by "Pabuuu, JDM car enthusiast & Italian parts hoarder" (pabuuu4)
Published 09/26/2017 at 15:51
by "Pabuuu, JDM car enthusiast & Italian parts hoarder" (pabuuu4)
Published 09/26/2017 at 15:51
Tags: Alfa 156
; Alfa Romeo
STARS: 0
So, for those who missed it , I inspected a Alfa Romeo 156 1.8 ts this afternoon.
It was in worse shape than I remembered, with it having some dings, scratches and paint issues.
This was at a car wash earlier this year, around jan/feb.
Interior is definitely one of the strong points of the car. Nice leather seats all around. the only thing wrong being the airbag cover thing being loose, and the fuse panel cover missing (but he has it)
I couldn’t check the mileage and start the car as the battery was dead. But he assures me it runs (I won’t buy it without hearing it run, don’t worry)
For it’s inspection it needs a new front left wheel bearing (the thing that makes the grinding noise)
But, worryingly, I found out that he has no history of ever changing the timing belt in the year he has owned it. On the engine it said it was last replaced at 157.000 km. The interval of changing these belts are 60.000 km. the car now has over 285.000 km (at least), so yeah...
Me being not that mechanically inclined (at all), I searched and found that there are a few video guides out there on changing the timing belt. In typical Jeremy Clarkson fashion; I am thinking ‘how hard can it be?’ ‘I can follow instructions..’
Wheel bearing should be do-able, but I’d have to go off of his word that it is really the only issue.
best part is, I think I can haggle him between 300-400 euro
3-400 for the car, about 170 in parts, and a few (probably a lot) of weekends fixing this, to me it seems worth it. Worst case, I part it out as much as I can and try to recoup my losses.
I know a 290.000 km Alfa Romeo doesn’t sound like a good idea, but for this price..
"haveacarortwoorthree2" (haveacarortwoorthree2)
09/26/2017 at 16:12, STARS: 0
Less than $500 for a 180,000 mile Alfa?* If you enjoy working on cars, go for it!
* Provided a community service for the US Oppos.
"CalzoneGolem" (calzonegolem)
09/26/2017 at 16:15, STARS: 0
Damn son. I wouldn’t even think about it.
"BiTurbo228 - Dr Frankenstein of Spitfires" (biturbo228)
09/26/2017 at 16:48, STARS: 0
Hell yeah i’d buy that :)
The airbag cover attaches with two sprung bits of thick wire whoch push outwards and latch over some hooks (there’s little holes in the sides that you poke screwdrivers through to unlatch them). Could be not clipped in properly, or the clip could be broken.
Timing belt can’t be too hard yeah, and if it hasn’t been changed at least you’ve got proof of its reliability ;)
"duurtlang" (duurtlang)
09/26/2017 at 17:30, STARS: 0
What could possibly go wrong? No, seriously. The worst thing that can happen is that you’ll lose €400, but not really because you can part it out. I got a box of parts with a €1k BMW E30t I bought on eBay once and I’ve sold less than half of those parts and I’m over €400 already.
I do hope you’ve got a place where you can work on it though. Preferably some place with a roof. Also, that timing belt, don’t do it alone.
"duurtlang" (duurtlang)
09/26/2017 at 17:35, STARS: 0
How much would a car like that (with MOT) cost in the UK? The equivalent of two portions of fish and chips? Sounds like a great meet banger :)
"BlurpleToyotaDishwasher" (blurpletoyotadishwasher)
09/26/2017 at 17:48, STARS: 0
A rough one like that, probably £350, decent ones about 600-800. V6es about £1.5k-2k and GTAs are way more; like 8k or something silly.
"BiTurbo228 - Dr Frankenstein of Spitfires" (biturbo228)
09/27/2017 at 12:35, STARS: 0
That’s part of the reason I thought it was such a good deal :) I thought ‘those are British car prices!).
To be honest though, I’ve seen 156s here with much lower mileage for about the same, so while the price might be the same you can get an ostensibly much fresher car for it :)