[Richardw1992]

Hi all,

I've just test driven a second hand MG3 and all seems solid apart from two oddities.

Firstly the clutch biting point seemed incredibly high, to the point I was always riding the clutch. Is this normal? It did engage and disengage smoothly with no judder but I'm worried it might be on the way out.

Secondly when accelerating low down there was a split second burst of loud engine noise in the cabin, which then returned to normal, this happened about 2-3krpm and sounded similar to when Honda's switch over to Vtech. The seller said the VTI-Tech on these engines works in the same way, but I wasn't aware they did?

Is this normal?

Many thanks,

Richard

 

[YasmineGotham]

the mg3 has no variable valve timing at all, the engine needs looking at

 

[Richardw1992]

the mg3 has no variable valve timing at all, the engine needs looking at

Thank you, I thought that was the case but when I mentioned my concerns the seller got very defensive and verbally aggressive accusing me of "clearly having no knowledge about cars..." "all MG3s make that noise, they have variable valve timing like Hondas VTech" blabla...

Needless to say I trusted my instinct and I'm glad I walked away from this one, you have confirmed my suspicions.

For what it's worth, the seller said if it wasn't sold by Thursday the 9th July 2020 it was being part exchanged towards a new car on Friday 10th July 2020. I mention this and put dates in just in case the seller was being dishonest or someone else sees the car up for sale soon.

It was a yellow 64 plates registration VO64 FFN - previous a Cat D - had been on ebay for a couple of weeks but has now just been taken down.

Recent timing chain change by Brown and Gammons and seemingly otherwise well maintained and a good example, but buyer beware!

 

[mattykan]

Thank you, I thought that was the case but when I mentioned my concerns the seller got very defensive and verbally aggressive accusing me of "clearly having no knowledge about cars..." "all MG3s make that noise, they have variable valve timing like Hondas VTech" blabla...

Needless to say I trusted my instinct and I'm glad I walked away from this one, you have confirmed my suspicions.

For what it's worth, the seller said if it wasn't sold by Thursday the 9th July 2020 it was being part exchanged towards a new car on Friday 10th July 2020. I mention this and put dates in just in case the seller was being dishonest or someone else sees the car up for sale soon.

It was a yellow 64 plates registration VO64 FFN - previous a Cat D - had been on ebay for a couple of weeks but has now just been taken down.

Recent timing chain change by Brown and Gammons and seemingly otherwise well maintained and a good example, but buyer beware!

Carbuyer has an owner's review section which is worth a read:

MG 3 Owner Reviews: MPG, Problems & Reliability | Carbuyer

www.carbuyer.co.uk

Cheers..