4C - Where are we with prices right now?

[MawsleyCarValeting]

Stuart J said:

Ive said this before but I believe based on my experience the later cars are better, my 17 plate feels a lot better put together than my previous 64 plate car

I would agree that mileage shouldn't be to much of an issue as they seem to get better the more they are driven and Ive not had any reliability issues

They were all built on the same line by pretty much the same people only difference is that the little Italian man had had more Limoncello the night before lol. And as for miles yes of course it will make a difference like any car that you buy and sell ultimately a garage queen will be worth more than the same year spec car with 20,000 miles upon it. A customer of mine lost £100,000 of profit by putting 4000 miles on his Porsche 911r. But obviously down at this level it will be nowhere near as much but what it will do is make the vehicle less desirable.

[MellowshipSlinky]

MawsleyCarValeting said:

MellowshipSlinky said:

Is there anywhere I can go for 3 hrs while they do it?
Any car showrooms etc nearby?

We walked into Royston and went to the Weatherspoons for breakfast. There is also a nice hotel next to Weatherspoons that does nice food too.

Great, thank you.

[Stuart J]

MawsleyCarValeting said:

Stuart J said:

Ive said this before but I believe based on my experience the later cars are better, my 17 plate feels a lot better put together than my previous 64 plate car

I would agree that mileage shouldn't be to much of an issue as they seem to get better the more they are driven and Ive not had any reliability issues

They were all built on the same line by pretty much the same people only difference is that the little Italian man had had more Limoncello the night before lol. And as for miles yes of course it will make a difference like any car that you buy and sell ultimately a garage queen will be worth more than the same year spec car with 20,000 miles upon it. A customer of mine lost £100,000 of profit by putting 4000 miles on his Porsche 911r. But obviously down at this level it will be nowhere near as much but what it will do is make the vehicle less desirable.

My later car is definitely better , gearchange sweeter , cruise control revs set better , on the old car it would hang onto lower gears , especially annoying in a 30 limit Wiper didn’t snag the bonnet panel like the old one if you lifted it up to clean the car , first car had a few squeaks in the trim not that you really noticed to much , parrot sound system in first car was absolute pants , tramlining on the second car definitely reduced on the stock car , although still needed Alfaworks to refine it , I could list other things , just overall it just feels more together and a whisker more refined . Mileage yes it obviously makes a difference , I meant more if you are buying to use rather than look at it buying a higher mileage example will save you money and you shouldn’t encounter reliability issues from my experience . Re your customer loosing 100k of profit he obviously still sold for more than he paid . If recently then the market for top end stock that was until recently perceived desireable as an investment more than a car is in free fall in many areas and I think many who have bought expecting a good profit will be worried, especially if they financed it,

[DeejRC]

Over 30,000 miles on mine now and she is solid.

Given rural Devon currently resembles the Somme in autumn 1916, I’ve left her at home this week for the first time in 17 months and taken the Cayenne instead to get to work.

Only getting 35mpg compared to my normal 42-43 is amusingly annoying though! Heated seats do compensate though...

[MellowshipSlinky]

42mpg in the Alfa?

Blimey....how?

[BlackPorker]

MellowshipSlinky said:

42mpg in the Alfa?

Blimey....how?

A steady 65mph on the motorway and I've seen 50mpg

[MellowshipSlinky]

I’ve never been on the motorway in mine yet - will see what it can do tomorrow on the way to Alfaworks..

[DeejRC]

73/74 will see you return 44mpg, ie the pre boom speed.

2000 miles a month on mway and local traffic returns around 41mpg.

[Moley RUFC]

No more than 34.2 mpg from mine although I’ve only just passed 2,000 miles

[DeejRC]

Dread to think - in theory - what 30,000 miles does to the value, but as it’s never being sold...I don’t care

[T5GRF]

DeejRC said:

Dread to think - in theory - what 30,000 miles does to the value, but as it’s never being sold...I don’t care

Great to hear that you're both enjoying it and using it!
The first time I visited Jamie's garage, there was a black 4c coupe with the front stripped down to replace the aircon rad. That car then, had done 80k including a lot of track work and apparently had been pretty faultless, I have to admit that gave me a fair bit of confidence to buy one..

