Welcome!

It’s hard to say if 4 owners are an issue or not - the 4C is not for everyone (understatement), and you find out really quickly if it is a car you cannot live with or can’t live without. Also, economic and personal situations change. All it takes is two pink lines to completely change priorities!

Air intakes can be returned to stock if the parts are still available. They might be purchased here in the classifieds if they are no longer with the car, but they don’t come up much. BOVs are a pain in the arse to get to, but I don’t see why they could not be changed back to OEM.

Have you driven or seen this car?
If it is in another part of the country, someone here might be able to give you insights or even check it out for you.

I would suggest that you get a service history on the car. The most popular reason for disposal is deferred maintenance being overdue. Timing belt and bolt tightening being the main ones.

But I wouldn’t wait too long. Good deals have a habit of disappearing quickly

Good luck.

 

Thanks for the insights. The last service was in Jan by the dealer, will get some info on what was done. My primary concern is if it was tuned/modified too much. Is this something that a local mechanic can diagnose? I am not confident the dealer can tell me the truth since its a mazda dealership and not alfa.

 

Fareplay, so much information on these forums to help research. Spend some time and you’ll find everything you ever wanted (and more).
As 4canada mentioned you’ll need to reset baseline service for the car if there’s no maintenance history. See if you can find that. are you handy with working on cars yourself? You can save a lot of money with the outstanding maintenance yourself.
since you posted the VIN, you can find the window sticker here https://www.chrysler.com/hostd/windowsticker/getWindowStickerPdf.do?vin=ZARBAAA4XFM168121

also, need to ask yourself if you’re okay with the currently vinyl wrap on the car. I understand the factory paint can be fragile and if you plan to remove it could lead to some paint damage. So factor that into the purchase as well.

good luck and welcome!

 

If its a quality tune like GMS or Alfaworks, it is a pure enhancement in performance and driveability. These vehicles were a bit lacking refinement out of the box. The CAI , if you dig the sucking of air, goes great with the personality of the vehicle. This is a raw, sports car. You will not urn it into some benign, cute nancymobile....a prime reason they are sold. This is not a novice level sports car, plain and simple. It can and will bite you in the ass if you don't have the skills. On the other hand, if you bring skills to the table, the car with some pretty basic mods, can be AMAZING!!!!!!!

 

Cheers, i have a good 4C ready to be sold to me and i have been dreaming of this car since it was launched. After some research a lot of people tell me not to buy one (including Alfa Romeo Germany) bcs the situation with spare parts is becoming worse! Has any of you heard about that? What is your honest recommendation.

Happy to join this forum and have exchange about 4Cs.
I‘m from south of Germany.

 

Guess you don't buy ANY car then

 

Thanks for a quick reply - i have been owning a lot of cars including oldtimers and i know about the markets.
But since the 4C is just 10 yrs old max i wanna make sure i can run it for the next 5 yrs without worrying a missing small spare part can make this beauty a garage car which must not be driven.

 

It might be helpful to consider just how much a maniac like me has poured into my 4C in the 100 days since buying it—both in cash and effort.

I specifically hunted down a locally owned 4C with consistent use and good dealer service history. In December, I bought mine with 24,000 miles for $45K. Here’s what I’ve done since:

• $600 – Swapped out the awful Pirelli P Zeros (the original fronts were still on and tramlining like crazy) for Michelin PS4 A/S. Total game-changer. The car now drives beautifully. With how light the front end is, I expect these tires will age out before they wear out.
• $340 – Installed Alfaworks front-end alignment blocks. These helped fine-tune the steering, but honestly, the new tires did most of the heavy lifting.
• $296 – Timing belt service is due at five years, and I had no record of it being done. So, I handled it myself, along with a new water pump and accessory belt/tensioner, using Alfa9 parts.
• $0 – Knocked out the annual bolt-tightening ritual solo. It took a full day, but on a carbon tub car with light torque specs, re-tightening is essential.
• $300 – Added a catch can kit. Since it’s a direct-injection engine, the PCV system will gunk up your intake valves over time without one.
• $722 – Upgraded the radio and speakers. The factory Pioneer unit looked like a tacky chrome toy. I replaced it with a retro-style Blaupunkt Frankfurt that actually matches the car’s vibe.
• $$$$ – Spent more than I care to admit on carbon fiber goodies from Madness Autoworks. Just little accents here and there—A-pillars, grill inserts, that kind of thing.
• $$$$ – Ordered custom forged wheels from @John4C. Went with 17”/18” staggered setup for summer tires—lighter and meaner.
• $$$$ – My leather dash was delaminating (like most 4Cs), so I pulled it out and shipped it from Washington to New York to @lars for an Alcantara rewrap. Had him do the A-pillars too. He’s also sending me a leather center console. The results? Freaking gorgeous.
• $1,200 – Took advantage of the disassembly to repaint the front bumper. It had major rock chips in the paper-thin factory paint. I also cut in some carbon bumper vents a generous soul gifted me.

