Alfa 147 - Worth buying?

str|ct9

Hey all, this is the car I'm looking at:

http://cars.donedeal.ie/for-sale/cars/2220356

Will be my first car to buy, so just looking for any thoughts people might have on it.

Seems like a good price to me, and from the looks of it is in decent enough nick. The NCT was done recently too (last Jan).

The car isn't listed by a dealer, but when checking it on motortax.ie, i get the following:


VEHICLE
Vehicle Registration Number 05D16254
Vehicle Details ALFA ROMEO / 147
Change Of Vehicle Ownership
Purchased by a Dealer on : 31/05/2011

Notified on : 01/06/2011
Vehicle Registration Certificate
Most recent Vehicle Registration Certificate issued on : 24/05/2011

Anything to worry about here?

Thanks

Wats_in_a_name

I'm hoping to buy one today.

Few things to look out for.
Make sure its got a full service history
Timing belts need to be done every 36,000miles.
Make sure all electric work properly.

Hopefully Ill be of more use tonight once I own one!

Nonoperational

Read this: http://www.boards.ie/vbulletin/showthread.php?t=2055705272

You need your wits about you but they're great value.

unkel

That's a lovely car for very little money. Few of us had that nice a car for our first car

But know what you buy, any chance you can have it looked over buy an indy Alfa specialist before you buy?

Nonoperational

Jesus that's great Value alright. Main dealer timing belt and service too (hopefully they did the variator too). The only thing that may need looking at it the plugs. If the suspension is good all I can think of that might need doing, they are 5 years of 60k miles I think. Probably should have been done by now but they probably weren't.

str|ct9

Thanks for the replies.

All positive which is good!

• On the suspension - If it hasn't been done (i.e. isn't part of the service record) is it a deal breaker, or should I look to get the price knocked down a bit.
  I read that link above and it seems suspension is more of an issue in cars up to 2004, whereas this is 2005.
  
  
• The plugs - will this be part of the service record if they've been done, or should I know just by looking at them.
  
  
• If the service record is up to date and everything looks, feels fine with the car, is it an absolute must to have a mechanic give it the once over? Common sense would say yes, just wondering if I could save a few quid, and just trust the service record to give me an idea of how it is.
  
  
• Also, the ad is posted as a private seller, yet motortax.ie lists it as purchased by a dealer. Is this anything to worry about (I posted the details in my first post)
  

Sorry for the newbie questions!

Good luck later with your purchase Wats_in_a_name. Hopefully it isn't this car you're looking at!

coylemj

str|ct9 wrote: »

• Also, the ad is posted as a private seller, yet motortax.ie lists it as purchased by a dealer. Is this anything to worry about (I posted the details in my first post)
  

I think the seller must be a dealer, it looks like the previous owner notified the people in Shannon that he had sold the car to a dealer, otherwise why would that indicator be on the vehicle registration?

If he's telling you porkies about his status, what else is he hiding?

Nonoperational

str|ct9 wrote: »

Thanks for the replies.

All positive which is good!

• On the suspension - If it hasn't been done (i.e. isn't part of the service record) is it a deal breaker, or should I look to get the price knocked down a bit.
  I read that link above and it seems suspension is more of an issue in cars up to 2004, whereas this is 2005.
  
  No if it's not broken there's no need to do anything with it! Just make sure it's not knocking like mad on the drive
  
• The plugs - will this be part of the service record if they've been done, or should I know just by looking at them.
  
  It would be in the service history. You wouldn't really judge by looking at them. Not a big deal really.
  
• If the service record is up to date and everything looks, feels fine with the car, is it an absolute must to have a mechanic give it the once over? Common sense would say yes, just wondering if I could save a few quid, and just trust the service record to give me an idea of how it is.
  
  No it's not essential. Follow the advice here and check everything out yourself.
  
  
• Also, the ad is posted as a private seller, yet motortax.ie lists it as purchased by a dealer. Is this anything to worry about (I posted the details in my first post)
  
  Don't know
  

Sorry for the newbie questions!

Good luck later with your purchase Wats_in_a_name. Hopefully it isn't this car you're looking at!

.

Arthur Daley

Always liked these as a focus alternative. Re: The requirement for a full service history, this is now a 6 year old car. It's not every punter that's going to keep going to a dealer for a service up to 6 years after purchase. FSH has got to limit your choice a lot.

Cpt_Blackbeard

Whats the insurance and MPG like on one of these?

Nonoperational

Insurance is nothing special. Similar to any other 1.6 car. The mpg isn't great alright. Around 40mpg on a run 28 around town.

RobertM

gpf101 wrote: »

Insurance is nothing special. Similar to any other 1.6 car. The mpg isn't great alright. Around 40mpg on a run 28 around town.

28 is optimistic really. From my 1.6 (156) I get around 22-25 mpg around town, and considering the 5 door 147 is heavier than a 156, it will get a smaller mpg.

str|ct9

Well, I took it for a test drive anyway.

Condition wise - a fair few scrapes on it, and a not insignificant dent beside the fuel lid.

When taking it for a drive, the clutch felt quite heavy. The brakes also needed doing I thought. Had to push down very hard for them to engage.

Thought I heard some rattling as well which made me think of the suspension issues. It had been serviced recently enough (about 3 months ago), but my gut instinct told me to give it a miss. Nice car to drive alright, but I just felt it needed a bit of work done on it.

Not many 147s about at the moment. Anyone suggest an alternative I should look into, although I think I would like a 147 if possible.