I had a 147 2.0 Lusso and it was a fantastic car. But I averaged around 24 - 26mpg I work in town so was only doing short trips every day. Obviously on longer trips it was a lot better. Petrol Alfa's are renowned for being heavy drinkers, also the oil needs checking regularly. But despite those minor points I had no problem with mine whatsoever (apart from a gearknob fault) it was brilliant to drive, had a amazing sounding engine, not as common on the roads as other cars. It also had all the toys you could want, heated seats, traction, cruise, etc etc. You get so much more for your money with Alfa's comared to the German alternatives. As previously mentioned the dealers are absolute rubbish. I bought mine on a 03 plate it was an ex demonstrator and on top of the gearstick it had a silver plastic gear layout insert. This came loose so I rang the dealer and instead of offering a new one he suggester 'super glue' /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/confused.gif . More recenty I changed job and decided I needed a diesel so I thought about getting a 2.4jtd 156. I lookes on my local dealers website (Mangoletsi in Knutsford) and it showed various cars being in stock, so I drove down there to have a look, sat down with a salesman said 'ive seen a few on your website' and looked at the computer with him the responses I got were 'thats not here' ...'I havent seen that one' ...thats the service managers car' I could not believe it!!! There was one in the front that had bits taken off the dashboard, (obviously to complete cars they have either sold or serviced). I promptly handed him back the keys and went and bought a A4 instead. Best move I have ever done. Not as much character as the 147 but fantastic never the less. As for Alfas losing money when bought I would never buy a new one, but as a second hand then they are deffo worth a look. A6's are not much better at depreciating either by the way.
