On 11/4/26 the engine fault icon came on. A bit surprising because the car is less than 2 years old has only done just over 20,000 km most of which has been on the electric motor. The petrol motor would be lucky to have done 3,000 kms.

It is a plugin hybrid electric vehicle.

So I used the Bluetooth ODB device that I constantly have connected, to read the cars error codes.

It came up with and error P2271. O2 sensor signal stuck Rich bank 1 sensor 2

I tried to reset it with the Torque app I have on my phone, without success.

On a previous car, resetting errors, I did often, as most of the time it was an intermittent fault that would often go away for months at a time. No such luck this time. Perhaps manufacturers don't want consumers doing things that reduce what dealership can charge ther customers.

I booked it in to the dealer for the 27/4/2026, that I bough the car from and told them about the error.

I was asked where car was serviced and for a record of the cars service history. I asked why and they said because of the warranty. I said I was not making a warranty claim, rather I was making a claim under consumer law. Under which a product has to be fit for purpose and have no faults, and the engine icon being on is a fault. They seemed to accept that.

The car had only had one service which was not done at at MG mechanic. Because I was not making a warranty claim, that was all irrelvant.

Later in the day I got this text message.

“Hello, we have carried out the inspection of your vehicle and our next step is to replace the engine control module. Please let us know how you wish to proceed.”

I rang them and asked, considering the error was in the O2 sensor, why were they wanting to change the engine control module(ECM). They put me on hold, why they found out.

It seems that the people you speak to are not the ones that actually work on your car. Possible one of the reasons dealerships charge more than a local mechanic.

They came back, that is the standard procedure suggest by MG. I suggest that was like changing a whole computer because of a reported fault in a mouse. After a bit more conversation I was told the O2 sensor had been checked out and it was ok, so logically the fault could be caused by a faulty engine control module.

I then asked if the replacement of the engine control module was going to be at no cost to me. I was then again asked to provide service history for the car. I gave my speel about consumer law. I was asked if the consumer laws had given me a quote to fix the fault. It was quite obervious to me that the person I was speaking to had no idea what consumer law was. I concluded by saying I wanted the fault fixed at no cost to me.

It was getting on through the day so I rang them to ask what was happening. I was unable to speak to anyone, a tactic that many businesses seem to now use, so left a voicemail message. Later I got this text:

“Hello, in order to carry out the repairs on your vehicle we have to carry out a technical case. We are in that process now for you. Thank you”

To which I replied:

“The Technician case was already done. I need the car 4 tomorrow”

To which I got this:

“Not through us at this stage. The diagnosis has been completed; however, we now need to contact the manufacturer’s technical department to obtain prior approval. The parts have not yet been replaced, as they are currently on order. In order for us to proceed with ordering and fitting the parts, the technical case must first be completed and approved by the manufacturer. You are more than welcome to collect the vehicle and rebook for another day if that suits you better. Please let me know if you would like to come in tomorrow morning to collect the vehicle or if you are able to make it down by 5pm today.”

The message was contradictory. It said the parts had not been replaced because they are on order but then went on to say they cannot be ordered until they get the ok from MG.

The message then went:

“I will make it by 5 pm”

“No worries, we will organise to rebook the vehicle.”

I picked the car up and immediately noticed that the engine icon light was no longer on. I assume they had reset it. Driving home, even when I switched to the petrol engine the engine icon did not come on. However I am not convinced that the issue is fixed.

I put most of the above into AI and it mentioned a MG recall on our year car.

“There was a significant recall for the 2021-2022 MG HS PHEV regarding carpet underlay interfering with an electrical grounding stud. If a ground is “noisy” or loose, it can cause sensors to send back weird voltages that the ECU misinterprets as a fault. It's worth asking the dealer if your car has had the REC-005652 recall service completed.”

I have yet to do that.

The AI also reconed that the O2 sensor could be faulty because the car rarely gets driven on petrol. However the dealership say ther is no fault in the O2 sensor. That then leaves the ECU. AI suggests that later ECUs may have a higher tolerance for O2 sensors. I would have thought that would be a software update rather than having to change a ECU.

The AI also pointed out that under consumer law I deal with who I bought the car from. That being the dealership. The Dealerships procedures dealing with MG has nothing to do with me.

It also indicated under Australian consumer law that a minor fault, such as a engine fault icon, if not fixed in a reasonable time, becomes a major fault meaning that I can ask for a full refund or replacement car as well as compensation for the inconvenience. I'm sure dealerships no all that but hope ther customers dont.

Well worthwhile noing your consumer rights, that have nothing to do with warranties.

I could contact the dealership and inquire about the REC-005652 recall service, but tactically that would be a bad move on my part.

The engine fault is no longer showing. It may never show again. But I dont want to be in some remote location if it ever does. Based on my previous experience with the dealership they are unlikely to call be back. In which case I will call them in a few weeks. That way they look like they're dragging their foot, and I justifiably can say that a minor fault has increased to a major fault and I have the ammunition to be able to ask for a replacement car.

