RE: SOTW: Alfa Romeo 166 3.0
Discussion
J4CKO said:
You havent quite got this "Shed" thing have you 
You dont buy a grands worth of old Alfa and then spunk a grand on it, couple of hundred to get it through an MOT, driven it until it requires a major spend, then scrap it or stick it on Ebay for bits, ultimate handling precision isnt in the Bangernomics ethos, you dont do the belts, if it snaps thats it, buy another one as spending £800 having the belts done is pretty much the cost of another one.
It is acceptable to polish it to death and get it looking nice, it has to be safe and have an MOT, perhaps an oil change but anything else doesnt make sense, the savvy shed purchaser looks for cars where some other poor sod has spent all the money and now wants rid, they absolutely dont spend it themselves.
"A couple of hundred to get it through its MOT".....You clearly have never owned an alfa.You dont buy a grands worth of old Alfa and then spunk a grand on it, couple of hundred to get it through an MOT, driven it until it requires a major spend, then scrap it or stick it on Ebay for bits, ultimate handling precision isnt in the Bangernomics ethos, you dont do the belts, if it snaps thats it, buy another one as spending £800 having the belts done is pretty much the cost of another one.
It is acceptable to polish it to death and get it looking nice, it has to be safe and have an MOT, perhaps an oil change but anything else doesnt make sense, the savvy shed purchaser looks for cars where some other poor sod has spent all the money and now wants rid, they absolutely dont spend it themselves.
"Drive it until it needs a major spend" - should read "pick it up and drive it home"
"scrap it and put it on ebay for bits" - what with the 000's of other alfas on ebay being broken?
"the savvy shed purchaser looks for cars where some other poor sod has spent all the money and now wants rid" - That will be every modern alfa on the market that works then? You spend £400 getting the belts done, then drive over a speed bump and that another £300 for a front ARB, do that and then drive back over the same speed bump and the front lower arms need replacing....never ending
george123 said:
How can you not like that? Over a BMW any time s m said:
M666 EVO said:
I always remember the 164 Lusso being silly quick, may just have been the rose tinted driving gloves though.
0-60 7.90-100 21.4
Max 140mph
SS 1/4 16.2@89
30-70 7.4
I used to a nurse a semi over these wheels...
Big, brutish saloon cars like this were amazing. They're the ones that really used to impress me. We'll never see its likes again.
Twincam16 said:
Strawman said:
I owned a 164, better looking car IMO and reliable while I had it.
Much as I like the 166, IMO the 164 is a nicer car. The 164 looks all big and important, almost like an old Maserati Quattroporte, especially in black, whereas the 166 looks like a 156 that's been on the pies.big_boz said:
"A couple of hundred to get it through its MOT".....You clearly have never owned an alfa.
"Drive it until it needs a major spend" - should read "pick it up and drive it home"
"scrap it and put it on ebay for bits" - what with the 000's of other alfas on ebay being broken?
"the savvy shed purchaser looks for cars where some other poor sod has spent all the money and now wants rid" - That will be every modern alfa on the market that works then? You spend £400 getting the belts done, then drive over a speed bump and that another £300 for a front ARB, do that and then drive back over the same speed bump and the front lower arms need replacing....never ending
Don't be such a wuss "Drive it until it needs a major spend" - should read "pick it up and drive it home"
"scrap it and put it on ebay for bits" - what with the 000's of other alfas on ebay being broken?
"the savvy shed purchaser looks for cars where some other poor sod has spent all the money and now wants rid" - That will be every modern alfa on the market that works then? You spend £400 getting the belts done, then drive over a speed bump and that another £300 for a front ARB, do that and then drive back over the same speed bump and the front lower arms need replacing....never ending
.I bought a 1999 Alfa 166 Super (3.0 litre V6) in 2005 for £3000, and still have it now - just over 7 years later.
In that time it has never left me stranded, never required the AA to rescue me and certainly hasn't cost a fortune to maintain.
