So are Alfa's unreliable or not? (esp. 159s)

[Bennet]

I see a lot of Alfa Romeo owners claim their favourite brand is fine if the cars are serviced regularly, but the statistics suggest otherwise. A phenomenon exhibited perfectly by the contradiction here between the official stats and the owner stats.

So which is it?
Are the owners being religious and unwilling to admit their cars are unreliable?Or is it just that the stats for 159s are dragged down by particular engines and others are fine?

I'd like a 159 estate. Frequent expensive repairs would spoil the car for me though.

If you're inclined to reply, would you mind mentioning where you are getting your knowledge from?

Thanks.

[Bennet]

uuf361 said:

18 months and unfortunately a lot of things needed replacing or bits went wrong, some of which you wouldn't have expected on such a new car with full history......

These components that you wouldn't expect to break - could you give a few examples of what they were?