Talk Morgan Forums Morgan Sports Cars Morgan Three Wheeler & Super 3 Reliability concerns...

My first post here...
I've been considering a M3W for a few months now, but have been reluctant to order one since I'm in Houston and over 1K miles from the nearest dealer. I've read multiple stories about mechanical problems and, being that I'm not very mechanically inclined, am concerned about keeping the car running. I know Harley mechanics can be of help, but am still quite worried.
What problems have owners had? How reliable has the M3W been? How do you deal with these issues being so far from a dealer?

Welcome Moncho, good question.

My immediate thought was "light blue touch paper and stand back".

On further thought though, I think that most on here, even ones who have had problems, will say that the reliability isn't such a big issue. Sure things are going to go wrong, but by and large it is a simple car and easy to fix, and any good mechanic should be able to work on it. You may need to wait for spares, so the thing could be off the road for days or even weeks, but generally they are a 2nd, 3rd or even 4th cars, so this isn't really an issue.

I'll be interested to hear others views on this.

Moncho - if it makes you feel any better, I'm in Houston as well (Katy actually) and I've ordered my M3W from Brighton in Scottsdale, with expected delivery in Sept/Oct.

I shared your concerns before I ordered, if your read this forum you can see that some folks have had issues...

When I voiced these concerns to my dealer (Shane at Brighton) he has assured me that he knows of a number of specialty shops who can do warranty work on the M3W in Houston. Frankly, the mechanicals on this car aren't particularly esoteric, so things like changing out a bevel box are easily done by any specialty shop that works on high end classics - and we have a number of those shops here in Houston. I agree that any engine work can be handled by a competent HD shop.

I'm not worried in the least...I expect there will be problems with my M3W, but I'm sure they can be dealt with locally. This car is a low volume weekend toy / kit car. I suspect we'll have less problems with them than we would with a classic MGA or Austin Healey.

Bottom line, if you want rock - solid BMW style reliability this isn't the car for you. However, if you want a gorgeous toy that will be the topic of endless admiration around town, that will require some tinkering and fettling from time-to-time, them take the plunge!

Look forward to seeing your Morgan at Coffee and Cars someday soon!

-Greg

I would make two points:

-Morgan sell approx 600 3 wheelers a year and we don't hear of many problems in relationship to this.

- if you want to place an order, put a condtion in place to protect you from unreasonable costs/lost days of use due to warranty faults. If morgan accept this, you should have little to worry about.

Moncho, welcome to Talk Morgan. I saw this topic this morning before work but I was about on my way out the door and work was busy all day long, leaving me no time to post a well thought out response during breaks. In this time others have made most of the points that I was going to make, but to back up their statements:

Having now put 1500 miles on my 3 wheeler I have experienced no major issues, the only warranty issues that needed sorting were some paint drips off of a couple grommets. The biggest complaint that I see posted about seems to be the bump-steer issue, which my 3 wheeler seems to not suffer from severely as others do. There is a small amount of bump-steer when hitting a large pothole or bump in the road, but I have not experienced it so badly that the wheel left my grip or I felt as if I were not in control. If a bump took you by surprise, I would imagine it could be very startling; this is a vehicle that does require your full attention 100% of the time, especially so at highway speeds.

Next would be the handful of rectifiers that have crapped out or experienced a poor ground connection, which is a ~$60.00 part that is easy to access and replace if yours happens to fail out of warranty. Noisy bevel-boxes would be next I think; mine has been completely quiet the entire time, so again I have no experience with this and the noisiest ones seem to only be on the early cars. I will lump failed bevel-boxes in this category also, but I have only heard of two that actually failed.

By this point, I would estimate that the MMC are above one thousand 3 wheelers produced, and the amount of issues reported here seem to indicate that the problems are really few and far between when you consider that the components of the vehicle as well as major sections of the 3 wheeler are built and assembled by hand.

Then you need to weigh the experience of driving a 3 wheeler, it is like nothing else that you have experienced, ever. The low down view the driver has with the wind in your hair, watching the wheels hammer up and down over the pavement. The attention that it draws is immense and everywhere that you go complete strangers want to stop and talk to you about it. We joke that when we take it out to dinner, we need to plan an extra 15 min travel time, so we can get from the Morgan to the door of the restaurant and not miss our reservations.

Don't forget to also look at everything that the MMC got right. The S&S x-wedge is a solid engine and one that can be easily serviced by any HD/S&S dealer. The MX-5 transmission is time-tested, bulletproof and really perfect for this size of a vehicle. The styling is outstanding and it appeals to pretty much everyone, men - women - young - old, people seem to just love it. Then there is the decent gas mileage, the ability to enjoy it at low speeds, the feeling of having a classic but without the upkeep that an old car requires.

If you think that you will like it, chances are that you will love it.

Thanks for all your responses.
The M3W would be my 3rd car and probably driven once week. The down time is not as big a factor as the "hassle factor". Something that can be a simple niggle at the dealer can be a big production elsewhere. I would have to negotiate that Morgan cover any "warranty" repairs if their done at a non-dealer.
I do understand that it's a specialty low production car and not a Beemer. That's the whole point of this car.
I'm sure Morgan is constantly updating and addressing issues as they come up. I've seen this happen with my Mclaren... the early cars where more troublesome than the latter cars. I hope the more serious issues have been ironed out by the time I get my car.

Greg;
I attend Coffee and Cars pretty regularly. I'll love to meet you and see your M3W when you get it.

Moncho - I'll definitely be at cars and coffee with the 3 wheeler when it arrives!

Charlie gave me the same quote when I was thinking about purchasing the M3W on this forum: "If you think you will like it, chances are that you will love it." And here I am now...two months from delivery.

I'd recommend you take a short trip to Scottsdale and drive one at Brighton. Contact Shane Mustoe - he's the owner, he went out of his way to make multiple cars available for me to test drive.

If all you're thinking about during the drive is the bevel box noise, or bump steer, then the car's probably not for you. But if all you do is grin like a fool like I did, you'll probably be hooked.

I'll echo Charlies sentiment that the problems with the M3W are probably overrepresented here at TM.

Somewhere I read that if you buy something and it is wrong, or breaks, or doesn't fit, you will complain to 14 people before you are done with it while if it is just what you want, perfect, whatever you may only tell 3.

For all its foibles, idiosyncrasies and questionable steering design decisions I love this car and everyday I wake up and peek outside to check the weather in anticipation of another great drive!