Purchased with only 16,000km on the clock in January 1998. First
thing was to do was the 15,000km service that had been missed. This was payed for by the dealer who we purchased the car off. Also discovered that two tyres has excessive wear down to the fabric so the P2000's
were replaced at no cost, including wheel alignment. There have been regular 15,000km services since then. Just about due for the 60,000km service. In
between services we've... Installed a factory alarm. Usually $1,600 for the ECU or "Black Box" but the friendly and helpful team at Azzurra
found one in their warehouse to sell to me for only $600! The car was sold with all the sensors and switches but without the ECU so it should have just been "plug-and-play", but oh no! The short story
is that the ECU needed to be replaced with a new one from Italy which took 6 months to arrive after many faxes and phone calls to the dealer, importer, and Fiat/Alfa in Italy. When it arrived it was installed
only to discover that the sensors (volumeteric) needed to be replaced also, very strange. We were lucky that this part was ex-stock in N.Z. Horray! Success at last! Thanks to Azzurra it was supplied at no cost,
and the car was now out of it's 2 year warranty period. Next on the list was a CD Changer for the Panasonic Radio Cassette which supported an external CD
Changer. I wasn't going to pay $700 for a new one so I patiently waited. Then one day a stocktake/clearance sale revealed a spanking new $250 Panasonic 6 disk CD changer. Yay! Had it fitted for approx $150. Then
there were the hickups! A very small (and unnecessary) door ding in the drivers door from an incredibly inconsiderate contractor. Car was carefully parked away from others in a huge carpark at Hunua Falls, but
3 stupid and careless mowing contractors decided to park their ute's/trucks either side of my lone car, unnecessarily close, too close. Anyway, the subsequent repair by an authorised Alfa dealer/service centre
upset the delicate balance of the central locking mechanism and electric window adjustment on the driver's door. After a
few months it was all sorted, but only after assistance from the ever helpful
importers, Azzurra. Thanks guys! The only other glitch was a cracked plastic 3-way connector for the coolant hoses. Had to wait a few months for a $10-$20
part from Italty. All OK now. Back to my list. Last on my list was factory 14" alloys and air conditioning. Air-con would be at least $2,000 so I've
resigned myself to forfiet this luxury, but I "need" the alloys! Once again I patiently waited, with ads in the club magazine until the local dealer sent a seller to the prospective buyer. It was only
this week that I fitted the "as-new" pre-loved $500 14" alloys which would have cost me $2,300 new from Italy. Look beautiful! Wait for a photo. March
- 60,000km service! Typical stuff plus...
-
new cam belts
- new waterpump (bearings gone!)
- new front discs and brake pad set
Still
have a problem with a "bearing noise" from the
vicinity of the cam-belts, and a horrible oily smell that
won't go away. Also noticed that the top of the front
bumper/spoiler appears to have dropped 1" from below
the front of the bonnet grille. I suspect it wasn't
re-attached properly. The good news is that the service
department has kindly offered to look into this
further.
Well...
They'd over-tightened the cam belts hoping they'd stretch.
The oily smell was apparently oil leaking on to the exhaust
from a plate at the end of the cam shaft. I'm not so sure
this is/was the problem as the smell is still strong and
there was never any noticable oil leak. What have they
done?!
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