Viewing 14 posts - 41 through 54 (of 54 total)
  • Alfa Romeo – Good or Bad ?
  • antigee
    Full Member

    Nobby – Member

    20 odd years ago I had an Alfasud 1.5 Ti Cloverleaf

    had one for a while but sadly needed handbrake sorting for mot – which involved lifting engine out !! – should have put in store somewhere rather than scrap – a fantastic car

    Sidney
    Free Member

    Took the plunge on a 156 Lusson Sportwagon 2.0JTS in January. Really glad I did, though when I occasionally drive a mondeo estate at work i’m envious of the load space. The 2.0 ecoboost in the mondeo really shifts also!

    Not had any problems so far, replaced the thermostat myself (wheeler dealer inspired me to get my hands dirty!) and tyres. I did get a scare when I checked the oil and it was well below minimum. Made a beeline for halfords to get some top-up oil and the engine has been fine. Keeping a closer eye on it now!

    Seeing all these pics is making it difficult for me to contemplate the mondeo estate for load lugging which I was just starting to think about……

    hora
    Free Member

    the boot was poorly designed and it was difficult to get stuff in and out

    Clearly you’ve never seen/used a Brera 😆

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    mattk
    Free Member

    Had a 156 2.0 JTS for about a month now.

    Out of all the other cars that fit my criteria (4 doors for £2k) it looked and drove better than all of the passats, golfs, skoda and Fords i looked at.

    It’s not mega quick but handles fantastic and is great to drive.

    Practicality gives way to style in some areas, but i don’t care cos it’s ace!

    karen805
    Free Member

    Quick pic of the 159 😆

    hora
    Free Member

    Mattk would much appreciate an update (s) of your ownership experiences. I’d love a 156 2.0 but Im scared 🙁

    mattk
    Free Member

    Hora – I think mine is an example of what happens when a car isn’t looked after very well. But this would be true of any car brand not just alfa.

    It has 60,000 on the clock and had new cam shafts at 40,000, and i suspect the piston rings are worn. Basically the 2.0 jts uses a lot of oil and if not checked regularly the engine runs dry.

    The service history is a bit sketchy and I suspect it was a lease car at some point, so it didn’t get the love it needed.

    I knew this when I bought it and got it cheap. But I enjoy tinkering and will be rebuilding the engine next month.

    But don’t let that put you off, just shop around for one that’s been looked after.

    stewartc
    Free Member

    Possibly the only thing I regret when leaving the UK was parting with my 159 Sportswagon.
    Compared with my previous car, a mk5 Golf TDi, it was a paragon of reliability and although the 1.9 diesel wasn’t the quickest it suited me to a tee.
    I never really was into sporty or quirky cars (always thought of them as a white goods thing) so it was always nice when strangers would come up to me in the Sainsbury car park and say ‘nice car’, check its service history, ensure you stick to the service schedule and go for it.

    stewartc
    Free Member

    Possibly the only thing I regret when leaving the UK was parting with my 159 Sportswagon.
    Compared with my previous car, a mk5 Golf TDi, it was a paragon of reliability and although the 1.9 diesel wasn’t the quickest it suited me to a tee.
    I never really was into sporty or quirky cars (always thought of them as a white goods thing) so it was always nice when strangers would come up to me in the Sainsbury car park and say ‘nice car’, check its service history, ensure you stick to the service schedule and go for it.

    Jujuuk68
    Free Member

    Had a 33 green cloverleaf, which was for a fwd family car “interesting”. The engine only a 1.5, twin carb, but so responded to revs that it loved a good thrashing. Not the greatest build quality and a few comedy failures including electric window which meant opening doors at all car parks for tickets, and the day the steering wheel came off mid corner, oh, and the throttle sticking open on a fast country lane.

    GTV2000, which handled superbly, but poor build quality including a leaking sunroof which used to store up water and then dump on the driver when getting in, due to the slight weight of the driver getting in the vehicle. Door lock froze open one morning. I had to drive to work holding the door shut. When I got to the first roundabout and had to change gear, indicate, steer, and dip lights, I ran out of hands quite quickly. Blew the engine at full chat on the Brighton bypass. It chucked a conrod through the block.

    Alfasud Sprint. So pretty, so fun, so badly made.

    Alfa 75 3l Veloce. Look, the thought of this car still reduces me to tears. Stunningly quick for a largish exec car, rwd, lsd, almost 200bhp, when this was a lot for a family car – but it was how it delivered the power through a lazy v6 that was so much fun. I remember thinking one day “the m25’s quiet, and everyone is going really slowly, I wonder why?” and then found actually they were all doing 80, but the Alfa had just crept up to 120 without even trying, no effort required and totally comfy, quiet and rock solid. Had that car a decade ago, still paying the credit card bills.

    Then I discovered motorbikes.

    mikeydmikey
    Free Member

    I’ve had a GT (1.9 Diesel) for the last 4 years – love it – it gets a lot of abuse and the only issues I’ve had are a few broken suspension bushes and a blown turbo hose (which looked and felt a lot more expensive than it actually was – about £100 to fix all in).

    I regularly take 2 bikes (road or MTB, just with just the front wheels off) plus weekends worth of kit – it’s a bit of a squeeze but easily doable. The back seats basically live in the folded position – I should probably investigate removing them completely 🙂 Can fit a couple of 6ft surfboards in the back, and have had a friends 8ft monster in it too – but that wasn’t much fun 🙂

    Only down side is the fact that the turning circle is appalling – actually visible from space. Oh and the fact that the blue light that comes on when you flip to full beam is almost as bright as the headlights themselves! Oh – and it’s almost impossible to get in when it’s frosty as the front windows freeze up and don’t drop to allow the front door to open 🙂

    TurnerGuy
    Free Member

    Hora – consider the JTS 156 rather than the 2.0 TS, as the JTS isn’t quite so flat at low revs – that could annoy you sometimes, such as when driving round the lake district in 3rd most of the time. JTS has a fair bit more punch.

    Sidney
    Free Member

    I sat in a Brera at a motorshow, my that was snug!

    Hora, I’ve had a 2.0 JTS for 6 months now. Nice engine, a lot of car for the money, not missed a beat despite me not checking the oil regularly at the beginning. I changed the thermostat which previous owner had failed to do. I’m getting about 32MPG but my purchase decision didn’t consider economy this time.

    I did spend a while hunting around for the correct one. There is good proportion of old high mileage tat in classifieds and on ebay. I travelled a fair bit to look at them and also be prepared to extend your search almost nationally. If cambelt change is overdue (3 year 36K) then best to walk. I didn’t follow this advice but I drove my car from seller direct to alfa specialist taking the risk.

    Good luck!

    verses
    Full Member

    Oh – and it’s almost impossible to get in when it’s frosty as the front windows freeze up and don’t drop to allow the front door to open

    A bit of silicon spray lube along the rubber seals where the glass meets them should sort that 🙂

Viewing 14 posts - 41 through 54 (of 54 total)

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