After being told I could only get a BMW from work they’ve basically given me free rein. I went to a dealer of several brands and they had a good deal on a new 159 sportwagon (2.0 170bhp JTDM Ti spec). It’s definitely not the largest load space I’ve seen but will do.

How are they to live with?

I’ve had a 147 and a 156. Loved both of them and with care and regular servicing Alfa’s are great. Build quality has come on a lot from the bad old days and there is definitely something a bit good about the way they drive.
Loads of scare stories will be along in a minute but I tend to be “mechanically sympathetic”! so rarely have problems with any of my cars.
My brother is the opposite and moans about every car he has, nothing to do with the fact he doesnt get them serviced and doesnt do checks himself and thrashes then from cold etc.

As long as you get a red one you’ll be fine. Why Alfa bother with any other colour is beyond me. 🙂 😉

The deal is, sadly, for white but I can live with that. I don’t thrash cars either and I’m a bit perverse in that I don’t really mind stuff that is stupid or doesn’t work optimally as long as it has personality. The BMW my colleague has is really well made, feels solid and planted etc but it just bores me outside and in. The alfa looks like a bloody jet fighter cockpit inside and has the feel of something that I’m going to want to take a hammer to from time to time.

I assume its a 3 series? I agree I dont see the attraction. C class sport however, thats different 8)

After being told I could only get a BMW from work they’ve basically given me free rein

So you’ve looked at Alfa’s…

Either get a proper estate, or get a saloon – not a ‘life-style’ car.

or to counteract br buy somthing that will put a smile on your face every time you drive it 🙂

C class sport however, thats different

My work colleague has just got a C220 sport for his new company car. It’s lovely looking but so slooooooow.

I think the 159 looks best in ti guise, the wheels are really nice and they just look the part to!

shame they are not bigger inside !

And there is an advert for the Fugly Guilietta ———>
With 5 years complimentary servicing!!! You’ll need that.

My work colleague has just got a C220 sport for his new company car. It’s lovely looking but so slooooooow.

Mines a 1.8 petrol 160bhp but I am pleased with it. Got 45 on a run the other day which shows how hard I drive 😳

The estate doesn’t look right without the roof rails, it’s the only sporty estate that sea to come without them. Nice looking car though.

C class sport however, thats different

My work colleague has just got a C220 sport for his new company car. It’s lovely looking but so slooooooow.

Compared to what? I’ve got a C220 Sport 170bhp. 0-60 in 8.5s, pulls well past 120mph and will do 145mph, so I’ve been told 😉 yes it’s not a Porsche but its got far more in gear acceleration than the Honda S2000 I had before and that was 240bhp.

If it’s a lease scheme, are you sure it’s a good deal? Residuals on Alfa’s are sufficiently poor that you may get hammered compared to something a bit more robust.

It’s not a lease. The company has 2-3 ex-lease cars we’re selling as they’ll only cost us 2-3k and are worth about 8-10k a pop. As such, I’ll buy mine outright.

I’ve got a C220 Sport 170bhp. 0-60 in 8.5s,

2L Astra CDTi is quicker than that. The 1.6L SRi petrol is a LOT quicker.
Like I said, nice cars. Sloooooooow.

With 5 years complimentary servicing!!! You’ll need that.

Indeed you will. In fact you’ll need to service any car, in case you didn’t realise?
And if you’re going to keep it for 5 years, 5 years free servicing is a good money saver.

Brand new?

Company car?

**** HELL YES.

Why get a new blando BMW box and be like every other company car anglo-saxon middling male. Its stunningly beautiful the sportswagon.

Please do it.

BMW’s of late are bland. They stopped being interesting post-2005 for me.

I’ve got a 56 plate 1.9jtdm which I bought two years from new with 20k, I paid just under 14k for it, roughly half its rrp when new. There are lots of issues which can scare at alfaowner.co.uk but yours being one of the latest models with the stronger engine, especially if you don’t plan on keeping it over three years should give you less worry. 😉

Lots of the reviews slate that it isn’t a useful estate and it isn’t particularly, but if you don’t need a passat sized estate which a lot of people don’t it’s fine, you can easily fit an mtb with the seats down and without taking a wheel off. Mpg was a bit disappointing at first, but 44mpg for average journeys is easily possible. 50mpg if you try.

Mine has the 18 inch wheels which have started to corrode at year 6, and apart from routine servicing and tyres up to 40k all ran smoothly. In the last two years I’ve ‘invested’ in an egr valve, dpf issue, front wheel bearing, upper wishbone and two coil springs. It had a 60k service last week which was the cam belt job, done at Jamie Porter’s, an excellent independent in Royston, there is lots of servicing info on his website.

There will always be the jokes but they’ve come along way from the 156. If you go for one I hope the dealer is nearby should anything go wrong. To expect a Mercedes / BMW buying experience is ambitious mainly because there are so fewer dealers (and my local one is crap!)

ps standard alfa advice is go for a local independant alfa specialist once you dont have main dealer warranty ( and get them to price match while you still do have warranty)

I have a (Black) 159 2.0JTDm ti SW… and it’s fabulous! As an estate car, it ain’t particularly roomy, but just look at it and tell me that a roomier Passat is better. You may get a few more mpg from a bimmer, but who cares, when the Alfa is such a lovely thing to drive. It has ooddles of torque, handles beautifully and rides well (considering the 19″ wheels). But a word of warning… if you are buying it thinking that it is like Alfas of old, it ain’t. Firstly it’s better built but secondly it’s more refined and comfortable. Personally I feel more of the image of a big Lancia than an Alfa.

