Alfa Romeo 147. Should I?

[brucie286]

Thinking about buying a 2002-2004 147 diesel. Does anyone know the differences (if there are any) between the engines they used? Are they turbo diesels and are they any good?

Cheers

[Wombat Rick]

brucie286 said:

Are they turbo diesels and are they any good?

Yes and yes.

1.9 common rail four pots in either 8 valve or 16 valve. Far superior to the VW 1.9s - lot less laggy and more revvy. My missus runs a 1.9 8 valve. It's 115bhp, 200lb ft, (slightly sloppy) five speed box. Goes well, is economical, practical and well equipped. It's a 5 door Lusso with leather, CD, climate, cruise and so on.

The 16 valve has 140 or 150bhp depending on age plus a 6 speed box. "Turismo" is entry level spec but sttill very well equipped. Ti is the top spec but very rare.

There was an exterior facelift in late 2004 but it's debateable whether it improved anything!

More here...
http://www.alfaworkshop.co.uk/alfa_147_history.sht...

[brucie286]

Thanks for the info.

I've got 6k ish to spend on one. Do you reckon they're out there for that money?

[macdeb]

YES!!!!!
We have had a 53 plate 147 JTD Lusso from new. Of all the cars we've had, it is the BEST BY FAR. It has NEVER let us down and is always a joy to drive. If we ever trade in, it will be for another.

[Dibby]

Make sure you get a full service history and plenty of reciepts with it. Warranty is a good idea too - I love mine when it works properly but it goes wrong far too much for my liking.

It's kinda like going out with Jordan - good looking but costs a bit to keep her happy!

I'd be tempted to spend a bit more than £6k on one, the electrics are the major worry with them. Take one for a test drive and you won't be disappointed with the performance. For a diesel they are lot nicer to drive than VW TDi's(I owned a 130 TDI Bora before the Alfa and had a 110 TDi Golf company car for a year) but maybe not as reliable - all depends if you get a good 'un or a bad 'un.