Alfa Spider hire car

[Viper_Larry]

After some rather poor driving by some woman in a Peugeot a couple of weeks back, my 156 GTA has been in for minor body repair and replacement bumper this week. The courtesy car provided was a Alfa Spider - I was rather excited but at the same time worried I might want one!

After a week of using it (albeit only over 200 miles) I have to say I'm very disappointed:

1) Firstly, it's a 2.4JTD - how can you justify a Diesel convertible... horrible

2) Driving position - I find myself constantly slouching to the left which becomes uncomfortable. Not sure why this happens, but sitting off centre is not good. It also restricts the view of the instrument panel wheich seems to be aimed at someone sitting very close to the steering wheel and I'm only 5'8" and sitting too far back!

3) OK, this one might be a problem for this particular car, but the amount of oil dripped on my garage floor in 6 days is unbelievable. Left it on the drive for 10 minutes and there was a large patch. Not a single drop from the 156 in 6 months

So, I won't be buying one of those then. It's also put me off slightly on the 159 Q4 Ti I would like. Would definitely have to drive that for a couple of days before purchasing!

[RicksAlfas]

Sounds odd. 2 years in on my 2.4 and no oil drips and perfect seating position. Maybe your hire car had had a hard life?

[jamieboy]

If you're thinking about a 159 ti, I wouldn't worry about any of those three.

1. Diesel convertible - the 159 isn't.
2. Seating position - the ti has different (IMO better) seats.
3. Dripping oil - specific to that car, I reckon.

[Viper_Larry]

I guess diesel is personal choice, just not for me in a convertible.

It's an 08 registered car with 6000 miles on the clock. I was beginning to wonder if the seat was 'wonky'

Still, the GTA is now ready so off to collect and clean the mess from the garage floor!