20 replies to this topic

[Black.Ghost]

Well it was very clean under the bonnet. Its had a new clutch and general tidy up by these guys. The interior is in great condition, full leather, heated front seats, original stereo and good paint work. The drive around revealed it pulled in 4th, there were no clunks from the suspension under sharp cornering (slow speed but 90 degree turns), so all in all, its a great little car. 

 

Basically, I couldn't sort out the Focus, and we need a car very soon. I am going to try and get the timing belt done in the garage (I just couldn't get the crankshaft pulley bolt to budge at all). I think its a couple of hours labour, and as I already have the parts it really shouldn't be too much. I will then sell that, and if the guy still has the Alfa, I think I might buy it. 

 

The ZT is risky. But tempting. Too many choices and too many cars to own. The girlfriend is already annoyed - but at least by agreeing to get the Focus sorted first, I should be ok and survive in one piece!

[minisilverbullet]

I can strongly recommend not getting the Alfa, I had a 147 some years ago.  Constant problems, just small niggle things, but they were constant. Then one day one of the pulleys on the cam belt seized up, stripping about 10cm of teeth on the cam belt. Total failure, luckily we were on going through traffic works at the time and not the 130 kmh i was doing 30 seconds before. 

 

Incidentally that had a full and up to date service history 

[Black.Ghost]

Thanks SilverBullet. I will bear that in mind. I think there are stories for each every marque of car, and sometimes it just comes down to luck. A couple of slight manufacturing variations can lead to very different machines when they are on the road. It is lovely though, especially inside! 

 

As for the ZT, the guy has replied saying he won't let it go for less than 800 as there are 'plenty of nails out there and this is not a nail'. He also can't won't take a video of the engine running as he doesn't have a smart phone. I was considering if it was quiet, possibly taking the risk but I don't really want to travel that far for nothing. He is adamant its a good car though. 

 

I will see what happens with the Focus tomorrow before I get ahead of myself, but I do want a new car now! I have been looking on and off for ages, and I came very close to buying a Cooper S a few months back.

[Jordie]

You can get a diesel ZT with lower miles than that for under £1k. The petrols arent that fast. The diesels drive better.

 

Alfas are nice, but again, id have a diesel over a petrol one anyday.

[Chance]

Mg Zt for me any day

My dad has a Rover 75 V6 we paid 450 for with 77k miles

Couldn't say no at that price

Diesels naturally fetch abit more but you can definitely get a better one for under 1k
They aren't that powerful but you can remap them I think for healthy power

They do have their common faults too though from what I understand

[Black.Ghost]

I'm not too worried about quick. I want something big and comfortable for going to work (in traffic mostly) and something that will be comfortable on the longer journeys. The 135hp diesels reportedly return around 54 MPG as well, which is pretty decent. 

 

The Alfa will be a small and nippy car similar to the Mini in many ways, so not a great deal of point I suppose. Anyway, now that a 3 door Rover 25 in the right colour code is being broken, I can finally source the door that I want to replace as well, and the wing mirror cover!