Saxo for Alfa 147 good idea?

chickenhawk

Hi. Ye are probably sick of people asking this type of question but I'll give it a go.

I have an 02 saxo 1.1 with a small bodykit.

I'm thinking off getting rid of it and buying an

01 Alfa 147 1.6. I could stretch to an 02 if the price was right.

Would this be a good idea?

junkyard

Probably not, you'll have some hope of selling the Saxo but none of selling the Alfa.

chickenhawk

junkyard wrote: »

Probably not, you'll have some hope of selling the Saxo but none of selling the Alfa.

I never thought of that.

But in terms of reliability, mpg etc etc? Good idea?

junkyard

Look up one of the many Alfa threads on here or I'll only be accused of being anti-Alfa...................( I wouldn't buy one;))

chickenhawk

I've searched and found all the tips about installing bicycle pedals on it to pedal it home when it breaks down.

But they are cool. So I can't help thinking about getting one!

junkyard

chickenhawk wrote: »

But they are cool. So I can't help thinking about getting one!

So are corpses, are you going to get one of them too?:D

Rowley Birkin QC

@ Chickenhawk,

Junkyard sells Alfas, he loves Alfas, he will try to sell you an Alfa. It's called reverse psychology.

Hows that new 156 with 100,000 km, no service history and original timing belt going for you Junkyard?!

il gatto

The difference is you can sell a Saxo, you wouldn't sell an Alfa. No comparison. I have a 156, and yes I've had "issues", but then so those a mate with a Golf, my missus with her 306 and my manager with her BMW 318C. All cars can give you problems and Alfa's reputation for being bad is as undeserved as Volkswagens for being good. It's the luck of the draw and how you maintain it. Same as any make of car. The depreciation that a 02 Alfa would have suffered means it's cheap. When you buy secondhand, anything over 3-4 years old, depreciation is your friend.
I found Saxos weedy, hard to drive (tiniest pedels in the world) and just cheap feeling. The Alfa would be a dream compared to it. And if it does break down, ignore the I told you so crowd as chances are they've parked up their Corolla/Civic/Golf and walked home before too. It happens (unless you're one of the jammy few, who because their car has never broken down, think they're a mechanical whizz or have a sixth sense for buying cars, when in actual fact they're just lucky. So far.)

quenching

il gatto wrote: »

The difference is you can sell a Saxo, you wouldn't sell an Alfa. No comparison. I have a 156, and yes I've had "issues", but then so those a mate with a Golf, my missus with her 306 and my manager with her BMW 318C. All cars can give you problems and Alfa's reputation for being bad is as undeserved as Volkswagens for being good. It's the luck of the draw and how you maintain it. Same as any make of car. The depreciation that a 02 Alfa would have suffered means it's cheap. When you buy secondhand, anything over 3-4 years old, depreciation is your friend.
I found Saxos weedy, hard to drive (tiniest pedels in the world) and just cheap feeling. The Alfa would be a dream compared to it. And if it does break down, ignore the I told you so crowd as chances are they've parked up their Corolla/Civic/Golf and walked home before too. It happens (unless you're one of the jammy few, who because their car has never broken down, think they're a mechanical whizz or have a sixth sense for buying cars, when in actual fact they're just lucky. So far.)

Have to agree with nearly all of this, except you are MUCH MUCH more likely to need a decent pair of walking shoes with an Alfa, and less likely to be able to afford them due to the last repair to your Alfa and higher running costs compared to a Saxo. That said an Alfa 147 is very nice inside, nice to drive, but do try and get one with a proper service history and ring the servicing garage to see if anything else have needed repair.

Ferris

I don't think that Alfa's are the world's most reliable car but the 147 is easily the best looking hatchback commonly available in Ireland. I'd take the 'risk' and buy on the cars condition and service history rather than worrying about the year so much.

2nd hand cars are going to be worth practically nothing here anyway for the foreseeable future, get a bargain while buying (easy at the mo if you are bold) and take the hit when you sell.

Zube

il gatto wrote: »

It happens (unless you're one of the jammy few, who because their car has never broken down, think they're a mechanical whizz or have a sixth sense for buying cars, when in actual fact they're just lucky. So far.)

