Just over two years ago, I promised to "report back in a week". Ha!
So the LE500 disappeared into the system for a respray, as mentioned, and never returned, and never returned and never returned and our departure date from the UK was looming. And the car never returned ...
I was walking up the airbridge about to fly out, still on the phone chasing MG to ensure that the car would be at the shippers for loading into the container that day. Two months later, it duly arrived in NZ. Imagine my frustration when I collected the car from the wharf, only to find that the only part repainted was the front bumper.
Several zillion emails and texts later the cause was finally taken up by MG (NZ) and finally the car was off to the paint shop. Only seven weeks later, I have, today, collected my beautifully re-sprayed LE500 from the paint shop - 19 months after the end of the warranty period. It has taken a while ... But - it looks fabulous.
The sun was setting as we arrived home, giving the new paint job a golden hue.