Faults:
Started with reasonably priced general service bills, the 60K miles service being the most expensive, no serious problems.. until..
Last year (2001) at 60K miles, the Cam belts went snap, and destroyed the engine.. had to have all 16 valves replaced and the top half of the engine rebuilt, this was done, so unfortunately at the main dealer in Portslade, near Brighton.. and cost £1600!!! they has also failed to check the damage throroughly.. because..
3 weeks ago (July 2002), one of the "big ends" went bang, the crank shaft and a piston had been damaged the previous time and had gradually worn out since the last big bang. The cheap option was to re-grind the crank and for Alfa to supply new shells, no chance, had to get a brand new crank shaft, also replaced the clutch (76K miles). This total bill will come to about £800!! and it's only at this price because the garage isn't a main dealer. The labour charge is a third!! of the cost of a main dealer, i.e. £20 and hour compared to £60!!
So therefore, I highly recommend that absolutely NO-ONE ever goes to an Alfa main dealer.. I never will again, the cost is horrendous and the customer service is just Pants!!! which is why I gave it 0/10.
Apart from that, no real problems.
General Comments:
Apart from the problems I've had, I still absolutely love this car, it has perfect handling, there is an edge to the cornering that just begs to be played with.
The steering is very responsive and feel fantastic, the 2.1 turns lock to lock is handy, but the turning circle is a bit big, maybe they needed to increase the 2.1 turns to about 3 !!
The 2.0 litre 16V twin-spark engine has just got to be one of the best 2.0 litre non-turbo engines in the world, it's just mind bogglingly tempting to floor the accelerator at every opportunity. Although I hear the Honda VTEC engines are a bit tasty too.
The comfort of the car is fine, with sports suspension you can't be a big girls blouse and expect a smooth ride on long journeys, if you wanted that you should go buy one of those silly french cars.
It's basically a good all-round performance car, it's no turbo, but it's good, the handling is the best feature, so if you like your corners on the edge, get one.
But don't get anything pre-N reg, they're apparently nowhere near as sporty.
23rd Dec 2004, 18:24
Ditto your comment re: Alfa main dealers, you should try the ones in Spain, put it this way, because they don't have good independent or specialist garages here, I'm not going to buy another Alfa. Here they're rude aswell as not having a clue.
I'm scraping my car because I can't get anyone to see if it's only a blown head gasket or not, let alone do something about it. Basically you need a good mechanic before you buy an Alfa, not the other way around. You'd be hard pressed to find any review anywhere praising an Alfa main dealer. Alfa need to sort themselves out.
By the way, I can recommend an excellent garage, though expensive they're quick at diagnosis and repair, 'Gatwick Alfa' other wise known as 'Alfa Mike', in Rusper, West Sussex.