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New tin top
LBMEFM - 2/4/09 at 09:12 PM

Looking for a cheap new tin top. Anyone had any experience with Alfas. Only got around a £1000. 156 looks OK.

owelly - 2/4/09 at 09:19 PM

You can get a nice 156 for £1000. Avoid the Selespeed if possible. Check the front and rear suspension bushes and make sure the belts and tensioners have been changed. They need doing at 36000 miles. The variator can get rattly but it's not a serious problem but should be done with the belts. The engine is designed to use oil to extend the service intervals so check every week or more often if you do big miles. Check the water/oil cooler connections for corrosion. It's mounted on the front of the engine so is easy to spot.
Get the v6 if you can afford it.
Enjoy!!

mookaloid - 2/4/09 at 09:28 PM

mmmmmm Alfa Romeos

uklee70 - 2/4/09 at 09:48 PM

just sold my

GTV spider 97 £500!!!!

great cheap runner for the summer

idl1975 - 3/4/09 at 08:19 AM

quote:
Originally posted by LBMEFM
Looking for a cheap new tin top. Anyone had any experience with Alfas. Only got around a £1000. 156 looks OK.


If you look at the JD Power figures, the 156 performed bloody awfully in terms of reliability. I say this as a confirmed Alfa fan, someone who loves the styling of the 156 and whose parents own a 156 JTD.

You can absolutely bag a nice 156 in this economy for a grand. But you want to check out the owner forums and FAQs and make sure you're buying a good 'un that's had everything done to it. They're not as bad an idea as, say, an old Jag or a Maser, but there's a long list of recurring faults involved.

I was looking for a cheap tow vehicle a couple of months ago and considered an Alfa. But it was so obviously going to end in tears and swearing that I bought an E30 instead. At least those break in a predictable German way: at specified intervals and only in 3 or 4 designated areas.

If you really just want "wheels", can I suggest a 90s Fiesta from the proverbial one careful elderly female owner? More reliable, cheaper parts and easier to work on. Also available for £500. I realise that a leather-clad 156 V6 for £1,000 sounds tempting though.

Marcus - 3/4/09 at 12:30 PM

I have a nice leather clad 2.0TS Alfa 156 sat on the drive. Was pretty reliable for the first year, then I decided to change the cam belts and variator (it was rattling a bit). Long story short, I screwed up and bent a valve or 2. Car is still on drive 1 year later and I'm cycling to work