Pass rate
88.7%
Above average — 11.5 pts ahead of the 77.2% that cars this age and mileage manage.
Across 53 recorded tests.
Typical repair bill £35–£109
2012 Morgan Plus Four MOT pass rate
- 2012
- typical 15,835 mi
Only 53 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
Suspension
34.4% of faults · 21.0% nationally
mostly worn arm bushes, split ball-joint boots and broken coil springs.
Which year to buy
- Best 2010 94.6% pass
- Avoid 2012 88.7% pass · this year
Across the 6 years on record, a spread of 5.9 points. See every year →
- First-attempt pass
- 87.0%
- Typical mileage
- 16k mi
The 2012 Morgan Plus Four MOT pass rate is 88.7% of its MOT tests — 11.5 points ahead of what its age and mileage predict. Suspension is the biggest single reason it fails, at 34.4% of what testers record.
Expert verdict
Suspension: 1.6× the national share
Suspension accounts for 34.4% of everything recorded on the 2012 Morgan Plus Four, against 21.0% nationally — 13.4 points above. Ask for the front and rear suspension to be checked on a ramp before you buy — worn bushes and broken springs are cheap to look at and expensive to discover at test time.
- 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 77.2% and this one manages 88.7% — 11.5 points ahead of what its age and mileage predict.
- When it fails, it costs. Only 30% 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 Plus Four? Get an email when these numbers change .
How does the 2012 Morgan Plus Four compare?
Cars of this age and mileage average 77.2%, so this figure is 11.5 points ahead of what its age and mileage predict. On a first attempt, before any retests, the figure drops to 87.0%. The median 2012 Morgan Plus Four in this dataset had covered 15,835 mi.
The single most recorded failure item is "Catalyst emissions carbon monoxide content after 2nd fast idle exceeds manufacturer's specified limits", noted on 1.89% of tests.
- 53 recorded tests behind this page.
- 88.7% overall pass rate, 87.0% on a first attempt.
- Across every year of the Morgan Plus Four, the average is 91.8% — best year 2010 (94.6%), worst 2012 (88.7%).
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
- 53
- Typical mileage (median)
- 15,835 mi
- Make and model
- Morgan Plus Four
- Updated
- 2026-11-07
Source: DVSA anonymised MOT test data (2023–2025), OGL v3.0.
Top part to budget for
Emissions Repair
Typically a garage job — get quotes before committing.
Does mileage affect the Plus Four MOT pass rate?
Pass rate by odometer reading. Bar lengths start at 79% so small gaps stay visible.
Regional pass rates for the Plus Four
| Region | Tests | Pass rate |
|---|---|---|
| South East | 27 | 92.6% |
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 2012 Plus Four
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 2012 Plus Four
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 exhaust and emissions 1.9% of tests
“catalyst emissions carbon monoxide content after 2nd fast idle exceeds manufacturer's 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.
-
Check leaks 1.9% of tests
“hydraulic brake callipers leaking”
Park on clean cardboard overnight. A few drips are an advisory; a steady patch under the engine, gearbox or a shock absorber is a fail. Have the source identified before the test rather than after.
-
Check the lights 1.9% of tests
“rear fog lamp not working”
Switch everything on and walk round the car: both headlamps on dip and main, every indicator, both brake lights, reverse, fog and the two number-plate lamps. A bulb is a few pounds and a five-minute job.
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 2012 Plus Four through its MOT
Across the 10 items that are recorded most often on this model, the average repair comes to £35–£109 — and 30% of those repairs are parts that cost under £30.
- Average repair across the 10 common items
- £35–£109
- Cheapest common item: rear fog lamp not working
- £3–£15
- Dearest common item: catalyst emissions carbon monoxide content…
- £60–£250
- Common items a careful owner can do at home
- 70%
- Repairs that still cost under £30
- 30%
Estimates from typical UK parts prices, weighted by how often each item appears in 53 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 Plus Four, side by side
6 model years on record, from 2010 to 2022. Across them the pass rate runs from 88.7% to 94.6% — a spread of 5.9 points. The bar under each year is the item that failed it most often.
