2003 Alfa Romeo 147 Lusso from UK and Ireland - Comments

There is a dreadful whining noise at all times. Dealer said "just newness" but after persisting they have agreed there is a fault and have the car is booked in for repairs to power steering belt/pump.

New driver's seat belt on order, doesn't retract.

New door trims on order, originals wrinkled.

Thirsty.

Hate the climate control, fiddly and has a mind of it's own.

Living with the car has made me realise the trim and finish are poor. I have full leather interior, but the gear lever gaiter is a really cheap black mock leather. All plastics feel cheap in comparison to Ford Focus.

Indicators are useless at roundabouts, stay on too long or cancel too early.

Hate the headlights, no warning buzzer, instead they switch off with ignition, but switch on again the next time the car is used which means it's easy to drive around during the day with headlights on!

Glove box tiny.

Boot is very small.

Petrol cap is fiddly to use.

No deadlocks.

I have little good to say about the car which I had admired & considered for some time before purchase. I am currently considering selling and replacing with another Ford Focus!

Counterpoint: I drove a rented 147 JTD for over 1200Kms in Sicily this summer, in heavy traffic, mountain roads (including the Etna volcano climb - from 0 to 2000m altitude) always at extreme temperatures (up to 48°C this summer). I drove the 147 really fast whenever possible, fully exploiting the JTD's excellent torque, never being shy to bring it to the limit of its handling abilities.

I loved the interior trim quality - for me the plastics used are excellent - nothing rattled or fell off, and actually the car always performed faultlessly despite the intense heat. Normally I drive a BMW 540i, but even in comparison to the beemer I was really impressed by the 147 JTD, considering the price and class of this car. I would consider buying one if I needed a small car to drive around.

Fuel consumption was excellent at about 6.5 / 7 l/100km (about 45mpg, I think?).

So don't slag the 147 off just because you had a bad experience with one - the Focus is so bland and nondescript in comparison that I would not even consider looking at one twice.

I am very surprised that you found the interior plastics inferior to that of a Focus. I have a couple of friends who own a Ford Focus and the hard, shiny and hollow-sounding plastics in that car are definitely not a match for the 147. Also the entire lower door /dashboard trims and glovebox are fabric-lined in the 147 which is a relatively expensive route for a car manufacturer to take when trimming a car, and a far cry from what you'll find in BMW Compact let alone a Focus!

My other point is surely a prospective purchaser notices things like a "small boot" and a "tiny glovebox" before committing to buying a car? You can't actually consider these to be "real" faults if you were already aware of them being part of the fabric of the car's actual design! Relatively speaking, let's face it, nobody buys a Focus and then criticizes it for not having the carrying capacity of a Volvo estate!

Like the previous commentator I am amazed that the author of this review "hates" the car because of what appear to me to be trivial items like the size of the glove box and the slightly fiddly locking petrol cap. By that logic I'd "hate" the first Clash album because they put 'Remote Control' on it. I'd "hate" Rome because there's a MacDonalds in it (probably). Is any car (or anything in life, for that matter) perfect? The Alfa 147 certainly isn't, but its positives far outweigh its negatives in my experience. I just don't take big gloves with me when I'm driving it.

So after 250 miles' ownership the author of this review "hates" the 147 because its glove box is too small and the petrol filler is fiddly (how often would refuelling be necessary in such a short period unless you buy petrol 2 litres at a time)?

No car is perfect. The Alfa 147 is no exception. But its qualities massively outweigh its disadvantages and I don't think it's fair to criticise a car when the criticisms - size of boot, glove box, lack of deadlocks - are items any purchaser would generally be expected to know about before handing over his/her money. I reckon this reviewer should give the 147 another chance - and perhaps get a smaller pair of gloves.

I agree. The size of the glove box and boot are part of the nature of this car... there are no surprises... its not like the boot in the demo model was larger!!! It's a bit like buying a Spider, and upon delivery complaining that there are only 2 seats!!! As for the petrol tank... how fiddly is it??? We are humans, have a great brain capacity and very tactile figers/hands...the petrol tank is a cinch. I have had some minor niggles... which I am sure could have occured with any other car on the market.