RE: Shed of the Week: Alfa Romeo 159 Sportwagon
Discussion
peteygt said:
TooLateForAName said:
Seriously, who thinks this sort of crap is funny or acceptable in this day and age? Is it 1950 again?
Agreed. These articles don't flow well and they're difficult to follow. More annoying than anything!We should have a readers vote on forcing "Mrs Shed" out.
sgtBerbatov said:
I've a 2010 diesel and a 1998 petrol car. So I fully expect some sort of tax hike for these two motors at some point.
I'm not sure if you'll ever see a hike, other than the usual £5 here or £10 there at budget time. The government lost a lot of credibility during its complete mishandling of the VED reform in March 2006, so significant changes (of which there are plenty every year) now only affect new cars. The changes announced yesterday are part of a long term government strategy, and have been well publicised for quite a while.Martin 480 Turbo said:
peteygt said:
TooLateForAName said:
Seriously, who thinks this sort of crap is funny or acceptable in this day and age? Is it 1950 again?
Agreed. These articles don't flow well and they're difficult to follow. More annoying than anything!We should have a readers vote on forcing "Mrs Shed" out.
Martin 480 Turbo said:
peteygt said:
TooLateForAName said:
Seriously, who thinks this sort of crap is funny or acceptable in this day and age? Is it 1950 again?
Agreed. These articles don't flow well and they're difficult to follow. More annoying than anything!We should have a readers vote on forcing "Mrs Shed" out.
Anyhow I thought this SOTW is overpriced by approx £500 so I'm surprised people didn't think these 159's were in this price range yet?.
wormus said:
I had one of these when new and it was rubbish, looked nice but it was riddled with electrical faults. After numerous attempts to get it fixed I gave it back to the dealer and got a refund. As a replacement they found me the Monaro (they were an Alfa/Vauxhall dealer) which I still have 11 years later.
For balance, I had one of these when new too, and it wasn't rubbish. A micro-switch in the latch failed, so the light didn't come on when I opened the tailgate. Other than that, it was fine over the three or so years I had it. Mine was a facelift / lightened '08 car, though.These do look lovely - but a friend who worked at an Alfa dealer when they were new said they were the worst Alfa ever for warranty claims - and it wasn't trivial stuff they were forever fixing. I did drive one (petrol manual) and found it felt a bit dull compared with the 156. All that aside at shed money it's tempting but the fact it drinks from the dirty pump makes it a no for me. On my 10000 miles a year at 25mpg instead of 35mpg petrol costs me an extra £651 a year - I'm happy with that.
jamies30 said:
For balance, I had one of these when new too, and it wasn't rubbish. A micro-switch in the latch failed, so the light didn't come on when I opened the tailgate. Other than that, it was fine over the three or so years I had it. Mine was a facelift / lightened '08 car, though.
Ah there you go, mine was an early 06. It's favourite trick was going into limp home mode whilst in the outside lane of the motorway. It was a 2.4 which sounded a bit like a diesel UR quattro. It was a nice car but not very reliable. I understand the later ones were much better. Rear legroom wasn't very good either from memory.Great Shed. I had a 2.4 JTDm saloon a while back with a remap and it was great, fast and with bags of torque. Still managed 32-35 mpg and no problems with it, apart from a slight leak around the door seals. Swapped it for a BMW 530d and had nothing but trouble with that, despite it's lower mileage!
Watch out for the 1.9 JTDM, the gearbox on those are know to fail (same problem with the Astra and Vetra with the GM M32 gearbox). the 2,4 uses the stronger GM F40 gearbox.
Had My 2.4 TI (manual) for around 4 years, been really quite good, so far I have gone through a pair of front upper wishbones, replace a snapped rear spring, replace a front set of driveshaft's. apart from that no different from any other diesel engine car in regards to DMF, EGR and what not.
No idea about any of the petrol's ones, I read that the 2.2 is bit flat/boring engine mind.
Had My 2.4 TI (manual) for around 4 years, been really quite good, so far I have gone through a pair of front upper wishbones, replace a snapped rear spring, replace a front set of driveshaft's. apart from that no different from any other diesel engine car in regards to DMF, EGR and what not.
No idea about any of the petrol's ones, I read that the 2.2 is bit flat/boring engine mind.
[quote=jumare]I don't know whether to feel proud or sad to have the same car as shed of the week, even the photo looks similar to one I took of mine...
It doesn't matter. It's what you think about it that matters. I paid not much for my S60, but spent a lot making 'it right'. It drives better than most new hire cars I've driven. (Certainly better than every Insignia.)
Someone else might think, "shed". But I'm sorry, that'd just be ignorance. It's the most solid, reliable, comfortable and respectably fast car I've EVER had.
It doesn't matter. It's what you think about it that matters. I paid not much for my S60, but spent a lot making 'it right'. It drives better than most new hire cars I've driven. (Certainly better than every Insignia.)
Someone else might think, "shed". But I'm sorry, that'd just be ignorance. It's the most solid, reliable, comfortable and respectably fast car I've EVER had.
BFleming said:
Rot hasn't been a concern with Alfa's for years. Did you have your GT from new?
Oh, yes. Brand Spanking. Low mileage, well looked after. Paint fell off in flakes. Recognised fault in the black cars I read subsequently. Alfa wanted nothing to do with it.(I'd hoped for better!)
Rearwheel said:
Blackpuddin said:
Every diesel (new or used) goes up a band from next year (I think). By my reckoning our '02 Golf goes up from £150pa to £190pa.
You’d make up that £40 in fuel within a month of driving over a petrol. Especially motorway driving!
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