[TheHappyBear]

Hi all,

Long time lurker and big fan of Alfa's old and new.

I've been looking for a Brera to replace my trusty MK3 Swift Sport. I have test driven a couple of 2.2's and 2.4jtdms, both engines were very nice though at the time insurance was to high. Now insurance isn't a problem the cars I test driven had been sold :'(

I've come across a Brera TBI with over 100k miles, it has the full alfa history and looks to be in great condition (you'll be able to find it on one of the UK's popular car selling websites:thumbup. I've been in contact with the seller and have scheduled a meeting/test drive for this Saturday.

The question is, is over 100k miles on a TBI too risky? What would be the main things to look for when inspecting this vehicle? Anyone else got a high mileage TBI engined car?

Advice would be great

Thanks.

 

[Old Engineer]

I would be looking at the oil change mileage. I get mine done every 6000 miles. The experts say that the Tbi can't survive on the factory recommendations. It will be the turbo that suffers. Also some evidence of injectors leaking which dilutes the oil again mitigated by earlier oil changes.

Mine has done 83k and uses no oil. It sounds like it will go on for years.

 

[Alf M.]

Does the Brera TBi have an M32 gearbox? Worth doing a search about possible issues, how to spot them, and how to (at least partially) stop them.

 

[Old Engineer]

Yes. They have the M32 gearbox but no issues for me. The diesel puts a lot of torque through it but you can drive a Tbi on Power and not need it's Torque in high gears.

 

[TheHappyBear]

I would be looking at the oil change mileage. I get mine done every 6000 miles. The experts say that the Tbi can't survive on the factory recommendations. It will be the turbo that suffers. Also some evidence of injectors leaking which dilutes the oil again mitigated by earlier oil changes.

Mine has done 83k and uses no oil. It sounds like it will go on for years.

Thanks for your advice, I'll be sure to check this when they show me the full service history. I've taken a look at the pictures they advertised, it seems they've had it since Jan this year. Additionally the Car's tax expired in February and MOT expires at the end of July which leads me to assume that it hasn't been driven much and/or had any basic servicing. I shall factor this in when seeing the vehicle.

Does the Brera TBi have an M32 gearbox? Worth doing a search about possible issues, how to spot them, and how to (at least partially) stop them.

Thanks for pointing this out, I've taken a look at a couple of sites which show what to look out for as well as the repair costs (M32 Gearbox | WG Motorworks and Autolusso - M32 6 Speed Gearbox ). I'll be sure to check to see if any work has been done on the drivetrain /transmission during the previous ownership.

 

[Alf M.]

Also have a good poke around the sub frame and check for rust! A"

 

[TheGrimJeeper]

Check the coolant expansion tank for leaks. The originals seem to fail quite regularly.

 

[Old Engineer]

Check the coolant expansion tank for leaks. The originals seem to fail quite regularly.

But very cheap to fix!

 

[RomeoRaiderZ]

I would be looking at the oil change mileage. I get mine done every 6000 miles. The experts say that the Tbi can't survive on the factory recommendations. It will be the turbo that suffers. Also some evidence of injectors leaking which dilutes the oil again mitigated by earlier oil changes.

Mine has done 83k and uses no oil. It sounds like it will go on for years.

.......unless they're leaking as badly as mine turned out to be. 2k miles after an oil change and it already had 8% petrol in it. Quick sniff inside the oil filler cap will soon reveal if all is well or not.

 

[TheHappyBear]

Checked the sub frame and there didn't seem to be any rust which I could see. Additionally no coolant or any leaks before and after the test drive. Lastly as suggested by romeoraiderz took a quick wiff of the oil filler cap and no hint of petrol.

There are few cosmetic things wrong, condensation in rear driver side light cluster, a fair amount of scratches over some parts of the bodywork and the alfa badges have faded. Some seem to be a cheap and easy fix though the scratches will have to be looked into by a body shop.

With all of that checked and more we went out for a test drive. Given the mileage I was really impressed with the way the car felt on the road, the engine definitely suits the Brera. Though there doesn't seem to be as much exhaust noise as the 2.2 prodrive , the 1.8 tbi torque is simply intoxicating. The car as whole was incredibly refined even up at speed.

So a deals been struck, part exchange has been agreed, fresh mot and full service. Now looking at picking it up early July.

Thank you for the suggestions guys much appreciated. Will be sure to create another post when I collect the car.

 

[Alf M.]

Excellent news. Fwiw our Alfas have all achieved 150000+ miles (apart from current TBi on 66000). Looked after they are as good as any. Enjoy, the TBi is special.

 

[TheHappyBear]

Excellent news. Fwiw our Alfas have all achieved 150000+ miles (apart from current TBi on 66000). Looked after they are as good as any. Enjoy, the TBi is special.

That is good to hear. This one seems to of been looked after by its previous owner very well.

Just checked and the car recently passed it's MOT which is also good news. What I forgot to mention was that the car had a clunking sound from the driver side front section when on uneven roads. The dealer notified me of this and said they'll have this fixed before I pick it up. From looking at some other forum posts it seems like this indicates a suspension/bushings issue.

