[Guest]

Hello again Alfisti
Do any of you know whether our 147's suffer from the same door weakness as the 156's if villians attempt to break into our cars or did the gurus at Alfa learn about the problem in time and improve the protection on the 147.

 

[Guest]

Hi there KGB

I was unfortunate enough to have my 147 broken into back in February.

Whoever did it seemed to have attempted to 'crow' the passenger door (I have a 3 door) from the back, near the top. The black panel which runs vertically at the back of the door, behind the window, was bowed out about a centimetre, roughly 5cm from the top of the door. The glass in the window had shattered.

I can only guess that they were trying to do what you say - I had heard of thieves trying to bend the tops of doors down to gain access, but not heard that the 156 had similar probs. Anyway they didn't get away with anything - didn't even touch a couple of cds hidden in the side pockets (I don't do that any more!) and I can only assume that they were disturbed (in more ways than one) or gave up. The alarm would go off periodically but was halted with the key remote. I didn't hear earlier as it was parked some way from the house.

(It was still quite dark, I got in the drivers seat, not having seen the damage, shut the drivers door and the passenger window almost completely fell in - at first I thought a spate of recent frosty nights that could be the explantion. I had read somewhere, poss this forum that someone had a similar problem with the rear windscreen shattering. But then I noticed the damage to the panel.)

To add insult to injury I now have a damaged passenger inside door handle where the (non-Alfa) garage doing the insurance work may have damaged it(and I say may, as in my haste to get the car back I accepted the work without checking that bit although I'm pretty sure that it wasn't damaged before or during the break-in). It looks like someone had tried to get the inner door facia off by shoving a screw driver in to the edge of the oval that is at the top of the handle. Strewth! Anyway new handle is mysteriously on order and garage is happy to fit it. Hmmm.

Sorry for the long msg, hope you don't mind. On a brighter note I got some alfa dealer sugared almonds today 'with compliments' after getting the boot lid finally sorted (initial problems with alarm then rattles - thanks to this forum for TESEO tips - the dealers seemed v impressed with my knowledge and asked if had been looking at the internet!).

Nice touch, and they seem very polite.

Jon

 

[Guest]

Sorry to hear about your problems Jon,but your break in did not involve the weakspot I was hinting at.
The 156 can be accessed quite easily if you know what to do and where. The doors open and the alarm is disabled, thankfully the immobiliser is still active.
There is only slight damage to the car (small hole) which is not noticable at first glance.
So I wanted to know if the 147 had this weakness cos if it does then I want to do something about it before the contents of my car get nicked!!
So if any of you technical experts know anything then please reply, or if you do not want to encourage villians by giving details on an open forum then please message me.
KEN