Thinking of Buying An Alfa 146

[skyblueheroes]

Anyone got any good/bad experiences ?

Its from a dealer. 1.6 Twin Spark 146. 2000 X Reg. Its up for £4495, but I don't think its worth that so gonna try and knock him down.

[Jon M]

italian cars - unreliable (alfa, fiat (fix it again tomorrow).. etc)
french cars - heavy and unreliable (renault, citroen)
japanese cars - reliable and cheap, but look pants (mitsubishi, toyota, honda)
german cars - expensive, but generally high build quality (bmw, mercedes)
british cars - no longer made in britian or by them
american cars - average (thinking mainly of ford's)

*edit: friend of mine had an almost new alfa t-spark 146... he'd sold it through sheer desperation within 2 months and bought a mazda 6

[orangebird]

Anyone got any good/bad experiences ?

Its from a dealer. 1.6 Twin Spark 146. 2000 X Reg. Its up for £4495, but I don't think its worth that so gonna try and knock him down.

Don't do it, whatever the price. Alfas a gorgeous cars, but notorious for being very unreliable... :erm:

[SMHarman]

Anyone got any good/bad experiences ?

Its from a dealer. 1.6 Twin Spark 146. 2000 X Reg. Its up for £4495, but I don't think its worth that so gonna try and knock him down.
What kinda wwty does it come with, what kind of cooling off period.

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Should hopefully mean that the problems with your car have been ironed out by the previous owners, and anything else is wwty?

If that is the case, then enjoy it, someone else has taken the depreciation hit. I've driven a couple as rental cars and they are a nice motor.

[orangebird]

Warrantys are all well and good, but IMO it shouldn't make breaking down/operational failure of a car acceptable. My friend recently purchased a 156 (new). Within two months it had been in the garage four times with various problems. The warranty covers all this, but why pay good money for all the hassle? Go for VW or Audi if you can. :tu:

[SMHarman]

Warrantys are all well and good, but IMO it shouldn't make breaking down/operational failure of a car acceptable. My friend recently purchased a 156 (new). Within two months it had been in the garage four times with various problems. The warranty covers all this, but why pay good money for all the hassle? Go for VW or Audi if you can. :tu:
Exactly, and your friends new - and now fixed 156 will make an excellent 2nd hand car as your friend had the hassle of ironing the faults out.

[skyblueheroes]

What kinda wwty does it come with, what kind of cooling off period.


Should hopefully mean that the problems with your car have been ironed out by the previous owners, and anything else is wwty?

If that is the case, then enjoy it, someone else has taken the depreciation hit. I've driven a couple as rental cars and they are a nice motor.

Pretty much whats there. 12 months with full history. Its had a new Cam belt, spark plugs and been through MOT in Sept. Seems okay, but need to check it out.

Like you said, someone else has taken a big depreciation hit.

[SMHarman]

Pretty much whats there. 12 months with full history. Its had a new Cam belt, spark plugs and been through MOT in Sept. Seems okay, but need to check it out.

Like you said, someone else has taken a big depreciation hit.
I would ask what wwty work has been performed on the car. Apart from that I would get it.

[Chimaera]

From www.honestjohn.co.uk:
What's Good
Fabulous two-litre Twin-Spark motor, superquick power steering on 2.0 litre versions, brilliant oddball styling of the 3-door 145, good but not great handling. (146 was more conventional 5-door). 1.8 and 1.6 Twin-Sparks also reasonable enthusiasts cars. 3-year warranty on all Twin-Sparks. Same length as 33 at 13' 5" but slightly wider at 5' 7". Much heavier at from 1,100kg to 1,200kg. 1.6 flat four from 1994 to 1997 had 103bhp; 1.7 flat four from 1994 to 1997 had 129bhp; 1.6 twin-spark 1997 to 2001 had 120bhp; 1.8 twin-spark from 1997 to 2001 had 140bhp; 2.0 twin-spark had 150bhp and sounded lovely. Help, adulate and commiseration site www.alfaowner.com
What's Bad
The injected and catalysed flat-fours in early models are nothing like as good as the straight-four Twin-Sparks. Dashboard a bit iffy. Not much room in the back when sitting behind a long-legged driver. S and T plate 145 20th from bottom in 2001 Top Gear / J.D. Power Customer Satisfaction Survey. S and T plate 146 12th from bottom in 2001 Top Gear / J.D. Power Customer Satisfaction Survey.
FIAT/Alfa joint worst for breakdowns attended by German ADAC during 2001. Alfa Romeo had joint highest average cost in warranty claims for cars up to 10 years old in 2002 Warranty Direct index www.performanceindex.co.uk Alfa Romeo 3rd least reliable of 31 makes of car in 2002 'Which?' reliability survey cars 1997 - 1999. Alfa Romeo had fourth highest warranty repair costs in 2003 Warranty Direct Reliability index (index 155.10 v/s lowest 31.93). Alfa Romeo 5th bottom of Reliability Index for 2004 combining average cost of repair of £392.88 with high 39.55 failures per 100 Warranty Direct policies. Link:- www.reliabilityindex.co.uk
What to Watch Out For
Accident damage, lack of service history. Check electrics carefully. Oil leaks from gearboxes of flat-fours. Starting problems with flat-fours. Make sure it has its 'Red Key'.
Recalls
(April 1997 build): Tyres may lose pressure.

Well as they say - the choice is yours!

[skyblueheroes]

From www.honestjohn.co.uk:


Well as they say - the choice is yours!

Okay ta for comments. I did read somewhere that the 97 one was plagued with problems, but it got better over the years. The TS added about 20hp too
:p:

[Tricky]

Anyone got any good/bad experiences ?

Its from a dealer. 1.6 Twin Spark 146. 2000 X Reg. Its up for £4495, but I don't think its worth that so gonna try and knock him down.

You could take it for a test drive and try knock him down, but you'd probably break down before you get to him! - I've worked for 3 companies where I get a full choice of all cars except one make - You guessed it "Alfa".

Lease companies run a mile and so should you IMO.

Electrics I think are the worst thing, followed by clutches and gearboxes

[AndrewJ]

I wanna import one of these