There’s a low-mileage MG4 Standard For Sale for just RM78,000. We’re intrigued.
The MG4 is quite an interesting electric vehicle in Malaysia. It was introduced with a rather ‘wide’ spread of variants, giving it one of the lowest starting prices for an imported EV at just RM103,999 while also delivering some of the best value per PS for the XPower variant, with 435 metric horsepower for just under RM160,000. Yesterday, a friend posted their friend’s MG4 Standard model for sale and this got us quite curious about whether it was worth considering.
The model listed for sale was the base model MG4 Standard, which, as mentioned, went on sale for RM103,999 initially. Now, not even a year after its launch and with just over 1,000km on the odometer, the car is being listed for RM78,000. That’s a 25% drop in value.
This had us thinking whether the seller or buyer was at an advantage. On the plus side for a potential buyer, someone else has already absorbed more than RM25,000 in depreciation. What’s more, there aren’t ANY new electric vehicles on sale at RM78,000. The cherry on top is that the ICE vehicles that are priced around RM78,000 are all less powerful than this – none can do 0-100km/h in 7.5 seconds and I can’t think of any that have independent rear suspension or a rear wheel drive set-up. Nothing in that price point can match the NVH of an EV either.
However, there are some neutral and negative points to consider. While RM25,000 in depreciation right out of the showroom may sound like a lot, it’s actually quite typical for even ICE vehicles to lose about 25% of their value within a year. A quick search on mudah reveals Nissan Almera VLT models registered in 2023 typically list for RM68K. We recently covered a Kia Niro that had depreciated by 45% in under 2 years with 3000km on the clock. So, while this depreciation hit is definitely being borned by the original buyer of the MG4, the depreciation indicated by the list price is not too dramatic.
The other thing to factor in is the range of the vehicle. The MG4 uses WLTP in its range rating, which is more accurate than NEDC and CLTC. 350km of range is sufficient for city use but will necessitate several stops to top up while doing interstate drives. This is fine if you’re driving out of town with no urgency, but if it’s peak season or an emergency situation, you’d best have a 2nd car in your garage. Finally, also consider that the MG4 Standard range is sold brand new for the equivalent of RM91K in Thailand and the equivalent of RM83K in China. In Malaysia, the artificial price barrier that protects Proton and Perodua forces the initial price to be above RM100K.
Our conclusion is this: at RM78,000 you’re getting a subjectively good deal on this car as some depreciation has been absorbed. There may be some room to negotiate on price, but at the same time there are going to be plenty of people interested in an EV at this price point. So negotiate at your own peril – the deal may be snapped up quickly. At the same time, if you’re in no hurry, there are bound to be plenty of better value deals out there – maybe at a higher price but with more initial value lost – for example, just imagine a similar condition MG4 Extended Range model being listed for RM99K. Yes, RM99K is a lot higher than RM78K, but the depreciation would have been 33.5% as this variant is sold at RM149K new. Theoretically, it’s better value as more depreciation is absorbed by the initial seller. What’s more, the MG4 Extended Range offers 245PS of power and more importantly the range is 520km which is much more usable for long distance drives. If you just want to try an EV for daily driving and plan to keep an ICE or hybrid for long distance drives, this is a solid deal.
You can read our review of the MG4 Extended Range or Xpower for context.
