Thinking of a 159 or Brera

[seymourski]

I am usually looking through the TVR section (my weekend car) but am considering either a 159 or Brera as my everyday car and knowing what a wealth of info there is on this site I thought I would seek your opinions.

Which is the best option in terms of petrol / diesel and what size engine(no puns please!) is best - there seems to be a lot of 1.9 diesels out there?

Any comments about ownership / buying / servicing would also be appreciated.

Thanks in advance....

[jamieboy]

seymourski said:

Which is the best option in terms of petrol / diesel and what size engine(no puns please!) is best - there seems to be a lot of 1.9 diesels out there?

Any comments about ownership / buying / servicing would also be appreciated.

I've had my 159 since last July - it's a 1.9d Sportwagon ti.

I think the reason there are so many diesels is that they're the best engines in the range - at the top end of the range, the 2.4d is a better all-rounder than the 3.2 (although the 3.2 is better than a lot of people say), and in the middle of the range the 1.9d is better than the 2.2 (largely because the 2.2 is rubbish). I can't comment on the entry-level 1.9 or 1.8 petrols - I've never driven one, and I'm not even sure if they've sold any.

The 1.9d is a pretty good compromise - it's not a racing car but it gets along OK, it's usefully cheaper to buy and to run than the 2.4d, and it's a bit lighter at the front end too. It's obviously a diesel but it's not as dieselly as some, although the 2.4d makes a much nicer noise. Personally, if I was buying it as my only car I'd go for the 2.4d.

If you're looking at buying new, there is a new 2.0 diesel due soon and a new 1750 petrol turbo sometime after that - I think these would be worth waiting for, if not then you can use them to haggle on the older engines.

For buying / servicing, the dealers are miles better than they were a few years ago - Alfa went through a program of getting rid of the dross and getting the others to up their game, and by and large it seems to have worked. One side-effect of this is that some dealers seem to have a lot of investment to recover, so it can pay to shop around - although I bought my 159 from my local dealer in Edinburgh, we travelled to Knaresborough to get a better deal on the 147.

Fuel economy from mine isn't brilliant - a combination of the DPF and mostly very short journeys, other than that there's not an awful lot to say in terms of ownership, it just a good-looking car that's as good to drive as any in the class, and it does what I expect it to with no problems or dramas.

[RicksAlfas]

What Jamie says makes sense (for once!).


I've had my Brera 2.4 nearly 3 years now and I still love it. They are very tight on rear legroom though if that's a consideration. You also need to view it as a comfortable grand tourer than some apex hugging Nurburgring muncher but that suits me fine.

[jamieboy]

RicksAlfas said:

What Jamie says makes sense (for once!).

That only hurts because it's true.

[RicksAlfas]

Aw, you know I was only kidding!
I was relying on your great personality and sense of humour.

[Markytop]

RicksAlfas said:

I've had my Brera 2.4 nearly 3 years now and I still love it. They are very tight on rear legroom though if that's a consideration. You also need to view it as a comfortable grand tourer than some apex hugging Nurburgring muncher but that suits me fine.

I have had my Brera about 6 months now and would agree with the above, apart from if you get the Brera S (the one tuned by Prodrive) then this does handle really well - the difference between a normal one and the S was very noticeable when drove them back to back. The S would certainly be a potential Nurburgring machine.

Yes the rear legroom is very tight, but actually it is a very practical car, as apart from the high sill, the boot is quite big and with the seats down can get a hell of a lot of stuff in the back.

I have the 2.2 petrol and would say the fuel economy is crap (not much better than i used to get from my 4.5 Cerbera, but it is one of those engines that loves to be revved, so I guess it is my own fault to a certain extent for enjoying the sound.

[Le Man]

You'd struggle to beat a 159 2.4 Ti as an all rounder.