I'll check in with them to see if this has been fixed,though given it done through an MOT i would assume so.


Sent from my SM-N9005 using Tapatalk

 

[Cream]

should be a nice car that.

suspension bushes are a well know problem with a well know solution if you would rather not be replacing the front tires every 8k miles :biglaugh:

 

[Old Engineer]

should be a nice car that.

suspension bushes are a well know problem with a well know solution if you would rather not be replacing the front tires every 8k miles :biglaugh:

or leave the bushes to nice rubber items and change the tracking.

 

[TheHappyBear]

Vehicle Purchased and going strong

Don't mean to revive an old thread though thought it would be best to put a little status update in it.

I went ahead, traded in my MK3 Swift Sport and purchased the car in July last year, have been using it as daily driver since.:thumbu p:

Have attached a few pictures below on the day of collection and when it was cleaned.

I would like to say it has been trouble-free though in typical Alfa fashion there had been a couple of bits that need fixing/replacing.

A month or so after getting the vehicle I went on a 150 mile round trip to Kent with a group of friends, nice 25C+ outside and had the aircon on the whole time. Needless to say the next day only warm air was coming out. Took it to Halfords for a free aircon checkout and was told the condenser and piping needed to be replaced, quoted £1.1k !!!:ranting: Took it to Auto Italia(Power Italia) in Basildon the next day who found that the condenser was working it was just a split in the pipes which needed to be ordered from Alfa Romeo directly. £600 (much more reasonable) and cold air was filling my cabin once again.

Come September/November more gremlins arose in the form of a wiper motor going faulty during a heavy down pour:banghead:, took it back to Auto Italia who replaced the Motor for around £200. All good and wipers are working fantastically.

Most recently had a slight clonking whilst going over bumps so thought I'd treat Burt to a service and full check up, so once again took it to Auto Italia. Was informed that my front bushings were split, needed new front disks and pads and spark plugs. Got these all done (powerflex bushings, brembos on the front, NGK platinum spark plugs as well as full service) for about £900 and can honestly say the car has never felt so much better.

Usually with any of my cars I tend to look for my next vehicle within 6 months of ownership, though i can honestly say I cant think of anything that could replace this. By far the best car I've owned and will be keeping for many years to come...unless of course Alfa decide to revive the Brera name :nuts:

 

[NicoR]

Don't mean to revive an old thread though thought it would be best to put a little status update in it.

I went ahead, traded in my MK3 Swift Sport and purchased the car in July last year, have been using it as daily driver since.:thumbu p:

Have attached a few pictures below on the day of collection and when it was cleaned.

I would like to say it has been trouble-free though in typical Alfa fashion there had been a couple of bits that need fixing/replacing.

A month or so after getting the vehicle I went on a 150 mile round trip to Kent with a group of friends, nice 25C+ outside and had the aircon on the whole time. Needless to say the next day only warm air was coming out. Took it to Halfords for a free aircon checkout and was told the condenser and piping needed to be replaced, quoted £1.1k !!!:ranting: Took it to Auto Italia(Power Italia) in Basildon the next day who found that the condenser was working it was just a split in the pipes which needed to be ordered from Alfa Romeo directly. £600 (much more reasonable) and cold air was filling my cabin once again.

Come September/November more gremlins arose in the form of a wiper motor going faulty during a heavy down pour:banghead:, took it back to Auto Italia who replaced the Motor for around £200. All good and wipers are working fantastically.

Most recently had a slight clonking whilst going over bumps so thought I'd treat Burt to a service and full check up, so once again took it to Auto Italia. Was informed that my front bushings were split, needed new front disks and pads and spark plugs. Got these all done (powerflex bushings, brembos on the front, NGK platinum spark plugs as well as full service) for about £900 and can honestly say the car has never felt so much better.

Usually with any of my cars I tend to look for my next vehicle within 6 months of ownership, though i can honestly say I cant think of anything that could replace this. By far the best car I've owned and will be keeping for many years to come...unless of course Alfa decide to revive the Brera name :nuts:

Very nice car! Congratulations.

So in half a year you already spent £1700?

As a potential new Alfa owner this is the part which makes me nervous.:weeping:

I have always loved the Alfas. Never bought one because of all the horror stories. I know many of them are exaggerated. But I have been around a few Alfa owners and saw how it was. An acquaintance for example had a Brera and it gave him so much headache he sold it for much less than he paid.

But I'm starting to seriously consider buying a 159. I heard it is one of the best made Alfas, specially compared to what came before. Although if Breras have many problems I would think 159 would be the same?

But I love how the 159 looks. Also the Brera but I need 4 doors.

I want a 159 3.2 Q4.

I'm starting now to do my home work to see how reliable they are and how much they cost a year to run. But £1700 in 6 months is not very encouraging.:depressed:

 

[TheHappyBear]

Very nice car! Congratulations.

So in half a year you already spent £1700?

As a potential new Alfa owner this is the part which makes me nervous.:weeping:

I have always loved the Alfas. Never bought one because of all the horror stories. I know many of them are exaggerated. But I have been around a few Alfa owners and saw how it was. An acquaintance for example had a Brera and it gave him so much headache he sold it for much less than he paid.

