My commutes gone from mostly working from home to a daily 60 miles. I was thinking of a diesel and have always fancied an Alfa GT. I don’t need a huge boot and rear seats will only be used very occasionally so space isn’t an issue. I’m looking around the £5k mark with the intention of keeping the car for a few years. Anyone got/had/know a mate with one? Reliability issues? Things to look for?

I also like the 159.
Currently commuting in celica which has been drop dead reliable but is costing at £220 a month in petrol in my commute alone, would like to bring that cost down

Try an Alfa specialist near you if you have one.

A colleague has a 1.9 diesel I think. I joke with him that every service/breakdown he’s had since I started working with him (9 months), could buy him my mx5. Each time – that’s 4 mx5s. Unfortunately I can’t help with the specifics of what to look out for, on his it was a previous hamfisted owner who bodged it up to sell. Had a timing belt failure and bent valves.

However, it’s quite a nice car to ride in!

Cheers! I asked on Facebook and a mates mate commented (he worked for Alfa) and said stay away… Which isn’t what I wanted to hear but I need something reliable. We have had mx5’s and now have an MR2 which has suddenly become my girlfriends car now the suns come out!

I’m looking to buy a GT 1.9 16v JTDM the next time I’m home. They are quite a rare car so its difficult to find a decent one. £5k will get you an 06 plate with around 60k miles from a dealer. The JTDM engine is made by Fiat, its also used in GM/Vauxhall/Saab cars so its reliable and spares are plentiful.
Cam belts don’t fail if they are changed on time (and the water pump as well), suspension can be clunky (this is shared with all other Alfas) but again is fairly easy to sort but watch out for it on your test drive.
The one I’ve got my eye on has the Q2 LSD fitted which is worth getting if you can – its a £550 retro fit if you fancy it afterwards.

Auto trader on has 2 within 20 miles of my postcode one at £8k it was £8.5k last week (dealer) and an over priced private sale. I was going to test the dealer one to see if I like it but they are shut today!

They aren’t bad motors given the reliability rep that Alfa has…. However be acutely aware that if you spend 8k on one it will be worth 5k in a year or so, they drop reply to the 3-4k value and when you’ve put 20k miles on it the value is a shocking decrease.

Rapidly not reply. Forum on my phone doesn’t work well.

You need reliability and your thinking Alfa? I love the make and have driven different models for years but you will never find a review on any Alfa that includes reliability . Try any of the online reviewers , they consistently score low in all the important factors apart from looks. Why do you think they depreciate so heavily ? Servicing and build quality is the main reason .

Getting another more economical car isn’t going to save you money if you have to pay to do so. Stick with what you have and spend the money on something else to cure the itch you have.

They depreciate heavily becasue of peoples perception of unreliabity (which actually isn’t backed up by the more recent review web sites anyhow, certainly not the ones I’ve look at), thats what makes them such a good second hand buy.

Hmm, based on your mileage, and assuming the Celica is returning 40mpg (mine used to do 42) and further assuming that the new car will do 60mpg, that means you’ll save £55-65 per month on fuel. Over two years, that’s £1500. Will it cost you more than this to change car? How much will the Alfa depreciate?

I go through this calculation every time I do a 600 mile round trip in my 3 litre petrol touring…and it’s just not worth the cost to change….ultimately the petrol car is more reliable and cheaper to fix than the associated problems with a diesel.

This is based on experience and not Internet based conjecture

every serious car enthusiast gets an Alfa at some point, its a love (then) hate relationship. mine was a love to drive, a hate to maintain and spend cash on it, usually every 4 months!!!!

get a Golf

The GT is based on the older platform, which isn’t (even by Alfa standards) known for its (long-term) reliability.

And I’ve had to agree with others, swapping out a Japanese car for an Alfa to save money 😯

1260 miles a month commuting (60 miles * 21days) = £220 = approx. 35mpg

A diesel Alfa will do 45mpg?, but the fuel is dearer
1260 miles a month commuting (60 miles * 21days) = £180 = approx. 45mpg

Save less than £10 per week.

An alfa is not a car to buy if you want fuel economy. The gt (I have one) will do 45mpg, which by modern standards for a diesel is not great. I reckon a petrol doing 39/40 mpg (my 1.6 focus with 140,000 on the clock did this) will be cheaper to run than a diesel GT, given the extra cost of diesel fuel and repairs should anything go wrong with the engine (turbo, injectors, DMF Etc).

On the plus side i don’t think any of the diesel GTs had DPFs fitted.