hello Alfa friends

this is my first post on this forum because I'm interested in purchasing a 156 jts selespeed (face-lift model). Now this is a short story:

the 156 in question is going for sale below the market value because the previous owner has blown the engine (55k on the clock) and the dealer selling it has reconditioned the engine - they had it at a higher price but because of no interest shown from the customers, they put the price right down.
 I am going for a test drive in a few days and according to the dealer the car runs perfectly with no issues.
Now I want your opinion guys - would this be a high risk purchase? I've heard the horrific stories regarding the jts enigine's reliability (i doubt the timing belt has been done on this engine - but I would do that straight away anyway) How expenisive is the jts enigine to maintain - average cost of timing belt service?
Is the selespeed in these cars better that the ones in the older ts engines?

thank you

thanks for the quick reply TurboGTV, regarding the dealer they are not an official alfa dealer - they are just a general used car dealer for european cars (they also supply parts for the european vehicles).

Well after i take a test drive I will know more details about the car but I'm just affraid of what might have been the cause of the engine to blow up at such a low k's - is this an unfortunate trait of the jts engines even with the good maintenance? Are there any tell-tell signs of a crapy jts engine with a first drive?

Another thing I'm worried with is the selespeed's reliability - I know the actuator has been revised on the facelift models (2003 -) but how reliable is it now cause almost every older model selespeed has failed at some point - I can't seem to find any owner experiences with the new selespeeds.

Anything else i should pay attention to?

thanks 

With my comment here, I'm making a complete stab in the dark, as I haven't yet tinkered with any late model Alfas, and I'm not sure what the innards exactly consist of, but IF they still use direct actuation from the cam to the valve (IE. solid cam followers), then its possible that the slightly looser clearances at cold when some of the oil has drained away from the head would cause a tapping nose until the engine warms up and the clearances close up a bit.

BUT, as I said, thats just a stab, and without hearing the noise myself I shouldn't even begin to theorize as to the cause.  If you are still interested in this car after your drive, then my advice is to look up an independent Alfa specialist in your area who deals with the later cars, and get them to do a thorough inspection/appraisal.  If that all checks out good, but you still have concerns about it lasting long term, grab yourself an extended warranty when you buy the car (be sure to read through the conditions carefully though, some basically only pay out if the earth span backwards while a blue moon was shining).

I'm a bit peculiar I suppose, in that I believe every model of car has its nightmare issues and expensive failures, so I go on the theory: Find the car you want, then find the best example you can, and smile.  If its going to hit the fan, it will, and it doesn't matter which make or model of car you're driving, it will still happen. 

Talk to any mechanic who specialises in any particular make of car (be it Japanese, European or Australian), and ask them what goes wrong, and they'll generally sprout off a list of expensive common problems, usually followed by "they're a heap of &%*$!".  Doesn't mean every car that comes through their door is blown up, doesn't even mean that over 1% of the cars that go through the door have these faults.

2003 model, and if it had the same warranty as the 159s seem to be offered with, its a 3 year/100,000km - whichever comes first.  Generally manufacturers won't deal with anything outside their specified window (not just Alfa).

Not just that, but on the Alfa Romeo Australia website where the 'special' on cambelts is, it states 60,000km OR 36 months as the interval for cambelt changes.  Which would have made said car SOL for warranty claims.

Also note this extract from the same page:

"Most car manufacturers recommend replacement of the timing belt at a predetermined time or mileage and strongly recommend that replacement occurs on or before the recommended intervals, whichever occurs first.

The belt also should be replaced prior to the manufacturer�s stated limits if it has been damaged or contaminated by an outside influence, fluids or foreign matter.

If the vehicle is operated in a harsh environment or susceptible to heavy infiltration of dust, sand or salt for example, then the belt�s integrity and condition should be periodically inspected and replaced if required."

Australian weather is usually considered to be a harsh environment 

Not changing the timimg belt on a 156 every 60,000 is just like playing russian roulette. You are deferring maintaince that has to be done (cost of changing belt $800 to $1,000). But risking a $5,000 to $10,000 engine repair bill. I know from personal experience. Belt broke on  my 156 about 5 years ago. I had opted to wait 80,000 as per the book . It broke in the carpark at work starting the engine (bent all the exhaust valves, $3,500 repair bill). Imagine what you can break & damage if it lets go at freeway speeds. 

The older cars seem to be much easier on belts by reputation, although they too have been known to break.  I believe the earlier (75) twinsparks may even still have used timing chains?  For whatever reason, whether it be design or the tension they operate under, the 156/147 cars seem to have a tendency to chew belts, and going on the posts so far, perhaps even the 60,000km interval is too much?  Maybe a 40,000 interval may end up more economical (compared to an engine rebuild!).

If the selling dealer won't drop the car down to a specialist of your choice, or permit you to take it there yourself, then its time to walk away.

This is where the juggling act really begins.  While if his workshop does the job, it will be cheaper, will it also be done 'on the cheap'?  Realistically, it should be reasonable nick given the age and kms, especially as it must be sold with warranty and RWC.  One very important thing is to make sure that you get an unwatered down report direct from the Alfa dealer. If there are issues, and you let the seller resolve them, it can be a good idea to run the car back through the dealer to check that the issues have been satisfactorily repaired.

I can't remember what the required warranty for a used vehicle is by law, it does usually state it on the information sheets they hang in the windows of cars on a lot (The ones that give previous owner details, price, kilometres etc), but I believe 1 year is possibly more than is required.  You'd want to pin down in writing the conditions of warranty to see that there aren't any 'no pay' type clauses, and squeezing a longer term out of him would always be good - maybe you could twist his arm into 18 months.

Ultimately, to answer the question you actually asked  , while the safest option is to have the Alfa dealer who is independent to the sale do any repairs which may be required on YOUR payroll (as you know they will be done properly), if you can squeeze some additional reassurance out of the seller in some form, then you're probably doing pretty well.  It's all down to your negotiating skills!