Its a pitty I have to used these tactic. But on the other hand the dealership has attempted to used the “warranty tactics” against me.

Having not heard from the dealership about 1:15 pm on 5/5/2026 I rang them

The phone rang for a long time. It was eventually answered by a person that was not in the service department even though I had made that as a selection from audible options. She asked me the registration number of the car which I gave her and then she said it's booked in for diagnostic on Thursday. I said that is news to me.

I explained the previous situation and she said she will put me through to the service department. After a quite another long delays she came back and said she cannot contact them but they will contact me. She verified my phone number.

Hi Geoffrey, Thank you for your patience while we investigated the repair approval for your vehicle. My Service Manager has escalated this to our Regional Manager, who has confirmed that without a technical case being carried out on your vehicle, we are unable to proceed with ordering the ECU. We would be more than happy to book your vehicle in to complete the technical case and can provide you with a loan vehicle for the duration of the process. We would need minimum of 5 days for the technical case to be conducted. Please let me know how you would like to proceed.

Rang back on the number from the text message and went to voicemail, left and message for them to ring me back.

Also texted to them:

Have your Regional manager ring me

Hello, for this you will need to reach out to MG Australia customer care team. Thank you

I did not purchase the car from MG, I purchased it from your organisation. Have an appropriate person from your organisation ring me

Hi Geoffrey, just a quick reminder of your upcoming appointment on 01 June for your vehicle (Rego: 896IP2) at 34-48 Anzac Ave, HILLCREST QLD 4118. We look forward to seeing you!

Whilst waiting weeks for them to ring me I get the engine icon showing up. The above is what my Torque app said about it

I never made this appointment. I asked for Someone to ring me. That has not happened

Geoffrey, I understand this has been frustrating, and I'm sorry for the experience. I'll arrange for a team member to call you to work through this properly.

Before your team member rings me, get them to read ALL in this link:

http://greig.homeip.net/doku.php?id=mg_car_engine_icon_came_on

“Got it, Geoffrey. I'll make sure the team member reads through that link before they call you so they're fully across the history.”

Based on the speed at which im getting the replies to my texts and the wording being used they appear to be AI generated.

HI Geoff, Jason from MG here. I appreciate your time on the phone today and discussing your vehicle. As noted i would like to proceed with the recall to check and retention if required as a jumping off point. From there regarding your intermittent concerns and fully understanding that the ICE has very little run time, i would like to complete a full vehicle system scan and log this data then clear everything to give is a solid base line moving forward. If anything comes of it we get you straight in to inspect from there. I've checked out schedule and the 12th will be perfectly ok. I have drop off slots available across the entire morning. Would 8am be ok?

My Reply

Yes 8 am is ok. Thanks

Ther reply

Thank you, I'll pen it in.

You will receive a call the day before as a reminder from the guys on the front line. I look forward to getting this one sorted. Given we know the exact plan of the day i would like to keep the car at least half of the day so i can also spend some time with the technicians, is that ok?

My Reply

Yes thats ok

I droped the car off with them a got a phone call later in the day to say I could pick it up. When I went to pick it up they said it wasn't ready because they'd done a road test and found it was still misfiring. After waiting some time they said the problem was a coil and they would have to order one in.

I did not get any confirmation that the recall function had been performed.

I drove the car home.

It is just lucky that we did not need to do any driving over the cars electric range, otherwise we not been able to use it during until they got the coil part

Hello, the parts are here ready for fitment. Please let me know when we can book your vehicle in from the 21/07

My Reply 8/7/26 3:42 pm Ok how about 23/7/2026?

9/7/26 7:52 am Sure, did 8am suit?

9/7/26 2:05 pm Yes Please confirm that date and time

9/7/26 4:00 pm Yes we can confirm 8am drop off of vehicle

HILLCREST MG SERVICE Please be advised Your service centre has moved next door behind the new MG sales showroom. Please click the following link for your servicing location. https://maps.app.goo.gl/pffr8ctVyyfDSX6W8?g_st=a

We thank you for your on going support. We will see you at 8am tomorrow morning.

At 8 am of the car off to them suggested I needed it back by midday

At about midday I got a phone call to say theybhad replaced the coil but there were still a problem with the car. They said there was oil in one of the cylinders and they needed to check it out more. Somthing about communicating with MG. I said ok but I needed the car the next day. Because it it a PHEV I can drive it on electric only

Received this text messageat 12:19 pm

Hi Geoffrey, If this is suitable for you, we'll continue to monitor for any updates through the day today. We will just need to keep your vehicle with us until the end of today. My service manager has said that you are welcome to take it if you do need it back for tomorrow. I will keep you updated and let you know if they do reply to us today. Thanks

I assume by they, they mean MG

At 2:56 pm I got this SMS

Hi Geoffrey, Unfortunately, we don't have any updates at the moment. We will need to book your vehicle back in for further diagnosis for a longer period of time. You are welcome to come and collect your vehicle today. Thank you

I replied

Ok will pick it up before 5

Before 5 I picked the car up and was told they would need the car for a week. Apparently to liaise with MG. I said that was unacceptable and pointed out that if the are unable to fix the problem within a reason amount of time that under Australian consumer law it would be regarded as a major fault and I will be entitled to a full refund or replacement vehicle.

To that I was told they could supply me with a loan vehicle.

That is unsatisfied to me unless the car is equivalent to our car. That is it is PHEV and has a tobar fitted. Also that it would be insurance covered to the same as our car.

On driving the car home i saw the engine fault icin was on. using my Torque ODB reader it showed the above faults.

It is extremely unlikely that all four cylinder injectors are faulty at the same time, espically considering the engine actually does run. It would appear to me that either some cabling has been left disconnected of the ECU is reporting incorrectly. Which could be caused if the above recall has not having been corrected on the car.

See Consumer law demands

After not getting any response to This, on 29/7/26 at about 9:55 am I rang Westpoint autos on this number 0735204011, selected service department. The phone rain for some time and then went to reception. I for the name of the service manager and ask that he ring me.

Jayson is the service manager left message for him to ring me about 9:55 am 29/7/26

As I felt I was not getting anywhere and we had not been able to effectivly use the petrol engine for 3 month, I had a physical meeting with the service manager, Jayson.

I asked if he had read this document and was aware of Australian consumer law and specifically that business could be fined up to 30% of ther turnover for infinging Australian consumer law. He said yes.

He then told me about ther contract with car manufacturers. That they have to obtain approval from manufacturers to do warranty work otherwise they don't get paid. I said I understand that, but I do not have a contract with the car manufacturer, I have a contract with the dealership. And that the relationship between the dealerships and manufacturers is irrelevant to me.

He then admitted a few things:

• That the diagnosis of a faulty coil, was wrong
• That they only had one person trained to use diagnostic software and work on PHEV or EV
• That that person have since left them and they had someone new
• They had a number of customers cars that were waiting on responses from the manufacturer or other reasons such that the owners were without their cars for multiple days
• That the recall about the earthing had been performed on our car.
• That they were unable to supply a loan car that was a PHEV, with a towbar and the same insurance protections as our car.

As a compromise I suggested,I was willing to drop off the car for one day at a time, for them to do ther diagnosis, and pick it up at the end of each day. That way I had use of the car at other times. Because it is a PHEV I can drive it for 63 Km without using the petrol engine.

This was arranged starting on 13/8/2026

I dropped the car off on that date. On picking it up at the close of business, they said they would need the car again the next day. As we had already arranged for that,it happened. It was mentioned that a cylinder leak test (I assume compression test) had been performed but the people I was talking to, did not have the results.

On picking up the car the next day, 14/8/96, I was informed that the problem had been rectified and that it was a faulty spark plug.

4 months unable to use the petrol engine because of a simple faulty spark plug.

I'm not a motor mechanic but no enough about petrol engines to no that when an engine is misfireing, the first thing to do, is check the spark plugs. It would appear that because of the relationship between manufacturers and dealerships, that it is not possible to simply check spark plugs without first going through a whole lot of computerized software analytics.

We are lucky in that it is plug-in hybrid car that has a 64 km electric only range. And we did not need to go beyond 64 kilometres in the last few months. Had that not been the case we would have been without our car for up to four months.

Based on what I have read elsewhere, it appears that dealerships and perhaps the manufacturer as well, appease consumers, by offering them loan cars.

The report part of ther invoice states that the warranty on the spark plugs is only 20,000 kilometres, yet the service manual states the spark plugs do not have to be changed until 60,000 kilometers.

They did not charge me anything. I would not have paid, because based on ther own documented advise, the service manual, the spark plugs should last 60,000 kms. And only one was faulty but they changed all 4.

Then ther is the bit in the zero charge invoice about fuel det degredation. No doubt because I have not put petrol in the car for 8 months. Part of the reason for that is because we were not able to effectively use the petrol engine for about four months.

When we purchased the car we where not told that the fuel had to be used used within a certain time. No indication in the owners manual of that either

The owners manual states that fuel tank is pressurised. It is not in the sun or heat. Based on that, and the advise, the fuel should last a year.

Re this on the report:

“Customer states there is also a list of injector circuit faults retrieved from his non-genuine OBD scanner after repair. Suggest these were evident as result of the cylinder power balance test.”

If that is the situation then these error codes should have been cleared before the car was returned to me.

I am not particularly happy with the way all this came about and was handled. I see serious issues with the overall automotive industry and this particular dealership. Although I don't have experience with other dealerships, from what I've read, most of them are much the same.

Perhaps it is because I no what my Consumer rights are and the average car purchaser does not. That so many consumer have been bluffed into accepting warranty conditions,not noing that consumer laws exist that give them far better protection than warranties. That Australian consumer laws override most of the restrinctions that are written into warranties.

With the revised penalties, of up to 30% of the businesses turnover, for infringing Australian Consumer laws perhaps things will change.

Maximum fine 30% of the corporation's adjusted turnover

https://www.accc.gov.au/business/compliance-and-enforcement/fines-and-penalties