I told you Alfas were a load of !*&#*

Sister's Alfa147 has just had the following diagnosed:-

- oil leak from somewhere in the engine leaking onto heatshield
- both front lower wishbones need replacing
- front ball joint has play in it and needs replacing
- strange 'tinkling' sound from NSF suspension area
- both rear gas struts need to be replaced as hatch doesn't stay open
- tracking / alignment problem with steering
- need new cambelt / water pump etc
- remote boot release has malfunctioned
- needs a new clutch and floorpan needs to be removed to replace it
- windscreen has developed a crack and needs replacing
- remote central locking only works intermittently and needs a replacement key

Around £1400 at an indie and a lot a lot more at a dealer

She's owned the car for about 3 years and has spent already spent £3k in servicing, parts and repairs.

She's now coming round to my way of thinking.....

Alfa = components made from cheese.

I'd only really pick the central locking problem as one that isn't required on any other car thats a few years old.

At least half of that is just wear and tear that could be expected from any car!

The "floorpan" is just a sheet of plastic, so not sure why thats an issue....

This is 'Focus' class boggo standard 1.6 car.

No way should it require that level of cost/repair/maintenance.

No way Jose.

how old is the car? all that stuff seems normal to me, accept the boot struts and locking problems

You guys must buy !?#% cars, then... I've had an 8 year-old Mercedes A-Class and - even though it wasn't in the best of conditions, the only thing that went wrong was the starter motor relay.

A 6 year-old Volkswagen Polo had an ESP connector go funny, meaning the battery didn't charge when stationary (easy/cheap fix) and a bolt in the gear selector box went (another cheap/easy fix).

I also drive a 12 year-old Mercedes E-Class and haven't had a problem with it yet.

Phil W said:

I'd only really pick the central locking problem as one that isn't required on any other car thats a few years old.

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Rubbish. Poor made cars have got so many stuff like that going wrong, a properly made car will not require so much work in 3 years.

Did she take it in?

Chances of dealer seeing woman thus "hasn't got a clue lets stitch her up for everything we can possibly get away with"?

You say she's owned it for three years but you don't actually say how old it is - it could be 9 years old. nevertheless:-


- oil leak from somewhere in the engine leaking onto heatshield

Cam cover - no big deal.

- both front lower wishbones need replacing

90% of newish cars have wishbones that the ball joints aren't replaceable on. Ball joints are consumable parts hence now wishbones are too. No big deal.

- front ball joint has play in it and needs replacing

See above.

- strange 'tinkling' sound from NSF suspension area

Probably the cat - again a consumable part.

- both rear gas struts need to be replaced as hatch doesn't stay open

£38 a pair brand new or £20 2nd hand. Most hatches need them replacing at some point.

- tracking / alignment problem with steering

Tracking/alignment needs doing every couple of years imo - standard maintanence. It'd need doing when the wishbones are replaced anyway.

- need new cambelt / water pump etc

Cam belts are consumable items @ 60k miles on average. Is there a fault with the water pump or is it being changed as a precaution?

- remote boot release has malfunctioned

That's a genuine fault imo - prob just a wiring loom or relay fault though.

- needs a new clutch and floorpan needs to be removed to replace it

Consumable item. Floorpan is just an undertray - 4 bolts, 1 min work on a car lift.

- windscreen has developed a crack and needs replacing

All cars can have thier windscreen cracked - it's not an indication that the Alfa is ****!

- remote central locking only works intermittently and needs a replacement key

The 2nd genuine fault.


Most of the above sounds like normal servicing/maintanence issues to me - that work could need doing to any car of a reasonable age - it's not indicative of Alfa quality. £1400 sounds a lot to fix it though - I'd get a 2nd or even 3rd quote.

MarkDavis said:

This is 'Focus' class boggo standard 1.6 car.

No way should it require that level of cost/repair/maintenance.

No way Jose.

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Suspension parts wear out, on any car regardless of engine size

Routine maintenance is kind of....routine (cambelt)

A cracked windscreen? No way that would happen on a focus

MarkDavis said:

Sister's Alfa147 has just had the following diagnosed:-

- both front lower wishbones need replacing
- front ball joint has play in it and needs replacing
- strange 'tinkling' sound from NSF suspension area
- tracking / alignment problem with steering

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They are all pretty much one fault. The ball joint is part of the wishbone, and worn bushes/balljoint will cause tracking problems and odd noises. They are simple to fit anyway, DIY and save a load of money on parts and labour.

MarkDavis said:

- need new cambelt / water pump etc
- windscreen has developed a crack and needs replacing
- needs a new clutch...

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These parts never wear out on other cars of course, only on Alfas...

MarkDavis said:

and floorpan needs to be removed to replace it

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The floor pan needs to be removed? So what, they hack it out with a plasma cutter and weld it back in again afterwards? Sounds rather unlikely to me.


Big bills like this are what happen when you just ignore developing faults until you are forced to get them all fixed at once, rather than fixing as and when needed.

What most of you are missing is the COST.

Sure cambelt needs replacing but on a Focus, how much is that? £200?

On this car its twice the cost. Same with the wishbones, clutch etc etc.

No way should a Focus class car cost £1500-£1600 to maintain, per year over 3 years, excluding fuel and insurance.

You've just been unlucky that youve had several wear and tear/routine maintenance items happen all at once.

I'm the first to warn people about Alfa build quality - I ran a 156 for a little while and it was shocking, electrical issues etc.

If you really think its twice the cost you should shop around, mine didnt cost any more than similar cars to maintain - I had a good specialist do any work on it at £45 per hour and parts werent any more expensive than other cars

I've never owned a car thats required that amount of maintenance.

For instance, The Neon R/T I have is now 6 and half years old, I've owned it for three years, its had three services (including plugs and filters and that was overkill), a set of brake pads, and 4 tyres.

Yes, they suck. Everyone else worked that out 20 years ago

MarkDavis said:

What most of you are missing is the COST.

Sure cambelt needs replacing but on a Focus, how much is that? £200?

On this car its twice the cost. Same with the wishbones, clutch etc etc.

No way should a Focus class car cost £1500-£1600 to maintain, per year over 3 years, excluding fuel and insurance.

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Break down the prices and maybe we could say one way or the other. She should be able to do the windscreen through her insurance with only a small excess anyway.

If it's a 1.6 or 1.8 TS, the cambelt shouldn't be any more than ~£300. If she's having to get that changed every year she must be doing some serious mileage.

If I wanted a 156 whats the best one to get (fastest, best engine, most toys etc), and what is the newest one I could get?

the GTA 3.2, Circa 2003

http://www.pistonheads.com/sales/1107079.htm

You know what they say about Alfa's, your not a true petrol head till you've owned one! cos they allways break down

whitecrook said:

If I wanted a 156 whats the best one to get (fastest, best engine, most toys etc), and what is the newest one I could get?

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The GTA is the one you want (its the one I want too!), and they stopped production of them in 2006.