Oh, and watch for those big wheels, it’s far to easy to curb those lovely 8C alloys and the price of the tyres… (ouch)

Loved two out of three of the Alfa’s I’ve had, the only one I had trouble with had been poorly maintained.

Loads of personality, great fun, great looking.

Agree about the roof rails though, it does look even better with.

BMW’s of late are bland. They stopped being interesting post-2005 for me.

He’s got a point. Bangle has a lot to answer for…

look at http://www.performancealloys.com if you need some new wheels – the replicas are good quality (can’t remember the companies name) and shed loads cheaper.

Alfa 159, the 5 pot oil burner in the 156 was an awsome motor.if you can still get that motor in the 159 that would be lovely, really nice looking motor, just got to give them a little more TLC that say a Boring BMW or a Ford

Well Fords dont have a stunning rep.

Fix or repair daily is one.

Do it. Please. Youll find yourself glancing out of the window at it. Whereas at the motorway services your kids can play spot the 3 series…

Plus if you buy a decent 3 series it will be nicked….easily.

Watchdog will run a report on this one day

But hora – are you not slightly suspicious its been taxied or abused ! T

Test drove it tonight. Very quick, probably too quick as I hit 170kmph in an 80 without really thinking. Spec is good, rear seat leg room not great but I can’t drive it from the back so I don’t care. 25k euros for the 2.0 JTDM Ti, new not used. Needed a couple of attempts to get comfortable but I like it. I even don’t mind dumb stuff like the temp dials are hard to fiddle with when you’re in an odd-numbered gear as the stick gets in the way.

Will buy tomorrow.

If you go for one I hope the dealer is nearby should anything go wrong

I live in Luxembourg. Everywhere is nearby 😉

2L Astra CDTi is quicker than that. The 1.6L SRi petrol is a LOT quicker.
Like I said, nice cars. Sloooooooow.

2.0 CDTi Astra 8.5s 0-60 & 134mph max
1.6 SRI Astra 10.9s 0-60 & 118mph max

How is that faster? Think you need to check your facts!

Vauxhall?

I have had a 156 Sportwagon – 2.4JTD 10v – for 3 weeks now. It’s a bangernomics car (£700) so I’ve had a few things to sort like upper wishbones, rear pads, etc.

It’s the only car I’ve had I look back at after locking it.

Surprised no one’s mentioned the Skoda Octavia vRS estate 😉

Skoda – might be nippy, but nowt special to look at. An Audi in a dumpy frock.

It’s the grin factor you get with an Alfa.

My wife’s 147 Q2 has just been for some bodywork after a BMW tried to take the front end off of it. Ironically we got a 120d Sport as the loan car for the 2 weeks it was in the body shop.

We now have the 147 back and although it was nice driving the new BMW the 147 is an easier car to drive and feels a lot more nimble. Perhaps the BMW is a lot heavier?

I’ve had a 146 hatch & a 156 saloon. If I could guarantee getting my kit in the back, I’d definitely look at a 159SW.

I did over 120k miles in the 146, routine servicing kept it going; sadly the first new clutch (not OEM) only lasted about 30k miles & I foolishly chose to replace it with another of the same at a cheapo chain of exhaust & tyre fitters. a week later both drive shafts became noisily disconnected from the gear box. RAC man said they hadn’t been fastened in at all, let alone properly.
Oh, and it had one of the delightful sounding boxer engines 🙂

The 156 was lovely but didn’t last. Cambelt snapped while parked outside the house as I was starting it up, just inside the warranty period, so that got fixed. within 12 months of that the head gasket went – related? Local dealer agreed with me & fixed that under their own parts/labour warranty from the previous job, but I thought it was time I changed it before it struck a third time. I traded it in for a 320D Touring at 64k miles, having bought it as an ex-demo with 4.5k on the clock. I wasn’t drumming much then so didn’t need an estate, but it was also a pain for the MTB, so I decided it had to be an estate for that reason.

I have had a 156 Sportwagon – 2.4JTD 10v – for 3 weeks now. It’s a bangernomics car (£700) so I’ve had a few things to sort like upper wishbones, rear pads, etc.

It’s the only car I’ve had I look back at after locking it.

Aren’t cheap cars ace – I’ve had a Jaguar X-Type 3.0 (replaced an E39 535i that ate its gearbox) for a week or so now, a grand and then a hundred quid or so to service and put a pair of lambda’s on – drives like new.

Been thrashing a brand new Giulietta with that engine around for the past few weeks as a hire car. Great car, and brilliant engine, but I’d still be nervous about the longevity of the thing – this one already seems to have some niggles developing and it only has 4k on the clock 😯

I had a Sept 2007 159 Sportwagon 1.9 diesel lusso for almost 4 years from new. It was a company car and I very much liked it. Did almost 70,000 miles. Problems in that time –
Exhaust recirculating valve went sticky so engine gave no power
Fan belt cut through the turbo pipe after a service, so had to take it back so they could put the pipe back in the proper place.
A Glow plug failed in year 4.

Other than those problems (one of which was down to numpty mechanic) it was great. Stylish, not a BMW and like you say, fighter pilot console. Performance was OK, nothing hair raising. MPG was a bit disappointing (average around 40 iirc) even on a steady long cruise (mid 40’s) so don’t believe the Alfa figures.

I’d have an Alfa again, but now my mileage is much less it would probably be a petrol version.