rayward
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| posted on 4/12/07 at 07:35 AM |
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would you buy a petrol Alfa 156????
what do you reckon?
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Mr Whippy
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| posted on 4/12/07 at 08:29 AM |
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how rusty is it? 90%...
Fame is when your old car is plastered all over the internet
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hughjinjin
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| posted on 4/12/07 at 08:40 AM |
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depends, the diesel ones are very good but dearer to buy, 2.4 20v turbo is nice and well worth chipping for super grunt but its very heavy and
consequently hard on the already fragile front suspension.
The smaller diesel is a nice car, better balanced but a bit gutless.
v6 petrol sounds great but is thirsty, 4 cylinder ones are better and if all belts and tensioners are changed regularly they ARE actually reliable
despite what the laptop experts say.
I see complaints about dodgy electrics on 156s which I have to say I have never seen. I have been a mechanic in a small Alfa garage for about 5 years
now and very rarely do any electrical components fail. Its all bosch stuff and the only problems we seem to see are with the air floww meters,
something which is common to everything with these bosch afms from Polos to merc jeeps.
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dhutch
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| posted on 4/12/07 at 08:54 AM |
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Im going to have to hold my hand up say the i origanaly read the title as "Would you but a Alfa 159"
However, with no first hand knowlage of alfas, they do look nice, so what the hell if its the right price, maddness prevails logic.
Daniel
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MikeR
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| posted on 4/12/07 at 09:05 AM |
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friend had one, CD player broke a few times & he had real problems after having the front window replaced. Had to have it done a second time.
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ditchlewis
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| posted on 4/12/07 at 09:09 AM |
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owning an alfa is an emotional experience   
i admit it was an Alfa Sud, it handled superbly, rusted like mad, fouled its plugs and was electrically a nightmare, bu when it all came together what
a car.
as top gear keep saying owning an alfa is an emotional decision, and if you have to ask with your sensible head on dont buy it.
ditch
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wilkingj
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| posted on 4/12/07 at 09:23 AM |
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Hmm if it had the 3 litre V6 in it... Yes. then use the engine for the kit car:
1. The point of a journey is not to arrive.
2. Never take life seriously. Nobody gets out alive anyway.
Best Regards
Geoff
http://www.v8viento.co.uk
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pewe
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| posted on 4/12/07 at 09:34 AM |
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Cam belt, cam belt, cam belt espec. if its 24v. Cost a mate best part of £4k when his let go 2k miles before change was due - otherwise he loves
it.
Cheers, Pewe
PS I think they've changed the 72K belt change down to a more sensible 36k.
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zetec
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| posted on 4/12/07 at 09:41 AM |
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No. we had a GTV for a couple of years. Everything done by the book re servicing. Had to take it in due to rough running. Flow meter faulty...40,000
miles common fault yer right, suspesion bushes knackered...common fault. Variator on cams knackered, common fault. Coil/plug unit cracked...common
fault. Gearbox notchy....the list goes on. When I said to the guy who ran the Alfa Garage about why everything was falling apart he said it was
because it was a performance car....Yer right! 2.0 ltr 150 BHP, hardly trend setting levels of power.
I think the bottom line is they look great but are 15 years behind everyone else in the durability race. I dont think I would have one again even if
it was a company car as the hassle is just too much.
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rf900rush
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| posted on 4/12/07 at 09:45 AM |
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Had 2 Alfa Sud's
2nd was a "1978 1500 Ti
Had it lowered 2 inches
Just about beat every thing around the twisties.
Mine used to bend the radio consule when booted in 2nd.
That's when I knew the rust was getting real bad.
Lov' a BEC version SUD without the rust.
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jimgiblett
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| posted on 4/12/07 at 09:49 AM |
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What age is it. Early cars had some probs with porous engine blocks.
The 156s dont rust like the suds and alfettas of the 70s & 80s. Fun to drive but dont expect Germanic build quality. As with all Alfas make sure
you warm them up before you thrash them.
This link maybe of interest
Cheers
- Jim
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bimbleuk
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| posted on 4/12/07 at 12:48 PM |
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I said no purely from my brothers example which suffered head gasket failure and a few other minor part quality issues. Quite a decent handling car
though except the front tyres did wear a lot on the inside. Maybe incorrectly set alignment. I only had it briefly to get shot of it for me bro.
