am I mad to consider a 145 Cloverleaf @ +/-£1k

[toxic frog]

have owned a few Alfas in my time... 145 Boxers and GTV's etc...

currently run a diesel pug as a hack car (my elise comes out to play at the weekends only!)...

have seen a few 145 cloverleafs at little over a grand... what is the general consenus on these?

my 145 boxer was a great car and my 2.0 GTV had a great engine... marrying the two must surely be a recipe for success?

[Fidgits]

are you good with spanners?

do you have a contingency fund?

if yes, could be a good buy

[toxic frog]

Fidgits said:

are you good with spanners?

do you have a contingency fund?

if yes, could be a good buy

haven't even got a clue how to change the oil... so no!

any alfa i buy will be serviced by Red Moturi who I have nothing but praise for.

[NJS25]

I just sold mine for just under £1k via Pistonheads, the car drove like new. I could have sold it 7 times over. The guy that bought it travelled 4 hours to buy without a test drive (although we communicated via e-mail and telephone).

As with all second hand cars, the golden rule applies. Keep looking for the right car. The last second hand car I bought, I travelled over 2000miles from surrey to york looking for the right car. You will know when you find it and they do exist. (No trim missing, excellent condition, no obvious issues, enthusiatic and conscientious owner)

There are some excellent examples out there if you are prepared to bide your time and travel, conversely there are alot of shabby examples on sale for >>£1k.

Of course there is no guarentee that something will not go wrong, and you'll need a good specialist to keep her in top condition. I'll hasten to add that our 11 year old was undeniably the most reliable car I have ever owned.

It's also worth noting that good cars for £1k are selling quickly, whereas those at £1200+ seem to hang around. Some cars that claim to be in top notch condition simply are not, if this is the case walk away and keep looking.

They are fantastic cars and I am already regretting selling (3 weeks ago, and I've been on holiday for 2 of them!)

Best of luck and go for it!

Regards, Neil

[Chris71]

Tempted by one of these myself now. Couple of very dull questions I'm afraid, but maybe someone can help (it would be a mile munching daily hack, so.....)

• do the rear seats fold to give decent boot space (for a MTB frame)?

• What sort of MPG do they return on a motorrway cruise?

• I've heard that Alfas tend to attract innordinate insurance premiums for their performance (presumably parts availability or something) is this true?

Erm - yeah - generally how practical and usable are they? I'd like a more soulfull alternative to something like a 306 or Escort, without sacrificing to much practicality or economy.

[phil1979]

Chris71 said:

Tempted by one of these myself now. Couple of very dull questions I'm afraid, but maybe someone can help (it would be a mile munching daily hack, so.....)

• do the rear seats fold to give decent boot space (for a MTB frame)?

• What sort of MPG do they return on a motorrway cruise?

• I've heard that Alfas tend to attract innordinate insurance premiums for their performance (presumably parts availability or something) is this true?

Erm - yeah - generally how practical and usable are they? I'd like a more soulfull alternative to something like a 306 or Escort, without sacrificing to much practicality or economy.

I can help!

Rear seats do fold, but not well! You'd get a frame in there, but both wheels would need to come off. Although there's lots of room, the seat just won't lay flat - too much foam in them! Imagine a fat man trying to bend over - that's what it's like trying to get the seats to bend over, and stay flat.

MPG on a motoway, I reckon can get over 30mpg. Mine needs a 6th gear though, which would make it better. I think the newer models had this.

Insurance is group 14, so not really cheap. I pay about 400 quid fully comp (full NCB).

Mine's been great. Never let me down, apart from a knackered slave cylinder on the clutch, but hey. To think I nearly bought an Escort GTi. The shame.

Put it this way - I'm so impressed with mine i'm stick with Alfa, and looking for a V6 GTV as we speak.

[Chris71]

phil1979 said:

the seat just won't lay flat - too much foam in them! Imagine a fat man trying to bend over

thanks Phil!

As long as they do sort of fold, that should be ok. I have an MG ZS at the moment and we had to abandon that in favour of my friends 106 on the last trip to north Wales, because his diminutive Peugeot would fit two large full suspension frames and a weeks worth of kit, but my saloon wouldn't! Having the 'high back' hatchback shape really helps!

Insurance wouldn't be any more than the MG I don't suppose and I'm rapidly building up NCB and have a relatively friendly insurance company which means I've got the premium down to about £600 on that, which is pretty good for a 24 year old in a high risk area. So, not as cheap as a 306 Diesel or something, but it's a lot more car I suspect.

Is that MPG 'pressing on'? I get nearly 30mpg on an 85ish cruise with a 2.5 V6, I'd hope to get into the 30s with a four pot.

Having a battle with my consciense - was going to get something very cheap and utiliterian as I'm in the process of aqquiring a fun car for all my hooning needs, but the idea of having a nice blood red alfa as my daily hack does rather appeal. Seriously thought about a 75 or even a 80s GTV6 in the past, but I decided they were a bit risky and crucially rather short on space for bike gear, guitar amps and the odd pair of skis!

[phil1979]

Chris71 said:

phil1979 said:

the seat just won't lay flat - too much foam in them! Imagine a fat man trying to bend over

thanks Phil!

As long as they do sort of fold, that should be ok. I have an MG ZS at the moment and we had to abandon that in favour of my friends 106 on the last trip to north Wales, because his diminutive Peugeot would fit two large full suspension frames and a weeks worth of kit, but my saloon wouldn't! Having the 'high back' hatchback shape really helps!

