Higher Mileage Mito’s or Guillieta
Higher Mileage Mito’s or Guillieta
Author
Discussion

m3coupe

Original Poster:

1,107 posts

220 months

Thursday 13th October 2022
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Hi folks,

As per the title, does anyone have any first hand experience with higher mileage Alfas? Looking at either a Mito or Guillieta and buying out right. A lot online look really good but some can be up at 80,000 plus.

I know it’s all about treatment, servicing etc but any things I should be looking at or avoiding with higher mileage cars?

Cheers in advance.

Jonny_

4,529 posts

223 months

Thursday 13th October 2022
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If ours is anything to go by, Giuliettas can cope with high mileage quite well. Just north of 126000 miles and still going strong!

We've had no problems at all with the engine (1.4 Multiair) or gearbox (6spd manual). Have serviced it myself since we bought the car at about 95000 miles. Minimum of fresh oil and filter every 9000 miles (early cars were sold with an 18000 mile service interval, advice is to ignore this and do it at half that!), and always use the recommended Selenia synthetic oil as the Multiair gubbins is very sensitive to incorrect or old/dirty oil. Also there's an oil strainer on the feed to the Multiair unit which can clog, so I remove this and clean it in petrol at each service as well.

Drop links and lower arms will generally be pretty tired at around 100,000 miles, check for any clunking or rattling from the front end or vague/loose feeling steering.

Tailgate wiring looms tend to fail as the wires flex and fatigue over time, check that the rear wiper, heated window and all lights on the tailgate are working. Replacement loom sections are available relatively cheaply but it's a fiddly job to replace.

Interior door handles on early cars can fail where the cable slots in, if this has happened it'll be obvious as you won't be able to open the door from inside! Again can be fixed with a fairly cheap part off Italian eBay but it's not an easy job.

The rear end of the sills can be a bit of a rust trap, it's well worth a poke about underneath the sills and behind the arch liners.

If stop/start doesn't work the chances are it's just an ageing battery. The system is quite sensitive to battery condition, even if the battery seems to be otherwise fine.

xyyman

1,086 posts

241 months

Friday 14th October 2022
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I've been using a 2.0 diesel Giulietta on and off for two years. Its eleven years old and now has 135k miles and running well. Everything works, performs well and is comfortable. Seems to have plenty of life left in it.

southendpier

5,713 posts

245 months

Wednesday 19th October 2022
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Just picked up a 136k 2009 Mito - 1.4 seems ok.

psychoR1

1,101 posts

203 months

Sunday 23rd October 2022
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what are the mito twin airs like on fuel around town? I'm looking for one for Mrs R1 as a shopping car.

WelshPetrolhead

899 posts

151 months

Sunday 23rd October 2022
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psychoR1 said:
what are the mito twin airs like on fuel around town? I'm looking for one for Mrs R1 as a shopping car.
Mine seems to have settled on around 40mpg for a 9 mile country lane commute. I'd say for town work you'd be looking at low to mid 30s.

psychoR1

1,101 posts

203 months

Saturday 29th October 2022
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WelshPetrolhead said:
Mine seems to have settled on around 40mpg for a 9 mile country lane commute. I'd say for town work you'd be looking at low to mid 30s.
Thanks - anyone got a 1.6 or 2.0 JTDM Guilietta for comparison in terms of town mpg - short trips?


Auslander

343 posts

34 months

Saturday 29th October 2022
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psychoR1 said:
WelshPetrolhead said:
Mine seems to have settled on around 40mpg for a 9 mile country lane commute. I'd say for town work you'd be looking at low to mid 30s.
Thanks - anyone got a 1.6 or 2.0 JTDM Guilietta for comparison in terms of town mpg - short trips?
Don't buy a diesel for town use / short trips. They never get up to temperature, so won't deliver decent MPG, and you'll get issues with all the emissions control kit.

I wouldn't bother with a TwinAir, either, if they only do 40mpg - you'll get that from a 1.4 Turbo.

Alfahorn

7,800 posts

224 months

Sunday 20th November 2022
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psychoR1 said:
Thanks - anyone got a 1.6 or 2.0 JTDM Giulietta for comparison in terms of town mpg - short trips?
I ran a 1.6 JTDM Giulietta and Mito. They both averaged 48 mpg. I did 90k in the Giulietta over 5 years and 15k in the Mito over 12 months. One of my favourite engines as diesel goes.

Rob 131 Sport

3,760 posts

68 months

Monday 12th December 2022
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We’ve had a 2012 Mito 1.3 Diesel in the family for 8 years taking it from 20k to 85k.

It’s serviced at 9k or annually and has been totally reliable. I had the coolant and gearbox oil changed at 50k. I also wax it twice a year to keep it protected and rust proof it with waxoyl. My daughter will start using it shortly and I would really struggle to ever sell it.

ric p

646 posts

285 months

Monday 12th December 2022
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Daughter has a 1.4 non turbo petrol, 95bhp, as her first car. She has run it from 68k and is now on 110k.

It has been very reliable bearing in mind it gets a hard rural life down farm tracks and horse yards. I do all the servicing apart from the cam belt change, which was £380 in the local garage.

Outside of that, it has had a broken front spring, the brake wear sensor wires seem to break, but this could be the wires snagging on debris on tracks. Not a concern for most users but does leave an illuminated warning light annoyingly. I need to order the replacement wires.

Exhaust lasted until 8 years but eventually gave up the ghost. .

The air box is brittle plastic so the lugs break off. £300 + to replace or glass fibre matting and resin to reinforce.

Had to repair the wires that run to the tailgate, a common problem as they snap through flexing and cause random electrical issues and blown fuzes. However there is now a loom patch available to fix.

A bit plastic but feels pretty solid and drives well for what it is. The 170 would be a hoot, I reckon.

Overall a fun little car, much more so than a Polo, Corsa or the usual 1st car fare. Reasonably rare and looks good, hers is Veloce spec in blue. Also cheap to insure by her dad, most importantly, cheaper than most of the competition.

Proved to be so good, she wants a Giulietta as a replacement.

joshcowin

7,147 posts

192 months

Monday 12th December 2022
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I've got a 2.0 diesel guillieta (or however you spell it). Its coming up to 80000 I bought it at on 55000 its been a solid car, the start stop has never worked and the blue and me has given up the ghost but mechanically it's been spot on!

My wife does a minimum journey of 10miles so always gets warm. I wouldn't buy a diesel if I was doing short journeys.