Things that have gone wrong were - The cambelt was done shortly after I bought it at a specialist for £500 including a new metal-impellor water pump, rear suspension bushes (replaced with Powerflex, no need to replace the whole arm then), the MAF (replace just the sensor with one for a Vauxhall AstraMax, which is exactly the same Bosch one, and it only cost £60). Front wheel bearings have been replaced. Apart from that, it has just been the usual oil, filters, tyres, pads and front disks. I don't do massive mileage in it (about 5-6000 per year)
Other things: Mine is Rosso Corsa, but it has faded badly, and the lacquer is peeling off on the bumpers and mirrors. The passenger door central locking actuator is sticky and sometimes doesn't work, but copious WD40 applications make it better. Mine came with a Remus exhaust which sounds fantastic and is still solid. A complete black leather interior to replace my cloth one was £75. The multi-change CD player skips like a bandit over bumps. MPG is... variable.. I've cruised down the motorway at 70-ish and averaged just over 30mpg for a 200mile run, but my average is around 22mpg for everyday driving through town and country A roads. Well under 20mpg is possible if you want to here the Busso sing (and who wouldn't)
ajb85 said:
The 164 ignited my love of Alfas. It's where it all began.
I used to a nurse a semi over these wheels...
Big, brutish saloon cars like this were amazing. They're the ones that really used to impress me. We'll never see its likes again.
Thanks for making me miss my 164 Cloverleaf I used to a nurse a semi over these wheels...
Big, brutish saloon cars like this were amazing. They're the ones that really used to impress me. We'll never see its likes again.
Black with tan leather
boyse7en said:
Don't be such a wuss .
I bought a 1999 Alfa 166 Super (3.0 litre V6) in 2005 for £3000, and still have it now - just over 7 years later.
In that time it has never left me stranded, never required the AA to rescue me and certainly hasn't cost a fortune to maintain.
Things that have gone wrong were - The cambelt was done shortly after I bought it at a specialist for £500 including a new metal-impellor water pump, rear suspension bushes (replaced with Powerflex, no need to replace the whole arm then), the MAF (replace just the sensor with one for a Vauxhall AstraMax, which is exactly the same Bosch one, and it only cost £60). Front wheel bearings have been replaced. Apart from that, it has just been the usual oil, filters, tyres, pads and front disks. I don't do massive mileage in it (about 5-6000 per year)
Other things: Mine is Rosso Corsa, but it has faded badly, and the lacquer is peeling off on the bumpers and mirrors. The passenger door central locking actuator is sticky and sometimes doesn't work, but copious WD40 applications make it better. Mine came with a Remus exhaust which sounds fantastic and is still solid. A complete black leather interior to replace my cloth one was £75. The multi-change CD player skips like a bandit over bumps. MPG is... variable.. I've cruised down the motorway at 70-ish and averaged just over 30mpg for a 200mile run, but my average is around 22mpg for everyday driving through town and country A roads. Well under 20mpg is possible if you want to here the Busso sing (and who wouldn't)
Don't get me wrong, I'm not saying that there are not good ones, but i would suggest that chances are these days that they will be in the minority, 7 years ago not so much..I bought a 1999 Alfa 166 Super (3.0 litre V6) in 2005 for £3000, and still have it now - just over 7 years later.
In that time it has never left me stranded, never required the AA to rescue me and certainly hasn't cost a fortune to maintain.
