Alfa Romeo 146 buying

xzodia

I am thinking about buying a 00 romeo and was wondering if anybody has any experience of what they are like

Gary ITR

Whats the mileage or are you looking at any car in particular? Alfas don't age very well

xzodia

looking in general but see one with less than 50k for 5 grand

SonOfPerdition

make sure timing belt was changed ..its the Achilles heel of alfa's. Because of failures the change period is every 36K not 72k (in case anyone feeds you that line).

After that make sure there is a full service history.

I've a 156, its got 105K on it and has never let me down. The next addition to the the stable will be a GTV or Spider to replace Mrs Perdition's ford Ka.

My advice is stick to a manual and keep away from any of the earlier selespeeds, they do give some grief (among the 156's at least). Check out www.alfaowner.com and http://forum.alfa156.net/forum/ for more information. Watch out for the extra's like leather interior, sunroof and decent alloys. Do your research, take your time and you'll end up with a lot of car for your money.

good luck!

Dammer

I have 4 friends that own Alfas. From 98 - 02

75% of them have had serious engine problems.

bazz26

xzodia wrote:

looking in general but see one with less than 50k for 5 grand

For €5k you can get the much nicer 156:
http://www.carzone.ie/usedcars/index.cfm?fuseaction=car&carID=517019
http://www.carzone.ie/usedcars/index.cfm?fuseaction=car&carID=529527
http://www.carzone.ie/usedcars/index.cfm?fuseaction=car&carID=544599

SonOfPerdition

Dammer wrote:

I have 4 friends that own Alfas. From 98 - 02

75% of them have had serious engine problems.

actually, Dammer may have a point.
It is worth mentioning that the older alfa's do require the owners to be a bit more savvy and look after them correctly .. keeping an eye on oil level is one of those requirements. Alfa's are known for using oil and owners who neglect this tend to have damaged engines.

Look after your alfa .. it'll look after you.

EDIT: BTW Dammer, was any of the damaged engines due to timing belts snapping?

colm_mcm

I had a 00 in 01, and in 6 months it needed a new window regulator on the drivers side, new (blaupunkt) stereo, job done on the central locking, mysterious rattle in the dash needed work. never actually broke down though.

Dammer

Yes one of my mates Alfa's Timing belt snapped. I think the he had to have it re-bored or something. He sold it when he got it fixed and has driven nothing but Toyotas since.

Another one was in and out of the Garage where it was bought for 6 months!

The third one had to have the whole cooling system replaced.

My mate that has no problems with his one has it serviced exactly when the owners manual states it!

Lex Luthor

bazz26 wrote:

For €5k you can get the much nicer 156:
http://www.carzone.ie/usedcars/index.cfm?fuseaction=car&carID=517019
http://www.carzone.ie/usedcars/index.cfm?fuseaction=car&carID=529527
http://www.carzone.ie/usedcars/index.cfm?fuseaction=car&carID=544599

I agree with bazz here. From experience through family, I dont think the build quality on the 146 is as good as the 156. Go for the red one. At 61000 miles you should be looking for the timing belt changed once at about 40k, check for suspension creaks. The Alfa buying threads have been flogged to bits on here so if you do a search you should find plenty buyers info

Any questions give me a shout

colm_mcm

the interior of the 146 is very 80's Fiat. also the seats are very high.

bazz26

Lex Luthor wrote:

I agree with bazz here. From experience through family, I dont think the build quality on the 146 is as good as the 156. Go for the red one. At 61000 miles you should be looking for the timing belt changed once at about 40k, check for suspension creaks. The Alfa buying threads have been flogged to bits on here so if you do a search you should find plenty buyers info

Any questions give me a shout

And the 156 kicked off the new generation of Alfa Romeos where build quality and reliability were very much improved. The 156 can be had for silly money these days which means the right one that has been looked after with a service history could be a bargin.

Lex Luthor

colm_mcm wrote:

the interior of the 146 is very 80's Fiat. also the seats are very high.

You're right. I remember driving my sisters one and thinking it didn't even have a height adjustment for the drivers seat, or if it did, the lowest setting made it feel very uncomfortable to drive. I couldn't believe the 146 was from the same family as the 156

colm_mcm

Lex Luthor wrote:

You're right. I remember driving my sisters one and thinking it didn't even have a height adjustment for the drivers seat, or if it did, the lowest setting made it feel very uncomfortable to drive. I couldn't believe the 146 was from the same family as the 156

It wasn't really from the same family! the 156, 147 and 166 don't compare with their predacessors.

(that sentance doesn't make sense, I know!)

xzodia

thanks for all the advice am thinking now of goign for the 156 if i decide to go for an Alfa

knighted_1

just to add to this -i have a 01 156 full leather all electric 2.0l alfa alloys

i love this car its **** quik and a joy to drive but they do give problems u have to be prepared to get ur hands dirty and have a little bit of mechanical knowledge -the other half got fed up so we bought a mazda 6 04 -a nice car but doesnt have a patch on the alfa quite boring in comparison-so if any one wants a 01 156 2.0 ts 100k for 3k with the manifold needing a weld at E150 -get in touch

nct till mid 07

miju

planning on getting an '03 alpha 156 early next year (love the new shape of the 2003 models) , quite looking forward to it

cjt156

Another convert! Chose wisely, enjoy it, look after it & it'll reward you every day.