Alfa 159. Good or bad?

[wildcat45]

This car has turned my head of late. The next car I buy will probably be an oil burner. I need an estate but nothing huge.

3 series and Audi don't do it for me.

The Alfa appears to have a lot of what I am looking for.

Are the Alfa nightmares you hear about true? Reliability, crap dealers etc?

[retrorider]

The best looking estate you can buy imho and don't worry about Gaz and Kevs pub talk on reliability either...

[robsco]

Brilliant cars, the gearbox felt a bit obstructive on the examples I drove though. Go for the 2.4JTDm.

[S10 GTA]

Alfa's are no more, or no less reliable then any other car brand out there. The reliability question marks are utter toss, mostly written by people who have never been in one, let alone own one.

[uuf361]

Mate has had the Wagon version for 9 months now, and apart from the problem that was on when bought that the dealer didn't/wouldn't fix (squeaky but very annoying clutch pedal) it's been fine.

Once (when I was in it) the digital display on the climate turned itself off for 5 mins but everything else seems to be fine - it's on 60K miles now too.

[MattyB_]

Buy a Ti, and feel smug that you've got the best looking estate on todays roads.

A Black one went past me a while back on the motorway - it wasn't lowered, it was just full of fatties, but the reduced height made it look even better, I almost rear-ended the car in front!

[blugnu]

Had a 2.4 JTD 156 for over 100,000 miles. It never let me down, and I didn't treat it well. As with any car, things wear out (brakes, bushes, MAF) and occasionally things will break (TDC sensor, £25) but mine was basically flawless.

The dealership was rubbish though, but they're not a dealer any more (was 8 years ago I got mine) so hopefully that means Alfa have got rid of the rubbish ones. I only used mine for as long as the warranty lasted, then went independent.

[redstu]

In terms of handling and feel how much better is a 159 over a 156? This q is to anyone having owned both.

[Celt]

Somebody posted there estate in readers cars a few months ago. Beautiful car!

[blugnu]

redstu said:

In terms of handling and feel how much better is a 159 over a 156? This q is to anyone having owned both.

I've not driven a 159 enough to compare. I would say though that the 156 felt really nose heavy to me for a long time - I had the Veloce spec with lowered suspension and it took me a while to get used to how low it was - so low that you had to break sufficiently before speed bumps to give the suspension time to come back up, otherwise you bottomed it out. I think the early day scrapings made it 'feel' like the front was heavier.

That said the 2.4 was and is a heavy old lump, and you can feel it. Push on though and it wasn't too bad. I've travelled on quiet A roads in Scotland in mine - chased by a 330ci and a Chimera 450 (driven by a mate), and a speeds I'd prefer not to mention - and it was thoroughly enjoyable, and felt tight.

Of course if you go from the 156 to the Chimera as I did, the 156 all of a sudden feels ridiculously baggy and vague. I expect the 159 will be broadly similar. Realistically it will have limits way too high to get near on public roads, but it's still a 5 seat saloon car at the end of the day.

Incidentally I didn't feel the 156 was near it's handling limit up in Scotland that time. I was though, and so was the engine.

[ritmo]

Alfa Romeo unreliability is very overstated and the 159 is a lovely car - especially the wagon. Alfa dealers however are sparse and are a very mixed bag- a problem that has existed for years and which AR has done little to rectify

[Tallbut Buxomly]

One other point to make about alfas and reliability is its all relevant. Alfa sell less cars than the other mainstream manufacturers therefore their reliabilty seems to be be worse than it really is.

Also for what its worth i believe the one to have is the 1.9 and then have it mapped as the 2.4 is heavy on fuel and is not much more powerful than the 1.9.

[bazking69]

Dodgy reliability and build quality is simply not an issue with modern Alfas. Infact they are no worse than alot of mainstream manufacturers.

Stonkingly good looking with the big wheels too.

[wildcat45]

Thanks for the replies. I'll have to check one out in the metal.

Why are the dealers so ste? I can understand an individual dealer being crap, but a whole brand?

[F1GTRUeno]

It looks stunning no matter which one you get, but in black with the TI specced big alloys, it's just about the best looking 'normal' car ever made.

[Tallbut Buxomly]

wildcat45 said:

Thanks for the replies. I'll have to check one out in the metal.

Why are the dealers so ste? I can understand an individual dealer being crap, but a whole brand?

Alfa dealers have improved massively over the last three or so years. I used to have a 156 and used my local dealers who were fantastic. Sadly i live in kent and you dont otherwise i would definitely recommend my local alfa dealer.

My alfa was a bodged car i bought second hand and had numerous problems. Once or twice i rocked up and they would look at it immediately and not even charge me for doing so. Very friendly and helpful.

[wildcat45]

One of the dealers near me has a bad rep - for another brand of car they sell.

I would have thought its the sort of brand that would attract delaers who actually like and are interested in what they sell. I have found that with Scooby dealeers when I had the Outback on my list a while back.

[davhill]

Quite fancy one of these, so what are their Achilles heels?

[Pooh]

I have a 2.0 l diesel 159 as a loan car while my Brera S is in the garage, I am very impressed with it, I was expecting it to be very soft and rollypolly compared to the Brera but it is actually fun to drive down a twisty road. The build quality is very good too, if not quite up to the standard of the Brera. If I needed the space I would definitely have one.

Edited by Pooh on Sunday 21st November 14:02

[tom77]

I've spent a year with my SW 2.4Jtdm and it's been's great.

Had a few niggles but my local dealer has been superb (Edinburgh) and fixed odds and ends for gratis even though warranty had expired. They are aware of the poor rep and are working hard to rectify this.

The car has been really good too. Lovely to look at and a lovely place to sit. Great, torquey engine and reasonably pointy for a big, heavy motor.

If the car and dealer continue to impress I'll be replacing this one with another after 3 years. As long as they don't go 'bug-eyed' with the front end styling a la Mito and Guilietta!