Talk Morgan Forums Community The Malvern Arms New or secondhand?

Mechanically the Duratec 2.0 engine, Mazda gearbox, and Holden diff all function perfectly. Any problems that occur in those areas could happen to any car.

In general the only problems that people seem to have with the trad series relate to fit and finish. There also seems to be some ongoing problems with springs.

Apart from a couple of small issues with the wrong items supplied as against those ordered (quickly replaced at no expense to us) we have had the following issues:
Ride height to low - springs replaced under warranty
Water entering the cable grommet above foot well - ECU box better sealed and tube added to redirect aircon water - work done under warranty
Loose headlight rim - replaced under warranty.

Remaining issue is the MIL light that comes on every so often due to the cat not working well enough. I partly blame myself for that though as I insisted on having the Aero Racing exhaust system fitted and it was the first car to leave the factory with that system that was perhaps not fully developed. They have had the tubes wrapped and sent me a 400 cell cat to replace the 200 cell but the problem still occurs every so often. I like the system and the extra power it delivers so I just check and then cancel the error when the MIL light comes on.

The only other comment that I would make is that having now owned a Morgan for 18 months and 15,000km (that after the trip to Shelsley Walsh will be over 20,000) I would specify a few things slightly differently on a new car.

I had an interesting experience recently. I got a very kind invitation to the RAF Benson event. Embarrassingly whilst I was there the drivers door hinge/stay assembly decided to grenade on me.

A very helpful RAF fitter bought me a set of hex tools to try and re-assemble it. On inspecting it he laughed out loud. He said that whoever selected this range of fastenings was an amateur. He said that military and airframes in general need particular combinations of securing. He said there should have been a nylock on the bolt or this was totally predictable. Interestingly Gajet had suffered exactly the same fault on his S4.

Perhaps we are identifying an opportunity for the factory here. Review the assembly and elements and get an airframe fitter in to provide advice ? Just an idea. Given it takes a set time to build/secure elements on the production line if they can change key bits to make them better or save time it might improve everything.

I have had a few problems on mine but nothing can tear the grin off my face when I drive it. I am putting my money where my desire is.

What's interesting about MMC is that they operate "Lean". It's a word which describes a process which I believe has it's origins in Japan and Toyota. You may have noticed the whiteboards in the workshops at the factory, and the basis of Lean is that it is supposed to promote efficiency and continuous improvement. The big spin off is the 'just in time' supply of parts and MMC use a system of small plastic bags with part description and image inside. The theory of Lean is that with regular meetings round the board, issues can be discussed and solutions found, using a 'three C's' approach, which means Concern, Cause, and Countermeasure. I suspect that this approach stops when the cars leave the factory, but a continuation of this process would be a good way to eradicate common warranty issues, and ongoing problems. I suspect that warranty issues may not even be collected as data for future use.

I'm not entirely sure what they mean by 'Lean', it's a term usually reserved for Six Sigma style process management. The Toyota Production System introduced Just in Time (KanBan) and continuous improvement/total Quality Management (Kaizen), which when properly applied should eradicate the quality control problems they have.

The essential point, which I seem to spend all my professional life telling my clients, is that it is ALWAYS quicker and cheaper to get things right first time than it is to get them wrong and then rectify them. Most companies don't have the money or time to produce sloppy work. MMC, sadly, seem to be able to afford to not follow this advice.

In contrast to MMC's effort, I have just spent 30k on a new Honda CRV, vastly more complex than a Plus 4 for considerably less money, and the thing has been absolutely and completely flawless right from day 1. They do it right, and it's not about the robots...

Fantastic. But I would like to provide improvement.

4 C's

Concern, Cause, Countmeasure, Cock-up. Following this we get FUBAR.

In all seriousness I totally agree that extending it to number of warranty faults would be valuable - do we know that they don't already do this ?

I applaud the importance of making them efficient to allow it to remain handbuilt and UK-handbuilt. I do agree with Hamwichs comments w.r.t. fix first time and don't look back.

Not sure I agree. The more robotisized or mechanised a process, the more consistent the product so quality then becomes a matter of getting the first one right and the rest will usually follow. Introduce people and you introduce inconsistency. Culture comes into it - japanese workers are more consistent than british ones who have a strong culture of individuality. You might know how something should be made to give good quality but getting british workers to conscientiously stick to a standard method day in day out is very difficult.

Don't confuse the use of robots with the issue of quality control.
It is true that there are cultural differences but the significance of Kaizen is make constant improvements that rely on input from people. In the end the robots are programmed by the workers so are only as good as the instructions programmed into them.

Many of the issues we are talking about are small things that can mainly be resolved by an improved set of specifications to suppliers or minor design changes. If the feedback from customers, or for that matter the workers, is not acted upon by management these small and constant improvements will never happen.

Two of the most serious problems in recent times seem to be the issue of cracked windscreens and poor quality leaf springs. The cost of warranty replacements of these items must have been quite significant. If the factory had immediately taken action to ensure the quality of these parts, supplied from outside sources, was up to standard then I am sure a lot of headaches could have been avoided.

Most other small problems could be resolved by small design changes and improvements in specifications most of which would contribute little added expense to the cost of manufacturing and saved a lot on the cost of unnecessary warranty repairs.

Phew! I'm glad I got all that off my chest.

Whilst I agree with Dave's three C's there should be a fourth to close the loop. Capture. This could be a similar process to the factory but via the dealers.

Any iso system requires such feedback.

Howard you might like to temper the generic use of the phrase English workers. I think you will get some interesting stats from Toyota, Nissan and Honda on the quality and productivity of their UK plants. JLR maybe more interesting !

It would appear when the system is applied well it can allow even British workers to do the job of the good hamster in the wheel.

Meant in a polite way.

This is my first Morgan and as DaveW so correctly suggests it actually found me. It was the colour I would have picked, the model (Plus 4) and had every extra in the book, including wooden steering wheel, stainless wire wheels, door checks, radio, luggage rack etc., etc.
It is a 2005 model with just 9,000 miles on the clock, which bearing in mind the lightweight construction is probably just run in.
When I first saw the car I noticed a tiny corrosion bubble near the running board. I asked the dealer to investigate and BHM being the professionals that they are didn't just repaint but stripped the board off and found that the wooden bodywork had started to rot. They found that some of the wood used in the frame was, in fact, sap wood which is very prone to rotting. The whole wooden section was replaced as part of the deal with BHM.
If I had been the original owner and had just discovered the problem then my bill would have been immense all due to the lack of quality control at the factory.
Another amusing incident was that I had the service invoices from both the previous owners and both of them had complained of a rattling sound coming from the back. On further investigation I found a screwdriver had been left in the body section by the factory. After fiddling with a length of wire I now have an original Morgan screwdriver.