RE: SOTW: Alfa Romeo 156 Sportwagon

[Garlick]

Parabola said:

Vimto156 said:

As much as i love the choice this week... Im gutted as im now, according to PH, driving around in a shed

I thought that too.. PH have done a 156 SOTW before though?

Come on now gents, you've been around for long enough to know that shed doesn't mean it's a bad car when associated with SOTW. It means it's a great car for the money.

As for the repeat, you're probably right but after 5 years of weekly SOTW we do have to cover similar cars every now and then

[angusc43]

Well I love it for the looks, the engine note, the general Alfaness.

I'd like the wife to get shot of her Clio and chop it in for a slightly newer 2.0 saloon. Red/tan or metallic blue/black with the cloverleafs pls.

I'd then have something I could happily drive around when SWMBO has taken the keys to the Merc. Again.

[Parabola]

Garlick said:

Parabola said:

Vimto156 said:

As much as i love the choice this week... Im gutted as im now, according to PH, driving around in a shed

I thought that too.. PH have done a 156 SOTW before though?

Come on now gents, you've been around for long enough to know that shed doesn't mean it's a bad car when associated with SOTW. It means it's a great car for the money.

As for the repeat, you're probably right but after 5 years of weekly SOTW we do have to cover similar cars every now and then

Totally agree. Always think when there's a few tatty ones about.. it makes mine look even better when I keep it really clean & tidy!

[uncinquesei]

I've had my 1.8TS saloon for 3 years. 99T 68k miles 1 previous owner and cost me 900 quid. Cam belt, as someone said earlier, is cheap enough - my mechanic mate charges me 75 quid and i supply bits. Perversely, it is important at this price, if it goes the car has no intrinsic value. As for leather, after a bit of shopping bought complete Blue momo interior for 50 quid from Plymouth, a bit of a trek from Swansea but still cheaper than any other interior on eBay.

[M0BZY]

great shed,if you use a good independant costs are reasonable,leather can be bought for £150-£200.
I have a TS that uses no oil,I am still looking for the fragile switchgear,fuse cover needs securing with a pk screw.
No blistering acceleration but it sounds great.
Bought mine cheap two years ago,cost twice the purchase price to correct damage to suspension by previos owner,since then as good as gold.

[uncinquesei]

cadoganpier said:

something appears to have eaten a chunk out of the dash just to the right of the ignition?! or am I missing something....

fuse box cover may be missing - they're absolute tw@ts. The fasteners don't and once they fall off once that's it....

[LotusAlfaV6bloke]

I like this! I sold my 156 V6 after 3 years to buy my current car, a BMW 330i Sport.

Guess which car is the unreliable shed at half the mileage, with rust everywhere, endless electrical faults, with super-light dull steering?

I think I will go back to Alfa again after my woeful "german build quality" experience... my 156 and my wife's 147 were great cars that looked pretty and aside from keeping on top of the cambelt intervals were very reliable.

[Mr E]

liquidken said:

What kind of fuel consumption would you expect with one of those?

If it's the V6 (and in particular our V6), not much...

Regarding the fusebox cover, they all do that Sir.
And the rear wiper fails..

richardxjr said:

Great shed.
Rather pay an extra couple of quid for V6 & cow though.

Guess what....

[smileymikey]

I leased a brand new 159 jtd when I ran my tuning business...it was remapped ten minutes after it rolled of the back of the delivery lorry....after two years off absolutely outrageous thrashing, both by myself and half of the worlds motoring press its mechanical issues totalled one blown light bulb!!....(oh and three sets of front tyres, but that was entirely self inflicted)....a well maintained Alfa will run forever...a badly maintained Alfa will blow up.

Do however check when the belts were done on a 156 it needs them every 30k not as advised by Alfa

[DamienB]

Big tip with looking for a 156 is to look past common cosmetic defects (peeling paint on roof rails, faded grille badge, peeling paint/bare metal on wing mirror mounts, bubbling on alloys, fuse box cover falling off etc.) because they do not necessarily indicate anything about the state of the important bits. I turned my nose up at a couple of otherwise decent cars because of these issues and ended up with one that the seller knew had a clutch on the way out but conveniently declined to mention it.

Overall great cars I think, and at 650 notes you could just drive it into the ground and hope to find another at the same price a year later.

[the Fantom]

I bought an Alfa 75 2.0TS from a guy in Wrexham. It really was a shed but couldn't be expected to be better at £250. I really enjoyed driving it. Ambitions of it becoming a track-slag were unrealistic. I sold it after two years for £265.

[JayMan]

soxboy said:

Very tempting, however have just picked up my own SOTW who I've named 'Hildegard'

1993 Merc E280 wagon (W124) for the princely sum of £400. MoT Feb 2012, private plate, leccy sunroof, 1 out of 4 working windows (thankfully driver's one) and only mildly knackered engine.

Try the swapping the window switches before junking the window motors. If that doesnt work make sure the cables in the door shuts havent broken, usually this sorts out the problems.

Cheap fix.

PS love the shed this week

[SimonSaid]

A lot of car for the money, and despite looking slightly fridge-esque in wagon form IMHO, still a far more entertaining prospect than any other large hatch (wouldn't necessarily compare to other estate cars, bar the Golf and Focus) for shed money.

As for sheds being repeated, surely SOTW is about individual cars for sale, rather than models/editions - it would only be a repeat if *this* 156 came up twice.

[johnpeat]

Sorry but I'd not touch a twinspark engine with a stty stick - aside from the maintenance issues they're just not right for the car at all...

Sportwagons are obviously rare but there are plenty of (better looking anyway) v6 saloons under £1000, some of which even have the Momo interior (sports seats covered in inlayed leather, wood wheel and dash)!!

If you're going to punt on a fragile and almost certainly problematic italian - you may as well get the full fat version with all the trimmings...

The first time the V6 fires - or you see the thing in all it's splendour - you'll be glad you did...

[johnpeat]

defblade said:

No.

Holy fk - they explode??

[SimonSaid]

Or for an extra few quid, have leather seats and a V6 (with less miles on it to boot). Just sold, but still...

http://www.pistonheads.com/sales/2741700.htm

[lordlee]

liquidken said:

What kind of fuel consumption would you expect with one of those?

Oil or fuel? They like both and are quite partial to wishbone bushes and various suspension components. Other than that they are good cars. Much better looking than their contemporaries.

Edited by lordlee on Friday 27th May 14:19

[VeeFour]

johnpeat said:

defblade said:

No.

Holy fk - they explode??

They drink a bit of oil, so you need to check and top up the oil regularly. If you don't, the above happens.

But to be fair, they're by no means the only car that drinks oil and any car will do that when terminally low on oil.

[liquidken]

lordlee said:

Oil or fuel? They like both

Good point.

I fancy taking a punt on it. Wrexham isn't too far away and although I know it will probably end in tears (driving an Alfa like I can get away with doing in a BMW) I'm sure it would be a fun couple of weeks.

My BiL briefly had a 147 last year. Lovely looking and sounding thing but was a ballache from day one. He asked me to service it for him. I've never had to jack a car up to change an air-filter before. Still fancy tooling around in one, though.

[VeeFour]

liquidken said:

I've never had to jack a car up to change an air-filter before.

Here's a clue... you didn't change the air filter if you did that.

I don't know what you changed, but it wasn't the air filter!