Help with 147 purchase

Hi Guys and Gals

My sister-in-law wants to purchase a 147 and has a budget of £4K. She has her eyes on a 2002 1.6 TS manual with 57K and a full service history (not sure if its ARSH history though) listed @ £3995. I'm going to look at it for her tomorrow and wanted some advice on what to look out for. Obviously the belts should have been done twice by now (2 x 3 years) and the FSH is clearly a must. Any other things to look out for?

Thanks in advance for your help!

Creaking/Squeaking Suspension bushes, either polybush them or replace (Wishbones at front) other symptoms are a general sloppy feeling to the handling.

Check the gearbox selects gear cleanly, gearboxes can get stuffed fairly easily, if it crunches going into 3rd it's on the way out. If the gearstick doesn't self center then new selector plate is required.

Run your hand under the front bumper, there should be a few scratches there from where it will have caught the road occasionally, if it feels like it's been through a grinder then one owner didn't really a give a toss if it ground out or not so what else didn't they give a toss about?

Power delivery can be a little sluggish upto 3Krpm then it accelerates faster with another push around 5Krpm, don't be afraid to push it to 6.5K (or higher) as it's generally under hard acceleration that a faulty MAF will rear it's ugly head with the 'Motor Control Failure' error (it has been with mine and I've replaced the MAF twice).

The 1.6 TS is a very revvy engine and has to be worked hard to get the best out of it but when you do it is a great experience

gear linkage can seize up but simple repair with lubing.

Check the oil quantity and quality. The twinsparks do use oil and should be checked once a week (without fail). If the level is at or near the min on the dipstick then the engine could well have been neglected.

The belts are unlikely to have been done twice as Alfa changed the belt replacement recommendations for the TS engines from 72K to 36K in late 2006, so a 2002 car that has done 57K should have had one belt change. If it has had none the seller should knock off £400.

thanks a million guys - very helpful!
hopefully by this evening, we'll have another family member in an Alfa