Insurance wouldn't be any more than the MG I don't suppose and I'm rapidly building up NCB and have a relatively friendly insurance company which means I've got the premium down to about £600 on that, which is pretty good for a 24 year old in a high risk area. So, not as cheap as a 306 Diesel or something, but it's a lot more car I suspect.

Is that MPG 'pressing on'? I get nearly 30mpg on an 85ish cruise with a 2.5 V6, I'd hope to get into the 30s with a four pot.

Having a battle with my consciense - was going to get something very cheap and utiliterian as I'm in the process of aqquiring a fun car for all my hooning needs, but the idea of having a nice blood red alfa as my daily hack does rather appeal. Seriously thought about a 75 or even a 80s GTV6 in the past, but I decided they were a bit risky and crucially rather short on space for bike gear, guitar amps and the odd pair of skis!

I do tend to sit around 80-90 on the motoway, but then I'm only on it for about 10 mins. With a 6th cog, and a longer drive, I'd get nearer mid-30 easily. So, yes, in theory my figures do equate to pushing-on. For a 2L engine, it's a little thirsty.

Going back to the seats, the upright bit angle forwards about 60'deg when folded, but then acts like a trampoline as the various foam components play their part - you get the picture!

[NJS25]

Having sold the car and not having taken the bike out in anger in too many years, I seem to recall there being a fixed beam across between boot space and rear squab, this could compromise getting two bikes in the back. However the design of the car lends itself particularly well to a bike carrier (vertical hatch, low number plate)

I used to get 36mpg on average, it was possible to achieve high 30s with careful driving down the m'way, 28mpg when pushing hard.

Slightly older than yourself but our insurance was £180 fully comp. on a P-reg cloverleaf, this compares to £260 for the SAAB X reg, £500 for legacy V reg and £450 for elise 51 reg. A bargain in my opinion.

Regards, Neil

[Mave]

Chris71 said:

Tempted by one of these myself now. Couple of very dull questions I'm afraid, but maybe someone can help (it would be a mile munching daily hack, so.....)

• do the rear seats fold to give decent boot space (for a MTB frame)?

• What sort of MPG do they return on a motorrway cruise?

• I've heard that Alfas tend to attract innordinate insurance premiums for their performance (presumably parts availability or something) is this true?

Erm - yeah - generally how practical and usable are they? I'd like a more soulfull alternative to something like a 306 or Escort, without sacrificing to much practicality or economy.

Don't know about MTB frames, I used to get a kayak in mine.
I struggled to get 30mpg unless on a 70 mph run - I recon 25 - 28 was about average on mixed urban / motorway driving.
More practical than a 306 IMHO - lower boot lip, much more boxy hatch shape, loads of knee room on the passenger side so you can put the seat right forward to get long loads in.

[Wombat Rick]

If you take the rear seat base out (two bolts, two minutes) the seats go completely flat. I had two lots of gear, two people and three bikes (wheels off) in mine.

[rafe005]

phil1979 said:

Chris71 said:

phil1979 said:

the seat just won't lay flat - too much foam in them! Imagine a fat man trying to bend over

thanks Phil!

As long as they do sort of fold, that should be ok. I have an MG ZS at the moment and we had to abandon that in favour of my friends 106 on the last trip to north Wales, because his diminutive Peugeot would fit two large full suspension frames and a weeks worth of kit, but my saloon wouldn't! Having the 'high back' hatchback shape really helps!

Insurance wouldn't be any more than the MG I don't suppose and I'm rapidly building up NCB and have a relatively friendly insurance company which means I've got the premium down to about £600 on that, which is pretty good for a 24 year old in a high risk area. So, not as cheap as a 306 Diesel or something, but it's a lot more car I suspect.

Is that MPG 'pressing on'? I get nearly 30mpg on an 85ish cruise with a 2.5 V6, I'd hope to get into the 30s with a four pot.

Having a battle with my consciense - was going to get something very cheap and utiliterian as I'm in the process of aqquiring a fun car for all my hooning needs, but the idea of having a nice blood red alfa as my daily hack does rather appeal. Seriously thought about a 75 or even a 80s GTV6 in the past, but I decided they were a bit risky and crucially rather short on space for bike gear, guitar amps and the odd pair of skis!

I do tend to sit around 80-90 on the motoway, but then I'm only on it for about 10 mins. With a 6th cog, and a longer drive, I'd get nearer mid-30 easily. So, yes, in theory my figures do equate to pushing-on. For a 2L engine, it's a little thirsty.

Going back to the seats, the upright bit angle forwards about 60'deg when folded, but then acts like a trampoline as the various foam components play their part - you get the picture!

Phil,
Have you been lifting the base of the seat forward before you lay the backs down?? I have a 146 2.0ts and when I do that I get a completely flat floor. As for the MPG, the problem with the alfa's is the engine noise, its a beautiful sound and wills you to put the pedal to the metal a little more than in a 'normal' car. I have had 4 alfa's now and would not get anything else. Only word of warning os make sure that it has had a cam belt recently (alfa say that cam belt intervals are every 36K) and if its a ts engine and sounds like a diesel on start up then its probably that the variator has gone. Its no big deal if you can cope with the noise but if you want it changed then you have to get all the cambelt, tensioners, balance shaft belt etc.....done. Alfa garage charged me £600 for that lot.

[montydog]

No