MG ZS
Published · Researched 2026-09-21
MG ZS review: the cheapest hybrid SUV in Britain, sold by the least-trusted brand in Britain
The MG ZS is for anyone who wants hybrid running costs at Dacia money and is comfortable owning a car from the brand that finished dead last in Britain's owner-satisfaction survey two years running. Bottom line: the car is a genuine bargain; the badge is a leap of faith — and the seven-year warranty is the net.
What it is. A small Chinese-built family crossover, reborn in October 2024 as the ZS Hybrid+ (1.5 petrol + e-motor, 196 hp, 55 mpg claimed), starting at £21,995 — undercutting every hybrid rival from Nissan, Renault and Hyundai. A £19,995 pure-petrol version followed in 2025. The old ZS EV is dead, replaced by the MGS5 EV, so electric ZSs are now used-only.
What's genuinely good. Three things keep coming up, and they're all about money. First, the hybrid system works: a long-term test averaged 52 mpg against the 55.4 claim, which is honest in a segment full of optimistic trip computers. Second, the kit list is silly for the price — 12.3-inch screen, 360 camera on Trophy trim, full MG Pilot safety suite, keyless everything. Third, that warranty: seven years, 80,000 miles, one of the longest around, and it's the single reason a rational person can buy a car from a last-place brand. The forums are full of owners who did the maths and stopped caring about the badge. An ex-rental '72-plate ZS EV for under ten grand with years of warranty left is, objectively, a lot of car per pound.
What's actually wrong. Let's not sand the edges. MG finished last out of 32 brands in the 2024 Driver Power survey — 28% of owners reported a fault in the first year — and last again in 2025, with no MG in the Top 50 cars to own. That's not a blip; that's the brand's personality. The ZS's greatest hits: TPMS warnings that fire when pressures are fine (no recall, just vibes); premature clutch failures on early petrols (~£678); cold-start stalling and hesitation; infotainment that owners describe as "a bit flaky" with genuine affection, which tells you everything. The ZS EV's greatest-hits album includes a 2024 owner whose 7 kW home charger needed 25 hours for a full charge, a dead phone app, and V2L hardware MG quietly deleted during the chip shortage without telling anyone. Software updates still mean a dealer visit. The driver aids bong at you like an angry microwave, and you can't shortcut their off-switch to the steering wheel. Euro NCAP gave the new car four stars, not five — fine, but this is a family crossover and MG doesn't put that on the poster. Skip this car if you want a dealer experience to match the warranty brochure, you need OTA updates, or the phrase "28% first-year fault rate" makes your eye twitch.
The social pulse. The ZS's reputation is a split screen. Press reviewers — Car, Parkers, the whole Bauer long-term fleet — keep calling the Hybrid+ the best-value small SUV of 2025, because on a spreadsheet it is. Owner forums (mgevs.com especially) are warm but unsentimental: people love the value, trade software tips, and shrug at niggles they'd torch another brand for. The counterweight is the survey data, which is brutal and consistent, and the Facebook-group TPMS threads that never quite get resolved. Nobody's astroturfing this car — there's no need; the price does the marketing.
The value call. New: £21,995 (Hybrid+ SE) to £24,495 (Trophy) — genuinely the cheapest hybrid SUV on sale, and cheaper than a mid-spec Dacia Duster hybrid with more kit. Used: nearly-new 2025 cars are already at £16–19k, which is the smart buy — someone else ate the depreciation and the warranty barely notices. Nearest alternatives: Dacia Duster Hybrid (better badge trust, worse kit), Renault Captur E-Tech (better economy, £££ more), used Kia Niro (the reliability answer, older car). Sweet-spot year: 2025 Hybrid+ — mature software, full warranty ahead of it, thousands under list. Skip 2017–2019 petrols (clutch and stalling reports, weak early dealer network) and skip the 2019–2021 ZS EV (charging gremlins, dead app era, chip-shortage deletions) unless it's absurdly cheap and you verify every feature works.
The ZS is the rare car where the review and the reliability survey disagree completely — the reviewers are right about the value, the owners are right about the niggles, and the warranty is the tiebreaker. Buy it with your eyes open and your service book stamped.