Edited by T5GRF on Thursday 3rd January 21:08

[Stuart J]

Nice to see people piling the miles on, they seem to love it

Re mpg

A trip to Italy a couple of years ago, a lot of motorway but Also the Alps, Black Forest , The Dolomites etc etc

2 up with luggage , weeks trip 3364 miles , average speed 64 so you can tell it was used as intended mpg 33.3 which I was very impressed with . Agreed all just based on the cars trip so probably 5% out but impressive all the same

Edited by Stuart J on Friday 4th January 06:43

[MellowshipSlinky]

Just arrived - 91 miles and avg 38.7 mpg

[Armitage.Shanks]

MellowshipSlinky said:

Just arrived - 91 miles and avg 38.7 mpg

Keep us informed and perhaps start another thread about the specific mod so it doesn't get lost in this one. Pics would be useful as would the 'independent' view of the mystic science of bolt tightening and their somehow magical ability to come undone if the car covers zero miles and stays in the garage all year. The latter sounds complete bks to me.

[MellowshipSlinky]

Armitage.Shanks said:

MellowshipSlinky said:

Just arrived - 91 miles and avg 38.7 mpg

Keep us informed and perhaps start another thread about the specific mod so it doesn't get lost in this one. Pics would be useful as would the 'independent' view of the mystic science of bolt tightening and their somehow magical ability to come undone if the car covers zero miles and stays in the garage all year. The latter sounds complete bks to me.

Will do.

I hadn’t even realised this thread was about values..

[Stuart J]

Armitage.Shanks said:

Keep us informed and perhaps start another thread about the specific mod so it doesn't get lost in this one. Pics would be useful as would the 'independent' view of the mystic science of bolt tightening and their somehow magical ability to come undone if the car covers zero miles and stays in the garage all year. The latter sounds complete bks to me.

Its not total bks. Bolts loosen an amount over time as the joint settles, no surfaces are perfectly smooth unless highly engineered so over time the material flows as the higher points are pushed down, likewise if surfaces are painted or any other coating they will slowly creep under the pressure, soft materials like aluminium can flow, any joints with Gaskets or washers can move , simple changes in temperature can cause some loosening. Its all minute amounts but it does occur obviously aided by vibration & heat cycles if the cars driven & Alfa must have seen it on test cars to make it part of the service. Sadly if not done it I believe invalidates the warranty so we have little choice

[Armitage.Shanks]

Stuart J said:

Armitage.Shanks said:

Keep us informed and perhaps start another thread about the specific mod so it doesn't get lost in this one. Pics would be useful as would the 'independent' view of the mystic science of bolt tightening and their somehow magical ability to come undone if the car covers zero miles and stays in the garage all year. The latter sounds complete bks to me.

Its not total bks. Bolts loosen an amount over time as the joint settles, no surfaces are perfectly smooth unless highly engineered so over time the material flows as the higher points are pushed down, likewise if surfaces are painted or any other coating they will slowly creep under the pressure, soft materials like aluminium can flow, any joints with Gaskets or washers can move , simple changes in temperature can cause some loosening. Its all minute amounts but it does occur obviously aided by vibration & heat cycles if the cars driven & Alfa must have seen it on test cars to make it part of the service. Sadly if not done it I believe invalidates the warranty so we have little choice

I don't want to go off at a tangent on this thread but of all the other cars built with carbon fibre (ie McLaren) they are not subject to the same process of bolt torquing so what's different here. Extreme variation in temperature 'can' cause lossening in some cases but I've yet to see scientific evidence in other cases.

[Stuart J]

Armitage.Shanks said:

I don't want to go off at a tangent on this thread but of all the other cars built with carbon fibre (ie McLaren) they are not subject to the same process of bolt torquing so what's different here. Extreme variation in temperature 'can' cause lossening in some cases but I've yet to see scientific evidence in other cases.

Happy reading, I don't profess to totally understand it !

https://books.google.co.uk/books?id=NaZwZK2xm-QC&a...

If you google bolt relaxation there are many other equally complex explanations

I would agree as its known it should be designed out, re McLarens most don't do many miles so probably not considred ( THATS A JOKE ) but with Alfas design philosophy of saving weight on everything locknuts etc were left off maybe , agreed a flippant statement but we should all assume Alfa designed cars to be driven, Any relaxation followed by vibration & heat cycles can lead to more loosening & also I would expect things were spotted on long term development testing so it was deemed it had to be checked at the first service

[omniflow]

Armitage.Shanks said:

The v.low miles yellow Spider at BMW Sunningdale looks to have just sold. At £40,500 it looked a very good price.

and now it looks like the exact same car is back on Autotrader with the same people.

[T5GRF]

omniflow said:

and now it looks like the exact same car is back on Autotrader with the same people.

Yep, I noticed that last night. It looks a nice car for that money