Unseen Alfa 159 content on its way
Discussion
Hi,
I'm a recovering Alfaholic...
Having owned 2 156's and a 159 in the past, i thought my love for the temperamental (not really) Italians was over.
I moved on to bikes, they are much healthier. Until the bike broke my back (Literally, not metaphorically). Fortunately i can still wipe my own arse and critically, operate a clutch pedal and change gear.
I have been rattling round in a knackered old ford focus 1.6 "LX", for nearly a year now. It was my tip run and "cant be arsed with the bike today", car. Its £500 quid’s worth of exceptionally good rust. I wont get rid of it, its a great car and worth more than £500 to me just sitting there.
Still, i have been doing some long trips recently. No cruise control, or creature comforts. 4k rpm for 3 to 4 hours at a time is leaving me a little worn out at the end of my journey.
Time for something sensible... a BMW 730d. A new ish one. Except i just cant bring my self to spend 30 - 40k on a car. The 7 series is nice, and i have had an older one before. But rattling down country roads and sitting in car parks will ruin it for me quite quickly. My last one fell foul of a lady in a petrol station, who couldn’t have given less of a s
t.
Still, gleefully searching for a 7 series, i stumbled across a nice looking 159 Ti. Now, for those of you who don’t know much about Alfa's (Shame on you), the "Ti", but here is quite critical. The Ti is the "full fat" version with every option, better (IMO) seats and a whole host of other shiny bits.
Red brembo brake callipers
Lowered suspension
Side Skirts
Heated Sports seats (electric till mid 08 with memory on seat and mirrors)
Folding seats (saloon)
Sports Steering wheel
Red stitched gear knob
Black Headling
Auto lights/ wipers/ demist (till mid 08)
Blue and Me (didn’t became standard on Lusso till mid 08)
Darkened dash materials
Different Clocks
Aluminium pedals
Satin wing mirrors
Ti Sill plates in front
Badges under side repeaters
I found one, hidden in a motor trade only bidding site. And won it for 2k.
117k, 1.9 Diesel. Usual age related marks.
I just hope its not going to cost me more than the BMW would have!
Car is now booked in with Shipley, waiting for a delivery address.
Incidentally, what’s the best way of letting the missus know?
I'm a recovering Alfaholic...
Having owned 2 156's and a 159 in the past, i thought my love for the temperamental (not really) Italians was over.
I moved on to bikes, they are much healthier. Until the bike broke my back (Literally, not metaphorically). Fortunately i can still wipe my own arse and critically, operate a clutch pedal and change gear.
I have been rattling round in a knackered old ford focus 1.6 "LX", for nearly a year now. It was my tip run and "cant be arsed with the bike today", car. Its £500 quid’s worth of exceptionally good rust. I wont get rid of it, its a great car and worth more than £500 to me just sitting there.
Still, i have been doing some long trips recently. No cruise control, or creature comforts. 4k rpm for 3 to 4 hours at a time is leaving me a little worn out at the end of my journey.
Time for something sensible... a BMW 730d. A new ish one. Except i just cant bring my self to spend 30 - 40k on a car. The 7 series is nice, and i have had an older one before. But rattling down country roads and sitting in car parks will ruin it for me quite quickly. My last one fell foul of a lady in a petrol station, who couldn’t have given less of a s
t.Still, gleefully searching for a 7 series, i stumbled across a nice looking 159 Ti. Now, for those of you who don’t know much about Alfa's (Shame on you), the "Ti", but here is quite critical. The Ti is the "full fat" version with every option, better (IMO) seats and a whole host of other shiny bits.
Red brembo brake callipers
Lowered suspension
Side Skirts
Heated Sports seats (electric till mid 08 with memory on seat and mirrors)
Folding seats (saloon)
Sports Steering wheel
Red stitched gear knob
Black Headling
Auto lights/ wipers/ demist (till mid 08)
Blue and Me (didn’t became standard on Lusso till mid 08)
Darkened dash materials
Different Clocks
Aluminium pedals
Satin wing mirrors
Ti Sill plates in front
Badges under side repeaters
I found one, hidden in a motor trade only bidding site. And won it for 2k.
