Talk Morgan Forums Morgan Sports Cars Classic Morgans (pre-CX) Low mileage cars

What is the collectives opinion on very low mileage cars? Early 2000s with 5000 miles on the clock confirmed by MOT history. Obviously tyres and cam belt but any other things to watch out for?

If an engine is not turned over for long periods the oil seals can adhere to the bearing surface and become scuffed as soon as the engine is started.

My neighbours MGB rarely sees the light of day. On one occasion, when his wife took it into town, she lost all of the hydraulic fluid before she got there…that’s brakes and clutch seals failed!
So many other things like stale petrol in the tank for long periods, sticky brake cylinders and clutch plates.
I am not saying “do not buy” but such cars should not attract too much of a premium as you have to allow for inevitable repairs and possible inconvenience in the early days of ownership.

Mine had only done 5000 miles in its first 10 years, I knew the likelihood of several issues arising so I insisted on a thorough check and derive before delivery. Needed new catalytic converter, new egr, new water pump, several new hoses, brake and calliper seals and a few other bits and bobs too. Would have come to around £3k including labour. Done 1800 faultless miles since purchase and hope for a couple of thousand more this year.

In my opinion a low miles car can be fine but buy from a dealer with a decent warranty or a decent service history and at least proof or regular use.

Looking at the MOT history in detail it has done around 700 miles annually for the last 4 years. Much less prior to that. About the same as my current 4/4 which has done 12,000 miles in 50 years! I’m hoping that would be enough to highlight any problems caused by the previous lower mileages.
It’s from my local dealer so I’ll make sure the warranty is good!

So whilst it is nice to see a low mileage Morgan, most usually due to the low mileage have not had the annual services performed and you can find gaps of many years with no routine maintenance being done at all. So you can get the build up of sludge from lack of use in radiators, engine etc

I've had a couple of very low mileage Morgans with excellent service history, and without question you may experience some recommissioning costs, eg exhaust baffles broke off inside due to condensation in the exhaust, the king pins had to be stripped and rebuilt as they had bands of corrosion from sitting which caused stiction in the movement. Suspension in general may be less compliant as they have usually sat in a static position for some time and settled and can start to weep. Then you tend to find leaks appear as the cars are used eg radiators, engine gaskets, water hoses etc. Water bottles and the washer lines clog up with gunge from lack of use, which if the water line pops off the washer jet nipple can lead to a wet cabin and if it spills onto the a PCB then potentially more trouble, Then there are potential electrical gremlins, brake lights, earth issues and of course the rear brake cylinders can fail/require attention.

I have enjoyed both of my low mileage Morgans but the first 6 months or so of bringing them back into use can be a little frustrating and expensive. Having said that I've had well used Morgans with good service history where eg the spark plugs or filters hadn't been changed, the spark plugs were rusted in place one broke in half when being removed and caused an massive problem to remove the rest from the cylinder head. The wire wheels had not been off for years and became almost impossible to undo. And this was a car with the same main dealer annual service history from new.

Thanks for the reply John. I’ll add those points to my list of questions.
My previous classic was an MGB Roadster that had sat on blocks for 16 years so I was expecting some expenses to recommision.

All excellent advice here! I found this out the hard way too! I have spent a year sorting my low milage pristine example of a 2010 plus 4 with 7000 miles..

If I could go back a year I would take advantage of the much lower prices of a so called high milage car. You know all is checked and serviced as the car is regularly used and lets be honest, It might have 20-30,000+ miles on the clock but would you call your daily runner a high milage car at 10 years old with 30,000 miles..... I don't think so. Remember modern drive trains/engines are designed to to be used regularly and thrive on it!
I have learnt that far too much emphasis is placed on so called low millage cars and way too much of a premium price expected for what often turns out to be a problem car with not much more than delivery miles. I have spent loads of the folding, not had the use except on the lift and the cost of tax and insurance which was hardly used accept for the odd confirmative test drive after completing work. Get to know and understand what a Morgan consists of before you buy. Hold your horses and learn how to check it for faults then look at a private sale for such a car and you'll save a fortune, probably around £5-10,000. If you feel you'd never be able to asses a car make an agreement to let someone who would undertake that for you. It's so easy to be sidetracked by a potential purchase, especially when it's a lifetime dream. If it's the first car you see, don't just hand the money over, go see others even though you might go back and buy the first car! You're ability to strike a fair deal will be so much better. There are a couple of books you should own and study before buying too, PM me if you'd like more info here.
When you've got all the ducks in a row, take your time, you'll know when the right car finds you and it will! Good luck and don't be shy in asking for help through the TM site!

Richard Thorne told me this before I owned my car. " don't disregard what people think of as a high miler" for exactly the same reasons above!

Jays (who many people on this site know) bought a very low mileage and lovely 3.0 Roadster.
From memory, he had quite a few problems with it.
I’ve owned my 4/4 for 19 years and average 2,500 miles a year.
It gets an annual service a Berrybrook.
It’s a simple car, so relatively few thing to go wrong.
I didn’t buy it as an investment, so the mileage is unimportant for me.
Bud
4/4 - Stanley

As a bit of an aside, what do car collectors do? I know that the owner of this particular dealership has a warehouse full of exotic cars. They can't all get driven regularly.