Can anyone put me off going to an Alfa

[Ed68]

My company car is up for renewal.

I was initially going to stay with a 30d SE (saloon) owing to better fuel economy than the Alfa.

The company has changed the fuel policy and we now pay a set amount regardless of vehicle. This has led me to think I may as well go for an Alfa 159 1.9 Lusso Sportswagon as it will cost me the same for personal mileage.

Obviously the Alfa sites I've posted on reckon this is a good choice but what do you BM-heads think?

[Slurms]

Depends on which you prefer.

As you're getting it as a company car you'll not be worrying about all the usual problems associated with Alfa ownership. (Horrific depreciation, reliability, dealers about as common as honest politician etc etc)

Drive both and decide.

[Si 330]

My own pennies BMW, company pennies Alfa.
I have had a few Alfas and the only problem I have had is come resale
it hurts.

[Ed68]

I will be giving the Alfa a test drive (obviously) but came on here expecting lots of support for BMW................

[adycav]

Ed68 said:

I will be giving the Alfa a test drive (obviously) but came on here expecting lots of support for BMW................

Ah, but we are a well-balanced bunch of car-loving individuals here, displaying an absence of silly fanboyism (with one or two exceptions... )

I for one think that the 159, in the right colour combination with decent wheels, looks very fine indeed. If you like how it drives and it's the company's money then why not?

Good luck with your choice.

[David1975]

Go for it. As a BMW fan (I have 2 - z3MC and 530) i can tell you that you will love every minute of it and if its a company car then you dont need to worry about servicing costs etc.

There is alot more to alfa than performance figues and rwd vs fwd. Unless you have owned one you will never know.

good luck with your decision.

[davidd]

I've had alfas in the past and loved them. I've had a couple of business trips to monza recently. For the first one I had a 2.2 petrol brera, nice car, not very interesting to drive though, very little 'involvement'. For the second I had a 1.8 (I think) derv 159. Niceish interior, nice wheels but no fun. the 2.0d engine in my old 320 was much, much better.

However we are not the same, go and have a decent test drive..

D

[Welshbeef]

anonymous said:

[redacted]

They are 5 pot 2.4 units. FWD.

a 156 really does look special (in a good way) beisde the bland/clinical 3 series.

[Job38]

159 every day of the week.
Simply STUNNING piece of automotive design!

You'd be barking not to in your circumstance.

[Fittster]

How long to you keep it?

A free go in an Alfa with the company picking up the risk is quite tempting.

[A S P]

I hired a 159 1.9 diesel in Italy last year. Was a reasonably capable car, very economical and alright for a front driver. What was shocking when getting back to my E46 328 was how much better that was in every way, economy was obviously far worse but you're not looking at a 2.8 petrol. I imagine an E90 will be significantly better than my old E46 as well.

[pgilc1]

I'd go for the alfa. I owned a couple and they are decent enough cars.

Tricky to find a victim come resale time, but that wont be your problem.

[physprof]

320d are so common and run of mill, unless you really hanker after a 6 pot rwd and you have that top of your criteria then given company is underwriting the alfa have a blast and give it a run... there is something unque in sitting behind a wheel with the alfa badge on it that somehow just raises it above bm, merc and audi into some mezzanine of automotive special experience. at a later date put your money towards a bm.....

[< FORZA WEST]

I drive an Alfa 145 and they are s*@t.....

Sorry ive never liked alfa in anyway shape or form...I had to sell my tvr to help fund my business start up and for some unknown mad reason ended up with an alfa.

On a brighter note it has been 100% reliable

[Mr_Sukebe]

I'd be inclined to try an Alfa for a year, just to see what all the fuss is about. After all, it's not you footing the bill, as if it was, I'd run a mile.

[will_wonka]

anonymous said:

[redacted]

Question is, stand out from the crowd (Alfa) or blend in and drive the modern day Mondeo....I know which one I would choose, yes the Beemer is quicker and has a better drive, but the Alfa wins in every other area.

[phelix]

A number of colleagues have had Alfas and had such bad experiences with the quality/reliability and the absolutely pants service from the local dealer that they were taken off the company car list for a time. Things have improved with Alfa and a different dealer has the franchise so they're back on. You may not need to foot the bill for the potential reliability/dealer problems but there's almost no getting away from the aggro involved. Then again my now 4 year old 535d has been back to the dealer more times in 1 year than the previous E46 328i did in 9 years. So go figure!

[Ed68]

Guys,

Thanks for your comments - apologies for the delay in responding but I've been away for a couple of days.

Your comments make interesting reading - I appreciate that the BM is probably a better thught out car, from the driving perspective so I'll be giving one a few hour test drive on Saturday to get a better idea of how it suits me.