RE: Shed of the Week: Alfa Romeo 159 Sportwagon
Discussion
I told my friend to buy this Sportwagon.
He had been looking for an estate car for his wife (she is a dentist) as she had been complaining about going to work in a 2004 Renault Laguna with no heating and, "even the dental nurses have much nicer cars than me".
He had been looking at c2010/11 base version 3 series BMWs for about £5,000.
I said to him...get this ten year old Alfa. It is front wheel drive so will get up Whitefield Hill on a snowy morning...unlike the Beamers, and the 159 looks fantastic in Silver. What could possibly go wrong?
Anyhow, just has luck would have it I was going up to Cadwell Park...so took him up to Grimsby from Kent to view the 159 (I had to leave him to it).
He bought the car, but mentioned a whine on the motorway after about an hour at 80mph. I did a bit of reading...bah..sounds like the Vauxhall gearbox could be knackered.
However, when I got a chance to drive it..turns out it is a front wheel bearing noisy. Apart from that (and a couple of scratches/dings) it is faultless. Very good Kumho tyres all round...no warning lights...everything works. Drives beautifully. OK it is only a 1.9 diesel so if you ask a lot of it then it gets found out...but for normal A-road/motorway cruising it has more than enough power. He is used to driving Renaults and Mazdas so he is grinning from ear to ear with the 159 and its looks and sharp responsive suspension and steering.
He has it booked in for a full service, timing belt/water pump, all fluids/upgraded gear oil. So after the major service and wheel bearing, this car is coming in at just under £2,000. That is a saving of £3,000 he was going to spend on high miler basic model 2011 3 series Touring.
His wife loves it...she's happy; and he's got £3,000 in a slush fund...Nice one SOTW!
He had been looking for an estate car for his wife (she is a dentist) as she had been complaining about going to work in a 2004 Renault Laguna with no heating and, "even the dental nurses have much nicer cars than me".
He had been looking at c2010/11 base version 3 series BMWs for about £5,000.
I said to him...get this ten year old Alfa. It is front wheel drive so will get up Whitefield Hill on a snowy morning...unlike the Beamers, and the 159 looks fantastic in Silver. What could possibly go wrong?
Anyhow, just has luck would have it I was going up to Cadwell Park...so took him up to Grimsby from Kent to view the 159 (I had to leave him to it).
He bought the car, but mentioned a whine on the motorway after about an hour at 80mph. I did a bit of reading...bah..sounds like the Vauxhall gearbox could be knackered.
However, when I got a chance to drive it..turns out it is a front wheel bearing noisy. Apart from that (and a couple of scratches/dings) it is faultless. Very good Kumho tyres all round...no warning lights...everything works. Drives beautifully. OK it is only a 1.9 diesel so if you ask a lot of it then it gets found out...but for normal A-road/motorway cruising it has more than enough power. He is used to driving Renaults and Mazdas so he is grinning from ear to ear with the 159 and its looks and sharp responsive suspension and steering.
He has it booked in for a full service, timing belt/water pump, all fluids/upgraded gear oil. So after the major service and wheel bearing, this car is coming in at just under £2,000. That is a saving of £3,000 he was going to spend on high miler basic model 2011 3 series Touring.
His wife loves it...she's happy; and he's got £3,000 in a slush fund...Nice one SOTW!
Gassing Station | General Gassing | Top of Page | What's New | My Stuff