Alfa Mito 1.4 - may I have some pointers, please?
Discussion
Per title really, I'm going to view one of these for a friend. It's going to be a first car, and his budget is £2k. This would be coming in circa 1.3-1.5k.
It's largely the best condition car I've seen within a 50 mile radius, and within the scope of what he's after. £2k apparently gets you sod all decent these days.
I don't know a great deal about them, however. Anyone got any experience of them?
It's largely the best condition car I've seen within a 50 mile radius, and within the scope of what he's after. £2k apparently gets you sod all decent these days.
I don't know a great deal about them, however. Anyone got any experience of them?
Edited by TheJimi on Thursday 25th November 21:14
I got one for my youngest about 9 months ago.
Good points -
Looks, seats, normally well spec'd in comparison to similar age Corsa, Polo etc
Decent performance and the DNA selector makes a difference to steering and throttle response
Good mpg, cheap insurance for teenagers
Not so good
Paintwork is thin and easily damaged, black not a great colour for this!!
Eats springs on the suspension, lots of them have MOT failure for this.
Not easy to connect phone/bluetooth/stream music
For me its a better bet than some of the more mundane stuff out there and it is cheap to insure, there are a lot of bad ones out there.
Good points -
Looks, seats, normally well spec'd in comparison to similar age Corsa, Polo etc
Decent performance and the DNA selector makes a difference to steering and throttle response
Good mpg, cheap insurance for teenagers
Not so good
Paintwork is thin and easily damaged, black not a great colour for this!!
Eats springs on the suspension, lots of them have MOT failure for this.
Not easy to connect phone/bluetooth/stream music
For me its a better bet than some of the more mundane stuff out there and it is cheap to insure, there are a lot of bad ones out there.
ZX10R NIN said:
What model & power output 95/105/120/140/155?
They're pretty robust, cambelt etc also make sure you go lock to lock on the steering while stationary as they can sometimes have a power steering issue.
Just the 95 model.They're pretty robust, cambelt etc also make sure you go lock to lock on the steering while stationary as they can sometimes have a power steering issue.
Apparently it has a slightly creaky ball joint which manifests itself at low speed, but looking at the MOT history, it wasn't even an advisory.
Madness - thanks for the feedback. This one looks to have been owned by an enthusiast, so has been pretty well looked after.
TheJimi said:
Just the 95 model.
Apparently it has a slightly creaky ball joint which manifests itself at low speed, but looking at the MOT history, it wasn't even an advisory.
Madness - thanks for the feedback. This one looks to have been owned by an enthusiast, so has been pretty well looked after.
Sounds like you've got an honest owner price up replacing the both ball joints. Apparently it has a slightly creaky ball joint which manifests itself at low speed, but looking at the MOT history, it wasn't even an advisory.
Madness - thanks for the feedback. This one looks to have been owned by an enthusiast, so has been pretty well looked after.
I’ve no experience of older models but for anyone thinking about a newer one...my son got a new one on a pcp when the first scrappage scheme was on. Great little car, he had it a couple of years with no issues then got a job in Mercedes Sales with a company car and they cleared the pcp.
My other half had a 1.4 turbo petrol on 110,000 miles.
She put 15,000 miles on it with no major issues.
Power steering did fail when put on or near full lock, we eventually found this only happened when the battery was low.
Outer skin of the exhaust rotted and fell off, also had a heat shield fall off above the exhaust that caused an almighty racket!
Rear caliper started sticking as well but that was sorted for £50 and an hour of my time.
All in all was a fairly cheap car to run for 2 years, cost us £1200 and sold it for £1000. Probably spent above £400 on new tyres, service items and brake caliper/discs/pads over our ownership.
If you believe the Internet, we've been extremely lucky with Alfas, had a 147, Mito and Giulietta. All bought on high miles and never had an major issues.
I'd recommend a modern alfa to anyone.
She put 15,000 miles on it with no major issues.
Power steering did fail when put on or near full lock, we eventually found this only happened when the battery was low.
Outer skin of the exhaust rotted and fell off, also had a heat shield fall off above the exhaust that caused an almighty racket!
Rear caliper started sticking as well but that was sorted for £50 and an hour of my time.
All in all was a fairly cheap car to run for 2 years, cost us £1200 and sold it for £1000. Probably spent above £400 on new tyres, service items and brake caliper/discs/pads over our ownership.
If you believe the Internet, we've been extremely lucky with Alfas, had a 147, Mito and Giulietta. All bought on high miles and never had an major issues.
I'd recommend a modern alfa to anyone.
Bought a 35k 10 plate 1.4 for my daughter a while back. Changed springs, tyres, brakes cambelt on arrival, drove much better.
If you change the springs, change the strut top bearings too as they will likely be rotten through. OEM springs are quite hard so don't think to go 'sporty' or it will be impossibly hard!
https://www.shop4parts.co.uk/?name=store&op=Pr...
Regular servicing, use the correct oil, also don't forget the little oil filter in the top of the engine,
https://www.shop4parts.co.uk/?name=store&op=Pr...
Great perky little engine, if it's turbo check for oil smells in the cabin, mine turned out to be an oil seal on the turbo leaking onto the manifold.
Look out for misaligned front bumper, easily knocked out of place if previous owner has hit something and the headlight surrounds are eye wateringly expensive. One was damaged on ours, epoxy and a bit of spray paint...
If the exhaust is rotten it will need to be cut out as it's a one piece thing that's on top of the sub frame. Get a custom stainless one for only a little more.
I seem to remember the leather interior was made by Poltrona Frau, a high end Italian coachworks/furniture company.
If you change the springs, change the strut top bearings too as they will likely be rotten through. OEM springs are quite hard so don't think to go 'sporty' or it will be impossibly hard!
https://www.shop4parts.co.uk/?name=store&op=Pr...
Regular servicing, use the correct oil, also don't forget the little oil filter in the top of the engine,
https://www.shop4parts.co.uk/?name=store&op=Pr...
Great perky little engine, if it's turbo check for oil smells in the cabin, mine turned out to be an oil seal on the turbo leaking onto the manifold.
Look out for misaligned front bumper, easily knocked out of place if previous owner has hit something and the headlight surrounds are eye wateringly expensive. One was damaged on ours, epoxy and a bit of spray paint...
If the exhaust is rotten it will need to be cut out as it's a one piece thing that's on top of the sub frame. Get a custom stainless one for only a little more.
I seem to remember the leather interior was made by Poltrona Frau, a high end Italian coachworks/furniture company.
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