Depressing news!

[Quattroporte]

I had the unfortunate experience that I'm sure many drivers on Australian roads go through each year. My 156 TI was hit by another car while it was parked and has been consequently written off. The person who hit me did not leave a note. I was lucky enough that there was a witness who was kind enough to detail the incident as best as possible. I through sheer chance managed to track down the perpetrators can and the police and insurance our handling it respectively.
In the meantime, I've brought a 2008 147 Monza, which I positively adore. I feel guilty in saying so, but I like it more than my 156. It feels more solid, more together and more responsive. Although the ride is noticeably stiffer, not helped by the larger 18 inch wheels, the interior is more comfortable and better trimmed and the selespeed gearbox is far smoother. We had $2,600 worth of work such as the timing belt and water pump replaced before we picked it up. The selespeed has also been resynchronized. It's a 1 owner car with $45,100kms on the clock. Originally purchased from Rick Damelian. It's been sitting pretty much in a garage most of it's life, having been driven by it's previous owner all of 4,000kms in 2 years.



I wanted to ask a couple of questions:

• I seem to be getting condensation in my front headlamps. What is the best way to prevent this from happening?
  
• The 'mute' button the steering wheel sometimes 'pauses' the music, is this a setting which interchanges that button between 'mute' and 'pause'?
  
• The driver's seat will on rub against the armrest and squeak. Is there a product you can buy to reduce or remove this noise?

Much appreciated,
Q.

[Craig_m67]

1. Check that the lamps have been closed properly at the back.  You will need to dry them in any case, suggest some desiccant in bag on a string for a few days.
2. The mute button always pauses the CD.
3. A bit of armour oil/silicon spray or whatever you feel is best for leather will stop the squeak.

[poohbah]

Gee whizz Quattroporte ... how hard did they hit you in the car park to cause a write-off? Clearly not just a bumper scraping the door as they backed out. Sounds more like they were pulling a bank job and had to make a speedy getaway.

Oh well, good to see you got straight back on the horse with your sweet 147.

[Quattroporte]

Gee whizz Quattroporte ... how hard did they hit you in the car park to cause a write-off? Clearly not just a bumper scraping the door as they backed out. Sounds more like they were pulling a bank job and had to make a speedy getaway.

Oh well, good to see you got straight back on the horse with your sweet 147.

People absolutely fly up and down the street, but this particular person was trying to overtake on the outside lane (illegal) and on a wet afternoon too!

[alfamisa]

The 147 facelift post 11/2004 model is a beautiful choice Quattroporte.

Your question about mute button seems to indicate you would like the music to play on but not hear it as opposed to be paused. Well obviously on radio it will only mute the sound but on CD, as was stated before, it will only pause the track.

However if there is a track or part of you would like to skip, the beauty of the sound system in the 147 is that you can press the >> button on the headunit and fast forward the CD.

Many owners aren't aware of that as many home sound systems don't have that capability on CDs.

As for the lights and the squeaking seat on armrest, they aren't standard traits so I hope the suggested fixes cure it and the light assemblies aren't in fact cracked or something that require replacement. Gotta luv RWC....

[Brad M]

As for the lights and the squeaking seat on armrest, they aren't standard traits so I hope the suggested fixes cure it and the light assemblies aren't in fact cracked or something that require replacement. Gotta luv RWC....

FYI: both the 147 GTA's I have had, have had the same noise from rubbing... I just turned the stereo up.

[colcol]

Or turn down the stereo and wind down the window to hear that good Italian V-6 sing, that old Alfa Romeo saying, "turn down the radio, i can't hear the engine", Colin.

[alfamisa]

FYI: both the 147 GTA's I have had, have had the same noise from rubbing... I just turned the stereo up.

Well putting aside that it makes for a good excuse to cover for passing wind, the 147 in question is post 11/2004 build facelift (no GTA) and therefore neither is it a V6... also it is Selespeed so 2.0TS not diesel. But anyway it made for a good story...

On a completely different subject FYI the seat design on each model may cause rubbing especially the GTA but also deflection due to driver size and forward/aft seat position against the armrest.

[Quattroporte]

I've started driving the car purely with paddles, something I did occasionally with my 156. I wanted to know the following:

• I've heard that driving the car with paddles is better for it, is this actually true? If so, why? Are there any benefits of driving the car purely with paddles?
• I might be going crazy, but it seems the car will sometimes shift up or down two gears in very quick succession? Almost in one go? Is this normal?
• Does the computer system moderate the gears to avoid harm?
• How long does it take for the car to memorize your driving style in 'city' mode when using paddles?

Thanks!