Things that have gone wrong were - The cambelt was done shortly after I bought it at a specialist for £500 including a new metal-impellor water pump, rear suspension bushes (replaced with Powerflex, no need to replace the whole arm then), the MAF (replace just the sensor with one for a Vauxhall AstraMax, which is exactly the same Bosch one, and it only cost £60). Front wheel bearings have been replaced. Apart from that, it has just been the usual oil, filters, tyres, pads and front disks. I don't do massive mileage in it (about 5-6000 per year)
Other things: Mine is Rosso Corsa, but it has faded badly, and the lacquer is peeling off on the bumpers and mirrors. The passenger door central locking actuator is sticky and sometimes doesn't work, but copious WD40 applications make it better. Mine came with a Remus exhaust which sounds fantastic and is still solid. A complete black leather interior to replace my cloth one was £75. The multi-change CD player skips like a bandit over bumps. MPG is... variable.. I've cruised down the motorway at 70-ish and averaged just over 30mpg for a 200mile run, but my average is around 22mpg for everyday driving through town and country A roads. Well under 20mpg is possible if you want to here the Busso sing (and who wouldn't)
The average 156/166/147 will not be receiving its scheduled preventative maintenance these days and you cant fire fight an old alfa!
If you want to buy an alfa over for instance a BMW, yes it will look and sound better (provided your variator hasn't gone) but you better be prepared to have your wallet emptied on a regular basis...not a car for those with no disposable income!
I brought one of these up in the shed thread a while ago and the consensus was that it's just not special enough to take the risk on. Even the Momo Leather/Wood interior isn't special enough - it was nice in a 164 but you expect more here and it just doesn't deliver it (and what it does deliver tends to fall-off).
With V8 Audis and BMWs available for the same money and having VASTLY nicer interiors and VASTLY less likelihood of exploding, you have to love that Italian thing a LOT to spend money on one of these.
I still might tho - but you need big nuts because I saw a couple of these languishing in the "Scrappage Scheme" storage field - so little are they loved/so likely are they borked. I've never need a 10-year-old luxury barge sold 'spares of repair' for MOT failure before either.
p.s. almost all manufacturers throw their electronics into the "flood plain" - Renault even avoid putting the rubber bonnet-seal over the end of the bonnet which sports the fusebox/control unit in Meganes and BMW put an ECU into the passenger kickpanel where the wheelarch liner pipes water in on-demand
With V8 Audis and BMWs available for the same money and having VASTLY nicer interiors and VASTLY less likelihood of exploding, you have to love that Italian thing a LOT to spend money on one of these.
I still might tho - but you need big nuts because I saw a couple of these languishing in the "Scrappage Scheme" storage field - so little are they loved/so likely are they borked. I've never need a 10-year-old luxury barge sold 'spares of repair' for MOT failure before either.
p.s. almost all manufacturers throw their electronics into the "flood plain" - Renault even avoid putting the rubber bonnet-seal over the end of the bonnet which sports the fusebox/control unit in Meganes and BMW put an ECU into the passenger kickpanel where the wheelarch liner pipes water in on-demand
Edited by 405dogvan on Friday 2nd November 14:13
ajb85 said:
'Tiz a sad day. A quick eBay search reveals NO Alfa 164s available and just one on Auto Trader. An the latter is nothing to write home about. 2.0 TS, cloth seats and wheel trims! And a bit salty too at £1,695..
you're not looking hard enough http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/1992-ALFA-ROMEO-164-LUSS...
george123 said:
ajb85 said:
'Tiz a sad day. A quick eBay search reveals NO Alfa 164s available and just one on Auto Trader. An the latter is nothing to write home about. 2.0 TS, cloth seats and wheel trims! And a bit salty too at £1,695..
you're not looking hard enough http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/1992-ALFA-ROMEO-164-LUSS...
george123 said:
ajb85 said:
'Tiz a sad day. A quick eBay search reveals NO Alfa 164s available and just one on Auto Trader. An the latter is nothing to write home about. 2.0 TS, cloth seats and wheel trims! And a bit salty too at £1,695..
you're not looking hard enough http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/1992-ALFA-ROMEO-164-LUSS...
big_boz said:
Don't get me wrong, I'm not saying that there are not good ones, but i would suggest that chances are these days that they will be in the minority, 7 years ago not so much.
The average 156/166/147 will not be receiving its scheduled preventative maintenance these days and you cant fire fight an old alfa!