- 2010 94.6% headlamp not working on dipped…
- 2011 92.1% cable damaged
- 2012 88.7%catalyst emissions carbon…
- 2020 90.2% rbt (sp) efficiency below…
- 2021 92.0% catalyst emissions lambda reading…
- 2022 93.6% parking brake performance…
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 2012 Morgan Plus Four 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 2012 cars with a similar record
Closest pass rates among 2012 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 2012 Morgan Plus Four 10 failure items · 6 advisories · 9 inspection categories · mileage brackets · all of it in the page, none of it above the fold
Every inspection category
Shares of the 32 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Suspension | 11 | 34.40% | 20.98% | +13.42 |
| Brakes | 8 | 25.00% | 20.89% | +4.11 |
| Tyres | 4 | 12.50% | 19.76% | −7.26 |
| Lamps, reflectors and electrical equipment | 3 | 9.40% | 12.21% | −2.81 |
| Noise, emissions and leaks | 2 | 6.20% | 5.52% | +0.68 |
| Body, chassis, structure | 1 | 3.10% | 5.57% | −2.47 |
| Visibility | 1 | 3.10% | 4.97% | −1.87 |
| Steering | 1 | 3.10% | 2.57% | +0.53 |
| Seat belts and supplementary restraint systems | 1 | 3.10% | 0.82% | +2.28 |
The exact failure items, in the tester's words
| Recorded item | Severity | Tests | Est. cost |
|---|---|---|---|
| Catalyst emissions carbon monoxide content after 2nd fast idle exceeds manufacturer's specified limits Noise, emissions and leaks | Major | 1.9% | £60–250 |
| Catalyst emissions carbon monoxide content at idle exceeds manufacturer's specified limits Noise, emissions and leaks | Major | 1.9% | £60–250 |
| Hand lever has insufficient reserve travel Brakes | Major | 1.9% | £45–110 |
| Has a cut in excess of the requirements deep enough to reach the ply or cords Tyres | Major | 1.9% | £45–95 |
| Hydraulic brake callipers leaking Brakes | Major | 1.9% | £45–110 |
| Not functioning as intended Seat belts and supplementary restraint systems | Major | 1.9% | £40–120 |
| Rbt (sp) efficiency less than 50% of the required value Brakes | Major | 1.9% | £45–110 |
| Rear fog lamp not working Lamps, reflectors and electrical equipment | Major | 1.9% | £3–15 |
| Rear fog lamp tell-tale not working Lamps, reflectors and electrical equipment | Major | 1.9% | £3–15 |
| Registration plate lamp(s) inoperative in the case of multiple lamps or light sources Lamps, reflectors and electrical equipment | Minor | 1.9% | £5–20 |
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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Swivel pins and bushes swivel pin and/or bush excessively worn Suspension | Advisory | 9.4% | £40–150 |
| Brake discs in such a condition that it is seriously weakened Brakes | Advisory | 5.7% | £45–110 |
| Has a tear, caused by separation or partial failure of its structure Tyres | Advisory | 3.8% | £45–95 |
| Pins and bushes pin or bush excessively worn Suspension | Advisory | 3.8% | £40–150 |
| Shock absorbers has a serious fluid leak Suspension | Advisory | 3.8% | £30–75 |
| Exhaust system has a major leak of exhaust gases Body, chassis, structure | Advisory | 1.9% | £45–120 |
Pass rate by mileage
| Mileage | Tests | Pass rate | Median odometer |
|---|---|---|---|
| 0-30k | 47 | 87.2% | 15,887 mi |
| 30-60k | 6 | 100.0% | 50,813 mi |
Source: 53 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.
2012 Plus Four MOT questions
What is the MOT pass rate for a 2012 Morgan Plus Four?
88.7% of the 53 2012 Morgan Plus Four tests in this dataset passed, against a national average of 77.2% for cars first used in 2012. First-attempt pass rate: 87.0%.
What are the most common MOT failures on a 2012 Morgan Plus Four?
The three most recorded items are catalyst emissions carbon monoxide content after 2nd fast idle exceeds manufacturer's specified limits (1.89%), catalyst emissions carbon monoxide content at idle exceeds manufacturer's specified limits (1.89%), hand lever has insufficient reserve travel (1.89%). Percentages are the share of tests on this vehicle that recorded the item.
Does mileage affect the 2012 Morgan Plus Four MOT pass rate?
Yes. Cars under 30,000 miles passed 87.2% of the time, falling to 100.0% for those over 120,000 miles. The median 2012 Morgan Plus Four in this dataset had covered 15,835 mi.