A Definitive Guide to Buy MG Hector (Plus) 2023

Disclaimer – This post is NOT sponsored by MG / any other car manufacturer and I am not associated with MG / any other car manufacturer (in)directly.

I am writing this guide as an owner of the MG Hector Plus 2023 model (Savvy Pro – 7 seater – Automatic transmission) and after driving my car for 6100+ km. So some information/facts (e.g. fuel efficiency) may not be applicable for other variants (e.g. one with manual transmission) of this car.

There is so much to write about this car that it is going to take a lot of time to put this information in a structured manner that truly benefits the readers instead of writing what has been already covered in other forums and by various YouTubers. I will keep on updating this post as and when I have something new but useful information (related to sales/service) to share about this car.

Many things mentioned here (e.g. BH series number plate) are applicable to any car irrespective of the manufacturer.

Acronyms

• IMO – In My Opinion
• IRVM – Internal Rear View Mirror
• ORVM – Outer Rear View Mirror
• TPMS – Typer Pressure Monitoring System
• IHC – Intelligent Headlamp Control
• ACC – Adaptive Cruise Control
• LKA – Lane Keep Assist
• ARTO – Assistant Regional Transport Officer

Some (interesting) facts about “The Machine”

• Variant – Savvy Pro ( 7 seater )
• Fuel – Petrol
• Color – (Starry) Black
• Transmission – Automatic (CVT)
• Manufacturing Month – April 2023
• Telescopic & Tilt Adjustable Steering
  • Someone in a team-bhp forum complained that the steering is not either telescopic or tilt adjustable but I can confirm that it can be adjusted in both the ways in Savvy Pro variant.
• Auto Dimming IRVM
  • Someone in some forum mentioned that IRVM is not auto dimming but I can confirm that it is auto dimming indeed. Hopefully, we will see the auto-dimming feature in ORVM too in the future in this kind of car.
• Omitting other details as those can be easily found in the brochure.

Likes and Dislikes

Likes

• Audio System – One of the best in the market
• Interior – One of my uncles, whose younger son was planning to buy a Fortuner, asked me to call his son immediately when he saw the interior of this car. He wanted him to buy this car instead of Fortuner. Everyone who saw the interior and enjoyed a ride in this car admired it for having the comfort and luxury which is available in 45+ lacs cars only. I used to be a WFH guy before buying this car and now I am going to the office at least two times a week thanks to the luxurious and comfortable interior of this car which gives you a feeling of a business-class seat in an airplane. Driving seat comfort of this car is actually a disadvantage too ( at least for me ) as I felt sleepy many times after driving this car just for an hour.
• Very good noise isolation at a speed above 20 km/h. This was one of the things which everyone, who took a ride in the machine, enjoyed and liked very much.
• 5 yrs unlimited km warranty / 5 years unlimited km RSA / 5 free labor services.
  • Update (20-Jul-2023) – This does not seem to be the case anymore as per the below information taken from the brochure. It is 3 yrs for warranty/RSA and 3 free labor services now.

Dislikes

• Sales Experience
  • I had to update my email id in My MG app 6 times as it reverted to some random email id ( not owned by me) on the very next day after updating it on the previous 5 occasions for some weird reason.
  • Many times My MG app was missing details about my booking.
  • Hardly any update in the app even after purchasing the vehicle. I had to add my vehicle manually to this app. IMO, MG’s IT / Sales / Marketing teams have no idea how to design a workflow for a superior sales experience that matches the reputation of such an amazing machine.
  • A delivery order/ticket is created at the time of delivery which was closed 10 days after the delivery in my case. Came to know about it when I landed in the service center for my first free service ( actually free inspection as mentioned by someone in a team-bhp thread ) 10 days after the delivery and the service advisor was unable to open a service order as the delivery order/ticket was not closed. Got an SMS from MG to congratulate me to buy the machine once the delivery order/ticket was closed. I was not able to activate the premium package of i-Smart (which was free for one year till 31st May 2023) due to the same reason. This should be mentioned in the delivery checklist clearly and a gate pass should be issued on the basis of this only which was actually issued manually in my case.
  • A dealer-guided sales/delivery experience instead of a software-guided one. Software is making life easier everywhere and so not sure what is stopping automobile companies to leverage it to its full potential. This will also help in avoiding situations where buyers are misguided by the dealers which is the case many times.
• Documentation
  • Got a manual at the time of delivery which, it seems, has not been updated for a long time and still reflects information relevant to old models only and is a copy of what is available on the MG website / My MG app.
  • Almost no documentation on steering-mounted controls.
• 1.5 L engine in the petrol variant of this car which (in my opinion) makes it underpowered for an SUV of this size/weight.
• No driver seat adjustment memory and so I end up adjusting the seat every time I enter/leave the car. This is where XUV 700 scores a point over MG Hector.
• No way to disable automatic turn indicators. Very inconvenient on zigzag roads.
• Comparatively soft (front) suspensions force you to go very slow on the speed breakers which may irritate drivers of other cars behind you.
• MG has given multiple cameras for ADAS, 360-degree view, reverse parking etc but forgot to provide a dash cam (a must to have in Bengaluru considering frequent road rage incidents). At a minimum, a USB port should have been provided in IRVM which (as far as I know) was available in 2022 and older models but has been removed in 2023 models. This could have made connecting a dash cam to the nearest USB port very easy.
• Engine noise is quite noticeable till the time car reaches a speed of 30 km/h.
• Need for activating the Eco mode manually. Ideally, it should switch between Drive and Eco modes automatically depending on the speed of the machine to improve fuel efficiency.

