Purchase tips
Alfa Romeo 33

The Alfa 33 has through it's partly galvanized bodywork (from 1990) fewer rust problems, only the underneath of some models in the region of the cross welds can start to rust a little. Special attention should be paid to the rear end under the bumper( from underneath is best).The repairs of front-end collisions are on most models are poor or even slipshod and the results of such workmanship don't take long to be seen.This applies to all cars, the whole car.
A particular complaint on the 33´er is the electrics, on purchase you should run, and check all and I mean all electrical appliances. I speak from experience, I once had a model that switched the lights on at 4000 RPM with an open window. It's nothing to write home about but you can see what can happen if you don't check the electrics.
Another complaint is the charcoal filter to which the exhaust-return-system counts is usually put out of commision due to a defect valve (seated on the left side of the motor, 3 thin airtubes lead to this valve sometimes only 2 because one has been removed). The noise is loud and sounds awful.
(Replacement part costs around 80,- DM) or it could be the charcoal filter has given up the ghost ( often is the valve stuck down or non-existent), that means that the motor runs as if it's running on 3 cylinders. Almost all 33´er suffer with this problem when the motor is cold,most of all the 16V. Up to a certain point you could say it's normal but there are limits. Then there is the heater switch, I don't think there is one model where it works properly.Firstly check that the switch turns easily, secondly that the change over, From hot to cold), which works using a cable joined to the little black box under the bonnet, directly under the windscreen to the left, works correctly or in some cases not at all. The gearchange takes some getting used to in some models. Gears 1 & 2 are really wide to the left so that the gear lever has to pulled over left as far as possible to engage the gears properly. Sometimes it is necessary to switch gears using the middle position so that you are really in first- or second gear.

Another weakspot is the exhaust system mainly the rear pot. The rear pot sits on the end of a long pipe and is joined to the catalytic converter, and it's right here where the rust sets in, there is no official part to sleeve the defect so your imagination can run wild and sometimes it does.
It is possible to take the converter off the old exhaust and to replace the pipe but without converter because the Lamba probe sits on the pipe in front of the probe. Don't drive to the exhaust test without converter, or...?;-)