Talk Morgan Forums Morgan Sports Cars Classic Morgans (pre-CX) Bonnet fit

Oh dear this debate has become quite acrimonious. No one can say that Morgans are not fit for purpose. 90 per cent of what hey do at their price point is fantastic. But most of the things customers are complaining about are small things which Morgan should get right because although they are small they cause huge inconvenience and frustration to those of us who have forked out good money for these cars and damages Morgans hard earned reputation as well.

You do have to accept variances in Morgans and that's the nature of the beast. I don't know the rights and wrongs of your bonnet issue, Rocket Man. I sincerely hope it is sorted out to your satisfaction but you can only be guided by what dealers and Morgan experts tell you.

Completely off-topic (except for the RR/Bentley bit): Were you at Rockingham Castle at the weekend, for the International gathering?

First time I've been up close to and able to study RR & Bentley...

Cheers,

A large part part of the pleasure I get is putting things right or what I think may be right ( or trying to ) rebuilding the mog to what I want. How I would expect it to be . I could be miles out but thats my opinion and its my car . If I dont like something I try to sort it out had many years of pleasure and PAIN . It must be better than trying to get a ball in a hole in the grass with a bit of stick . I agree with Jay a lot of new owners think and expect a mog to be a modern sports car its not and never will be . Hence my looking at are they new to the site and ownership and saying they have newbie syndrome with a bit of time and luck they fit in .

Actually long live the North-South divide. I live in the North York Moors, have wonderful places to walk and cycle, and to drive my Morgan . Also great pubs and great beer The fewer people who come here the better . Also my nearest dealer is a proper engineer who puts things right as part of doing the job.

As I commented earlier about my recent visit to the factory, there was little emphasis made to those of us on the tour about final QC. However, for "trads" one person assembles the rolling chassis, one person assembles the ash frame, etc - techniques which are well known for promoting quality and consistency, as that person takes pride in doing a whole job. It is important to note this is not the same as mass production, where consistency is built in because of the type of tooling and heavy equipment used, and the high degree of automation.

The whole reason to buy a Morgan for many is the rejection of the "qualities" of mass produced cars. The Morgan is an antidote to the overweight, over-electronic Audis, BMWs, etc (many of which are fine cars but have little individuality).

I would absolutely expect there to be variability rather than perfection in a hand-made car. Where that variability reaches an unacceptable level I would expect it to be put right by the dealer at delivery or if the dealer can't fix it, return it to the factory for correction.

Somebody above suggested buying a nearly new Morgan that had been fully desnagged. What a good idea! Just don't expect it to have depreciated much - unlike a 6 month old BMW!!!

It is also important for everyone on this forum to be nice to each other...

When I owned a 4/4 between 80-86 a large part of the pleasure was servicing, cleaning and fixing the niggles so whole heartedly agree with those who have been voicing that opinion. I look forward to as similar relationship with a morgan once my personal life get's sorted. I do think Morgan could do more with a feedback loop but you get niggles with anything, try commissioning a new sailing yacht!!!!!!! A friend spent over 600k and spent a year de-snagging it but expected to so I guess it is all about managing expectations.

This has certainly been my experience. I still love Morgans and I am sure these teething problems will be overcome (I hope) - but it does try ones patience.

Could this be why there are so many low mileage Morgans on the market? I think its not due to the ride quality which most purchasers are aware of - I think many buyers become disillusioned with the general lack of quality control, the proliferation of small issues which can fatally damage a buyers confidence and try their patience. I love the Morgan marque and the tradition and I think this will carry me through this phase - but there must be others for whom it does not.

Interesting point about low mileage Morgans on the market. Probably for a number of reasons; many people just want a Sunday car for short trips out in the country, the same people may be terrified of taking it out if the weather is inclement but I would agree if I had bought a new Morgan and spent 40 - 80 odd thousand pounds on one I would expect better pre delivery checks and rectification than some people seem to have experienced. Alas, as others have commented this issue not only affects Morgan. I have a friend who looks after warranty claims for a LR main dealer and heard some of the horror stories a few years ago of new £50K vehicles failing in a catastrophic manner.Quality has improved but for example some of the the latest Defenders (2007/8 models) had clutch issues within 20K miles with the Dual mass fly wheel, fixed if still under warranty but an inconvieneince. The older Discovery - dashboards peeling away after a couple of years plus other faults which are well documented. I'm sure there are issues with other mass produced cars. Fit and finish on hand built cars has the potential to be variable, which is probably the main problems people have but Morgan could probably do much better with the final pre delivery checks I feel.

Thats down South mate .



I live in the North York Moors, have wonderful places to walk and cycle, and to drive my Morgan .

Mk 1 Disco bought new in 1991 - I lost count of the number of problems, bodywork (door hinges), paintwork (shocking), mechanical (diff), interior (welds on seat frames failed repeatedly) - all eventually fixed by the dealer over three or four years, but at what cost!!! In the end I kept it 10 years as it had been thoroughly "desnagged" and subsequently very reliable.

Yes, Jack and I suppose you need winter tyres all year round!

Existing owners, particularly of older models, contribute almost nothing to the continued success of the MMC.


REALLY?


Allen
'69 4/4
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