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adithorp
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| posted on 4/12/07 at 01:01 PM |
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I agree with Clarkson on this...you have to have one once to be a petrolhead. Had an X reg, 156 2.5 v6 24valve sportwagon. Loved it then tried to sell
it before anything went wrong. That took 12 mounths to get rid and in that time the injectors started failing. Lost more on that in 12 mounths than
ever lost on a car. You've just got to exept that Alfa think if it looks good, who cares if it rattles!
Would I do it again with hindsight? Course I would...the noise alone is worth it.
adrian
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Marcus
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| posted on 4/12/07 at 01:16 PM |
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I asked the question about 18 months ago, and taking advice from everyone - and ignoring most of it, I bought a 2002, 2 litre TS.
It is, by far, the best decision I've made regarding cars (with the exception of deciding to build a Locost ).
I made it a condition of sale that the Cam belt be changed and haven't regretted it for a minute.
The bodywork is galvanised from the factory, so rust shouldn't be an issue unless you buy a repaired car. There is still an area which does
rust, and that's the roof (believe it or not) This isn't galvanised and they don't put much paint on the front and rear screen
apertures - mine's bubbling a little around the rear screen.
The front suspension needs the bushes keeping in order or you get uneven tyre wear.
Try for the Veloce spec, you get leather, lower suspension and those gorgeous teledial alloys.
2002 saw the change to JTS engines and dual climate control, but I prefer the TS engines as they seem crisper (perhaps I drove a poor JTS). I also
like the older carbon inlaid dash.
Electrics are fine - min occasionally suffers a fuel gauge which shows full when only 1/4 full - has happened twice in 18 months after rain storms!
Make sure you listen to the engine when cold, sometimes they sound a little diesely for a second or two - this is usually down to the cam variator
(controls the VVC system). Mine does this slightly, but it doesn't affect performance at all, just factor in changing it at the next cambelt
change (36k miles).
Lastly, all I can say is - if you want one, buy one!!
Marcus
Because kits are for girls!!
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rayward
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| posted on 4/12/07 at 01:18 PM |
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thanks for the replies , keep em coming,
the car in question is a 51 plate 2.0 TS Veloce, 80k miles full history (all main dealer except 1 minor service at a specialist), just had the belts
and variator done Full MOT, could mine for a tad under £2k
good deal or not?
Ray
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alfasudsprint
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| posted on 4/12/07 at 01:22 PM |
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I have a 166, build quality is superb! Great to drive, obviously. Certainly not behind germans in quality/reliability. AFM neeeds doing thou,
suggestion anyone?
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hughjinjin
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| posted on 4/12/07 at 01:39 PM |
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ray, you say it has just had the belts done, you have to make sure that everthing has been changed, timing belt, idler pulley, tensioner, balance
shaft belt and tensioner and the auxiliary belt and tensioner. If the tensioners aren't changed as well they can fail before the next belt
change and bend all your valves! I've seen a 166 that jumped the timing belt because the auxiliary belt tensioner collapsed and the flailing
belt smashed the plastic front cover and wrapped itself round the front of the crank, so get them to change that as well if it hasn't been done,
easy to do and not expensive.
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britishtrident
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| posted on 4/12/07 at 01:50 PM |
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Don't kid yourself it's a badge engineered Fiat.
I wouldn't buy any italian car
[I] “ What use our work, Bennet, if we cannot care for those we love? .”
― From BBC TV/Amazon's Ripper Street.
