opinions on alfa romeo's

in particular the 147 petrol model, i really like the look of them, but haven't heard much about them, but am considering getting one.

i know alfal had a bad rep in the 90's, and have a "don't go there" label attached in some circles.

has anyone owned one, and how woul you rate it, good and bad fedback please.

i have heard about them suffering a bot with gearbox syncro's, but that can be luk of the draw and driver mentality.

ta

dan

 there crap like marmite realy love em or hate em,the petrols sound like diesels after a few years,parts expensive too,£225 for an ignition switch for a 156,never had one nor will i
Bert

i like the look, i heard electrics not overly great, but i'm now of the mind that essentially every car is the same. think i need a test drive to see what i think over all.

dan

Lovely affordably Italian car! alfa 147 gta 3.2 v6 is a monster and if you ever get one with the Q2 diff you will be shocked at how the car handles! that engine is a masterpeice!
reliability wise, make sure everything is replaced like cambelt, water pump, raditor, shocks before they actaully should go!
there are a few alfa specialist that charge resonable prices. owned one for a year and a loved every minute of driving it! PS dont get the xenons as there shite and cost 600 to get sorted!

daffodil? never heard of that?

i'd do cambelt etc myself, and get it with full mot at least.
dan

was thinking of the 1.6 tspark, any thoughts people?

all alfas sleek n classy , smart cars, go well and i would have another, but, very expensive parts, wiring can be a nightmare , rapid depreciation, like i said tho i'd have another

i had one for a few years around 2003-2004, i loved it, it was a 2.5 V6 24v so sounded awsome and that prob had something to do with it!

i had no problems with it as looked after it, but a friend bought it after, ruined engine and then had a bill which wasnt worth paying to fix the car, parts not cheap :-(

I begged a mate of mine not to buy one of these about 7 years ago, but he did it anyway. And regreted it!

True about parts not cheap, his engine died and wasnt economical to repair so he sold it for spares.

I think the car was only about 6 or 7 years old when it went bang.

love most but i could never bring my self to buy one, not sure why perhaps the right one for the right price has never flushed under my nose i guess all the ones i drove have been fab, and typicaly the top spec ones i have had plays with

grab one m8 i think there under written for cars, yes there have problems but name a car that don't go wrong other then dinky or matchbox

I had a Golf MK II and for some reason got rid of it and bought an Alfa 147 1.6 tspark a few years ago. I agree the 147 is a lovely looking car however i had quite a few problems with mine. Before i saw sense and got a MK1 the Alfa needed new bushes as these had perished, a spring had gone in the gearbox so on several occasions i had gone round a roundabout in no gear! Plus other things which i have banished from my memory. These may have been minor problems but they all seemed to mount up, even with a soaking ar$e in my Clipper i'm glad i swapped!  

Oh look, the 156 comes with a bar on the back for pushing it to the garage / scrap yard (delete as applicable)  :wink:

Buy a good one that has been properly looked after and then continue with proper maintenance and any problems will be small ones, the crucial thing to remember is to fit a timing belt as soon as you get it, that's why they all wreak themselves the belt replacement interval should be much shorter than recommended  :cry: .

A 147 on 18's is a lovely car, I'm a great believer in that if you want it buy it. Buy it at reasonable money and if its not your thing you can sell it again later without losing your shirt.

Summary, I'd buy one