If you want to buy an alfa over for instance a BMW, yes it will look and sound better (provided your variator hasn't gone) but you better be prepared to have your wallet emptied on a regular basis...not a car for those with no disposable income!
"not a car for those with no disposable income!" The average 156/166/147 will not be receiving its scheduled preventative maintenance these days and you cant fire fight an old alfa!
If you want to buy an alfa over for instance a BMW, yes it will look and sound better (provided your variator hasn't gone) but you better be prepared to have your wallet emptied on a regular basis...not a car for those with no disposable income!
I think this makes a 166 a brilliant idea as a #1000 shed. If you spent 3000 on a good example then it could become a real money pit. At a grand you would scrap the car in the event of any of the problems you mention. Certainly a much better proposition that a newer car with guaranteed depreciation.
Assuming you don't end up stuck on a hard shoulder in the rain...then you might rethink!
ITP said:
These were, and still are in fact, the best cars Alfa made in terms of build quality. Easily the match of the Germans of the era.
Line up an 5 series/e-class/a6 of the same era next to a 3.0 lusso and you'd be surprised how they would all just look like council estate bangers in comparison
I wouldn't dispute that it matches them for looks.Line up an 5 series/e-class/a6 of the same era next to a 3.0 lusso and you'd be surprised how they would all just look like council estate bangers in comparison
But build ?
Rubbish.
A mate who's a car dealer ran one of these for a few months and it had lots of little niggly faults.
Washers packed up, central locking was temperamental, displays didn't light up etc
Needless to say he went back to a 5 series which was great until it too started playing up but it was then at 210k compared to the 70k Alfa.
thank you everyone for sharing. Quattroporte and Ghibli - two cars always wanted but will never dare probably. That 164 in red and grey... pure porn. Almost bought one times ago. Went for Volvo 740 instead.
I am supposed to be working, but instead I am constantly cleaning my keyboard...
I am supposed to be working, but instead I am constantly cleaning my keyboard...
Edited by Denorth on Friday 2nd November 15:03
I bought a 2001 3 litre Super in 2003 and spent 8 glorious years with it. So many days I would drive to work pitying those in rep mobile Beemers and Audi's etc all looking the same and many looking miserable (maybe a row with the wife??) whereas the 166 always made me smile. I have driven many cars (British, German, French) but nothing compares to the stately but sporty ride and lovely interior.
I completed 100,000 miles in the car - cam belt change, regular servicing, replacement clutch, MAF failure (only time it let me down and that was on my driveway), replacement suspension, exhaust etc. No more than any other car doing that kind of mileage I would have thought. Small quirks in that often a window switch wouldn't respond or central locking would be "temperamental" but replaced at small cost.
And as for the car, well after 8 years of completely loyal service I decided to take a company car. However, my 166 remains in my garage, covered and cossetted ready to come out to play when my company car is returned. It has 150k on the clock and other than a few stone chips it looks like new - no rust, the leather is sublime and the toys all work (love that booming stereo). It makes me sad to think that the 166 is on the shed list but those who are lucky enough to own one and look after it tend to be converts. But then of course I am massively biased...
I completed 100,000 miles in the car - cam belt change, regular servicing, replacement clutch, MAF failure (only time it let me down and that was on my driveway), replacement suspension, exhaust etc. No more than any other car doing that kind of mileage I would have thought. Small quirks in that often a window switch wouldn't respond or central locking would be "temperamental" but replaced at small cost.
And as for the car, well after 8 years of completely loyal service I decided to take a company car. However, my 166 remains in my garage, covered and cossetted ready to come out to play when my company car is returned. It has 150k on the clock and other than a few stone chips it looks like new - no rust, the leather is sublime and the toys all work (love that booming stereo). It makes me sad to think that the 166 is on the shed list but those who are lucky enough to own one and look after it tend to be converts. But then of course I am massively biased...
Gassing Station | General Gassing | Top of Page | What's New | My Stuff