Pass rate
92.0%
Above average — 0.8 pts ahead of the 91.2% that cars this age and mileage manage.
Across 274 recorded tests.
Typical repair bill £46–£145
2021 Morgan Plus Four MOT pass rate
- 2021
- typical 6,921 mi
Check your postcode
Most common fault
Brakes
38.5% of faults · 20.9% nationally
mostly worn pads and discs, corroded pipes and a handbrake that will not hold.
Which year to buy
- Best 2010 94.6% pass
- Avoid 2012 88.7% pass
Across the 6 years on record, a spread of 5.9 points. See every year →
- First-attempt pass
- 91.4%
- Typical mileage
- 7k mi
The 2021 Morgan Plus Four MOT pass rate is 92.0% of its MOT tests — about what its age and mileage predict. Brakes is the biggest single reason it fails, at 38.5% of what testers record.
Expert verdict
Brakes: 1.8× the national share
Brakes make up 38.5% of everything recorded on the 2021 Morgan Plus Four, against 20.9% nationally — 17.6 points above. Have the discs and pads measured rather than glanced at, and ask whether the handbrake holds on a slope.
- When it fails, it costs. Only 4% 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.
- Based on a small sample. 274 tests back this page. That is enough to publish and to index, not enough to treat the decimal places as precise — read the pattern, not the second digit.
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 2021 Morgan Plus Four compare?
Cars of this age and mileage average 91.2%, so this figure is 0.8 points ahead of what its age and mileage predict. On a first attempt, before any retests, the figure drops to 91.4%. The median 2021 Morgan Plus Four in this dataset had covered 6,921 mi.
Pass rates also shift with the test month: tests recorded October–March passed 89.9% of the time, April–September 93.5%.
The single most recorded failure item is "Catalyst emissions Lambda reading after 2nd fast idle outside specified limits", noted on 2.55% of tests.
- 274 recorded tests behind this page.
- 92.0% overall pass rate, 91.4% 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
- 274
- Typical mileage (median)
- 6,921 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 83% so small gaps stay visible.
Regional pass rates for the Plus Four
| Region | Tests | Pass rate |
|---|---|---|
| South East | 67 | 91.0% |
| West Midlands | 56 | 91.1% |
| South West | 42 | 92.9% |
| East of England | 40 | 85.0% |
| Yorkshire | 17 | 94.1% |
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 2021 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 2021 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 2.5% 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.
-
Check the suspension joints 0.7% of tests
“ball joint dust cover severely deteriorated”
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 lights 0.4% of tests
“headlamp aim not tested unable to be tested”
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 2021 Plus Four through its MOT
Across the 10 items that are recorded most often on this model, the average repair comes to £46–£145 — and 4% of those repairs are parts that cost under £30.
- Average repair across the 10 common items
- £46–£145
- Cheapest common item: headlamp not working on dipped beam
- £5–£25
- Dearest common item: catalyst emissions lambda reading after 2nd…
- £60–£250
- Common items a careful owner can do at home
- 50%
- Repairs that still cost under £30
- 4%
Estimates from typical UK parts prices, weighted by how often each item appears in 274 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 2021 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 2021 cars with a similar record
- Skoda Octavia 92.0%
- Skoda Kodiaq 92.0%
- Hyundai Bayon 92.0%
- MINI COOPER 92.1%
- Volkswagen Tiguan 91.9%
- Volvo XC40 91.9%
Closest pass rates among 2021 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 2021 Morgan Plus Four 10 failure items · 6 advisories · 8 inspection categories · mileage brackets · all of it in the page, none of it above the fold
Every inspection category
Shares of the 52 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 | 20 | 38.50% | 20.89% | +17.61 |
| Noise, emissions and leaks | 8 | 15.40% | 5.52% | +9.88 |
| Tyres | 7 | 13.50% | 19.76% | −6.26 |
| Suspension | 5 | 9.60% | 20.98% | −11.38 |
| Body, chassis, structure | 5 | 9.60% | 5.57% | +4.03 |
| Lamps, reflectors and electrical equipment | 4 | 7.70% | 12.21% | −4.51 |
| Steering | 2 | 3.80% | 2.57% | +1.23 |
| Road Wheels | 1 | 1.90% | 0.75% | +1.15 |
The exact failure items, in the tester's words
| Recorded item | Severity | Tests | Est. cost |
|---|---|---|---|
| Catalyst emissions Lambda reading after 2nd fast idle outside specified limits Noise, emissions and leaks | Major | 2.5% | £60–250 |
| Rbt (sp) efficiency below requirements Brakes | Major | 2.5% | £45–110 |
| Rbt (sp) efficiency less than 50% of the required value Brakes | Major | 1.5% | £45–110 |
| Ball joint dust cover severely deteriorated Suspension | Minor | 0.73% | £18–45 |
| Exhaust system has a major leak of exhaust gases Body, chassis, structure | Major | 0.73% | £45–120 |
| Parking brake performance inoperative on one side Brakes | Major | 0.73% | £60–150 |
| Emissions not tested unable to be completed Noise, emissions and leaks | Major | 0.36% | £60–250 |
| Hand lever has insufficient reserve travel Brakes | Major | 0.36% | £45–110 |
| Headlamp aim not tested unable to be tested Lamps, reflectors and electrical equipment | Major | 0.36% | £30–80 |
| Headlamp not working on dipped beam Lamps, reflectors and electrical equipment | Major | 0.36% | £5–25 |
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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Has a tear, caused by separation or partial failure of its structure Tyres | Advisory | 2.2% | £45–95 |
| Exhaust system has a major leak of exhaust gases Body, chassis, structure | Advisory | 1.1% | £45–120 |
| Brake discs in such a condition that it is seriously weakened Brakes | Advisory | 0.73% | £45–110 |
| Wheel bearings has excessive play Suspension | Advisory | 0.73% | £20–55 |
| Badly distorted Road Wheels | Advisory | 0.36% | £20–55 |
| Has a bulge, caused by separation or partial failure of its structure Tyres | Advisory | 0.36% | £45–95 |
Pass rate by mileage
| Mileage | Tests | Pass rate | Median odometer |
|---|---|---|---|
| 0-30k | 273 | 91.9% | 8,616 mi |
| 30-60k | 1 | 100.0% | 31,108 mi |
Source: 274 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.
2021 Plus Four MOT questions
What is the MOT pass rate for a 2021 Morgan Plus Four?
92.0% of the 274 2021 Morgan Plus Four tests in this dataset passed, against a national average of 91.2% for cars first used in 2021. First-attempt pass rate: 91.4%.
What are the most common MOT failures on a 2021 Morgan Plus Four?
The three most recorded items are catalyst emissions lambda reading after 2nd fast idle outside specified limits (2.55%), rbt (sp) efficiency below requirements (2.55%), rbt (sp) efficiency less than 50% of the required value (1.46%). Percentages are the share of tests on this vehicle that recorded the item.
Does mileage affect the 2021 Morgan Plus Four MOT pass rate?
Yes. Cars under 30,000 miles passed 91.9% of the time, falling to 100.0% for those over 120,000 miles. The median 2021 Morgan Plus Four in this dataset had covered 6,921 mi.
Does the season affect the 2021 Morgan Plus Four MOT pass rate?
Tests recorded in the winter months (October–March) passed 89.9% of the time; summer months (April–September) passed 93.5%. Brakes, tyres and lights are tested harder in bad weather, but the difference is small on most models.