Buying first Alfa - Timing belt issue

[Photo J]

I'm in the process of buying my first Alfa and I already have the fever. I have found a 156 that looks great, but I am having trouble confirming that the timing belt has been changed. The car has done 82,000km and the salesman is telling me it has been done but I can't find any record of this. It has had its regular services but no mention of the timing belt. A mechanic has had a look, says it looks good but can't confirm if the belt was changed. If anyone has any tips or advice it would be greatly appreciated.
Hope to be joining you all soon with a real car.

[Fast Eddie]

The only thing you can do is call the dealer that serviced the car.  Hopefully it went to the same dealer on a regular basis and this is noted in the service handbook.

If not, Maybe ATECO can assist but dont know.  The warranty requires the belt to be changed at 60,000Ks but again this should have been noted in the service handbook.  No service handbook = no history you can bank on.

Failing that, the only alternative is to call each dealer, one at a time quoting the rego number and see who has it's service history.

[Anth73]

When I bought mine the belt change had been specifically noted in the service manual and even then I rang the servicing dealer to confirm it. DO NOT BELEIVE THE SALESMAN! If you are unable to verify the belt having been changed but still like the car, use it as leverage to get a discount on the price.

From memory the belt change on a four cylinder is about $1600, while the V6 is about $2000. Any Alfa dealer should be able to confirm pricing for you.