2 hours ago, Sonicboom208 said:

So if I get it done - belt, water pump, oil and filter change and gaskets

Ensure that whoever does the job also changes the oil pump drive belt and checks and cleans out the oil pump strainer.

As Tom mentions, we have seen gearbox problems with the Ecoboost, particularly the more powerful 125/140 versions (you don't say which you have). 

The 5 speed box was not originally designed for the torque of a turbo engine and tends to eat synchros on 2/3rd especially if driven hard. There is no synchromesh on reverse anyway, so don't rush from first into reverse!

On a more positive note a friend of mine has recently had the belts done at an independent on a 10 year old car and all seems fine with engine and transmission. The car has been owned from new, properly serviced and driven though. That may change now his daughter and (particularly) 17 year old grandson are the drivers!

7 hours ago, Sonicboom208 said:

Hi all - I had just posted this elsewhere but realise it's more relevant to this thread sorry. Your thoughts (and commiserations) would be appreciated....

 

Well I have been caught out totally by this. I just bought a nice 1.0 Ecoboost with 96K on the clock, for my daughters first car.

Cheap to insure, no road tax, etc etc. Literally 2 days ago. I thought I might have to get the wet belt done and I thought it was going to be £600 ish. 

But no. I'm quoted 11 to 1400 quid by independents. I'm gutted as I had read reviews that said it's a great little car and the engine is great and fun to drive. Clearly I should have checked on Ford forums first. 

So if I get it done - belt, water pump, oil and filter change and gaskets - will I at least have peace of mind that it'll be good for a few years now, or are there any other horrors I'm going to encounter? Thanks.

Crikey, that's a lot of money for a belt change. To have the belt, waterpump and variator renewed on my 2.0 Alfa is only around £900. And on my 3.2 V6 Alfa it's £1400 for belt and waterpump, all fitted OEM parts. 

When my brother had his changed on his Focus EcoBoost about 5 years ago, he paid IIRC £700. But as I've never owned one I have no first hand experience of the tiny EcoBoost.

Wish you luck

Just a quick side issue. My brother thinks his 1.0 EB is faster than my 2.0 Alfa, even though none of the stats suggest that. Admittedly, it feels quite quick for a 1.0, I have driven it a few times, albeit only short distances.

The top speed of the Alfa is higher, as is the 0-62 time, as the BHP, as is the torque measurements.

What do you guys think?

32 minutes ago, Veloce_Rosso said:

What do you guys think?

I think you're in the wrong forum 🤣

3 hours ago, Veloce_Rosso said:

Crikey, that's a lot of money for a belt change.

That's around ball park for an independent - main dealers can be double - as posted earlier in the thread.

I'm genuinely surprised that you have a 2005 Alfa Romeo, I thought that they would have all rusted away or have recycled in to baked bean cans by now. 🤣

3 hours ago, unofix said:

I'm genuinely surprised that you have a 2005 Alfa Romeo, I thought that they would have all rusted away or have recycled in to baked bean cans by now. 🤣

Err... no. It's true of older models like the Sud, 33, early GTVs. From the 90s onwards (155) they used better quality steel. It's never been resprayed, no lacquer peel. And it's never been garaged.

 

15 hours ago, unofix said:

I think you're in the wrong forum 🤣

Very droll. 😂

Out of interest, has your daughter considered an Alfa as you seem to be keen and knowledgeable on them?

Must be able to get a nice Mito for £2500 nowadays?  I know absolutely nothing about the reliability of them but the front end is arguably better looking than the Fiesta!

10 minutes ago, TomsFocus said:

  I know absolutely nothing about the reliability of them but the front end is arguably better looking than the Fiesta!

Reliability doesn't seem brilliant, but certainly a good looking front!

https://www.autoexpress.co.uk/alfa-romeo/mito

3 hours ago, TomsFocus said:

Out of interest, has your daughter considered an Alfa as you seem to be keen and knowledgeable on them?

Must be able to get a nice Mito for £2500 nowadays?  I know absolutely nothing about the reliability of them but the front end is arguably better looking than the Fiesta!

As her overriding memory of cars are Alfas, she wanted something different. She was 3 years old when I purchased the first one, she's now 22.

 

3 hours ago, Eric Bloodaxe said:

Reliability doesn't seem brilliant, but certainly a good looking front!

https://www.autoexpress.co.uk/alfa-romeo/mito

Yeah, I can see why they can get poor reliability reviews. Their engines are fairly bullet-proof, if the servicing is kept up to date. Based on my own experience, the biggest issues are the electrics and the suspension is made of chocolate. Many owners, incl yours truly, have upgraded the bushes to Powerflex, but keep the dampers standard rather than coil overs.

4 hours ago, Veloce_Rosso said:

Err... no. It's true of older models like the Sud, 33, early GTVs. From the 90s onwards (155) they used better quality steel.

Certainly is a nice looking car. Fiat and associated companies really damaged their reputation back in the day with sub-standard steel. I remember Russian steel being mentioned? Cars like the Sud and Lancia Beta Coupe  were great lookers that just crumbled.

Pretty much like the Mk 1 Ford Ka, in fact! I always wondered where the steel for those came from, and if there were different sources as some seemed better than others.

1 hour ago, Eric Bloodaxe said:

Certainly is a nice looking car. Fiat and associated companies really damaged their reputation back in the day with sub-standard steel. I remember Russian steel being mentioned? Cars like the Sud and Lancia Beta Coupe  were great lookers that just crumbled.

Pretty much like the Mk 1 Ford Ka, in fact! I always wondered where the steel for those came from, and if there were different sources as some seemed better than others.

Indeed. The USSR requested Fiat to borrow a design for one of their models for Poland. I think it was an early 124 model, rather than paying Fiat money they repaid them with substandard steel. Of course, Fiat, even back then, had the monopoly on most Italian cars such as Lancia & Alfa. Most of those cars crumbled to nothing. The Beta Coupe was a beautiful looking car. One of my dream cars would be a Lancia Delta HF Integrale. Better built and a fabulous 👌 drivers cars.

I've owned a shedload of different marques over the years and Alfa are up there with the best drivers cars - very characterful and very driver focused.

Thanks all. I have the 1.0 Ecoboost 99hp model so not the more powerful one. 

Gearbox seems really nice at the moment and fortunately my daughter is a slow and careful driver so I doubt it'll be driven particularly hard from now on. 

I'm just going to bite the bullet and get it done for peace of mind. To be fair if I'd got a car that had the work already done,  I would have paid extra I suppose so swings and roundabouts. 

I'm hoping it will good from now and I'll just get the usual bits and bobs to fix on a used car. Thanks for all your comments and help

6 minutes ago, Sonicboom208 said:

Gearbox seems really nice at the moment 

Yes, we've had a couple of cars with that box and when working ok, they're a nice snappy change. 

7 minutes ago, Sonicboom208 said:

I'm just going to bite the bullet and get it done for peace of mind.

Hope you'll report how you go on - it'll be interesting to see what state the belts are in, particularly as it's over the 10 year mark.

My daughter has gone pretty quiet on the 1.0 EcoBoost over the last couple of days. I guess she's heeded the advice and looking elsewhere, incl a different engine Fiesta.

Watch this space....