Spankathon

Hello all,

Anyone own, of have owned the above car. My wife is seriously interested in one and we have been to look at one. An 03 plate 3 door Lusso, optional alloys, CD, climate etc.... with 22K miles for £6.3K - I think this is a good price.

Does anyone have any advice on the car at all..? What to look for?

I know of the possible problems with the 'Inlet Cam Variator' which makes it sound like a diesel for a couple of seconds when starting from cold, has anyone ever fixed this, how much..?

Whats the cambelt change mileage? I have heard a few stories of cambelts snapping on Alfa's below 60K miles.

Sorry for all the questions, but I cannot seem to find any 147 forums are anything on this forum for this particular car.

Thanks in advance

flat4_ire

what to look for? yeah look for a decent car to buy, stink cars, they depreciate like hell and basically just suck

gso

I had one for 3 years from new...absolutely loved it...really quick steering...lovely engine note even from the 1.6!! Great drive...

I was lucky mine didnt rattle or creek...although I did have a cracked radiator sheild which was replaced on warranty.... The guide mileage for cambelt is something like 70K if i recal correctly but mine snapped at 46K Luckily for me it was a warranty job!

Try and get one with leather seats and a bose system

It was a lovely little car and i miss it!! (just be aware that in can be a love-hate relationship with this car)

DarkStar66

I had a 2.0 for over 2 years and found it very reliable with a lovely engine. It did loose a of value, but it was bought from new not 2nd hand.

As for things to look out for, number one is a good dealer to do the servicing. Mine was great but I've heard a lot of horror stories.

The only things I didn't like were;

1. Engine consumed about 1 litre per 1000 miles.
2. Clutch bite was a little too sudden.
3. Suspension, although very competent, was softer than I'd like in a sports hatch.

As for forums, I found http://www.alfaowner.com/Forum/ very good.

JonesyWRX

I had both a 1.6 & 2.0 147. Very wel equiped cars, even in turismo spec.

My advice would be to buy a used 2.0 Lusso (heated leather/climate/17" alloys) with minimum 1 years warranty remaining - the extra 30 bhp makes a huge difference over the 1.6 with little impact on fuel economy

Also beware that the cambelt change interval has been reduced to 35k & costs £650 - hence stacks of 34k mile cars for sale on autotrader (as mine was!!)