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Thinking of buying a 146 ti

2K views 4 replies 5 participants last post by  alfa63 
#1 ·
Hello all,
Curently got a '95 M Audi coupe.
Looking into buying a 2000 Xreg 146ti (2.0 16v, etc) The car is up at an Alfa specialist for £3495 with 31,000 on the clock. Just had a new Cambelt done at 29K, + a new clutch and clutch release bearing. Car seems clean save a few bumps and knocks.

Spotted a couple of faults on the car, passenger side electric mirror not moving. Heater fan seems to get quite noisy on settings 2 upwards, really loud on 3. How easy is it to get these sorted? not aversed to skining knuckles.

Any other things I need to check on the car before handing over some cash? What do people think to these cars?

Lots of questions I know but hey, thats what forums are for! :D

Cheers for your response.

Matt.
 
#2 ·
I had a 97 for 3 years. Replacing an 87 Audi coupe!. Good reliable car but not particularly quick or economical and it understeed like a pig. The Alfa charecter was missing & pattern exhaust parts were unobtainable!

It might have just been mine, but test drive carefully to make sure its what you want

Good luck
 
#3 ·
My wife has had 2000 year model for 3 and bit years now. Generally we are pretty happy with it. Things that have failed and you should check for; front wishbone bushes, see if there is any clunking or knocking when steering. The camshaft variator has failed although other than it sounding like a diesel of fireup seems to have made no difference. The above 2 faults are endemic and sooner or later will hit you. The aircon temp control cable has snapped it is a dash out epic, although I do have a trick for adjusting it....... The only time it has ever broken down is when the crank sensor failed. This was an intermitant fault so beware if the car seems to stop and then start again 10-20 minutes later for no reason. Also ask about oil changes and level checks, never never let it run low on oil the number or twin spark engines blown up because of running low on oil is astounding.

Performance and handling are pretty good, yes it does understeer but so do most FWD cars nowadays. I would say though that it feels heavy, especially comapared to my last series Delta (the rounded shape) I would also look around to see what else is available for that sort of money.

Fixing the heater noise could be grim as you may need to get into the dash. I gave the service manual on CD and would be happy to post you a copy of the areas you need.
 
#4 ·
Drove a silver one for 2 years, also had problems with cam variator, air-con fan and broke first gear synchro. Rather save your money for a 147, 10 times more fun to drive, better put together, also has better driver aids.
 
#5 ·
I just read a write-up on the 146ti in issue #116 of autoItalia. If you can get a hold of this issue it may help your research on making a decision "for" or "against" getting that model.
 
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