Only a day old and she's already been hit :(

[burble]

Note the first word of my post - apparently

[burble]

The Golf GT got swapped over this morning for a Red Alfa Spider. Not really the sort of Alfa I was expecting but it'll do me until the .:R is back on the road.

Unfortunately the Alfa is too low to get down my drive so it'll be living on the road.

It seems odd that they'd put a diesel engine into a car like this, it is an Italian car afterall. It goes okayish and is definately to best sounding diesel I've driven for a while. I guess the quad exhaust pipes help a little.

Something is detinately wrong though - this one has now done 155 miles (it had about 11 miles on the clock when I got it) and nothing has broken yet!

[Rave]

Is it the 2.4 20V five pot JTD?

I quite like Alfas, but the modern ones are too damned heavy IMO. Now a nice 75, that'd be right up my alley....

[Rave]

Yeah, but equally:

[burble]

Is it the 2.4 20V five pot JTD?

I quite like Alfas, but the modern ones are too damned heavy IMO. Now a nice 75, that'd be right up my alley....

I didn't realise it was a 5 pot, but yeah, it's got the 2.4 JTD.

I've always had a soft spot for Alfas, but I'd never buy one with my own money. I know 3 people who had to get new engines for the 156's when the top end of the 2l t-spark went pop and 1 guy who had to write off his V6 156 because it rusted so bad around the base of the windscreen that nobody would fit a new screen.

[Rave]

That's pretty poor for a car that was only introduced in 1997- my wife's cousin just this year bought a Selespeed 2.5 V6, hope he doesn't suffer any similar grief (though his record with vehicle purchases ain't great- he crashed his Aprilia RSV-R Factory on the way to show it to a potential buyer- after he'd got himself a 6-week ban for doing "more than 130mph").

Anyway, I reckon the fact that it has 5 cylinders is why it sounds funky. Apparently the original 2.4JTD in the Fiat Marea could be chipped up to 190bhp- when my mum's last car got nicked I found her one for £2400, but she went and spent £2000 on a crappy base model Mk1 Clio 1.9D from a 'friend'. The 'friend' was a hardcore Christian- not very Christian to charge someone £800 over the odds for your motor, if you ask me.

Anyway, I've more or less inherited the Clio, and it has its charms- 45mpg round town, 60+ on a run and it handles great in a 15 degree lean round every corner kind of way (lucky i learned to drive in a 2CV). Clearly this has nowt to do with your post so I'll stop now.

[burble]

Apparently the selespeed boxes are quite weak, the V6 I mentioned went through a couple in about 18 months It's a crying shame because they're absolutely gorgeous cars to look at, both inside and out.

I think the JTD in the Spider is about 210bhp. When they were first released they were 200bhp but there was some sort of update done during the summer that bumped the output up a little. This one I have feels extremely tight, not surprising considering it's only done 160 miles.

[burble]

The Alfa didn't make it to 200 miles without me having to call the AA out. I went to start the car earlier today and it wouldn't turn over, just sat there telling me I needed to push the cluth or brake down before pressing the starter button. Seems the sensor unit on the pedals has died so it's been bypassed.

Also the heated rear screen is pretty much knackered, only the top 20% or so of the elements work.

Classic Alfa build quality at its best.

[Howard]

Not surprised really. I don't think anyone in their right mind should run an Alfa as a daily driver, no matter how nice they look

[arbitor]

Yawn @ this thread

As said in the first place just wait for your car to turn back up, all will be well.

you brought the alfa upon yourself anyway, they gave you another ultra reliable 0 feedback boring hatch and you moaned

[burble]

Yawn @ this thread

In which case please feel free to use the back button in your browser

[Funkstar]

Classic Alfa build quality at its best.

Ahhh! My faith in Italian "engineering" has been restored :mrgeen:

[burble]

An update - I got the car back this evening!

I was expecting to be without it for another 2-3 months because VW couldn't supply a replacement grill! I spoke to loads of dealers in the UK, a colleague spoke to a few in Germany and I called one I know in Sweden and they all said the same thing - VW will take an order but can't provide even an estimated delivery date.

As luck would have it, a brand new grill went on eBay on Sunday evening so I bought it. My brother collected it yesterday morning, I took it to the bodyshop yesterday afternoon and picked the car up this evening.

The repair is spot on - you would have no idea that it had been repaired.

Total bill for the repair was a shade over £1820 but the third partys insurance company are facing a bigger bill as they have to pay for that awful Alfa I'd spent the last month or so driving.

Woohoo!

[staffsMike]

Good news

Enjoy that lovely noise

[burble]

I enjoyed the noise very muchly on the way home. I'd forgotten just how much I loved the sound of that growly v6!

In a couple of weeks I'm having a Milltek resonated exhaust fitted so it'll sound even better

[Howard]

Glad it's all fixed And was the courtesy car really that bad?