less spacious in terms of legroom. In the Duster's styling, the bulging wheel arches are a very prominent feature and are noticeably the widest point in the car, the cabin itself is quite slim. So cabin width is the only area where I'd expect the MG to surpass the Dacia, and that is only going to be a factor if you regularly have three on the rear seat. Boot volume is more or less the same with rear seats in place (3 litre advantage to the ZS), but the Duster has an extra 103 litres with seats folded.

Edited by badbusdriver on 08/10/2023 at 09:29

Compatible brake pads seem readily available for the MG ZS from quite a few places even if ECP can't oblige?