Alfa 156 help from those in the know

Hi

I am seriously considering buying a 156 having now seen a couple

One I may be seeing tomorrow looks very good and the price seems reasonable but I just have a couple of questions:-

1) Apparently the car is missing a cover over one of the belts which means it makes more noise than normal. The owner did point this out to me and said it cannot be heard when sat in the car but is more audible outside the car. He took advice from a garage who said it was not a problem and the cover only offers sound reduction. Does this sound like a problem?

2) Still with the missing belt plastic cover, the seller told me it would only cost about £15 to buy one and fitting will be a matter of minutes. Does this sound about right?

3) The car only has one key as the master key has been lost. Are there any associated problems with getting a new key cut and does the fact that the master key is lost raise any serious financial (or otherwise) issues to me?

4) The one key the vendor does have is not operating the central locking which he thinks is purely a battery issue. I'm not sure about that so what do you think?

Reading this back its sounds like a right lemon but if I can get past these niggy problems then I think (and hope) the car itself is in superb condition. It is a 2000 1.6 Lusso.

Thanks for any help in advance

LYR1K

Don't know about the missing cover, but it sounds like a bad idea to me to have any belts exposed to muck and debris. New keys seemt o be well in excess of 100 quid from the dealer (closer to 150) and if it is anything more than a new battery it will cost this to get the other fixed, although I did hear of a place on ebay that can fix Alfa keys at a much lower price. If the owner says it's just a battery problem, why doesn't he change it? Make it a condition of sale.

Cheers,

Nigel

If its "only a battery" why hasn't he spalshed out the £2.95 for a new one to test it? Ditto the belt cover.

156's don't have a master key, a new key will cost around £150 from a dealer.

I would insist that he gets the key and the belt cover sorted before I bought it.

The cover that is missing may be part of the cambelt cover which is not good, as dirt can get at the belt and tensioners, or it may be a small cover/Guard that goes over the auxillary belt. If thats missing it isn't a big deal, but still could do with replacing.

You should be able to tell by having a look at the auxillary belt, if it is exposed that is the cover that is missing.

Insist that they get the key working as well. the car will unlock and start manually but as they said a new key from a stealer won't be cheap. You will need to supply them with a copy of the log book before they will sell you a key. UK sourced cars didn't come with the key code card like the rest of europe.

Okay, as previously stated keys on 156 all do the same thing, no master key.
A dealer will charge about £100 for supplying and cutting a key.
If the little red light on the key goes on, but the alarm doesn't activate etc. Then the central locking is not recognising the key which is odd!

Make it a condition of sale that the key unlocks and locks the car and that the belt cover is installed. If it is so little money, offer to add the sellers quoted prices to the final price if he does it. Then no risk.

1) Apparently the car is missing a cover over one of the belts which means it makes more noise than normal. The owner did point this out to me and said it cannot be heard when sat in the car but is more audible outside the car. He took advice from a garage who said it was not a problem and the cover only offers sound reduction. Does this sound like a problem?

I reckon he's pulling the wool over your eyes dude, it probably needs a new variator.