Advice on Alfas
Discussion
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I have a 156 2.5 V6 and I love it. For the money, IMO it's probably the fastest, best handling car you can get for the money. I got it as a replacement for my much faster Abbot Racing Saab as we needed a 4 door with cheap(er) insurance for my wife and new baby. It is a joy to drive with exciting handling and a fantastic engine note. Incidentally, the Sportswagon apparently has a narrower, but taller boot opening than the estate. Autodelta in West London are fantastic for servicing and tuning, main dealers are best avoided.
Problems
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Since getting it a year ago, I have had trouble with the the immobiliser and a key breaking...do get a dealer or aftermarket warranty if you are buying used.
Apart from that, mine sits on slightly lower Sportpack suspension which makes it a bit of a pain with the London 'speed cushions' which occasionally rub ob the underside. The rear seat belts are a little short for some child seats.
I have a 156 2.5 V6 and I love it. For the money, IMO it's probably the fastest, best handling car you can get for the money. I got it as a replacement for my much faster Abbot Racing Saab as we needed a 4 door with cheap(er) insurance for my wife and new baby. It is a joy to drive with exciting handling and a fantastic engine note. Incidentally, the Sportswagon apparently has a narrower, but taller boot opening than the estate. Autodelta in West London are fantastic for servicing and tuning, main dealers are best avoided.
Problems
--------
Since getting it a year ago, I have had trouble with the the immobiliser and a key breaking...do get a dealer or aftermarket warranty if you are buying used.
Apart from that, mine sits on slightly lower Sportpack suspension which makes it a bit of a pain with the London 'speed cushions' which occasionally rub ob the underside. The rear seat belts are a little short for some child seats.
DON'T DO IT!
Buying an alfa is like getting drunk and marrying a very convincing thai ladyboy!
At the time it seems like a very exciting and good looking option... but in the cold light of day, you will almost certainly get shafted and realise that it is almost impossible to shift the unreliable high-maintanence bloody thing!
Alfa's get under your skin... once you buy one, you will vow never to own another but for some strange reason you will... like gambling... if you don't start to begin with, you will never know how much trouble you save yourself!
btw... I am a repeat Alfa owner but have never associated with thai ladyboys
Buying an alfa is like getting drunk and marrying a very convincing thai ladyboy!
At the time it seems like a very exciting and good looking option... but in the cold light of day, you will almost certainly get shafted and realise that it is almost impossible to shift the unreliable high-maintanence bloody thing!
Alfa's get under your skin... once you buy one, you will vow never to own another but for some strange reason you will... like gambling... if you don't start to begin with, you will never know how much trouble you save yourself!
btw... I am a repeat Alfa owner but have never associated with thai ladyboys
ayjay said:
DON'T DO IT!
Buying an alfa is like getting drunk and marrying a very convincing thai ladyboy!
At the time it seems like a very exciting and good looking option... but in the cold light of day, you will almost certainly get shafted and realise that it is almost impossible to shift the unreliable high-maintanence bloody thing!
Alfa's get under your skin... once you buy one, you will vow never to own another but for some strange reason you will... like gambling... if you don't start to begin with, you will never know how much trouble you save yourself!
btw... I am a repeat Alfa owner but have never associated with thai ladyboys
Best description of Alfa ownership I have heard!
pdV6 said:
GTV, not 156
Sound and relevant advice... NOT
Both sound and relevant
It became almost farcical the amount of time mine spent in the garage, towards the end of my tenure with the car, i had an appointment booked every friday morning at the garage to repair whatever broke that week, the amount spent was in the region of £18k in 9 months (included a new engine - oil pump failure)
Due to the nature of the construction of the car, nothing was a cheap or easy fix, eg. squeak in rear suspension was a broken bush, but you needed to basically replace most of the rear suspension because of the fact you had to buy a suspension assembly, and it isn't recommended that you have one new and one used, safety reasons, so the bush ended up costing £1,100.
my reasoning for staying clear is that the same 'methods' of construction are likely to be the case with the 156.
What was your point again?
Greg
Echo'd what's above really. They are great cars which infuriate you.
They hove oodles of style, nice handling, a bit of poke.
Points to note. THEY DRINK OIL! let me repeat THEY DRINK OIL! The dealer even put a nice sticker on the windscreen saying "blah blah blah, drink oil, open the bonnet you idjut!"
I needed a new engine when mine ran dry. When I pointed out the oil warning light did not illuminate, the mechanic smirk and said "yeah, so what?" Was all handled under warranty but took 2 months to do as needed foreman to work on it as YTS grease monkeys couldn't be trusted.
I could recommend the dealership in Northampton. Not cheapest, but did what they said they would, when they said they would, and always offered a loan car.
As they said on Top Gear, "you're not a true petrol head until you've owned an Alfa" or somesuch tosh.
They hove oodles of style, nice handling, a bit of poke.
Points to note. THEY DRINK OIL! let me repeat THEY DRINK OIL! The dealer even put a nice sticker on the windscreen saying "blah blah blah, drink oil, open the bonnet you idjut!"
I needed a new engine when mine ran dry. When I pointed out the oil warning light did not illuminate, the mechanic smirk and said "yeah, so what?" Was all handled under warranty but took 2 months to do as needed foreman to work on it as YTS grease monkeys couldn't be trusted.
I could recommend the dealership in Northampton. Not cheapest, but did what they said they would, when they said they would, and always offered a loan car.
