Cheap Alfa 75 3.0 V6

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AJLintern

Original Poster:

4,211 posts

265 months

Friday 20th February 2004
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A chap at work is selling his Alfa 75 V6 for £350. It's done 125k miles, but is in otherwise 'good condition'. Now I assumed these were FWD, but Pwig informs me they are actually RWD...



This means that I now want to buy it - Should I??

AJLintern

Original Poster:

4,211 posts

265 months

Sunday 22nd February 2004
quotequote all
interloper said:
At £350 worth the money for the engine noise on its own !
My thoughts exactly Going to contact the chap tomorrow!

AJLintern

Original Poster:

4,211 posts

265 months

Monday 23rd February 2004
quotequote all
I've contacted the bloke and I'm going to take a look on wednesday Although it's fairly high mileage, I think that if anything was going to go wrong, it would have done by now. As far as I know the main reason he's selling it is because of the amount it costs in fuel driving it to work everyday! What sort of mpg should I expect? My 944 S2 does 25-30 usually.

AJLintern

Original Poster:

4,211 posts

265 months

Monday 23rd February 2004
quotequote all
I was just trying to be optimistic!
But I don't intend taking this car to a garage for maintenance - it's just going to be a fun car that I can fix myself if I need to, as I already have my Porsche and Peugeot as my main cars.

AJLintern

Original Poster:

4,211 posts

265 months

Monday 23rd February 2004
quotequote all
Thanks for all the feedback I'm not too worried about the maintenance, because I'm never going to have to rely upon the car as a daily driver - if something goes wrong I'll try and fix it and maybe learn something while I'm doing it! The only problems with running a 3rd car is the extra tax/mot/insurance every year, but I'm hoping that I could get classic low mileage insurance and I'll only get 6 months tax to start with. The mot runs until august luckily.
Afterall it's only £350 so it's not the end of the world if it all goes pear shaped!

AJLintern

Original Poster:

4,211 posts

265 months

Wednesday 25th February 2004
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Just a thought - what fuel should it be run on?? Is normal unleaded ok or does it need LRP?

AJLintern

Original Poster:

4,211 posts

265 months

Wednesday 25th February 2004
quotequote all
Well I went to have a look and it was a little tatty - as one would expect. No major rust that I could see though. Engine seemed to run sweetly, all the gauges pointed the right way, no fluid leaking and nice clean oil/coolant. Interior in quite good condition. Checked the warning lights and all the external lights, all ok. Tyres in good condition.
Took it for a drive round the block No rattles or worrying noises, smooth and quiet. Gearchange a little bit agricultural but managed to find all the ratios ok. Long throw on the clutch and brake pedal, but worked smoothly enough. Throttle pedal a bit light for my tastes.
Seems to roll a bit, but then I shouldn't compare it to my 944 - it is a saloon afterall. Goes nicely, but realised that it was nearly out of fuel - at least I know the low fuel light works now!







Anyway - I pick it up tomorrow

AJLintern

Original Poster:

4,211 posts

265 months

Wednesday 25th February 2004
quotequote all
I knew that the driving position was supposed to be odd, but I didn't really find it too bad. But then I am used to driving 4 different cars quite regularly so maybe I find it easy to adapt. I'm also 6' and can't remember having trouble with headroom, even with it having an electric sunroof (I didn't dare try to activate it incase it failed in the open position )
I thought it rolled a bit more than I'd have expected, but I put this down to the age/mileage making things a little saggy!
Yes the brake pedal did need to be pushed quite a way before it did anything - maybe the fluid needs bleeding or something?
I'll have a better chance to see how it goes when I drive it home tomorrow, but I think it's got potential

AJLintern

Original Poster:

4,211 posts

265 months

Wednesday 25th February 2004
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krispy said:
How's the bodywork on yours?
A few bumps and knocks here and there, nothing serious - could do with a damn good clean and polish. Looked in the boot under the carpet as I understand that's where they often rust and there was nothing really. I'll post some pics up tomorrow
interloper said:
Nice one AJ. Enjoy !
I fully intend to!

AJLintern

Original Poster:

4,211 posts

265 months

Thursday 26th February 2004
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Ok - got it home Drive back was interesting - had an occasion when nearly all the warning lights were flashing at me but when I stopped and restarted they went out
Brakes seem to be better than I first though, just takes a bit of getting used to I suppose. The handbrake seems a little reluctant to do its job
Otherwise it ran nicely, gearbox pretty smooth when you get used to it - though I suspect some of the synchros maybe a little worn

Ooh yes and the electric sunroof works fine

AJLintern

Original Poster:

4,211 posts

265 months

Thursday 26th February 2004
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Here's few pics after giving it a quick wash




AJLintern

Original Poster:

4,211 posts

265 months

Friday 27th February 2004
quotequote all
Just been on the phone getting some insurance - as it's over 15 years old (just!) it qualifies for a classic policy! Only £239!

Right so I've spent just under £600 on the car so far - what should I buy next to make it a nice round £1k? Apart from the cambelt I could probably get the suspension sorted and maybe refurbish the brakes

AJLintern

Original Poster:

4,211 posts

265 months

Friday 27th February 2004
quotequote all
That was with Footman James, although I have my 309 insured with them so they mirrored the 2 years NCB. Having said that, I think if you get classic insurance they don't take NCB into account. It's a bit crazy really as my 309 cost £315 to insure last year and thats group 7!