Can't decided between 3 models.

Tiddlywinks

Lessbutbetter wrote: »

..... until Da Da!! It has past its sell by date and you look like a mong.

Nice turn of phrase - did you learn that on a diversity course?

almillar

The 147 is the car that Alfa finally got reliability right on, great little car. drive all three. I guess you'll have to go older/higher mileage on the Toyota. I guarantee the Alfa will make the nicest noise...

the_devil_made_me_do_it

almillar wrote: »

The 147 is the car that Alfa finally got reliability right on, great little car. drive all three. I guess you'll have to go older/higher mileage on the Toyota. I guarantee the Alfa will make the nicest noise...

What year did Alfa start addressing reliabilty issues? Also, have read that cambelt will need changing often & I gather it's a costly business.

Horizon81

Corolla all the way. No car's perfect but the Corolla should be the best built of the 3 and those VVTi engines are quite perky.

FATBALLZ

Not a technical factor but a relative of mine recently got rid of his Corolla because he was fed up of getting no respect from other drivers due to its reputation for being a car for old codgers. To be fair I do a lot of commuting and probably 75% of the time if a queue of traffic is being held up by someone dawdling it seems to be behind a Corolla or a Micra.

paulday

the_devil_made_me_do_it wrote: »

What year did Alfa start addressing reliabilty issues? Also, have read that cambelt will need changing often & I gather it's a costly business.

I have a 51 plate 156 which has been rock solid for the last 5 years, no problems at all.

The cambelt on the Twinspark and JTS petrol engines must be changed every 36k miles or every 3 years, price would be around £3-400, and some choose to have the water pump and/or variator replaced at the same time.

Paul

Tilt

the_devil_made_me_do_it wrote: »

What year did Alfa start addressing reliabilty issues? Also, have read that cambelt will need changing often & I gather it's a costly business.

if you think that, why is a 147 on your list? As previously mentioned, cam belt changes for the 4 cylider petrol engined models are at 36k intervals, cost inc full service is around £380 to £430. V6 and JTD engined models are at 72k intervals which (inc full service) is around £530 and £480 respectively. (prices are from Alfa independent specialists). Providing oil levels are checked regularly, an Alfa engine is as reliable as anything else.

the_devil_made_me_do_it

Alfas were just a consideration like the other models I have mentioned. I wasn't fully aware of the cambelt issue until I posted here & carried out a bit of extra research.

Also, I've since test drove a 1.6 corolla T3 & noticed it wasn't the most speediest model of car out there.

My aim of this thread was just to get peoples' opinions of each model, it does help when making a decsion. Always better to be well informed I think.

LandyAndy

I've owned a number of Mazdas (323, RX-8, 2, 6) and my experience is that nothing goes wrong with them.

Just my experience of course.

almillar

the devil made me do it - As I was referring to the 147, I'll say 2001 was the year, which is when the 147 launched.
What's the issue with the cambelt? Any cambelt needs changed. 36k is shorter than some, but you've seen the cost of doing it, which really isn't that bad.
If you don't want to change cambelts, look for a chain driven engine...