Talk Morgan Forums Morgan Sports Cars Morgan Plus Four, Supersport & Plus Six (CX & CXV Generation Vehicles) Safety Recall - Brakes

Alistair, steady on, I think that is the most adult post I have ever read on here, demonstrating total honesty allied to great perspective

Does the Super 3 have the same brake parts, master cylinder, etc. as the CX cars? Just a thought.

Problems with Morgans is not a new one. From my relative recent involvement as an owner there have been several. Recently the M3W has needed major issues to be sorted. Chassis, bevel box, exhaust, bump steer, rear sprocket being frequent ones. CX radiator failures, brake squeal, seats....
Why?
Is it underdevelopment?
Is it lack of expertise?
Is it cost cutting?
Is it parts supplier quality?
Is it rushing a launch?
There is an oft quoted phrase....Morgan builds the car and owners finish it off.
If the problem with the CX master cylinder is down to substandard quality then that is down to supplier quality AND possibly inadequate monitoring of parts by MMC in the early production. It is quite common for initial high inspection/testing of a new supplier until agreed confidence is gained and monitoring then reduced. If subsequent problems resurface then monitoring increases again. What is the Morgan process? Order parts and assume they are ok? Random testing?
What is in the supplier’s contract to specify a quality level and expectations with clauses for failing to meet them?
If substandard master cylinders is the cause then will the supplier be footing the bill for rectification?

I am in my 20th year of Morgan ownership- I’m sure there are many on this forum with more. Like Alistair I’ve suffered both ends of the emotional spectrum with Morgan. From the pure joy of belting whatever Morgan down a country lane on a summer’s day- to the pure annoyance over poor service.

Poor service I believe is often an attitude- and that more than ever annoys me.

This situation is a real turning point for Morgan in its 100 or so years of existence- it is either going to step up and attitudinally “ get it right”- or, it will muddle through hoping that the loyal customer will just “ be ok with it” and things just trundle on.

But they won’t because the new customers attracted to Morgan won’t stay. And that would be sad.

S#?t happens- all the time. It is how you sort it. I just hope someone at Morgan is really thinking about communication and mid/long term survival- not muddling through in the short term.

From what I've picked up - there seems to have been some communication with the owners - original notification of problem, and then subsequent update on the problem, fix and possible time frame.

I would imagine that the majority of communications are going through the dealer network, rather than direct from MMC, as they would have the full contact details of those they sold the vehicles to. I would also imagine that there are good dealers who are prioritising the dissemination of information, and then there are others.

No solution has made its way across the Irish Sea yet!!! They really need to get the finger out!

Was yours via a dealer or direct from MMC? If the latter, then there is no excuse.

Williams have said nothing official heard so far. Frustrating with the good weather. I am on my second radiator with the Plus Four, the first being the original design that failed and now the updated design has failed. Had it at williams who took the whole front end off only to find the replacement rad from Morgan was damaged. New radiator finally here after long back order and with brake issue cannot drive to dealer. Sub optimal especially at this price point and especially with mixed news on who has been told what and from who about fix.


Still absolutely love the car and on the whole think it is magnificent. The failure of rad repeatedly and the potential failure of brakes isn't great though. Williams said they have replaced one owner's radiator SIX times.

I remember well when I took delivery of my 94 Mercedes E220 coupe, first in the UK with the facelift and twin airbags and within days I had an intermittent fault tripping the safe mode. Back to the dealership, within an hour the service engineer had found the fault (immobiliser wires rubbing on the edge of the metal tube they ran thru) spoke with Mercedes UK and also spoke with Mercedes production in Germany to correct the fault on the production line. That was the level of service Mercedes provided back then, but you also paid for, when even speakers, the radio and an aerial were extra's on top of list price of the car. It was quite an impressive service feed back system, that ensured quality, which went out the window when they joined up with Chrysler to bring greater mass production techniques into Mercedes. That tie up cost Mercedes billions, lead to an inferior product and it took years to unravel that mess and the impact it had in the quality finish of the vehicles and their service infrastructure which they still haven't fully recovered from, IMHO Mercedes was never the same again.

When I first purchased a Morgan I had to buy second hand as the daunting 8 to 10 year waiting list would test the patience of most people except the loyal Morgan faithful, but repaid by keeping resale values very high for even the most humble specification Morgan. When I bought my first Morgan second hand, a 5 year old former Sunday Times competition car, Life's took the current price list and added cost of the car then and the cost of extra's to finish the car plus £500 and that became the sales price, which was much higher than when the car was first sold five years earlier. When I sold the Morgan back to them I made £150, so other than running and service costs the first Morgan ownership experience had been pretty painless, which helped smooth out the Morgan foibles and lack of quality in certain areas for a quite unique in the market place product. But those conditions that held Morgan resale values etc with a customer base mainly of loyal enthusiasts have moved on, and Morgan now operates in a different market segment with a more demanding customer base.

If the likes of Mercedes can get it so fundamentally wrong when partnering with the likes of Chrysler for whatever questionable business rationale, what chance does Morgan have with finite financial and management resources dedicated to deliver a technically more sophisticated product, branching into new manufacturing platforms and more sophisticated driving aids eg power steering, ABS, air conditioning and so on. Are we expecting too much or have Morgan got to take that next step change in its customer relationship, quality and service infrastructure to really compete and justify their current price point in a very crowded marketplace.

In the UK Morgan has less than 8 years to the UK ban on petrol car sales, its biggest market so far, 3 years into the CX platform, like the M3W, they are dealing with fundamental engineering/quality issues on proven old technologies, which are consuming their quite finite resources to resolve. I'm not sure what a Morgan post 2030 will look like, will there be a market place for it and I question whether they will generate the resources to engineering the new ' form of motion' platform that wont be beset by problems and will the service infrastructure be sufficient to maintain it. Interesting times ahead, maybe a trad for all its foibles might be the true Morgan legacy.

I have just purchased 4 slave cylinders for my morris minor at £22.50 plus vat the real deal are much more. Higher quality ones have the stainless steel bores and are much better and last longer.
Are these Morgan Master Cylinders aluminium castings and unlined bores hence the porosity.