117k, 1.9 Diesel. Usual age related marks.
I just hope its not going to cost me more than the BMW would have!
Car is now booked in with Shipley, waiting for a delivery address.
Incidentally, what’s the best way of letting the missus know?
Prizam said:
....... The Ti is the "full fat" version with every option, better (IMO) seats and a whole host of other shiny bits.
Red brembo brake callipers
Lowered suspension
Side Skirts
Heated Sports seats (electric till mid 08 with memory on seat and mirrors)
Folding seats (saloon)
Sports Steering wheel
Red stitched gear knob
Black Headling
Auto lights/ wipers/ demist (till mid 08)
Blue and Me (didn’t became standard on Lusso till mid 08)
Darkened dash materials
Different Clocks
Aluminium pedals
Satin wing mirrors
Ti Sill plates in front
Having owned a significant number of Alfas over the years, the more extra bits on it, the more there are to break or fall off! ;-) Red brembo brake callipers
Lowered suspension
Side Skirts
Heated Sports seats (electric till mid 08 with memory on seat and mirrors)
Folding seats (saloon)
Sports Steering wheel
Red stitched gear knob
Black Headling
Auto lights/ wipers/ demist (till mid 08)
Blue and Me (didn’t became standard on Lusso till mid 08)
Darkened dash materials
Different Clocks
Aluminium pedals
Satin wing mirrors
Ti Sill plates in front
Nice cars. Hope it's a good one.
Nice one! I'd love a TBi in TI spec with Xenons, but they are very rare.
One question regarding these items:
One question regarding these items:
Prizam said:
...
Heated Sports seats (electric till mid 08 with memory on seat and mirrors)
Auto lights/ wipers/ demist (till mid 08)...
What does this mean? They removed th features after mid 08? Heated Sports seats (electric till mid 08 with memory on seat and mirrors)
Auto lights/ wipers/ demist (till mid 08)...
The Tbi is a nice engine, but rarer than rocking horse poop. And command a premium for it.
Originally, the TI spec was fixed by Alfa, I believe after 08/09 they reduced the TI spec, but allowed you to make smaller changes. So the full electric/memory seats were still an option, just not the default.
The only thing the original spec didn't have, that I want is xenons. Will see what I can do about that.
Originally, the TI spec was fixed by Alfa, I believe after 08/09 they reduced the TI spec, but allowed you to make smaller changes. So the full electric/memory seats were still an option, just not the default.
The only thing the original spec didn't have, that I want is xenons. Will see what I can do about that.
Gearbox is the biggie in those, after that... steering rack issues with some confusion over which fluid should be used.
I was unfortunate on both counts.
Lovely looking car though, but neither quick nor fuel efficient. I had a Lusso though and wish I'd gone for a Ti (with the 2.4jtd engine)
I was unfortunate on both counts.
Lovely looking car though, but neither quick nor fuel efficient. I had a Lusso though and wish I'd gone for a Ti (with the 2.4jtd engine)
Prizam said:
Now, for those of you who don’t know much about Alfa's (Shame on you), the "Ti", but here is quite critical
...and for those who do know much about Alfas, it’s “ti”. 
Gratuitous picture of my ‘08 “facelift” 1.9 Sportwagon ti:
Suspension was the biggest difference, aside from the shiny bits. The ti was occasionally a bit too stiff and crashy, while the Lusso was almost always too soft and wallowy for me, so the ti was a better compromise.
D1bram said:
Gearbox is the biggie in those, after that... steering rack issues with some confusion over which fluid should be used.
I was unfortunate on both counts.
Lovely looking car though, but neither quick nor fuel efficient. I had a Lusso though and wish I'd gone for a Ti (with the 2.4jtd engine)
Remap sorts most of that out! Not heard about the gearbox or steering issues before.I was unfortunate on both counts.
