Talk Morgan Forums Morgan Sports Cars Morgan Three Wheeler & Super 3 No more Morgans for me! A brief history of my M3W

Morgan got the core concept of the M3W absolutely spot on. However, the implementation has not been great. We've had most of the above issues with our car, but have had the capacity and inclination to fix it ourselves.

To an extent Morgan have got away with it 'because it's a Morgan'. I don't believe for a minute that Ariel, Mono or KTM owners would be as tolerant, but there you go.

They remain one of the most fun cars money can buy. The high's of ownership are higher and the low's are lower!

All in fact I hesitated with this one, I regret not my M3W which approached the 65,000km.





view one https://www.sydneymotorsportpark.com.au/two-works-of-automotive-art-hit-sydney-motorsport-park/

I think that your timing was unfortunate Oz. 2011 was the bogey year for the leaf spring problems and that's something I also faced with Bumble. Maybe I should have pressed MMC for replacement springs but it made more sense at the time to get some 4 Seater springs from Mulfab, on recommendation. If I had been facing dealer fit prices I might have thought differently.

Let's hope things improve.Even glacially!

Love the sculptures and the one of the vintage bike racer too.

My M3W is only just approaching 50,000km

Spot on as always Dave. I had a call from yet another Australian 2011 owner with a car that is supposed to have had the "fix" but it has failed now as well. Same again for another owner a few months back.

Great shame but there is more to come on this issue I suspect...

Truth to tell, ALL of the comments on here are valid points.

I bought into the three wheeler back in 2014, the production year which underlined the first cars as being 'mark one' cars. The 2014 mods were produced as an acknowledgement that the first few years of production were hard for Morgan, and those early adopters who owned these cars were bitten harder as time rolled on.

The arguments surrounding the issues rolled on thick and fast on these pages, many earning the tag of 'BSD' or Bump Steer Deniers as people said it was how the cars were and you should be grateful. The owners were simply grateful to be alive..

The factory ran feedback sessions on the car and really went to town with many senior leadership team being involved.

Time has passed and the cars are still being continually adapted, modified and produced as the only 'production' three wheeled car in the world today, and enjoyed by around 1800 owners by now.

The cars have always been emotive purchases. You don't get the passion that they evoke from a Fiat Panda or Vauxhall Aguila, but that is a double edged sword. Because of that emotion, opinions become very polarised and entrenched at times.

It always saddens me when I read posts like the first one on here. It saddens me to read about Oz 4/4's issues.

I helped to run the TM visit to the factory a while back, and Steve Morris bravely stood in front of everyone for an open mic session of Q&A's. Not one question related to these 'issues', or indeed communication. In fact, people had to be prompted to ask anything as I recall.

I was also lucky enough to be involved with the M3W run organised by Mark Cerrone, head of M3W production this August BH. To have that many ecstatic three wheeler owners contributing to the success of that was amazing, and I know just how passionate Mark is about the car and his team, which makes the original post so saddening to read.

It's probably fair to say Morgan themselves are aware of breakdowns of communication with owners around the world. It is after all, a very fine line whether you're passionate enough as an owner to attempt to solve any issues yourself, when informed by your dealer or service agent that they face a blank wall.

To then also meet a blank wall of silence must be so hard to come to terms with, and it's understandable why people fall back to legal redress in those circumstances.

For a small volume car manufacturer, Morgan have to jump through increasingly high hoops in order to not only survive but also to thrive. There will never be a time that they produce a hand built car without ANY problems, but they do try.

Communication is the key, I guess.

The trouble is, the old hand built car line comes out a lot, but most of the troubles aren't due to workmanship in build or parts manufacture, they are inherent mechanical design issues.

How do they compare against niche vehicles like those I mention above? In fairness I don't know, but I suspect not that great.
Putting a large capacity (high torque spike and vibration) low volume bike engine through untested powertrain (cush drive and bevel box) puts the project on the back foot before it starts, compared to taking a well tested engine and gearbox from a manufacturers parts bin. It is, however, also what makes it interesting to the owners, and maybe that's the price to pay until development and design catch up.

Morgan couldn't afford to put their cars through the testing that major manufacturers do, so they turn to early adopters to beta test their products first hand. Early adopters of major manufacturer cars have more issues than those a few years after initial production as well(albeit far less). My guess is that Morgan has been able to stay around all these years (and into the modern era), because their customers tend to be people willing to put up with their shortcomings.

What we do know is that the Morgan Three Wheeler would never have been undertaken by any other manufacturer. Due to both safety issues and unproven tech designs. If this was something being made by Ford, it would probably resemble the Polaris Slingshot, versus the ACE Cyclecar evolved design. Its hard to hamper on them so severely as without them, something like this wouldnt be built in 2017.

Im no Morgan owner, but do hope to own a M3W one of these days, Im glad I wasnt an early adopter, but would love to support a company like Morgan who still brings it even with the odds stacked against them.

I have to admit that I would not own a three wheeler if I had the finances I would own two three wheeler five speed, I am still without regret of my purchase and thanked Morgan for having managed to homologate such a vehicle for those who do not want to roll in a cocoon

Calum , how was the rest of your Grindelwald trip ? And trouble free ?
And how many kilometers you drove, Scotland-Grindelwald-Madrid-Lisbon-Scotland ?