Alfa 2.2 JT Spider / Brera - should I?

Alfa 2.2 JT Spider / Brera - should I?

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davek_964

Original Poster:

8,795 posts

174 months

Tuesday 28th February 2017
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I'm toying with the idea of getting another car and was considering Z4s. Today somebody suggested Alfa Brera and a quick look through the classifieds showed they were lovely looking cars. And by coincidence there was a spider at a dealer a few miles from home, so I took a look after work to see what they look like in the flesh.

I loved it. Nice looking car, generally in excellent condition. I would need a proper look around it and a test drive, but having gone to see it just so I could see one in the flesh, I'm now tempted to turn up with the cash!

What should I be aware of with these cars? I realise that Italian engineering is not going to be as reliable as your average Japanese car but I don't want it breaking every week.
It will become one of 4 cars, and it's use will be semi-daily - maybe 3 times a week, and on average is unlikely to do more than a couple of hundred miles a month.
It will be kept outside, so I'm hoping the roof is fairly watertight.

Any known issues? How easy are they to live with?

Edited by davek_964 on Tuesday 28th February 17:41

Vitorio

4,296 posts

142 months

Tuesday 28th February 2017
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The 159/brera/spider generation was a shared endeavour between alfa and opel/GM, they gained a good bit of weight on the preceding 156/GT platform, and lost a bit of dynamism, but gained significantly in quality and comfort. The Brera is very much a GT, not a sportscar. Most of the foibles of the 156/GT (fast wearing suspension for instance) are gone.

The 2.2 JTS lump is a GM block with an Alfa head, and while that got rid of the short cam belt intervals of the Twinspark (based) engines, the chain used in the 1.9 and 2.2 JTS does have issues of its own, as it is prone to stretching, which will throw the timing off, and send the engine into error mode. GM issued a fix for this for their own version of the 2.2, Alfa never officially did. Some cars will have new chains fitted, some cars will have the GM fix applied, some cars will be on their original chain, and these are (obviously) something of a risk, especially at higher miles.

Engine wise, the 2.2 is probably the least desirable lump on the Brera/Spider. The 2.4 JTDm is bomb proof (but diesel), the 3.2 V6 might not be a busso (the previous alfa v6, a more characterful engine), but its still a potent V6. Then there is the 1750Tbi, only used in later cars, and probably the best engine in the bunch.

A 2.2 Spider/Brera should be a pretty good car, no real reliability issues provided you do your due diligence on the timing chain issue.

davek_964

Original Poster:

8,795 posts

174 months

Tuesday 28th February 2017
quotequote all
Thanks, that's useful.

The car I saw today was a one owner car, so I may be able to get hold of the owner for a chat about its history. At the worst, I suppose I need to budget that it might need a new chain in the near future.

I want reasonable speed but I have other sports cars, so I don't need it - or want it - to be too fast / sporty. What I'm really looking for is a car that's a bit interesting for the days that I am bored of using my Cayenne. I think one of these may do that job....

Vitorio

4,296 posts

142 months

Tuesday 28th February 2017
quotequote all
Sounds like it is a good option, a brera is indeed interesting, and speed-wise its not going to beat a cayenne, but it doesnt need to. The 2.2 is potent enough to cruise along nicely.

davek_964

Original Poster:

8,795 posts

174 months

Friday 3rd March 2017
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I joined alphaowner.com, but didn't get any answer so I'll try here :

Just how practical is the Spider for year round use, and being stored outside? Is the roof going to leak?

So far, I've seen two Spiders. The first one looked pretty good, had 75k miles on it and was at a dealer for £7k.

The second one had 48k miles on it, and was at a dealer for £8k. It was excellent condition, and if I decided on a Spider this would be my choice I think. It did have a couple of issues though :

Roof didn't work properly - it went up, but didn't quite get fully in position. He's booked it somewhere to be fixed on Monday.
Has a good service history, but last service was 10k miles ago - but that was 2013.
I didn't try it (not driven one yet) but I suspect the air con didn't work - in the service in 2013, they regassed and added dye - there was nothing in the file saying that was ever fixed!

I want to see a Brera too - hoping to over the weekend, but the owner hasn't got back to me. And they are much cheaper (34k miles, £5k). But I do like the Spiders, if I thought it was really a practical choice - and my common sense streak is saying it's NOT!