Why Hector?

• Why not XUV 700?
  • Contacted two dealers in Bengaluru. One of them (Mahindra Anant Cars – Marathahalli) didn’t bring the car to my residence in spite of multiple commitments in this regard. Raised a complaint to Mahendra but there was no response from their side. Another dealer (Mahindra India Garage – Whitefield) offered the test drive next to their showroom only which is located on an interior road with uneven surface. I was not able to cross a speed of 40 km/h on that road during my test drive. My experience with these two dealers made me believe that they are not interested in selling the car to me.
  • I was interested in AX7L variant and I was told that the waiting period will be 12-16 months.
  • Contacted another dealer in my native who promised me to deliver the same car within 3-4 months but I had a big doubt about that. Also, the sales team was not quite confident if they can deliver the vehicle with a BH series number which was the only reason behind my interest in purchasing my car from my native place.
  • Came across a lot of negative reviews about the stability of XUV 700 while doing my research on it. This made me believe that the machine has not been tested thoroughly yet.
• Why not Tata Safari?
  • Heard a lot of negative reviews about Tata service centers in Bengaluru and how service appointments are available after a few weeks only. I consider after-sales service an important criterion when buying a new car.
  • Was upgrading from a hatchback and so not comfortable driving an SUV in Bengaluru traffic which is quite bulky in the front.
  • It was not equipped with ADAS at that time and I was very particular about buying an SUV with ADAS.
• Why not Hyundai Alcazar?
  • No ADAS
  • (IMO) It is not as spacious and comfortable as MG Hector
  • Underpowered (IMO) for its size for Torque enthusiasts
  • Had a very bad experience with Trident Hyundai’s Old Airport showroom ( it used to be on 100 ft road when I bought a car from it ) where the salesman asked me to pay 2-3k extra few days before the delivery when the car was already registered on my name and after waiting for around 3 weeks to take the delivery on 14th Feb (Valentine’s day). Raised a complaint to Hyundai and all they did was forward my complaint to the customer care of Trident Hyundai. Was not interested to go through the same experience again.

Why Petrol and not Diesel?

• For some weird reason, MG decided not to have an automatic variant for diesel powered Hector models and I wanted to buy an automatic only so that my better half too can drive this machine.
• Even if it was offered with automatic transmission, I would have considered the petrol model only –
  • As my daily usage is not that high and I’m not a travel freak either.
  • The irritating sound of a diesel engine
  • Possibility of extending the ban on diesel vehicles older than 10 years to cities outside NCR
  • Diesel is more harmful to the environment compared to Petrol and I care more about the environment than my pocket. I’m not pointing the finger at buyers of diesel models as I too had gone for a diesel model if my pocket had not allowed it.
  • All the inconveniences around AdBlue top-up from time to time

