Thinking of buying....

Hey,

I'm not quite an Alfa Owner yet, although plan to be shortly. I have a personal lease coming to an end in September '08 on a Megane CC, and as I can find NO competitive renewal prices for a new lease I'm planning to go down the route of purchasing a nearly new used car. The 147 is my favoured car although would also consider a 156.

What should I be looking out for? Anyone got any tips?

I've got a budget of about £6-7k cash, and ideally want a 1.9 JTD 147(Not the 8 Valve though) with leather and 3 door (have seen a stunning dark blue with cream leather). Doesn't matter what age really, somewhere around 2004-2005 will probably be fine and average miles if possible. Am I going to find one in budget?

Would be happy to get some advice on this if anyone can help.

Cheers

Chris

I picked up a 2004 147 with top spec, leather, bose sound, selespeed, aircon etc etc for £5.5k on 38k miles inc. a service and MOT. Hopefully that gives you a bit of perspective.

2 years ago I paid 8k euros for a '02 (so 4 yrs old at the time) 2.4 JTD 156 SW. Aside from my wedding, this is probably the best 5,000 quid I ever spent! (watch it break down spectacularly on the way home now I've said that... )

Prices across Europe vary a lot and I know that residuals are different in the UK from belgium so what I say should be taken with a large pinch of salt but I rekon you've got the right amount of money to get a nice one.

I know very little about cars (beyond an engineer's natural curiosity) and hadn't found AO at the time. I paid 5 GBP (iirc) for a 156 buyer's guide from an advertiser on the Top Gear website. No substitute for real expert knowledge I'm sure, but it gave me a few pointers to look at, mostly generic stuff like checking for even tyre wear, loose steering etc but some model and engine specific stuff aswell.

have fun and good luck! May the cloverleaf be with you....

mr-Caine is elling his 03 plate 156GTA - in your price range - take a look in the Alfa's for sale section at the bottom if youre interested.

And the 2005 156 on low miles being sold by Boftysound in the 4sale section is just at the top of your price range but well worth a look