But I'm starting to seriously consider buying a 159. I heard it is one of the best made Alfas, specially compared to what came before. Although if Breras have many problems I would think 159 would be the same?

But I love how the 159 looks. Also the Brera but I need 4 doors.

I want a 159 3.2 Q4.

I'm starting now to do my home work to see how reliable they are and how much they cost a year to run. But £1700 in 6 months is not very encouraging.:depressed:

Thank you.

Yes when looking at it the cost of ownership has been quite high for such a short time period, not factoring insurance as a 23 year old!!

To try and justify the items now replaced or fixed 'should ' last a few more years so I like to think of it as a type of needed/preventative maintenance of sorts. Though It may seem I was unlucky given the mileage I expected these things to crop up and as such budgeted accordingly.

This said I'm sure(hopeful) the cost of ownership is likely to smooth out over the upcoming years. To drive such a beautiful car, I always end up looking back at it from a distance with a smile. .

The 159 is a solid car and in v6 q4 trim I'd imagine quite dependable especially in colder climates...like the UK as of late. That said I'd imagine the fuel costs could be pretty steep have such a large displacement and weight. If I needed the extra room i would of went for a 159/159 wagon with the 1.8tbi engine.

I'm sure there is a 159 buyer's guide on these forums though main things I'd say to look out for: any clocking whilst driving or moving the steering wheel, rust especially on the front subframe, blue/black smoke under acceleration, pulling to one side whilst braking or driving etc. As long as the cars been serviced and looked after the past couple of years I'm sure you'll find the right one.

 

[danstevens94]

Very nice car! Congratulations.

So in half a year you already spent £1700?

As a potential new Alfa owner this is the part which makes me nervous.:weeping:

I have always loved the Alfas. Never bought one because of all the horror stories. I know many of them are exaggerated. But I have been around a few Alfa owners and saw how it was. An acquaintance for example had a Brera and it gave him so much headache he sold it for much less than he paid.

But I'm starting to seriously consider buying a 159. I heard it is one of the best made Alfas, specially compared to what came before. Although if Breras have many problems I would think 159 would be the same?

But I love how the 159 looks. Also the Brera but I need 4 doors.

I want a 159 3.2 Q4.

I'm starting now to do my home work to see how reliable they are and how much they cost a year to run. But £1700 in 6 months is not very encouraging.:depressed:

Hi there, just lurking in this thread and as you are pondering on buying a 159 / brera thought id throw in my experience. I'm 22 years old and I bought a Brera 3.2V6 Q4 a little over 3 months ago. I test drove it and mechanically felt perfect, no knocking noises from suspension, engine sounded great at idle and through the rev range. The car is a 57 Reg and had covered 54k miles. It had just had the timing chain replaced before it went up for sale also (a big lure for me).

The car had FSH but I noticed there were no mention of spark plugs being replaced. The manual says 72k miles but this Brera was a fair way under milage for its age and so after I bought the car I changed the plugs myself, half a days work and £50 including new gaskets for the inlet manifold.

Only problem I have had since I bought the car is paintwork which is disappointing. A friend of mine who came to view the car with me noticed it had some paintwork on most panels as these cars are prone to stone chips and it is almost 10 years old I don't think paintwork is to be unexpected. However the front bumper is peeling lacquer as is the rear bumper and the drivers side skirt. Rear bumper is due to be sprayed in the next week or two, from there I will move on to get the rest of the car done. I suspect the last lot of paint work it had was rather cheap just to get the car shifted on.

Anyway I love my Brera, it drives lovely, doesn't seem to be a serious problem with it for now. The only thing is the appauling fuel consumption and the outrageous tax band the cars in but hey I knew this before I bought it so I can't complain!

If you do buy a 159 just pay attention too the gear box whining, damage on the paint work, knocking from the suspension at low speed over bumps etc, check the colour of the power steering fluid it should be green (although some people say green/red makes no odds.)

Best of luck buying!

 

[NicoR]

Thanks for the info the two of you.

I've been searching through youtube for reviews on the Brera or 159 Q4 and can't really find much. Most are from the FWD versions and the one I found for the Spider Q4 bashed it for not handling wheel and not being a good sports car. I saw a Top Gear review of the 159 with James May but pretty useless. Is there any good reviews on the 159 Q4 which talks about the performance and handling?

 

[kbalfa]

I honestly don't get the concern over buying an Alfa from the last generation. Now if you're buying anything from the 90's I'm right with you, but then again ask a 90's Mercedes owner how reliable their car has been. The issue with these cars now is simply age and mileage related. Buy any 7 year old car with 100k on the clock and good luck not having to replace costly items. You'll be no better off in a BMW. I had a 3 year old 1 series with 27k miles on it from an approved used dealer and over a 2 year period I had to have 3 new ignition coils (all separate incidents) and a new steering column (for a common issue BMW refused to acknowledge). If you want completely trouble free motoring get a new Honda Civic on a PCP deal.