Alfa 147
 

Any views?

Looking at 2nd hand ones. They seem much better value than the A3's and Golfs she's previously considered. £8/9k buys you an almost new one rather than a 3/4/5 yr old german.

Seen that they are much more reliable than other Alfa's. Local dealer is decent.

It's for the G/F and she's looking at the 1.9JTD or the 2.0 petrol. She needs 30mpg at least. Is this feasible out of the petrol?

Anything to look out for when viewing them.

Anyone?

She's gonna keep for 4/5 years do depreciation on a 2nd hand model that's already lost 50% looks like good value.

My last car (pre my current WRX) was a GTV 3.0...brilliant car, but rubbish reliability and dealers were mostly appalling. So, I guess that's why Alfas are relatively cheap. But....and this is a big but...

The car before my GTV was a 145 1.7 16v, bought at 2 years old - really good value for money, and actually reaonably reliable. Once it was out of g'tee I could take it to some decent independents for service. Have happy memories of that one.

Now, I don't know much about 147s, but it looks like you are where I was when I bought the 147, so it may make sense.

My last car (pre my current WRX) was a GTV 3.0...brilliant car, but rubbish reliability and dealers were mostly appalling. So, I guess that's why Alfas are relatively cheap. But....and this is a big but...

The car before my GTV was a 145 1.7 16v, bought at 2 years old - really good value for money, and actually reaonably reliable. Once it was out of g'tee I could take it to some decent independents for service. Have happy memories of that one.

Now, I don't know much about 147s, but it looks like you are where I was when I bought the 145, so it may make sense.

I've driven a few 147JTD rentals

Nice cars, and a good drive. Steering a bit twitchy, and the gearchange is a bit sloppy. Not the quickest of diesels out there, but by no means the slowest.

And the handling felt like it could be provoked into lift off oversteer quite easily (although I didn't try it ;) ).

The buttons on the dash and radio are very small, and everything bleeps when a button is pressed (not good if you have kids playing with the window switches ;) )

Only one piece of trim fell off, which I fixed by simply realigning the clips and giving it a good whack.

Overall a good enjoyable car to drive :)

A friend of mine has the 2.0 petrol version. It's a couple of years old and he's had loads of little niggly problems with it. Nothing major has gone wrong (yet!), but things like the air con packed in, bits have come loose and it's developed a few squeaks and creeks. He came round to our house last night and it took about 2 minutes for the electric window to shut! He's says the service he's had from his dealer is appauling too. They are a great looking car though but he certainly wouldn't recomend one.

Please search this forum for my previous comments about the 147 I had. Most good ones.