145, 146 & 155

["Hearnden,Jim,J,BGOI6 HEARNDJ M" <HEARNDJ@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

Willo writes:-

>friend who is not on the list is looking to buy his first Alfa. He's
>been looking at 145's, 146's and 155's. All are 1993 to 1995 and all are
>about the same price, 6-7K Irish pounds.
>What are people's opinions about the relative merits of these cars?

The 145 & 146 will be early flat 4's, very much  Alfa 33 mechanics in a Fiat
derived shell.
They weren't very well received by the motoring press when they came out but
from what I've 
heard are generally reliable.

>I believe there was a major change to the 155 engine/suspension at some
>stage in it's life, anyone know when this was?
Yes it was about 1/2 way through 95 when they became wide bodied with the 16
valve Fiat derived 
engine (the early one is 8 valve 75 based).
At the same time their was a huge amount of suspension mods which apparently
tranform the car. 
Unfortunately this reflects in the prices as post 95 cars are more expensive
due to being more sought after.

>Any pitfalls or service problems to look out for?
An article was in Auto-Italia a couple of months ago RE; 155's they seem to
be generally reliable aside from I think rear suspension bushes and I have
heard that wheel bearings can be a problem. Head gaskets can be a problem on
V6s' as well. I would personally find someone who services them locally and
talk to them.



Jim
Ex Alfa 75 owner.
Now a Subaru owner......
Chatham, Kent.
- ------------

------------------------------