MG's first Toyota Kluger rival will come with a big service bill

One of Australia’s most budget-friendly seven-seat SUVs isn’t so kind on buyers come service time, with a single round of capped-price maintenance to set owners back nearly $3000.

The vehicle in question is the new MG QS, a large SUV to rival the Toyota Kluger, Chery Tiggo 8, Kia Sorento, LDV D90, and Hyundai Santa Fe.

According to recently published capped-price servicing information, the six-year or 90,000-kilometre service for an MG QS will set owners back between $2526 and $2920, depending on the model variant.

As a result, seven years of capped-price servicing for a base QS Excite tallies a shocking $6336, at an average of $905 per year. The all-wheel drive QS Essence is even dearer to maintain, costing $6962 over seven years, or $995 per year.

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A full breakdown of MG QS service pricing can be found below:

For context, the Chery Tiggo 8 Super Hybrid – a plug-in hybrid alternative to the QS – costs $3174 to service over the same period, while European manufacturer Skoda offers a seven-year Kodiaq service pack for $3700.

Audi will only offer you five years of capped-price servicing with the six-figure Q7 luxury SUV, but even then the total falls short of $4000.

Sticking within the MG stable, the smaller MG HS SUV is offered with 10 years of capped-price servicing totalling $5741.

The QS is MG’s largest SUV yet in Australia, and its first model to offer three rows of seats Down Under.

It’s powered by a turbocharged 2.0-litre four-cylinder petrol engine producing 153kW of power and 360Nm of torque, mated with a nine-speed automatic transmission and either front- or all-wheel drive.

The entry-level QS Excite can currently be had for $46,990 drive-away, but only if you take out a finance package with MG. A similar offer applies to the Essence, which wears a $50,990 drive-way price tag until the end of August.

MORE: Explore the MG QS showroom