2001 Alfa Romeo 147 Selespeed review from UK and Ireland

Selespeed gearbox failure leaving car in a dangerous position on the road.

Alarm going off and failing to reset when opening the rear hatch.

Hatch trims not secure.

Power steering pump oil leak (level below min)

Heavy oil consumption.

26mpg, hard to get over 30mpg

Positive terminal battery cover is broken.

CD player skips on normal CDs even when car stationary.

Front windscreen washers very poor.

Handbrake cable on left is not fitted correctly

Timing belt cover not fitted correctly.

Carpeting hanging out of passenger front lower trim and on side of centre console.

Alternator fails to charge battery (replaced once, and failed again).

Rattles from door trims and rear seats.

Sunroof blind completely was missing. Where sunroof blind was eventually fitted after months, grease, and bad fit of the trim.

Sunroof sometimes failed to open.

Selespeed paddles on steering wheel. Finish keeps coming off. The steering wheel has been replaced twice.

The climate control kept going to HIGH and MAX.

I may have thrown £19,100 down the drain, and kept my old Cavalier Diplomat, and my 20 year old TR7.

I wish I had never bought this nightmare. It sits in my driveway and I have not been able to drive it for 18 months!

I used to be an Italian car fan. Not anymore. Working in a large company with huge car park, word spread fast about my car. Nobody has bought an Alfa since. Alfa must have lost many sales.

I accepted the car on the condition the initial faults were rectified. They weren't and further serious faults developed. These were mostly not fixed by the dealer. I faxed the MD of Alfa GB in Jan 2002. Alfa initially refused to accept there were any problems with the car! The dealer was not able to diagnose, or fix the problems. Alfa GB told me that they had spoken to the dealer and there was nothing wrong with the car. Even after I had the car inspected by the AA (at the suggestion of Alfa GB) who found the fault as well as many others I got nowhere. Finally after many phone calls and requests from my lawyers, in June Alfa GB engineers inspected the car and agreed with the findings of the AA. In August 02 the dealer offered to fix it, and then offered 12,000 to buy the car back. The have refused to offer any more. I also contacted Alfa Italy. It took months

before they even replied.

After the dealer failed to fix the car in Dec 01, I asked them to give me a refund (I have proof). The dealer wouldn't even make me an offer. All I got was that the relevant person was in meetings, and would call me. The sales manager also promised to give me a refund figure "the next day". Neither of them even had the courtesy to contact me.

neilbrandon@btinternet.com