1999 Alfa Romeo 145 Cloverleaf from UK and Ireland - Comments

The car has been completely trouble free!! The only deterioration has been rust appearing on the wheelnuts!

A truly fantastic hot hatch. A real driver's car that handles and drives superbly. It begs to be revved and driven hard - the more you drive it the more you want to drive it!

Yes my wheel nuts have gone rusty too!

Also do your windscreen wipers not wipe properly over 80mph?

To cure the windscreen wiper problem try (after using the wipers) picking up the blade from the screen and putting it back down again. This has the effect of resetting the rubber in the correct direction and stops the juddering, especially if you practice this procedure from day one!!

Yep, wipers are rubbish, very annoying when they start squeaking. Rev happy engine, is quite happy to be driven hard. Shocking service costs though, ouch.

Minor electrical faults - rev-counter light has gone out and also one of the lights behind the fan control. Has been like that for ages now, too scared to get a quote for repair, I know its gonna be pricey.

I'd say a very expensive car to keep and maintain, especially with its depreciation.

...buuuuut loads of fun to drive, looks stunning, great leather seats, eats up Golf GTIs :)

To fix the wipers you need to bend the whole arm so the angle between the arm and the screen is more acute. Do not bend too much though as it will make that annoying juddering in the other direction.

I have recently fitted new grooved disc brakes and pads from Red Dot, which although they are performance products are actually cheaper than the manufacturers :). I did find out though that the offside rear calliper had rusted and could not be wound back in to fit the new pads, so I had to buy a new calliper, but since I changed the calliper and brake fluid the pedal travel has increased significantly (it is not due to calliper seizing as it was operating normally, clamping on the discs it was just not possible to wind back in) The brake pedal when braking hard is now about an inch lower than the accelerator making heel and toe hard, as now the accelerator digs into the side of my right foot. Has anyone tried braided hoses? Does it improve the pedal feel? Please email me at nathan@kluecom.com if you have any questions or comments

And my wheel nut have also rusted!!

I have had my Cloverleaf for about a year now. A major problem has been the un-interested dealer. Another problem for me has been lifting side skirts, and the near-side window not closing properly especially in dry weather.

Apart from that, a superb car, and no rusty wheel bolts!

A great car! Mine is now 4 years old and, unusually, I have decided not to change it. Dealers are awful but have now found a good independent specialist - seems excellent so far. Cured the wiper problems on my older model by fitting new arms from later version. Only problems have been air con (not very cold and prone to electrical gremlins) and recent fault with sensor to ECU. Nothing else matches it for looks+performance.

My 1999 T reg Cloverleaf is Fantastic as it say in my review. But recently My 4th gear failed and the gear box had to be rebuilt, this took 6 weeks for the part to be ordered, and 3-4 days to fix. So it would have cost about £300-£400 for parts & at £55 an hour labour, well you can imagine. Probably it would have cost in total £1500-£2000. Luckly it was still covered by the warranty and didn't cost me a penny, and they gave me a courtesy car for a week. So that was lucky, and the dealer was great. If you are going to buy one (And I suggest you do) get a warranty OK. You've been warned!!!

I have owned my Alfa Romeo 145 for over 2 years now and nothing has gone seriously wrong with it, but, recently the engine has been revving up on its own and stalls sometimes too. I took the car to a few mechanics and they all come up with different reasons why it is doing this. I was wondering if it could be the E.C.U? if this has happened to your 145 or you have the answer to the problem please could you email me at andycawley69@hotmail.com or post the answer on this website. Thank you.

Great car though, don't want to let it go!

I agree with other contributors in that the 145 Cloverleaf is a great car to drive. Can't think of anything else to replace it with when the time comes.

Anyway, had problem with air-con recirculation pump. This made a regular clunking noise until I took it to a dealer who relieved me of approx £400 (didn't realise the car only had a basic warranty and the replacement pump wasn't covered). This despite an appeal to AR UK. Lesson - check the warranty before purchasing. It hasn't diluted the experience as this event is now history.

As an aside, am going to fit Red Dot discs/pads all round because originals not good enough. Will try to report back in the near future.

I'm intrigued by the gentleman who wrote:

"Another problem for me has been lifting side skirts, and the near-side window not closing properly especially in dry weather."

I recently bought a black S-plate 145 from a dealer, which suffers from exactly these problems. Have I bought yours I wonder? Email me at philp@lansdowne-media.co.uk.

Apart from that, what a car! I wanted something quick, but a bit different. I'm not disappointed with my choice!

Everyone says "oooh, it'll rust". Cobblers. They just don't know what they're talking about.

I don't care anyway... I drive an Alfa...