Discussion
The auto 166 has a Sportronic gearbox, not the Selespeed system from the 156. While Selespeed has an unfavourable reputation, I don't know of any issues with the Sportronic gearbox. It only has four gears, but is robust and you don't hear of many issues on the Alfa forums. I currently own a 3.0 V6 Sportronic (my second) and love it.
The 166 is good value for money and an engaging drive. It is a comfortable cruiser and one of the best built Alfas in recent memory. If you go for a 2.0 Twinspark, the timing belt will need changing every 3 years or 36000 miles. With a V6, you can go 5 years or 60000 miles between changes. The V6 can go through front tyres every 15k miles (it is FWD). On a budget of £1-2K, you can still find some well looked after examples. My 3.0 gives 22 in town and 30 on a long run. The economy is offset by the bargain price 166s go for. Check out www.alfaowner.com for more advice.
The 166 is good value for money and an engaging drive. It is a comfortable cruiser and one of the best built Alfas in recent memory. If you go for a 2.0 Twinspark, the timing belt will need changing every 3 years or 36000 miles. With a V6, you can go 5 years or 60000 miles between changes. The V6 can go through front tyres every 15k miles (it is FWD). On a budget of £1-2K, you can still find some well looked after examples. My 3.0 gives 22 in town and 30 on a long run. The economy is offset by the bargain price 166s go for. Check out www.alfaowner.com for more advice.
As siad go on alfaowner.com all your questions will be answered on there, but I'll share my experiences so far.
I have a 99 3.0 v6 sportronic, have run it for about 3 months now.
Averaging 22mpg on mixed driving.
It has just cost me £650 in the form of a cambelt and water pump service and tyres but set that against a purchase price of £620 for a car with 6 months tax 12 months MOT full leather interior, sat nav, phone CD changer etc etc not bad at all!
Over 100k miles the suspension can be tired and a full refresh is not cheap.
Not sure what age you are looking at but if its a pre facelift you can expect to pay about £1000 for one but anything you spend on maintanance you wont get back at the time of sale. (and nothing is cheap to maintain if your comparing against your average saloon car)
A lot of the facelift cars that come up for sale are getting snapped up by one particular dealer and put up for sale again with a 'significant' margin. These have been known to hang around waiting for the right buyer to come along.
edited to add: I have just seen your other thread at 6'5" your are unlikely to fit! I am 6'2" and if I did not have the sunroof option which takes the headlining up an inch or so my head would be in regular contact with the roof!
I have a 99 3.0 v6 sportronic, have run it for about 3 months now.
Averaging 22mpg on mixed driving.
It has just cost me £650 in the form of a cambelt and water pump service and tyres but set that against a purchase price of £620 for a car with 6 months tax 12 months MOT full leather interior, sat nav, phone CD changer etc etc not bad at all!
Over 100k miles the suspension can be tired and a full refresh is not cheap.
Not sure what age you are looking at but if its a pre facelift you can expect to pay about £1000 for one but anything you spend on maintanance you wont get back at the time of sale. (and nothing is cheap to maintain if your comparing against your average saloon car)
A lot of the facelift cars that come up for sale are getting snapped up by one particular dealer and put up for sale again with a 'significant' margin. These have been known to hang around waiting for the right buyer to come along.
edited to add: I have just seen your other thread at 6'5" your are unlikely to fit! I am 6'2" and if I did not have the sunroof option which takes the headlining up an inch or so my head would be in regular contact with the roof!
Edited by 4lf4-155 on Thursday 16th September 22:11
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