I got a good friend of mine to buy an Italian car. He bought a 2003 model facelift 156 2.0 JTS. I used to look after it and it was a cracking car. The front suspension is fun, changing top and bottom arms! Used to fail a fair few on the arms at M.O.T time. He sold it on after 2 years and always compares it to other cars for character, performance, quick rack and the price they fetch, let alone cry as it was the best car he's ever had. He now has a Punto 1.2 elx as baby forces sale!
Cambelt and variator valve needs to be checked and listened for.
I did a couple of cambelt snap- jobs on a 147 and a 156. 147 was fine, but 156 used to apprantley burn oil. I suspect the bores must of been wearing oval as opposed to bent rods. Cylinder head rebuild wasn't cheap as any valve which had shown signs of contact to piston was changed. I had been told that any valve which had made contact, but looked ok should be changed as a few people had experienced the head of the valve drop into the combustion chamber after a few weeks of running.