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rebel rebel

rebel rebel

rebel rebel

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Evening.

I've been looking and pondering my next car and Alfa 147's keep catching my eye. I am looking for something between £1500 and £2000 and I could get an under 10 year old 2.0 TS Lusso for this price. Which to me seems quite good.

Most online guides say stay away from the semi automatic gearbox, which makes sense, they cant be cheap to replace if they go wrong. And also the timing belt would need replacing every 36k or 3 years.

I wont do more than 5k a year a year in it, and have 7 years no claims so insurance isn't going to be that expensive

What concerns me is reliability, because I know in the past Alfas have been unreliable. Is this still the case? I would like to hear the good or bad experiences anyone here has had with them.

Thanks for reading.
 
These are nice looking cars, but given their (somewhat unjustified) reputation for reliability i would steer clear at this sort of price range.

Just my 2p mind...
 
^ Completely agree with m3ben. A guy I used to work with had one which was about 2 years old or so and had no end of problems with it, from cabin electronics to random misfires. If you do get one make sure you have a cast iron warranty.
 
I had one from zero to 100,000 miles apart from starter motor that needed replacing under warranty it was fine, in fact it was excellent, great to drive and handled well, it was only a 1.6 TS but it was nippy and nimble.

Stay well away from the sillyspeed, cam belts are every 36k so make sure you know when the last one was changed as the tensioner goes and throws the belt.

Electrics are generally fine with little or no problems, I prefer the 1st gen as the facelift as the new 1 series has been softened and looks a bit odd.

Rear exhaust boxes rust like an onion and look bad but are fine
The handbrake hangs low as the bracket bends but a cable tie fixes it

Loads of info and a sub forum on 156.net, all of any problem will be on there.

Find an independent Alfa mechanic, I found a guy (Bianco Alfa in Gatwick) that raced 156's and 147's and only charged £35 + VAT but knew them inside and out.

A warranty will be next to useless it'll be so expensive you'll cry
 
I think you'll beat yourself into a corner trying to get a sub 10 yr old one, loads more choice if you consider all of them as they only went from iirc 1999, defiantly go on condition and history, one approaching 60k will need all 8 plugs and full service including cam belt pollen filters etc, this could be £1,000 easy unless you find a £35 per hour guy, you may be better finding one that's had all that done with a few more miles.
 
Thanks guys, mixed response so far I would say. Alternatives would be I guess Audi A3's which are too old in that price bracket and most have done way too many miles or a Golf GTi, but i've had 2 of those (mk1) and (mk2) and had lots of problems with both.

I saw on autotrader a few 147's that were around 7 years old for the money I want to spend. Surely a 7 year old motor isnt going to be in that bad a condition, as long as its had regular services and the cambelt changed.
 
rebel rebel said:
Thanks guys, mixed response so far I would say. Alternatives would be I guess Audi A3's which are too old in that price bracket and most have done way too many miles or a Golf GTi, but i've had 2 of those (mk1) and (mk2) and had lots of problems with both.

I saw on autotrader a few 147's that were around 7 years old for the money I want to spend. Surely a 7 year old motor isnt going to be in that bad a condition, as long as its had regular services and the cambelt changed.
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I wouldnt touch an Alfa in that price range.

You cant really comment of reliability of a car based on models that are 20+ years old in the case of the mk1 and mk2 golf. a lot changes as far as build etc in that time frame.
 
frozennova said:
I wouldnt touch an Alfa in that price range.

You cant really comment of reliability of a car based on models that are 20+ years old in the case of the mk1 and mk2 golf. a lot changes as far as build etc in that time frame.
Click to expand...

Thats another cross against one then.

Yeah I know a lot changes, I had the mk1 19 years ago and the mk2 17 years ago. I just mentioned it because when I got them they were around the same price as im spending now, and I had issues with both.

[TW]Fox;21170909 said:
You have £1500 - buy something reliable.
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I thought you would say that.

Im at a loss what else to buy. I know £1500 isnt much but I want something that's going to be fun.
 
MX5? Dont think a 147 is going to be any more fun, if not less fun, than something like a Focus really. I think they are hugely over-rated.
 
Thanks mate, I think its gonna take me ages to pick a car. The leons look ok but I think I would feel like i'd rather be in a Golf. I hate choice :(
 
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