ADAS

• I was able to engage it continuously for a longer time or enjoy it fully on the Yamuna expressway only.
• It is almost useless on highways due to switching lanes frequently and other factors ( e.g. too many speed breakers on Bengaluru – Hyderabad highway even though the highway is really good ).
• Cruise control gets disengaged the moment you apply the brake or accelerate which is what you will end up doing on Indian highways from time to time while switching the lanes.
• It does not remember the last cruise control setting which is a big inconvenience on Indian highways due to the point mentioned above.
• The LKA feature will always pull the car into the lane where it was activated. This is different from XUV 700 which will follow the lane the driver has switched to. I liked the XUV 700 behavior which is how any ADAS vehicle should handle it.
• It may not slow down on some curves when cruise control is engaged which may make you uncomfortable considering the high body roll for this machine.
• It is yet to be fine-tuned to match human behavior –
  • Normally when we approach a vehicle from behind, we apply the brakes slowly over a long distance but ADAS will apply the brakes with greater force to reduce the speed over a very short distance causing a good amount of jerk.
  • I found it driving too close to two-wheelers moving in adjacent lanes which many drivers (including myself) will not feel comfortable with.
  • Once on Yamuna expressway a car in the left adjacent lane moves towards my lane by a few inches and ADAS applied the brakes with full force. My car was moving at a speed of 90 km/h at that time. Ideally, in such a situation, you too will steer your vehicle to your right side by a few inches instead of applying brakes with full force especially when there is enough space on the right side of the car. Fortunately, a car behind me was at a good distance otherwise it would have caused good damage to both the cars.
  • Owing to the above points you are advised to be very very careful when the machine is running on MG Pilot.
• Unable to detect rough patches and speed breakers in order to reduce the speed of the machine in time. My car had jumped in the air to an uncomfortable height on the Hyderabad-Bengaluru highway two times when I was driving from my native to Bengaluru (my first ever trip on this highway).
• There are two buttons on the steering wheel and I was told that one is for activating ACC and the second one is for activating LKA. However this is not true. LKA button will actually activate ACC as well if it is not activated already using a dedicated button for it. So pressing LKA button alone is sufficient without pressing ACC button first when you want to activate all the ADAS features.

Mileage / Fuel Efficiency

• You should NOT expect more than 8 km/L in city driving conditions.
• You can expect up to 12 km/L on the highway if you drive with a speed less than 90 km/h.
• I observed the best fuel efficiency of up to 15 km/L when driving at a speed of 80-90 km/h with adaptive cruise control engaged.

BH Series

• I was eligible for a BH series number as my employer ( an IT company ) is having offices in at least 4 states.
• You need only Form 60 and a photocopy of your company id card to apply for a BH series number in addition to the documents which are required for a state specific number.
• The format of the form 60 ( working certificate ) provided by my employer was a bit different from the one available on the Parivahan website. It was rejected by the local RTO ( actually by the assistant of ARTO Administration ) in spite of it having much more details in addition to the details required in the official form 60 template. Took the help of a cousin (a bureaucrat in the UP government) to approach ARTO Administration who seemed not approachable in the beginning. Explained the situation to him and he asked his assistant to approve my application after looking at form 60 provided by my employer for 30 seconds. Mentioned this point here for the benefit of employees of private companies who may run into the same issue. My colleagues, who got BH series numbers from other states, didn’t report facing any such issue.
• Road tax for BH series number is calculated on the base price ( ex showroom price minus taxes(CGST/SGCT) and Cess) and NOT on the ex-showroom price.
• The base price for my model was Rs 15,81,932 and ex-showroom price was Rs 22,93,800.
• Tax for BH series for a vehicle with base price in 10-20 lakhs range is 10% as per below screenshot –

• I am unable to find the above page on parivahan website and so can’t say if this information is latest or not.
• I paid Rs 26,366 towards road tax for two years which can be calculated as follows –
  • 10% of 15,81,932 is around 1,58,190.
  • Final amount (26,366) = (1,58,190 * 1.25 * 2) / 15
  • This is calculated automatically on the website where road tax is paid.
  • From the calculation, it seems we are paying 25% extra on top of what is mentioned in the screenshot above ( 10% in my case ).

• Always refer to the latest information on the official website as this may change occasionally.

Accessories

• MG provides an application (https://cc.mgmotor.co.in/mgexpert/#/new-hectorplus/home) where you can see in 3D how an accessory will look on your car. Use it to plan the accessories for your car in advance.
• Accessories are pretty expensive compared to what you will get in the market. I ended up buying from MG –
  • The quality of the accessories available in the local shops was not what I wanted.
  • Preferred MG branded accessories.
  • Many (good) options were unavailable in the (small) city I am a native of.
• The car does not come with any kind of foot mats which was a big surprise for me. So plan for it well in advance. I ended up buying 3D mats from the MG showroom (which cost Rs 7400) after checking out many local accessories shops that had either no or low-quality mats for hector plus. Unfortunately, these 3D mats have velcro tapes attached to their lower surface with a very poor quality adhesive/glue which I didn’t observe while purchasing these. These velcros make it quite difficult to remove these foot mats during cleaning and 5 out of 6-7 velcros will get detached from a mat while removing it. I am planning to cover these velcros with something till the time these mats get deformed which is when these velcros will be useful.
• Morris Garages written on the edge of the bonnet, which you would have observed on many Hector, is actually an accessory and I have rarely spotted a hector that does not have it. Its price was Rs 2,950 at the time of my purchase. Unfortunately, it is not listed in the 3D app which I have mentioned in the first point.
• I ended up paying Rs 599 for two number plate holders only to discover at a later stage that the same quality is available in the market at half the price. On top of it had the dealer’s name and numbers written on it. I had to use a permanent marker to hide those details as I didn’t want the dealer’s publicity on a car owned by me now when he is not paying anything to me for the same.

