Alfa Romeo Gt 1.9 JTD 16v, 2005. Any issues to watch for?

Not for me but the stepson’s looking at one. He’s got BMWitis usually but he likes the look of the Alfa.
89K, had a new turbo & cam belt lately.

Opinions?

Service History is a must on Alfa’s (as is cow, if it’s not got leather, don’t buy it)

Did it have the water pump done with the belt? They’re plastic and seize throwing the belt off (common to a lot of marques).

EGR’s soot up (again, common to a lot of diesels of that age) easy to clean / replace yourself.

But the biggest problem he’ll have is with suspension wishbones. 156/147/GT platform cars eat them for breakfast.

It’s far from perfect, but they’re a good looking steer for relatively little money. Hatchback too so still reasonably practical, for a ‘coupe’

Cheers TKID, he’s currently looking at it, only 1hr 30 mins away!

Alfa Owner is a great source of information, as with any car research on the net, it’ll put you off any car for life, somewhere, someone has had an issue with the car you want to buy.

The 1.9jtdm is a good lump, if a little agricultural by today’s standards. 150bhp in standard guise, easily tuneable to more.

Same engine used by saab / GM (called cdti)

Nice one. I do like the looks but I suppose I’m in ‘Skoda Mode’ & remember a mate who had an Alfa GTV. Jesus, the electrics were a nightmare, daft things used to happen such as when he switched the engine off the windows would go down, that sort of thing & the AA/RAC were kept busy with it.
He didn’t have it long.

What sunglasses do you own?

This is a VITAL issue for cars with an Italian heritage, I gather.

😉

Oh, and what did you have for pudding?

My mum had that engine in the Spider, as part of her 3-year company car deal. It was returned after approx 11 months after having the turbo replaced – twice – and a seemingly un-fixable electronics fault that affected the dashboard. She ended up with a Merc SLK and was much happier.

Disclaimer: 1 bad experience does not equate to all Alfas are shit.

GTV is more stereotypical of Alfa ownership. Id still have one 😉 possibly not as a daily.

Well he’s back after 3 hrs! The interior was naff with some stitching on the leather coming away & the clutch was slipping like a slippy thing. He said it was noisy too, & had an airbag light on. He’s gone off Alfa’s.
Looking at an A3 in Derby tomorrow.

So he saw one shitty and decided to dismiss the Brand? Audi’s of the same age are pretty dull, passage have gearbox issues and all diesels of the same age will suffer from the same faults with the DMF and DPF if not maintained / driven properly. Spend some time looking for a nice Alfa and you’ll get a car with a lot more character. Ignore the “break down” jokes, a decent example after 2007 won’t have any issues in the same way Skoda have their own rep from the past.

The water pump / belt change is however essential to be done early -50k or 5 years. Egr Solti g up is common to those diesels also, costs £100 to have a professional remove it and remap,it out of the ‘puter and you also extend you DPF. You can do it yourself much much cheaper.

Also, get the car on a longer run and listen for the gearbox whining in fifth/six if it’s a 159, and see if the gearstick has lots of play in sixth. If so it needs a new gearbox bearing which is a £1500 gearbox out job.

Lol at cfh…

A diesel alfa regardless of its percieved italian herritage is just a.n.other bland euro box.

It has no more character than a ford focus tdci im afraid.

Im not anti alfa, but engine maketh the car. Like having a 4 banger camaro . It aint a camero 😉

I’ve been looking at those and most reports reckon the engine is cracking!

BTW essel – was the car your Stepson looked at in NE England?

Agree that a diesel Alfa isn’t quite ‘right’ – although I have only had 2 x 2.0 TS and 1 JTS units to compare with the 1 2.4 JTD 156 I tried.

I tried several Audis before I bought my Alfas, they don’t compare for drive quality – unless maybe if you spend shed loads on one.

Preferred the drive on my 156s to the GT, but I can get the mtb in the back of the GT.

“BTW essel – was the car your Stepson looked at in NE England?”

No, Blackburn. He’s selling his BM to release a bit of dosh for a deposit on a house so he’s looking for a half decent economical car till he’s moved & gone up the pay scale at work & once he’s on top dosh he reckons he’s gonna save up for an Aston Martin!

A diesel alfa regardless of its percieved italian herritage is just a.n.other bland euro box

While I don’t dispute that petrol Alfa is the proper way to go, how you can describe a GT or a 159 as “bland” compared to a Ford focus of the same era puzzles me:

or

or

vs a ford focus:

I rest my case

Who said the focus was less bland…. I described both the diesel alfa and the ford as bland…..but your convinced , matches your shades at least.

Had you bought a focus a pair of boots specials would have been fine,

You said this:

It has no more character than a ford focus tdci im afraid.

I’m arguing against that. I’m entitled to my opinion, as are you.

Im an engine man . If it dun sing its just another euro box. Fake cars were for when you were 17 and insuarance on the gt / rs model crippled you 🙂

You can’t have a car thread on stw without kryton telling the world how an Alfa 159 is the best car in the world and how awesome and different he is for driving one

This is only because I’ve discovered its an underated car, partly because of the continuation of a reputation which isn’t so much deserved as is made out. Trail-rat’s opinion that the blandest looking ford focus in the world might somehow trump Alfa’s design and character on the proviso that the ford had a V8 engine (or the like) under the bonnet I find a bit left-field.

See any post you like about Skoda’s to see how they’ve changed peoples opinions.

I’ve never claimed to be awesome btw, I’m just an atypical STW poster who sometimes has slightly different opinions to the everyday STW sheep, but who also recognises the wealth of information available here. I also have a very dry SOH which doesn’t come across to some people, including you apparantly.

essel – sounds like your stepson’s worked it out for himself, but how ever pretty it may be, and how ever nicely it handles, it’s an ALFA for god’s sake! This means that the electrics will be pretty crap (still, krypton!) and therefore lots of silly things will go wrong – constantly if he plans to do any mileage in it. The airbag sensor is just the start…….

Added to which, it has the 1.9 TD engine. This is a RUBBISH engine and has loadsa issues, which ever car it comes in. I had it in a Saab 9-3 estate, and while it had good poke when working well, it needs a cam belt every 72K miles (plus associated running gear and water pump etc) and it goes through EGR valves like they are going out of fashion. Combine this with poor electrics and you have recipe for chaos. Saabs in their last days under the malign hand of GM also had pretty poor electrics, and given that I do 30K+ miles per year, by 173K miles I had to throw the 9-3 away. Totally unreliable and parts packing up randomly, including ongoing EGR and particulate filter issues. Such a change to earlier Saabs. I switched back to older 9-5 estates with the 2.2TiD engine, and have done a further 60K miles over the last 2 years with no mechanical issues at all.

In summary – AVOID!

No i said that an alfa with an oil burner engine is no better than a focus. Thats very different to saying a focus with a v8 is better than an alfa.

No, you call it “bland euro-box” no better that a focus TDCI”, look I’ll prove it to you:

trail_rat – Member

A diesel alfa regardless of its percieved italian herritage is just a.n.other bland euro box.

It has no more character than a ford focus tdci im afraid.

So basically you’ve based your perception of a car’s character based only on its engine, and ignored all other attributes.

But thats fine, its your opinion as I said and you are welcome to it, but I disagree. Do you really need to keep banging on about it?

Lol, diesel Alfa. Better off with an Audi.