Once done, the Alfa will be tip top, no more issues.

Hmmm!

Oi! It’s true. anything else will be wear and tear for its age. It isn’t losing oil, dpf is below 60% (reported by diagnostic), clutch and gearbox are good currently. It’s been serviced, checked over, air con cleaned, disinfected and topped up, egr deleted and remapped, discs and pads currently good, interior is in very good nick.

It’s not a great car for driving in traffic – much more hard work our kuga with a lighter clutch and less on/off turbo and more linear delivery, but when the traffic clears it’s a blast. The Italian leather smell is to die for and the looks speak for themselves.

Oi! It’s true.

It may well be, but you can never really know despite all the checks.

The Italian leather smell is to die for and the looks speak for themselves.

You make it sound like a Maserati……its an Alfa 159 FFS! 😉

I’m a fan of keeping and fixing.

The Italian leather smell is to die for and the looks speak for themselves.

You must be lucky, my last Alfa with full Momo leather smelled like BO in hot weather, did smell nice when cold though.

Looks wise you’re right though, you’re not going look back a Skoda in the same way.

See the Skabia above.

That’s a nice thing to say 😐

The Italian leather smell is to die for and the looks speak for themselves.

Whats not to like about that,
Had a Alfa Brera for a few weeks as a courtesy car whilst our Audi was away being fixed,was a heavy old beast up front but went like stink and was a nice up front.

^^ that looks like you’d be sitting inside Lady Parts 😯

Don’t like that at all.

Anyways, fix the Alfa, still not too sure what it needs fixing in the first place.. 😐

Whats not to like about that,

1. Red leather
2. It’s an automatic
3. It’s probably a diesel

Happy to help! 😉

Looks like a man with no taste designed your car,,,,

Some cars can pull it off ….

Even alfas.

How ever that has failed on so many levels.

Looks like an amstedam whore house sofa.

Anyways, fix the Alfa, still not too sure what it needs fixing in the first place..

The steering rack is worn to near MOT failure.

Just to say, mine is manual, and exactly the same interior as that Brera above, except with Black leather.

^^ But, but, buuuutttt.

How come the racks gone ?

Man, I is soooo cunfused.

Thought you had this checked out pre purchase, and scoured the forums n stuff…

Seems like, well strange for the rack to go.

😐

I did. They found some play in it from purchase I just didn’t tell you lot. MOT’s not until next Jan, so I have a few months and of course addition wear is dependant on miles.

BUT, my extended warranty was £400 – so if I can get it done for free now, and not pay for a new warranty next year I’ll be £400 better off, so if thats the case I may as well get it done early. