Pass rate
89.9%
Above average — 17.5 pts ahead of the 72.4% that cars this age and mileage manage.
Across 99 recorded tests.
Typical repair bill £59–£162
2005 Morgan 4/4 MOT pass rate
- 2005
- typical 29,580 mi
Only 99 tests of this exact model and year are in the DVSA data, below the 100 we ask for before a page goes in the index. The figures are still shown, because they are the only ones there are.
Check your postcode
Most common fault
Brakes
28.6% of faults · 20.9% nationally
mostly worn pads and discs, corroded pipes and a handbrake that will not hold.
Which year to buy
- Best 2017 98.4% pass
- Avoid 2001 89.0% pass
Across the 19 years on record, a spread of 9.4 points. See every year →
- First-attempt pass
- 88.8%
- Typical mileage
- 30k mi
The 2005 Morgan 4/4 MOT pass rate is 89.9% of its MOT tests — 17.5 points ahead of what its age and mileage predict. Brakes is the biggest single reason it fails, at 28.6% of what testers record.
Expert verdict
Steering: 4.7× the national share
Steering accounts for 12.2% of everything recorded on the 2005 Morgan 4/4, against 2.6% nationally — 9.6 points above. Brakes are still the single largest share at 28.6%, but at 20.9% nationally that one is ordinary. Ask for the steering to be checked for play with the wheels on the ground, not on a jack.
- Beats its own age and mileage. Once you allow for how old and how far these cars have been driven, the expected pass rate is 72.4% and this one manages 89.9% — 17.5 points ahead of what its age and mileage predict.
- When it fails, it costs. Only 21% of this model’s typical repairs come in under £30 in parts — the failures here tend to be the kind that need a garage rather than a bulb.
Written from this page's own figures: fault shares against the national composition, the like-for-like pass rate, and the priced repair list. How these are worked out
Watching a Morgan 4/4? Get an email when these numbers change .
How does the 2005 Morgan 4/4 compare?
Cars of this age and mileage average 72.4%, so this figure is 17.5 points ahead of what its age and mileage predict. On a first attempt, before any retests, the figure drops to 88.8%. The median 2005 Morgan 4/4 in this dataset had covered 29,580 mi.
The single most recorded failure item is "Steering rack gaiter damaged or deteriorated, but preventing the ingress of dirt", noted on 4.04% of tests.
- 99 recorded tests behind this page.
- 89.9% overall pass rate, 88.8% on a first attempt.
- Across every year of the Morgan 4/4, the average is 91.9% — best year 2017 (98.4%), worst 2001 (89.0%).
Figures count every completed test on this vehicle-year in the dataset, including retests. See methodology for the exact definition.
This page's data
- Tests analysed
- 99
- Typical mileage (median)
- 29,580 mi
- Make and model
- Morgan 4/4
- Updated
- 2026-11-07
Source: DVSA anonymised MOT test data (2023–2025), OGL v3.0.
Top part to budget for
Steering Rack
Typically a garage job — get quotes before committing.
Does mileage affect the 4/4 MOT pass rate?
Pass rate by odometer reading. Bar lengths start at 67% so small gaps stay visible.
Where the Morgan 4/4 is most common
Across all 4/4 model years on record (2000–2018): 1,372 Morgan 4/4 cars tested in a recordable postcode area, across 3,089 tests. Ashford (TN) has the most, with 93 cars tested there. Cars are counted by the postcode area of the MOT station, so this is where they were tested, not necessarily where their owners live.
| # | Postcode area | Cars | Pass rate |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Ashford (TN) | 93 | 91.9% |
| 2 | Milton Keynes (MK) | 60 | 83.3% |
| 3 | Worcester (WR) | 60 | 93.7% |
| 4 | Reading (RG) | 45 | 95.7% |
| 5 | Bristol (BS) | 44 | 95.3% |
| 6 | Exeter (EX) | 38 | 87.9% |
| 7 | Chelmsford (CM) | 37 | 92.9% |
| 8 | Crewe (CW) | 37 | 96.8% |
| 9 | Salisbury (SP) | 35 | 90.1% |
| 10 | Preston (PR) | 33 | 100.0% |
| 11 | Doncaster (DN) | 32 | 95.9% |
| 12 | Gloucester (GL) | 30 | 87.9% |
| 13 | Ipswich (IP) | 30 | 100.0% |
| 14 | Perth (PH) | 28 | 91.9% |
| 15 | Stevenage (SG) | 27 | 98.4% |
| 16 | Guildford (GU) | 24 | 86.8% |
| 17 | Poole (BH) | 23 | 85.7% |
| 18 | Coventry (CV) | 23 | 80.4% |
| 19 | Southampton (SO) | 19 | 87.2% |
| 20 | Derby (DE) | 18 | 85.4% |
The twenty areas with the most Morgan 4/4 cars in the record, sorted by car count — sort the columns for a different question. Cars tested at a station whose postcode area could not be resolved are counted in the model's total but in no area, so the shares add up to slightly under 100% even across every area, and an area's cars are a subset of the model's. Pass rate is blank below 30 tests in an area, where a percentage is noise rather than a finding. How this model's pass rate varies by postcode →
Regional pass rates for the 4/4
| Region | Tests | Pass rate |
|---|---|---|
| South East | 32 | 87.5% |
| East of England | 23 | 91.3% |
Regions come from the postcode area recorded at the test station. Areas on region borders are assigned to the region with the majority of their population.
What fails a 2005 4/4
Everything a tester recorded on this vehicle, grouped into the inspection sections that produced it. The notch on each bar is the national share, so you can see at a glance whether this car is unusual or just ordinary.
A test can record several items, so these percentages do not add up to 100%. The exact strings, with prices, are in the full DVSA record at the bottom of this page.
Before your test
Three checks worth doing on a 2005 4/4
These are not generic tips — they are the faults recorded most often on this exact model, rewritten as things you can check yourself. All three take about ten minutes and cost nothing.
-
Check the steering 4.0% of tests
“steering rack gaiter damaged or deteriorated,”
With the wheels straight, rock the steering wheel gently with the engine off — more than about an inch of free play before the wheels move is worth investigating. Split rack gaiters are cheap to replace and commonly recorded.
-
Check the suspension joints 1.0% of tests
“ball joint dust cover no longer prevents the ingress of dirt”
With the car parked on level ground, rock the top of each front wheel in and out while someone watches the suspension arm. Clunks, or rubber boots split and greasy, are what testers record here.
-
Check the exhaust and emissions 1.0% of tests
“catalyst emissions Lambda reading after 2nd fast idle outside specified limits”
Listen for a blow at idle and have someone rev it gently. Then look at the tailpipe smoke: blue is oil, white when warm is coolant, black is over-fuelling. Any of those and the emissions test is the least of it.
Shares are the proportion of tests on this vehicle that recorded the item, so they overlap: one test can record several.
What it costs to get a 2005 4/4 through its MOT
Across the 10 items that are recorded most often on this model, the average repair comes to £59–£162 — and 21% of those repairs are parts that cost under £30.
- Average repair across the 10 common items
- £59–£162
- Cheapest common item: horn not working
- £8–£25
- Dearest common item: steering rack gaiter damaged or deteriorated,
- £120–£300
- Common items a careful owner can do at home
- 60%
- Repairs that still cost under £30
- 21%
Estimates from typical UK parts prices, weighted by how often each item appears in 99 MOT tests on this vehicle. They exclude diagnostics, retest fees and garage labour where the part is a DIY fit, and they are not figures from the DVSA dataset. Older and higher-mileage examples cost more than the average. How these estimates are built → · All MOT repair costs → · Cheapest cars to put through a test →
Every year of the 4/4, side by side
19 model years on record, from 2000 to 2018. Across them the pass rate runs from 89.0% to 98.4% — a spread of 9.4 points. The bar under each year is the item that failed it most often.
- 2000 92.4% steering rack gaiter damaged or…
- 2001 89.0% steering rack gaiter missing or…
- 2002 91.0% steering rack gaiter damaged or…
- 2003 91.4% service brake imbalance across an…
- 2004 89.3% windscreen damaged but not…
- 2005 89.9%steering rack gaiter damaged or…
- 2006 91.4% washers not working
- 2007 95.8% headlamp aim too high
- 2008 94.2% headlamp aim too low
- 2009 94.0% windscreen damaged but not…
- 2010 92.7% windscreen damaged but not…
- 2011 91.3% service brake imbalance across an…
- 2012 94.3% stop lamp all not working
- 2013 95.1% service brake performance…
- 2014 90.6% windscreen damaged but not…
- 2015 90.4% rear fog lamp not working
- 2016 89.4% service brake performance…
- 2017 98.4% steering rack gaiter missing or…
- 2018 91.2% service brake imbalance across an…
Colour is the pass rate on a fixed scale, so a block means the same thing on any model. Each year links to its own page with the full fault breakdown.
Compare the 2005 Morgan 4/4 with another year
The raw pass rate mostly measures age. The year comparison adds the like-for-like figure, the mileage bands and the repair bill.
Other 2005 cars with a similar record
- Bentley Continental 90.2%
- Porsche 911 88.6%
- Aston Martin DB9 91.3%
- BMW M3 88.1%
- Honda S2000 87.1%
- Mercedes-Benz Sl 86.1%
Closest pass rates among 2005 cars with at least 2,000 tests, so a small sample cannot flatter itself into the list. See the full rankings: best and worst MOT pass rates.