By doing all the work myself, I’ve saved around $10,000 in labor costs. And yeah, I’ve spent a stupid amount of money—but the car’s turning into something truly mine, and I’m loving every second of it.

I would ensure that the car you are looking at has good dashboard leather that is not beginning to delaminate. It will begin to pull up from the defroster vent, and the concave area around the passenger airbag will begin to pull up from the composite dash.

 

"$$$$ – My leather dash was delaminating (like most 4Cs), so I pulled it out and shipped it from Washington to New York to @lars for an Alcantara rewrap. "

That is hardcore - props to you @Brady ELSA Pilot!

Luckily my dash is still ok, but man that looks amazing!

 

@Brady ELSA Pilot Crazy stuff - i‘ll not do as much as you did, but definitely change the tires and the coilovers bcs most people say it is a must. The rest would be left as it is. The car has 14k kms and has never seen tracks so the condition is really sweet. Let‘s see if i buy it - but it seems so 😉

 

I've found the standard race suspension perfect for me. Just make sure the leather dash doesn't come up like mine did! Ask:
Has the annual bolt tightening been performed?
Has the five-year timing belt service been completed?
How old are the tires?

 

 

What should you look for? All the threads on the forum that ask the same thing. Use the search function….You blokes are too nice…or I just read the headlines while on holidays this morning (big mistake) reporting on our stock market and am in a foul/sombre mood.

 

Why so angry mate? Stock markets is not my fault, sb else is to blame.
And better i make my research, get good answers and start building a network than spending €€€ on that car and have not asked the important questions…

 

Now, if the 4C you’re looking at has an aftermarket intake take it for a 15 min test drive. Give it some wide open throttle in in second and third a few times to see if you can tolerate the noise and to see if it throws a code. The intake noise is the likely culprit for the couple of quick owner exchanges in my opinion. Yeh, sorry, I definitely woke up on the wrong side of the bed. Read yesterday’s news and deleted a possible scammer post first thing. Not a good start to the day. Things have improved.

 

you need to drink some of that good Japanese beer! 🤙🤙

 

Alfa nut….very Buddha of you with your response. We can all use a little bit of calming these days🙂

 

Certainly can. A walk around Kiyomizu-dera has improved my outlook remarkably…Coincidentally, it’s the Buddha’s birthday today. 😁

 

I would always prefer to buy an unmodified car, mostly OEM, with full service history. Even though I've since added stage 1, but I'm not selling anytime soon. God knows what will happen to my car in the future, best not to worry, unless I get a JCB to dig a 4C sized grave.

 

This is the potential one I am looking at:

VIN: ZARBAAA4XFM168121
2015 4C (White)

Pros:
8k miles
Clean fax
Cheaper end

Cons:
4 owners (2 of which in 2024)
Decal sticker on side
Was told after market air intake and blowoff valve

How hard would it be to take this back to stock? What other red flags should I be aware of?

How much is he asking for?

 

I'd check the roof material, anything other than cloth is a bad sign.😁

 

Not sure if you are buying from a dealer or not. I bought my one sight unseen from a dealer in Chicago. I knew the timing belt and bolt tightening was not performed or if it was there was no record. It turned out the previous owner also removed the cat. In NYS to put it back to stock to pass o section cost me 12K at an Alfa dealer. The exhaust is not that bad, it’s around 1700. But the cat is close to 6k. And the labor that goes with it to put the std one back. I’d get 2500 for bolt tightening and around 3500 for the timing belt. Again these charges are from an upstate Alfa, Maserati and Ferrari dealer. They have good rep. Therefore o would say these are representative. Again, I am sure you can find better pricing. Bottom line make sure you do more due diligence than I did. I got a PPA. But it never found out the cat was missing. Good luck.