MG ZS review - Reliability & safety

Unfortunately for the ZS, MG has a poor reputation when it comes to customer satisfaction, coming in last place out of 32 manufacturers in our Driver Power customer satisfaction survey in 2024. The MG ZS itself is too new to have featured on our list of the top 50 models.

The reasons for its poor performance in the surveys can be attributed to low scores in the powertrain, exterior design, ride and handling and safety features categories. Reliability isn’t a strong point, with a higher-than-average 28% of buyers reporting an issue with their MG in the first year. The good news is that MG does offer a competitive seven-year manufacturer warranty valid up to 80,000 miles, so should you have any issues before then you’ll be covered. On a brighter note, the brand performs best in terms of value for money, where it came in seventh.

How safe is the MG ZS?

Euro NCAP put the MG ZS’s safety through its paces in December 2024, but it missed out on a perfect score, achieving a four-star rating when it was crash-tested. The ZS’s highest score was in the child occupant protection category where it achieved 82%, while its safety assist tech was given 76% and protection for adult occupants was rated at 75%. Its lowest score was in the vulnerable road user protection category, where it got 73%. 

The MG ZS does at least come with plenty of safety kit as standard, known as MG Pilot tech. This includes features such as active emergency braking with pedestrian and cyclist detection, cross-traffic alert and lane keep assist and departure warning among other tech. If we’re honest, some of the systems can feel a little intrusive at times with loud bongs and sensitive lane-keep tech, but these can be turned off if they don’t suit you.

What are the MG ZS service intervals?

MG recommends getting all its cars serviced every year or 15,000 miles, which is actually further than most other manufacturers tend to recommend between services. If you pay for an MG service plan, the brand will offer you a free 12 months of roadside breakdown assistance with AA.

What is the warranty on the MG ZS?

MG offers a competitive seven-year warranty which covers you for an unlimited mileage in the first year and up to 80,000 miles thereafter. The industry standard is usually only around three years, though other brands like Dacia offer a five-year warranty so long as you keep your car serviced via a main dealer every year.