Possible 156 purchase in the future
Discussion
I was wondering what people thought of the 156 as a replacement for my 306.
I was looking at something a bit more powerful, and a bit more spacious. Also, obviously with a lot more style.
My questions were, what are the best engines? I was thinking along the lines of an early 2.0 TS. How much would reasonably cover a decent one? I'm not scared of bodywork damage but would prefer mechanically sound.
Also, is the Selespeed gearbox any good? I thought buttons for gears might make it fun when I want it, and then a good auto for when I'm cruising.
Cheers guys.
I was looking at something a bit more powerful, and a bit more spacious. Also, obviously with a lot more style.
My questions were, what are the best engines? I was thinking along the lines of an early 2.0 TS. How much would reasonably cover a decent one? I'm not scared of bodywork damage but would prefer mechanically sound.
Also, is the Selespeed gearbox any good? I thought buttons for gears might make it fun when I want it, and then a good auto for when I'm cruising.
Cheers guys.
paolo74 said:
don't know why but my experience with 156s suggests that the plain spec, boring colour cars always seem to be in better condition and better looked after, more sensible owners perhaps?
Only reason mine's a bit battered is it was a motorway muncher and has stone chips. Other than that, top car and has the Veloce pack so plenty of luxury extras (okay so the fake carbon fibre surround is a tad naff, but I prefer to fake wood). Leather Momo seats definitely worth it though.
My advice - don't. My 156 JTS (53 plate) has been nothing but trouble from Day one. The control unit is pants - it flags faults the whole time which aren't there (four Alfa dealers couldn't find anything wrong) but which leads me to lose all acceleration (very safe when overtaking!). Suspension falls to bits when used over London speed humps. Had to replace many other parts despite v low mileage - oh, and had to wait up to THREE months for arrival of parts - no surprise as they had to come from Italy, where (having lived in Rome for five years) there's no rhyme or reason to delivery times. They are very attractive cars, and on the rare occasion when nothing is wrong they are a terrific drive, but not reliable at all in my experience. Buy something German and be sure you'll make it to your destination.
Mine is the best car I've ever owned. Get one with a good service history (recent belts and tensioner), keep an eye on the oil level, try to get the best spec. you can afford (probably best to abvoid the selespeed from what I've heard) and you'll never spend £3000 better! Mine has never let me down and has been much more reliable than my mate's Audi, although don't get a red one as people seem to enjoy crashing into them...
I'd just like to add that I was also thinking of changing from a 146 to a 156. Then I noticed that from next year all post 2001 Alfa 156's will be in the £300 tax band, I think even the 1.6 is affected.
Therefore I'm currently looking for a low mileage pre 2001 car, just to save myself £100 a year.
Therefore I'm currently looking for a low mileage pre 2001 car, just to save myself £100 a year.
Alfahorn said:
lafcadio said:
Buy something German and be sure you'll make it to your destination.
This once may have rung true but not anymore I'm afraid. If it doesn't breakdown it will rust away in 5 years! FACT!
According to Parkers Guide, Alfahorn is right in that the 1.6 will increase to £260 next year, here is a link:
http://www.parkers.co.uk/cars/road-tax/?deriv=2150...
We could be wrong, but you have to get information from somewhere.
http://www.parkers.co.uk/cars/road-tax/?deriv=2150...
We could be wrong, but you have to get information from somewhere.
lafcadio said:
My advice - don't. My 156 JTS (53 plate) has been nothing but trouble from Day one. The control unit is pants - it flags faults the whole time which aren't there (four Alfa dealers couldn't find anything wrong) but which leads me to lose all acceleration (very safe when overtaking!). Suspension falls to bits when used over London speed humps. Had to replace many other parts despite v low mileage - oh, and had to wait up to THREE months for arrival of parts - no surprise as they had to come from Italy, where (having lived in Rome for five years) there's no rhyme or reason to delivery times. They are very attractive cars, and on the rare occasion when nothing is wrong they are a terrific drive, but not reliable at all in my experience. Buy something German and be sure you'll make it to your destination.
There are good and bad ones, it seems the bad ones are quite capable of biting your ar5e as above, but apart from a heater hose and service items, i have thrashed my year 2000 V6 for the last 2.5 years mercilessley and had nothing major go wrong. Yes clutch - upper arms - rad - cambelt & waterpump have had to be done and they aint cheap to fix, but i bought the car with 105k on and with those miles the above would need to be done on most cars. Check the service history like a hawk, there should be normal stuff on it, if there are many silly faults like the above, it's probably a lemon!Lots of online places do most parts, check out:
http://www.alfaworkshop.co.uk
Should give you an idea of service costs and parts prices..
Don't buy a Selespeed, they're very prone to reliability issues and aren't that good anyway.
Anything with rust has been crashed and cheaply repaired.
Paint isn't great, marks very easily - but most cars of that era are the same.
I'd not bother with anything less than a 2.0 either - although the 1.8 looks close on paper, you just can't compare the two lumps - the 2.0 has a balancer shaft which makes it a lot smoother.
Spend good money on a good car with impeccable history - also ask the owner what oil he uses and how often it needs topping up. You also want to see receipts for a timing belt and balancer belt every 36k miles - if you don't see this, suspect the belt has snapped at some point and the top end has been rebuilt and avoid like the plague.
We paid over the odds for ours because it was a good, straight car with loads of history, new front suspension bushes and cambelt before delivery and have had it 3 years now - all it has cost is a cat, a lambda probe, air-con pipe and re-gas and a belt change (aside from tyres and brakes).
In terms of reliability, it has never broken down - whereas my German company car has broken down 3 times in 18 months. (Believe it or not, the current shape Passat is less reliable than any Alfa I've ever owned - we've had no end of issues with them at work)
Anything with rust has been crashed and cheaply repaired.
Paint isn't great, marks very easily - but most cars of that era are the same.
I'd not bother with anything less than a 2.0 either - although the 1.8 looks close on paper, you just can't compare the two lumps - the 2.0 has a balancer shaft which makes it a lot smoother.
Spend good money on a good car with impeccable history - also ask the owner what oil he uses and how often it needs topping up. You also want to see receipts for a timing belt and balancer belt every 36k miles - if you don't see this, suspect the belt has snapped at some point and the top end has been rebuilt and avoid like the plague.
We paid over the odds for ours because it was a good, straight car with loads of history, new front suspension bushes and cambelt before delivery and have had it 3 years now - all it has cost is a cat, a lambda probe, air-con pipe and re-gas and a belt change (aside from tyres and brakes).
In terms of reliability, it has never broken down - whereas my German company car has broken down 3 times in 18 months. (Believe it or not, the current shape Passat is less reliable than any Alfa I've ever owned - we've had no end of issues with them at work)
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