[/I]
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westcost1
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| posted on 4/12/07 at 02:25 PM |
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like this one <<<<< 2.5 v6 24v I wouldn’t buy a German car I have a phobia of square cars and boring interiors. i love driving it
and i gos like stink or did till last week when the engine seized at 125,000 (see pics in my archive)was hoping to get a bit more out of it but I have
done 50,000 miles in it in 4 years so it didn’t ow me any thing. Its just been sent away to have a recon engine fitted by italautos fingers crossed it
will make the 400 mile journey back ok. I was going to put an engine in it my self but cant be bothered to spend the winter time on it. I wana get the
locost finished. If you don’t mind getting your hands dirty once in a wile when things go wrong go for it in my opinion it has been no worse than any
other car I have ever owned in terms of things going wrong I have done a cam belt / water pump service alternator and front suspension. All around
90,000. electrics have always been fine. Look out for squeaky front suspension leaky back doors at the top back, squeaky rear windows ( the mechanism
can break) dash board noise on early cars. variator noise and poor paint (stone chips) for lots more info go to www.alfa156.net o yes and my car has
no rust on it 2000 w reg.you get a lot of car for the money.
the pearlescent paint really terns heads and looks best on rainy dull days.
Its worth having one just to chuckle at your misses friends when they stand out side trying to work out where the rear door handle is one even tryed
to get in the front and pull the seat forwards um its not a saxo lol
[Edited on 4/12/07 by westcost1]
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owelly
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| posted on 4/12/07 at 03:05 PM |
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I bought a year 2000 156 2ltr TS at the beginning of the year. It had a busted engine due to a snapped timing belt. I intended to get another engine
from the scrappy, chuck it in and run it.There are planty of 156s in the scrap yards but they all have busted engines! Either cam belt gone or bottom
ends hanging out of the sump....... The few I did find wanted £1k for a second hand engine. I ended up rebuiling the original engine which was very
easy and very cheap!
It was fine for 12,000miles, then the Selespeed gearbox started to play up............
Alfaowners.com is full of folks who are actually scrapping perfectly good cars because of electronic faults!! One poor guy spent over £2500 at an Alfa
main dealers and the car still insisted in changing into 2nd whenever it wanted.
I bought a cheap laptop and Alfadiag and sorted all its problems but still sold it two weeks ago for £700!!
If you are buying one at retail price, get a very good warrenty and make sure you're entitled to a courtesy car....
http://www.ppcmag.co.uk
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westcost1
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| posted on 4/12/07 at 03:09 PM |
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mmm id steer clear of selaspeed cars.
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martyn_16v
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| posted on 4/12/07 at 03:39 PM |
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Good god no. The 2.0TS engine is made of chocolate, it's an awful unit. They drink oil at close to the same rate as they drink petrol (fast).
They're also very sensitive to being run low on oil , if you see a warning light it's already too late, and at the rate they use the stuff
it can only take a week or so to be down at dangerous levels. I can only agree with what's already been said about camblets, variators etc, if
it's not been done recently it will need to.
Electrics aren't fine by any stretch of the imagination. It may be Bosch kit but it appears to have been thrown in by poorly trained lemurs. Be
prepared to have the thing beep at you pretty much constantly claiming that random lights aren't working, the traction control has gone awol, or
failing that the ever useful (and after a month or two of Alfa ownership, very familiar) 'motor control system failure'. Oh, don't
be suprised if you find you can't even get in the thing, the buttons have a tendency to fall out of the keys. Thankfully i've not had the
pleasure of a selespeed, they're another kettle of electrically-retarded fish entirely.
It's a shame really, they're good looking cars, pleasant enough to sit in and really nice to drive in those rare moments when they
actually work.
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onzarob
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| posted on 4/12/07 at 03:59 PM |
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I had a 155 for 4 years (bought at 2 year old) did 60K in it and only had one lambda fault, new exhaust and brakes...
It was a great car and I thoroughly enjoyed driving it,
ask me if i buy another Alfa the answer would be NO.
I think I was an exception and not the norm, oh and it depreciated like a stone....actually more like a bolder lol
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zilspeed
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| posted on 4/12/07 at 05:22 PM |
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Have had two Alfas - an Alfasud 1350 ti and a 145. Loved them both.
I also think that the twin cam as fitted to the 156 sounds lovely - better than it has any right to.
Would I buy one ?
N O W A Y .
As stated above they don't rust any more, it's the engines that eat themselves.
That's just wrong.
Not for me - and I'm a confirmed fan.
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owelly
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| posted on 4/12/07 at 05:22 PM |
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Incidently, my 156 didn't use any oil after I'd rebuilt it. It must be the only one.....
http://www.ppcmag.co.uk
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