Lovely looking car though, but neither quick nor fuel efficient. I had a Lusso though and wish I'd gone for a Ti (with the 2.4jtd engine)
Well, that didn’t turn out very well.
The transporter I booked crashed on the way to get the car.
Booked another in a rush as the car needed to be collected in a day's time.
Much faffing about and a late morning delivery turned in to one at midnight.
The car turned up. "Doesn’t run mate".
Looked ok(ish) so took it and pushed it down the drive. Paid the man and then jumped in to my trusty £500 banger for a 3.5 hour drive up to Leeds. Shattered.
My missus awoke this morning to a nice surprise. Namely I wasn’t there. But found the alfa and sent me some pics in daylight.
Not so good. It has a lot of battle scars. I think this one is going to take a lot of work.
The transporter I booked crashed on the way to get the car.
Booked another in a rush as the car needed to be collected in a day's time.
Much faffing about and a late morning delivery turned in to one at midnight.
The car turned up. "Doesn’t run mate".
Looked ok(ish) so took it and pushed it down the drive. Paid the man and then jumped in to my trusty £500 banger for a 3.5 hour drive up to Leeds. Shattered.
My missus awoke this morning to a nice surprise. Namely I wasn’t there. But found the alfa and sent me some pics in daylight.
Not so good. It has a lot of battle scars. I think this one is going to take a lot of work.
I think I read your Subaru thread. Hoping mine won't be quite as ropey as that. Few piccys, courtesy of my missus. I haven't seen it in daylight yet. This weekend will be all about getting it going. Hopefully just a flat battery.
Shagged wheels and calipers.
Well secured bits of trim
Well repaired scratches
Shagged wheels and calipers.
Well secured bits of trim
Well repaired scratches
I had one, a white TI sportswagon which to me is still the best looking 5 door ever made. I was selling that and a monaro to rationalise, and had the monaro gone first i would have kept the alfa. It didnt and was gutted when the alfa sold. Went for a peanuts to a dealer who tarted it up and put £3k on the asking price! Really realy liked it despite it being fairly ordinary to drive. Would have another any time
Well, i got home late last night to see the car in the dark. Again.
Before bed, i managed to dig out a well packed envelope from under the passenger seat (was told the documents were there).
I am not a lot happier, is a little bemused. The car, since January 2018 has had more spent on it at a well known Alfa specialist than i paid for it.
This year it has had. DMF, Clutch, Lower wishbones, Rear caliper, EGR valve and a gearbox recondition. and some other bits.
Looking at its history, it also had a clutch and DMF at around 70k miles. So its on its 3rd clutch and flywheel. This worry's me a little. The Clutch and DMF in it now is around 4,000 miles old though. I guess It was a "1 lady owner" car, backed up by the V5.
It also has the all important 2nd key.
Key cards
All the books
Cambelt changed when it was supposed to be.
And a new battery in January 2018... I'm hoping that this is faulty, or just flat.
I still haven't had it running, or seen it myself in daylight. Lets see how far i get with it today.
Before bed, i managed to dig out a well packed envelope from under the passenger seat (was told the documents were there).
I am not a lot happier, is a little bemused. The car, since January 2018 has had more spent on it at a well known Alfa specialist than i paid for it.
This year it has had. DMF, Clutch, Lower wishbones, Rear caliper, EGR valve and a gearbox recondition. and some other bits.
Looking at its history, it also had a clutch and DMF at around 70k miles. So its on its 3rd clutch and flywheel. This worry's me a little. The Clutch and DMF in it now is around 4,000 miles old though. I guess It was a "1 lady owner" car, backed up by the V5.
It also has the all important 2nd key.
Key cards
All the books
Cambelt changed when it was supposed to be.
And a new battery in January 2018... I'm hoping that this is faulty, or just flat.
I still haven't had it running, or seen it myself in daylight. Lets see how far i get with it today.
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