As they said on Top Gear, "you're not a true petrol head until you've owned an Alfa" or somesuch tosh.
Aaaaarghhh!
What is it with people called Lee and dozy questions!
I refer the honourable topic owner to the following thread
www.pistonheads.com/gassing/topic.asp?p=7&f=23&t=19232&h=0&hw=lee
What is it with people called Lee and dozy questions!
I refer the honourable topic owner to the following thread
www.pistonheads.com/gassing/topic.asp?p=7&f=23&t=19232&h=0&hw=lee
Ummmm, the Sportwagon is the estate version Had a 2.5 v6 156 saloon for over a year now and have had no major problems, have put about a pint of oil in it!!! done 12k miles, a trackday at Rockingham!! Only thing that broke was a fan relay and the brakes are not really upto a track day !!! as they really need braided hoses and maybe drilled discs as they overheat.
I have recently bought a Y reg twinspark 2.0 veloce sportwagon.
Excellent car, that so far hasn't put a foot wrong.
In any car forum you will get positive and negative sides, and I can honestly say that so far (even in the short time I have had it) it has been more reliable than the last 2 BMW's I owned.
We have 2 kids and find the storage is fine. Yes, it isn't as 'big' as the saloon, but you can put the net up and jam it in upto the roof.
Must admit, I love it. Even my wife hasn't moaned about it, which is most unusual, apart from saying "I can't drive it in heels"
Excellent car, that so far hasn't put a foot wrong.
In any car forum you will get positive and negative sides, and I can honestly say that so far (even in the short time I have had it) it has been more reliable than the last 2 BMW's I owned.
We have 2 kids and find the storage is fine. Yes, it isn't as 'big' as the saloon, but you can put the net up and jam it in upto the roof.
Must admit, I love it. Even my wife hasn't moaned about it, which is most unusual, apart from saying "I can't drive it in heels"
greg_d said:
my reasoning for staying clear is that the same 'methods' of construction are likely to be the case with the 156.
What was your point again?
Greg
Totally different cars mate. You might as well slag off a Porsche 996 turbo 'cos you used to own a Beetle that wasn't much good
Anyway, I would suggest that your GTV sounds like a bit of a lemon; I know plenty of folk who have had little or no trouble with them.
It's all quite simple really.
As mentioned above Alfa's have soul, its about driving and ownership and not just transport.
With regard to build/ reliability, all cars produced by a manufacturer will be built to tolerances, not only in physical dimensional terms but also in terms of the sum of it's parts.
Some manufatcurers are better than others in engineering out such variance. If you want the best value in terms of reliability then there is no car better than a Toyota. (They just don't stir the emotions)
I've had experience with a number of cars (same models) from different manaufaturers. In each case there has always been a variation in the way the car drives/ reliability and so on. These variations between vehicles included trim/bodywork, engine, suspension/ride quality and so on.
The Italians engineer cars which are aesthetically and dynamically interesting, but do not engineer these designs for ease of production/ reliability. As a result the variation between similar vehicles is greater than other manufacturers.
If buying to order from any manufacturer you are gambling as to whether you get a good car or or bad car, or somewhere in between. The degree of gamble varies with manufacturer and with an Alfa Romeo your gamble is riskier than most.
Buying second hand/ off the forecourt you can reduce your risk by examining your prospective purchase before you hand over the cash. The simple rules being the greater the risk, the more detailed the examination.
If you get a good one, you won't regret it
Regards, Neil
As mentioned above Alfa's have soul, its about driving and ownership and not just transport.
With regard to build/ reliability, all cars produced by a manufacturer will be built to tolerances, not only in physical dimensional terms but also in terms of the sum of it's parts.
Some manufatcurers are better than others in engineering out such variance. If you want the best value in terms of reliability then there is no car better than a Toyota. (They just don't stir the emotions)
I've had experience with a number of cars (same models) from different manaufaturers. In each case there has always been a variation in the way the car drives/ reliability and so on. These variations between vehicles included trim/bodywork, engine, suspension/ride quality and so on.
The Italians engineer cars which are aesthetically and dynamically interesting, but do not engineer these designs for ease of production/ reliability. As a result the variation between similar vehicles is greater than other manufacturers.
If buying to order from any manufacturer you are gambling as to whether you get a good car or or bad car, or somewhere in between. The degree of gamble varies with manufacturer and with an Alfa Romeo your gamble is riskier than most.
Buying second hand/ off the forecourt you can reduce your risk by examining your prospective purchase before you hand over the cash. The simple rules being the greater the risk, the more detailed the examination.
If you get a good one, you won't regret it
Regards, Neil
Liszt said:
Points to note. THEY DRINK OIL! let me repeat THEY DRINK OIL! The dealer even put a nice sticker on the windscreen saying "blah blah blah, drink oil, open the bonnet you idjut!"
Not true. I've got the 156 V6 variant, and it's used less than a litre of oil in a little over a year.
Cracking cars, just make sure the service history is complete, you will not go far wrong.
Also echo what has been said about the dealer network. Goto a good indy and you'll be laughing.
banjolucknicker said:
THEY DRINK OIL!
Not true ... it's used less than a litre of oil in a little over a year.
I think that in general all current Alfas drink oil. Occasionally they don't - e.g. my GTV doesn't (~2l in the 1st 8k and <0.5l in the following 25k), but the local dealership won't believe me!
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