Bharat Stage 6 Phase 2 / RDE compliance

• Someone, who purchased this car in March 2023, compliant in a team-bhp thread that he didn’t get the confirmation from MG about this car being RDE compliant (which is mandatory for any vehicle manufactured after 1st April 2023) in spite of paying extra.
• Went through form 22 which mentioned BS VI only but not phase 2 or RDE.
• I raised a query to MG’s pulse team and made it clear that I will not take the delivery if they didn’t provide a confirmation on this car being RDE compliant. They finally confirmed in the email that it is RDE compliant.

Technical glitches/limitations

• My parking is two levels below the ground floor where there are no mobile signals. So unable to check fuel levels and other things which require communication with the machine over the internet. This makes all 75+ connected car features useless in such conditions. Yet to test whether or not the digital Bluetooth key will work in this scenario. Ideally i-Smart app should be able to communicate with the machine over Bluetooth too in such conditions as a fallback mechanism.
• I had got Nitrogen filled in all the tires at the time of first service and that was the only time when I saw TPMS readings matching the reading of air/nitrogen filling machine. On petrol pumps or type shops, there was always a difference of 2-4 PSI between TPMS readings and air/nitrogen filling machine and so not sure which one is reporting tire pressure correctly. I will check it with a digital tire inflator, which I purchased before starting my first journey on the Yamuna expressway, and update here if TPMS is showing correct readings.
  • Finally, I checked the readings with a digital tire inflater and found it to match TPMS readings, which may indicate that TPMS readings are accurate. So now I am always using my digital tire inflator to maintain accurate pressure (35 psi) in the tires.
• The touch sensitivity of the 14″ screen is very poor and one needs to tap multiple times for many things (e.g. AC on/off etc).
• No physical button to activate the 360-degree view. Although it comes up automatically during reverse parking and when turn indicators are turned on ( automatically or manually ) but that is not always sufficient. Felt the need to activate it when moving the vehicle in the front direction at tight spots. It was not available on the 14″ screen even at delivery time. I was able to see an icon for it finally in the head unit after a software update a few days back. However, IMO there should be a dedicated physical button for it which I have seen in other cars.
• I am yet to see IHC deactivating high beam in a scenario which it has been designed for.
• Voice commands don’t work many times.
• Auto-locking/unlocking with the key in the pocket does not work many times. So make sure the car is locked when you move away from it and expect auto-locking to work.
• There is no button in i-Smart app for refreshing some data (e.g. fuel level, tire pressure etc) in real-time. This is very helpful in some situations –
  • While inflating the tires you want to check in real time if TPMS readings are matching with air/nitrogen filling machine or not. If you are sure that TPMS is working fine, you can ask the person to adjust tire pressure as per TPMS and not as per the reading of the air/nitrogen filling machine.
  • While refilling you want to check in real-time if the fuel tank reading is matching with the amount of fuel dispensed by the pump or not.
• Unable to remember the last played music source.

Mysteries

• Online brochure for this machine mentions that the machine can be connected to the internet over Wi-Fi but I am unable to find a way for it.
• Yet to figure out how to reset/adjust the trip meter.

References / Links / Further Reading

• team-bhp
  • team-bhp.com/forum/official-new-car-reviews/262337-2023-mg-hector-facelift-review-1-5l-petrol-cvt.html
  • https://www.team-bhp.com/forum/indian-car-scene/261052-2023-mg-hector-facelift-close-look-28.html
• Facebook Groups
  • https://www.facebook.com/groups/119351107933593
• Reviews
  • https://www.facebook.com/MGMotorIN/reviews

Conclusion

This machine is NOT for you if you –

• Are someone who is fuel efficiency sensitive. SUVs are bought for luxury/comfort and not for fuel efficiency.
• Are a Torque enthusiast and feel that a machine of this size/weight must have at least a 2L engine.
• Can’t tolerate the average sales/delivery/service experience of MG and its dealers.

For all other reasons, it MAY be a good buy if better options are not available.

About The Author

• A Mechanical Engineer ( by education ) from one of the (old) IITs
• An IT guy by profession
• Lives in Bengaluru ( Bangalore )
• A native of a small city in Uttar Pradesh