Faults:

Very little in 5 days!

Exhaust back box has a hole in it.

Engine lumpy at tick-over. Just needs a good service!

Alarm doesn't work.

Gear change is very sloppy, but that is due to gear cables being worn. Bit expensive to replace at £50 a shot.

General Comments:

This is the first Alfa I've owned, and I love it.

The car was bought at auction for £280, as the garage that owned it last went bankrupt, so it was an absolute steal!

The exterior was covered with decals, and with it being a works vehicle, the interior was really grubby and oily.

With a bit of elbow grease, the body work has polished up very nicely, and the insides are very hard wearing.

The boxer 1.7 makes a great sound, and likes to be revved hard to get some go out of it. At 70 the engine's doing about 3500 rpm, which is a bit high, considering the red line is at 6500.

I was quite surprised to find the engine being longitudinally mounted and driving the front wheels (i.e. old Saab model style).

I'm getting about 40mpg, which is real good, I though it would drink fuel, so this is a nice surprise. Usually Alfas have a knack of bad electrics, but so far (Touch wood) nothing has gone really wrong apart from the alarm going off after being set.

Inside, the car is quite airy and light, and things are fairly close at hand.

It's taken a few days to get used to the 'Italian' driving position. Knees bent, arms stretched, but it's still comfortable.

Steering wise, it's pin sharp, it's nice to feel what the wheels are doing, and not being left feeling-less, like my old Saab.

The ride is quite hard, so you do feel a lot of bumps and holes, and the car leans when cornering hard, but that's down to a possible sports kit, that may have been fitted.

Overall, I'm very pleasantly surprised, and have grown very quickly to love the car.

Faults:

Airbags failed to protect occupants in a minor collision after 53,000 miles. Luckily nobody was seriously hurt.

Broke down six times in the space of 2 years due to ignition problems.

Both electric window motors failed after 70,000 miles.

Interior trim was very flimsy and breakable.

Tailgate catch broke 2 weeks before I sold the car.

General Comments:

The Alfa 145 was great to drive for 1.6 hatchback, but it was let down by terrible build quality and sub standard reliability.

It was 4 years old when I bought it for £5,000. I had always liked the look of the 145 so I jumped at the chance to buy one. But I was really let down by its quality and the dealer service was expensive. So I sold it for £2,500 after 2 years.

Faults:

I had the car three days and the differential in the gear box exploded, shearing the drive shaft and knackering the clutch. When I took it to my local dealer I was only to find out that this would cost me £1700 because I also needed a new radiator. GUTTED!!!

General Comments:

Once I finally got my car back, it has been such a nice easy drive and I love it. The driving position is very comfortable and I even like the interior.

Faults:

The big end bearing went soon after I got the car. It took 8 months for Alfa Romeo to deliver the replacement engine, this despite them giving a delivery date almost every month during this time.

Recently the key snapped in the ignition and one month on I am still waiting for the parts to arrive (am now on my 3rd delivery date from the dealership).

General Comments:

When working this is a wonderful car to drive. Nippy, responsive and if driven sensibly reasonably economical. The engine sounds great and its unusual looks get it noticed.

The windscreen wipers are not very good, juddering in operation and hard to get replacement blades.

The electrics are unreliable and as mentioned above parts are very difficult to obtain.

A great car to drive, but not one to own if you are going to rely on it.

Faults:

Front suspension arm replaced at c. 3 years (25k miles); new set of brake pads at c. 3 years; sunroof motor went west at c. 5 years (30k miles).

Other than that, just the odd squeak and rattle, nothing too much.

General Comments:

A joy to drive, the Boxer engine makes a wonderful sound. Upon purchase friends were surprised at the space and comfort, not to mention all the goodies for so cheap a car.

On the down side, stuff seems to wear out faster than it should, and it costs a fair amount to run. Experiences with dealers have also been mixed.