Alfa 156

[J4MES]

as it should...

[gobbo]

When as the reliability stirs your credit cards

[Howard]

!!!!!!!!


/falls over

[XA04]

lol, the guy in the picture looks like he has to drive around with his head down so he doesn't bump his head...

[Howard]

That or he's cornering Look at it Adrian, isn't it byooteeful

[XA04]

It is a lovely car, one of my favourites... but reliability doesn't sound great..

[Howard]

No. But that considered... It's still.... Just... I dunno. I can't afford one. Lol

[chudley]

I had an alfa JTD GT 1.9 and it was lovely for a diesel, had plenty of poke in all the right places , then I had to hand it back to the hire company-gutted

[behappier]

I actually have an Alfa 156 as opposed to everyone else in here!
My car is a JTD 20V 175bhp tons and tons and tons of torque, beautiful to look at, fantastic to drive, not a single problem in the last 25k miles and the dealer has been fantastic and pretty cheap (£250 for the 24k and 36k services).
I have not needed one single unscheduled visit to the dealer.

I think the 156 is a well kept secret and will be good to you if you look after it, I'd buy another one for my o/h but we decided his and hers is a bit sad...

[davidstone28]

http://www.alfaworkshop.co.uk/alfa_156_buyers.shtml

[Butuz]

Its all about the passion

Butuz

[davidstone28]

There's a handy 4 page spread on buying a used Alfa 147 (which is a similarish sort of car) in the June/July edition of Used Car Buyer.

I didn't realise that the Twin Spark engine needs 8 plugs @ £21 each though. Having said that they only need to be changed every 60k.

Alfas? I love them. Something different. Something intersting.

[madmaca]

I bought an Alfa 146 with my heart (you never buy and Alfa with your head), and it has put me off all things Italian FOR LIFE.

The dealers - shocking - no customer care whatsoever. Car was never ready on time when it was at the dealer (which was a LOT), problems were NEVER fixed first time. It went in for a service once (not cheap) and 2 weeks later I routinely checked the oil - to find there was none in it! Didn't even register on the dipstick! I called the dealer to check that they had ACTUALLY re-filled it with oil when they serviced it as there was no leak - nothing on the driveway etc., which they assured me the did (well they would wouln't they), and then they told me that the oil loss was "within specs". WHAT!? I refilled it with over 4 litres! BS tbh.

Then there were the mechanical and electrical problems. I owned the car for about 18 months (of pure hell). In that time, it had the following problems which were all raised with the dealer:

Exhaust back box fell off. (replaced and paid for by me)
Electric windows regularly wouldn't go up (never fixed)
Sunroof leaked (never fixed)
Rear brakes always siezed on in cold weather when left overnight (never fixed)
Clutch failed (replaced and paid for by me)
The dealer lost my master key aka code key (new locks, ecu and alarm replaced and paid for by Alfa after a LONG and bitter arguement - total time without car 6 weeks)
Gearbox exploded - literally - a gear shot through the bottom of the gearbox casing (replaced and paid for by me with £100 "good will" gesture from Alfa)
Fog light bulbs lasted around 2 weeks each (fault never traced)
etc.
etc.

In the end - I handed the keys back to the finance company and walked away. I lost money - but it was costing me far more in time and maintenance to keep it on the road.

Be afraid. Be very afraid......