Talk Morgan Forums Morgan Sports Cars Maintenance & Servicing Tarka Running Costs for a Year

I think for those who have always messed with cars it's a no brainer to service your Morgan yourself.

But if you've never sliced into your hand or skinned most of your knuckles, if you don't know what Swarfega is, if you don't have at least a decent set of spanners and more than one hammer, a Morgan might not be the best place to start!

When you do it yourself you know exactly what's been done and if you keep a record of bills, and photos it creates a nice audit trail and record to go with the car.

I don't get it either. It would be good to get clarification. I would have expected a Plus 8 to cost more than a plus4/ Roadster to service than the other way around.

Ian, maybe the guys who say the running costs go into 000,s are including stuff and goodies they don't actually NEED but buy. I find it hard to get to those figures even with £120 brake pads unless you add in mods for performance, cooling, brake and suspension etc...

Williams Invoice S169412 if anyone wants a copy...

BMW Oil Filter: £12.80
Shell Helix Ultra 6.8L: £67.66
Sundries: £10.00
Sump plug washer: £1.95
Total Bits: £92.41
Labour: £252.00
VAT: £68.88
Total: £413.29

Why cheaper than the last Roadster service I had?
No time spent on the front suspension.....
No time spent checking and greasing splines...

This is a basic service and no other work done. Future services will be rather more, when brake fluid and engine coolant need changing.

The air filter no longer needs the wing removed, it is accessed from a panel under the car. On earlier cars it is wing off every 10,000 miles. This adds to the cost very significantly.

The big one for me will be when the plugs need changing, that is wings off, at 60,000 miles.

It seems that a new Aero based car is cheaper to run than an older S1, S2 or S3 because MMC has improved access to certain service items with the arrival of the S4 and 4.8L engine.

Peter.Nobody is doubting what you paid,but when you put prices on a website it becomes open to scrutiny.You mentioned it was an annual service and many owners of trads will be very surprised to learn that its cheaper than a 2ltr let alone a Roadster for a service.To say its easier to service than a trad is just folly there is much more to check on a new plus 8,its 150 mph supercar.At the end of the day you had a very reasonable priced yearly service. My mate in Taffmog with his new roadster(nearly 500 pound bill) and 50 yrs experience as a mechanic doesent get it either,he had the service to keep the warranty.


Em

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Nobody needs to use a main dealer to keep the warranty!

From the AA website....

Do I have to get my car serviced by a main dealer?
You are not obliged (since October 2003) to get the car serviced by a franchise dealer during the warranty period.

You must though get it serviced according to the manufacturer's recommended schedule and criteria using only manufacturer approved parts.

The legislation only applies to the part of the warranty offered by the manufacturer, i.e. insurance-backed extended warranties offered by dealers are not covered and may stipulate different conditions.

If you do get the car serviced outside the dealer networkyou must make sure it's done to the maker's recommended schedule and criteria using approved parts. You must also keep records so you can demonstrate to the manufacturer that servicing was undertaken to their requirements.

You should still get warranty work undertaken by the franchised dealer as it is easier for them to deal directly with the manufacturer.

It was because he wanted the book stamped by a Morgan dealer Steve, but never again.

Em

It seems to be a common want but I've sold many cars and almost always an in depth history file showing all the work I've done with copies of parts invoices means much more to a prospective buyer than a stamp. I also always make notes in the service book, sometimes even photos. When it comes to a p/X at a dealer even they accept it without issue.

Agree totally with you Steve.

Em