The full DVSA record for the 2005 Morgan 4/4 10 failure items · 6 advisories · 10 inspection categories · mileage brackets · all of it in the page, none of it above the fold
Every inspection category
Shares of the 48 individual items recorded on this vehicle, and the same share across all cars nationally. A single test can record several items, so a row is not a percentage of tests.
| Category | Items | This car | Nationally | Difference |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Brakes | 14 | 28.60% | 20.89% | +7.71 |
| Suspension | 10 | 20.40% | 20.98% | −0.58 |
| Steering | 6 | 12.20% | 2.57% | +9.63 |
| Lamps, reflectors and electrical equipment | 5 | 10.20% | 12.21% | −2.01 |
| Noise, emissions and leaks | 5 | 10.20% | 5.52% | +4.68 |
| Visibility | 3 | 6.10% | 4.97% | +1.13 |
| Non-component advisories | 2 | 4.10% | 4.18% | −0.08 |
| Tyres | 1 | 2.00% | 19.76% | −17.76 |
| Body, chassis, structure | 1 | 2.00% | 5.57% | −3.57 |
| Identification of the vehicle | 1 | 2.00% | 1.76% | +0.24 |
The exact failure items, in the tester's words
| Recorded item | Severity | Tests | Est. cost |
|---|---|---|---|
| Steering rack gaiter damaged or deteriorated, but preventing the ingress of dirt Steering | Minor | 4.0% | £120–300 |
| Pedal anti-slip provision missing Brakes | Major | 2.0% | £45–110 |
| Ball joint dust cover no longer prevents the ingress of dirt Suspension | Major | 1.0% | £18–45 |
| Catalyst emissions Lambda reading after 2nd fast idle outside specified limits Noise, emissions and leaks | Major | 1.0% | £60–250 |
| Driver's seat with a defective structure Body, chassis, structure | Major | 1.0% | £80–250 |
| Horn not working Lamps, reflectors and electrical equipment | Major | 1.0% | £8–25 |
| Parking brake performance inoperative on one side Brakes | Major | 1.0% | £60–150 |
| Position lamp incorrect colour Lamps, reflectors and electrical equipment | Minor | 1.0% | £5–25 |
| Position lamp not working Lamps, reflectors and electrical equipment | Major | 1.0% | £5–25 |
| Registration plates does not conform to the specified requirements Identification of the vehicle | Major | 1.0% | £20–80 |
Severity is as recorded: Major and Dangerous fail the test outright; Minor and Advisory do not. Costs are estimates from typical UK parts prices — see how they are built.
What testers noted without failing the car
Advisories are the early warnings — the same parts a year or two before they fail. Reading them is how you tell a car that has been maintained from one that has been patched.
| Recorded item | Severity | Tests | Est. cost |
|---|---|---|---|
| Service brake performance excessively binding Brakes | Advisory | 4.0% | £60–150 |
| Service brake performance excessively fluctuating Brakes | Advisory | 4.0% | £60–150 |
| Transmission oil leaks leaking excessively from transmission Noise, emissions and leaks | Advisory | 4.0% | £200–700 |
| Brake discs in such a condition that it is seriously weakened Brakes | Advisory | 2.0% | £45–110 |
| Non-component advisories Coolant leak Non-component advisories | Advisory | 2.0% | £20–80 |
| Pins and bushes pin or bush excessively worn Suspension | Advisory | 2.0% | £40–150 |
Pass rate by mileage
| Mileage | Tests | Pass rate | Median odometer |
|---|---|---|---|
| 0-30k | 53 | 92.5% | 19,898 mi |
| 30-60k | 30 | 90.0% | 36,850 mi |
| 60-90k | 6 | 83.3% | 66,648 mi |
| 90-120k | 4 | 75.0% | 93,296 mi |
| 120k+ | 6 | 83.3% | 127,065 mi |
Source: 99 recorded tests on this vehicle-year. Every row above is recomputed from the same DVSA extract as the rest of the page — see the methodology.
2005 4/4 MOT questions
What is the MOT pass rate for a 2005 Morgan 4/4?
89.9% of the 99 2005 Morgan 4/4 tests in this dataset passed, against a national average of 72.4% for cars first used in 2005. First-attempt pass rate: 88.8%.
What are the most common MOT failures on a 2005 Morgan 4/4?
The three most recorded items are steering rack gaiter damaged or deteriorated, but preventing the ingress of dirt (4.04%), pedal anti-slip provision missing (2.02%), ball joint dust cover no longer prevents the ingress of dirt (1.01%). Percentages are the share of tests on this vehicle that recorded the item.
Does mileage affect the 2005 Morgan 4/4 MOT pass rate?
Yes. Cars under 30,000 miles passed 92.5% of the time, falling to 83.3% for those over 120,000 miles. The median 2005 Morgan 4/4 in this dataset had covered 29,580 mi.