Name: MG Hector Long Term Review – First Report
Brand: MotorBeam
Rating: 4.9 (3498 reviews)

MG-Hector-Long-Term-17 — The MG Hector’s smart feature list and spacious cabin makes it a high tech family SUV

MG Hector Long Term Review

A long list of features and acres of room inside the cabin make the MG Hector a very practical and comfortable SUV

A new entrant in the Indian market, MG has made quite an impact with the Hector, and thus when the car arrived in the MotorBeam garage for a long term test, we all were quite keen to test its reliability. The almost 7000 kms done tester felt almost new and we have piled on around 2500 kms in a month’s time, the car being the de facto choice to cruise around in comfort, thanks to its soft suspension which offers a cushiony ride on our badly broken monsoon hit roads.

The Hector has an amazing driving position and road presence thanks to its massive dimensions

Our long-termer is equipped with some accessories too, chrome stripes here and there along with bumper protectors too which just helps differentiate the car among a sea of Hectors as there are quite a few red coloured ones around. It’s a big car and flaunts its size proudly, having good road presence while giving the driver a commanding driving position and a great view of what’s around. It’s not the easiest to park though but the 360-degree parking camera helps, I just wish the resolution was better.

MG-Hector-Long-Term-19 — The Hector is loaded with equipment and the cabin is spacious too

The interior is particularly impressive, there is acres of space in the second row, that along with a flat floor, great seats, big windows and a massive panoramic roof, make the Hector an excellent car for 5 people. That’s the reason why the MotorBeam team almost always plunges for its keys for any big shoot as the boot is massive too. In fact, this car has been driven both in the city as well as on the highway because it’s comfortable in all situations.

The heavy clutch and turbo lag lower down do take time getting used to

The sublime ride quality with an abundance of space both inside the cabin and in the boot made the Hector our go-to shoot car

However, not all is merry as the clutch is on the heavier side which becomes cumbersome in stop-go traffic and there is some lag lower down which affects the drivability. The engine is punchy in the mid-range (but gets vocal) and offers some fun but the soft suspension doesn’t bode well in handling, this is a car best driven sedately as the steering too is on the lighter side and doesn’t offer much feel and feedback. The brakes are good though and the tyres offer good grip too.

The massive infotainment system with connected car tech is the biggest USP of the Hector

The infotainment system is massive in size and looks great too but is not the most fluid. However, the Gaana app is an absolute boon and audio quality is great. When Connected Car first surfaced, I wasn’t convinced about the remote unlocking function, why would I want to unlock the car via an app on my phone when I can do it with the car keys? Turns out, this has been the most used feature of the Hector at MotorBeam.

The MG app allows you to remotely lock/unlock the Hector which has come in handy several times

When the team wants to pick any other car early morning for a shoot, I just leave the keys in the Hector overnight and remote open it, I also don’t have to carry the key all the time as quite frequently I want to shift stuff from one car to the Hector and vice versa. The MG app works flawlessly well and always does a system check when you open the app, crucially it also tells you the tyre pressure.

MG is also offering a 5-year/unlimited km warranty to prove how reliable the Hector really is

With the car closing in on 10,000 kms, it’s service time which will also give us a good insight into the quality of work being done at MG service centres. Other than the routine stuff, I also want to see the cost of upkeep although the 5-year, unlimited km warranty sure brings peace of mind.