Anyone ever owned an Alfa?

Has anyone ever owned, or owns an Alfa Romeo?
Have been researching the ridiculously cheap luxury of early 2000 Alfa's. 
Could have picked up a 2004 Alfa 147, 95000km, full leather interior for $1G. The owner had backed into a pole, so there was a big ding in bumper and rear hatch, but for the money it was a lot of car. 
The missus talked me out of it, but now I'm seeing bargains all over the place.  
Are they really that hard/expensive to maintain? 
I've learnt that the semi auto "Selespeed" gearbox should be avoided,  so manual is the go. 
Has anyone got any real knowledge, not just "I heard that....", but first hand experience with these Italian beauties? 
Thanks in advance.

It shouldn't prove too difficult to find a Internet forum or Facebook page devoted to these things 

As a young bloke I lusted after a GTV

Sorry not first hand experience.
From what I understand they are very expensive to maintain and parts are scarce. A lot of them were considered lemons.
Do a lot of research if you really want one.

MLC? 

One of the worst things with Alfa's in the past, was that they were shipped from Italy as deck cargo on submarines!

Kiwisteve wrote:One of the worst things with Alfa's in the past, was that they were shipped from Italy as deck cargo on submarines!

and that was after the steel they were made from was stored under the sea to preserve it 


I think the later models are far better in regards to rust protection, as for parts and reliability, it depends on who you talk to, I get the feeling they are a bit of a lucky dip

2wheelsagain wrote:
As a young bloke I lusted after a GTV

That starts to explain a few things...............

well the nice people at alfa romeo will give you a heated rear window to keep your hands warm whilst you push it

Jimcoleman wrote:well the nice people at alfa romeo will give you a heated rear window to keep your hands warm whilst you push it

Lmao. 
You guys are a funny bunch. Always worth a giggle. 
I have heard it said that the Italian car manufacturers could make plastic rust. 
It (rust) doesn't seem to be a big problem with the later models, but reliability compared to their Japanese counterparts is questionable. 
I don't mind swinging the spanners myself, but if parts are gold plated I will steer clear.

We have a 1 year old Maserati in at work at the moment, it was dragged onto a tow truck after breaking down and damaged the front bumper, $20,000 in parts, just for the bumper and reinforcements, so I wouldn't touch an Italian car if it was given to me, the only good thing the Italians make is pizza