Talk Morgan Forums Community Welcome Forum Teetering ...

Dave, Welcome: I have had Morgans for thirty years now, my wife won't let me part with them, and 300,000 miles later we still love them.

Dave - rather than just a test run, hire one for a weekend which should be long enough to expose some of the Morgan foibles as well as the Morgan pleasures. It may also expose you to a Morgan in different weather conditions. I have owned six since 2008 and each has given pleasure but none have been trouble free. Low volume cars (Roadsters etc) seem to have more problems than the volume models (4/4 and +4).
There have been many occasions in the past 8 years when I have felt that I should be calling time on Morgan ownership, but it hasn't happened yet!
One final piece of advice - never drive a Morgan when you are tired as it magnifies all the annoying things some people refer to as character.
Don.

The worst kind of regrets are those that start " I wish I had done it when I could" , so why not go for it.. I did and you'll either love the eccentricities or you won't 'get it' and sell for probably close to what you paid . Good luck.

Your not in the wilderness! Come to see some of us at the next Much Marcle Meet!

Plus there's Tetbury and Bicester coming up so get your fluorescent armband ready!

I haven't read the entire thread, so it may already have been said; however, in general, and based on my experiences with the members of this forum for eight years, the people who have regretted buying one are those who didn't do the research first. Those who didn't find TM before the purchase or seek out a group of open and honest owners. People who went in thinking that they were buying a perfect, mass produced, modern car; in essence, a retro styled Mazda MX-5.

Dave, those who do what you've done (research) but are first time owners might have moments of 'why do I have to fettle a new car' but they, for the most part, have gone in eyes wide open. They will have gained a lot of knowledge about the good, the bad and the brilliant.

My advice is always: it is hand built, expect to have a few niggles in the first 1,000 miles; however, once those niggles are sorted, they are generally very liable and whilst you may have little idiosyncrasies, they are seldom ones that will stop you from getting home or enjoying the car. On the upside, they are like nothing else and benefit from a brilliant community, full of those willing to help and garner positive reactions from the public like no other vehicle I've driven.

As some once said on this forum: the car is the celebrity, I'm just the chauffeur.

Simon is exactly right. I found TM and read everything. I attended several of the meetings to be able to see a variety of cars close up and speak to people. I nearly bought one from a member here as it was a known car.

I drove several Series 1 and they did not feel quite right for me, each was quite different. Given all have had a few years to settle and be used in different manners. Reading TM I realised that the interior space in the S2 was better for me, I could get opposite lock on quickly. Without the forum and meetings I would have gone for an S1 and ended up in a ditch.

Never a dull day in a Mog.

I'm glad I ordered my 3 wheeler before I joined here. 4 months of reading little else but issues I may not of ordered it which would have been a shame no matter what the future brings. It can't be any worse than my experiences with my last Aston, Ferrari and Porsche.

I didn't find TM until four months after I bought my Roadster, so my knowledge came from a lot of research and joining MSCC five years earlier. Having said that, I know now that I didn't know much at all in 2008 about the complex intricacies of the model range so a lot of luck was involved in getting my Roadster which is probably the ideal spec (for me) - Easy up mohair hood, with reclining seats and stainless wires, with the two plus four dial dash. And TM is very different (in a good way, obviously) to what it was in 2008.

Well, had my test drive today in a Plus 4 Supersport and spent ages crawling all over it to get a feel for the car. Given the potential sums of money involved I had decided that this needs to be a rationale decision based on a proper, objective assessment.

What's the verdict? The car I tried was drafty and noisy (but a good noise), the chassis flexed alarmingly around cambered bends, and the steering seemed to have only a vague connection with the front wheels, with next to no feel. The brake pedal was set very high compared to the throttle, and I couldn't find anywhere to rest my clutch foot. Performance was willing but modest compared to what I am used to, and the handling inspired little confidence initially. However the brakes were good, the ride surprisingly good, and the one vaguely modern-feeling part of the car was the gearbox, which was excellent.

As I deliberated the rationale for buying a car which, objectively, is worse than anything I've had on the driveway for quite some time, Mrs T placed an order...

Mrs T buys with the heart then!