This is total nonsense, I've been driving my own cars for over twenty years, the wife too, and neither of us has ever been stopped by a breakdown, and I'm not talking Toyotas or Hondas. Total problems in a combined 40 years of driving:

205: fuel line cut by a stone up off the road in the middle of nowhere, delayed 2 hours while a local mechanic finished his dinner and then fixed it with a bit of plastic hose.

Clio: Clutch cable snapped, had to drive home with no clutch, fixed by Renault for free.

Alfa 155: Handbrake froze on in hard frost, took a while to shift it.

Ran out of petrol in the Alfa once. Drained the battery once. Oh, arrived at Dublin Airport to find the battery flat on the Multipla, had to pay the van-man a tenner for a jump start.

Really, modern cars (even the succession of Fiats, Alfas, Peugeots and Renaults we've owned) just do not break down much. Driving an uber-reliable Toyota would have saved me maybe 4 hours in the last 20 years.

hellboy99

Luck of the draw really, you hear of lots of people having problems with Alfa's especially the 156 (head problems mainly) but then again I know a few that have them and never had any major problems with them.

chickenhawk

Thanks everyone for replying.

I don't mind the saxo too much and apart from the brakes not working very well/at all (which some might point out as a problem:rolleyes:) it is a grand car. The pedals do take some getting used to but every car takes some adjustment.

If I find a nice 147 for the right price I will go for it and maybe get some AA breakdown recovery for a bit of peice of mind!

il gatto

Zube wrote: »

This is total nonsense, I've been driving my own cars for over twenty years, the wife too, and neither of us has ever been stopped by a breakdown, and I'm not talking Toyotas or Hondas. Total problems in a combined 40 years of driving:

205: fuel line cut by a stone up off the road in the middle of nowhere, delayed 2 hours while a local mechanic finished his dinner and then fixed it with a bit of plastic hose.

Clio: Clutch cable snapped, had to drive home with no clutch, fixed by Renault for free.

Alfa 155: Handbrake froze on in hard frost, took a while to shift it.

Ran out of petrol in the Alfa once. Drained the battery once. Oh, arrived at Dublin Airport to find the battery flat on the Multipla, had to pay the van-man a tenner for a jump start.

Really, modern cars (even the succession of Fiats, Alfas, Peugeots and Renaults we've owned) just do not break down much. Driving an uber-reliable Toyota would have saved me maybe 4 hours in the last 20 years.

And here's an example. I've owned Peugeots and Alfas and have worked in a Renault garage and they all do it. Even the Audis VWs and Subarus my boss had a thing about buying and selling. Yes cars are reliable, but it is the luck of the draw. That's my point. Think of your "total nonsense" attitude some night when your're on the side of the road with a broken timing belt which is still 10,000miles shy of it's change, or an alternator which has just died, or a broken rocker shaft. All things that have happened me in different vehicles, all properly maintained. In the same order an Alfa 156, a Peugeot 306 and a Land Rover Defender. Other "walk home" things I've came across include dead ECUs(Primeras), dodgy immobilisers(Peugeot), dead fuel injection pumps(Renault), coil packs failing(Audi). The list goes on, so before you decry what I said as nonsense, be mure thanful you've got away so lightly. And Toyotas and not uber-reliable.

Zube

il gatto wrote: »

on the side of the road with a broken timing belt which is still 10,000miles shy of it's change, or an alternator which has just died, or a broken rocker shaft. All things that have happened me in different vehicles, all properly maintained. In the same order an Alfa 156, a Peugeot 306 and a Land Rover Defender.

Wow, that's some record. Over how many years? What age were the cars? How many miles do you do? All my cars have been 0-8 years old, doing around 15K miles a year.

il gatto

Cars were between 4-8 years old. About 15k a year. Land Rover was 10 year old. I don't feel it's that unusual. I know a ggod few people who've had the same sort of things happen. My father had a new Primera with 2k on the clock and had to get the RAC to bring it home. One guy I know even had his BMW 325 go on fire. Actually I know two other people whose cars have burnt as well. An old Primera and a fairly new Vectra. Wires shorted behind the dash. None of the cars had their original wiring tampered with.
I live in the country and as such end up driving on quiet roads at night so when something does happen, there's not much you can do except ring someone for a lift/jump start/towrope/toolkit etc.