Violet Rose
Registered User
- Messages
- 100
all in all - i wouldnt buy one. I`d drive one if it was free though.
just to get an insiders view on the whole timing belt issue....i worked for alfa romeo warranty for 2 years.
a dream car to some people. Suspension is a major factor, as is the timing belt. tosullivan - you are spot on with SERVICE HISTORY. it is essential to have this in tact in order to apply for goodwill to Fiat Ireland etc.
I bet some of you posters have probably fought nail and tooth with me in the past over yer cars coming into the workshop.
all in all - i wouldnt buy one. I`d drive one if it was free though.
just to get an insiders view on the whole timing belt issue....
I was at about 40k miles when I started reading alfaowner.com and heard about the premature failures...that was when I booked it in immediately to have it done. Never once, did AR Ireland contact me in the 3yrs of ownership before that to let me know about it. Wouldn't mind, but I had a full dealer service history with that dealer up until then with stamps & receipts. Was it not in their policy to do this or did they just ignore the information? They must have been aware of it. I even contacted one of the dealers to get a price for getting it replaced and they quoted me €830. I was a bit pi$$ed to say the least that they didn't cover half the cost as they effectively cut the service interval in half and admitted it, but didn't bump for half the cost. I opted to go to a specialist instead to get it done and saved €300.
my timing belt was checked at the 36k interval by a dealer in Dublin and passed as being ok. Not once was it mentioned to me that it should be changed very soon.hi
€830 was expensive - i would have quoted u about €550-600. if a timing belt snaps the minimum charge is €2,000. its wreckes the pistions/valves etc....
an alfa should be serviced every 12k miles or 12 months which ever comes first. on the 36k service its the responsibility of the garage to check the condition of the timing belt and variator. if they think its frayying on any shape or form they recommend the customer has it changed AT THEIR OWN EXPENSE. hmmm... now if it snaps around the 30-40k mark then a goodwill is submitted to alfa for them to contribute towards the costs or to pay for the whole lot under warranty. AR have been known to cover the costs of this on numerous occasions.
tiz like i never left the motor trade, god i still have night mares about alfas anad their timing belts.
I'm not familiar with the 147, but I can imagine they are the same. Same engines. Its only since they went to chains on the new 159, the worry is removed. Much that I love the 159, I could never force myself to part with my hard earned cash again for an Alfa. I'll just keep my 156 till it dies. I'm looking at an Accord or Mazda 6 in the new year as a replacement for herself, as I need 1 car in the house with bulletproof reliabiltyIs the timing belt issue the same for the 147 and 156? I thought the issue was with the 147.
I'm not familiar with the 147, but I can imagine they are the same. Same engines. Its only since they went to chains on the new 159, the worry is removed. Much that I love the 159, I could never force myself to part with my hard earned cash again for an Alfa. I'll just keep my 156 till it dies. I'm looking at an Accord or Mazda 6 in the new year as a replacement for herself, as I need 1 car in the house with bulletproof reliabilty
thats still costly when you compare the replacement interval to what was originally quoted in teh service manual and other cars.Surely the timing belt issue is only 'very very costly' if you allow it to snap? To replace it at 36k miles would be around €500/€600, yes?
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