Alfa Romeo 146: Are they any good?

[theorganist]

What is the general opinion on these?

 

 

I have wondered about getting something a little newer (i.e. less than 20 years ol). I know very little about cars post 1990 but these I have always liked the styling of these and I suppose the Alfa Romeo name.

 

Also one should fit on my drive and some seem cheap.

 

Are they reasonably reliable as modern cars or do they still suffer the same problems a lot of Italian cars were known for?

 

Any most importantly are they Autoshite?

 

Thanks,

Peter.

[nigel bickle]

I've kinda inherited a 2litre twinspark with a blown head gasket & clacking variometer.

 

I can drive it around 4 miles on a rad full -and it seems a nice car, but the cost of headgasket effectively makes an uneconomic repair. Might be DIY doable -but i've more interesting cars to waste my time on.

Twinspark seems a bit fragile- needing more tlc than most owners seem prepared to give these days. Clacking vario (makes it sound like a diesel on tickover) is just a nuisance.

 

Dirt cheap at pres though.

[Luxobarges_Are_Us]

I've no first-hand experience of them, but I've heard plenty of horror stories, particularly of the electrical variety. However, I think they're pretty cheap nowadays, so I guess you could treat them as disposable...

[fiatdaft]

a posher more complicated tipo,pure autoshite.

[theorganist]

Thanks for the feedback guys.

 

a posher more complicated tipo,pure autoshite.

 

Having been a former Tipo owner that doesn't sound too bad to me!!

[Pete-M]

Boxer engined ones aren't at all quick (but sound good). TS powered ones are quicker but more fragile.

 

They drive ok, but they are a tad fragile. When the TS ones came out I was working at Avis who had a fair few of them. Wasn't unusual for them to go out on hire and come back a week later rattling with the oil pressure light on. Gearboxes used to lose synchro on 3rd a lot too. Alfa, being Alfa, tried to wangle their way out of warranty work on them. They didn't like replacing a few engines a month for free, and the dealers are shit, so when the faster, more reliable and better handling Focus came out we didn't see any more 145/6s.

 

Nice idea, badly executed. The 2.0 Cloverleaf is enough of a giggle to make it worth a punt, but don't expect it to still be working for long.

[Barry Cade]

We had early black 1.6 boxer which came from Kinross. Engine was spot on, but the gearbox howled and crunched in 3rd. Never got any worse though. Before I put it on the road I had to weld right along the join between the floor/sill on both sides. Looked fine, but after a poke with a blunt instrument I found the floor was floating... Interior was very brittle and creaky, but everything worked, and the handling and boxer rasp was amazing. Wife still speaks fondly about it after all these years. I didn't much care for it. Timing belts were a doddle to do though!

[Mr Lobster]

I've said it before but it probably bears repeating, when they work they are great. I had a 145 2.0 Cloverleaf and loved it, its the one car I'll look back on in twenty years and regret selling I reckon.

 

But, all the tales of mechanical doom you hear are generally true. They are fragile and do break. And its never a cheap fix.

 

A Focus / Golf / ZX / etc would be more reliable.

 

Cracking when they work though.

[155V6]

An ex had one when it was about 4 years old,quite different to the E28 5-Series I had at the time .Father 155 has got an N-reg Boxer,but it's broken

[Barry Cade]

Just shook hands on this:

 

 

Its this years choice for my annual 2400 mile Germany trip. Wish me luck!

[TimothyClaypole]

I like the look of that.

 

But this frightens me still:

 

[flat4alfa]

^ Neither of those are 145 or 146...

[flat4alfa]

My wife used one for her 40 mile a day commute to work, for three years. Never let her down - unlike her clean low-mileage 'RAC-inspected' Rover 216 Bubble which was a shoddily-built tale that made us embarrassed to be British.

 

It was a 146 ti, which is the 2.0 Cloverleaf equivalent in the five-door body.

 

She liked the way it looked and and the way it drove. I didn't quite as much as you sit high. The flimsy interior (we never got the mk2 interior in the UK which bordered on being not unlike Polo) is a sale stopper but the main reason why they are so cheap and unloved is the stupid UK insurance groupings. Grp 14 !

 

Bought for £1050 in 2007 off AROC member

Sold in good working order/ condition to very happy London Polish lass at £650

 

They drink a bit of oil. Just don't forget to top up the oil. Most disasters you hear of are from lapsed cambelt changes and oil starvation. Foolish neglect rather than failure of its own accord. They are part galvanised but the floors do rot.

 

Buy it!

 

It's hard to find an expensive one. If you end up breaking it, the engine is worth half what you paid for it.

[The Reverend Bluejeans]

The 146 is pointless - they're not that robust AND they're ugly. You might as well have either a 145 or a 156, both of which look better and are equally worthless.

 

The boxer models were useless - dog slow (esp. the 1.6) but the engines weren't too bad. Floor rot is now an issue and on early ones the steering rack mounts used to break. The 156 is a far better car and has the usual Alfa gremlins - floor rot, the need for a cambelt and tensioners every 30k (not that bad a job on the 1.6 and 1.. Bottom end problems on the 16v TS engines are due to previous valve/piston interface and running low on oil. Properly maintained they're not bad. Like all Alfas, they are a 'run it till it fucks itself, then weigh' car.

 

147's are getting cheap now as well. Heard of a 130'000 mile 1.6 for 500 quid on an 03 plate.

[theorganist]

The 146 is pointless - they're not that robust AND they're ugly.

 

Must be honest the thing that attracts me to the 146 is its looks it seems just right to me!

 

Then again my friends think my last few car choices have all been ugly, Maxi, Allegro, R14 so I suppose beauty is in eye of the beholder!!

[Volksy]

Hasn't Regie Ritmo got a 146 mouldering away somewhere... Come to think of it, not seen him on here in ages!

[The Reverend Bluejeans]

 

 

my friends think my last few car choices have all been ugly, Maxi, Allegro, R14 s

 

They are clearly fools. Ignore them.

[nigel bickle]

I bought Regies car -which sadly had a very knackered head gasket & variator. Did the sums -weighed it in.T'was quite a nice care- but the cost of sorting outweighed its value.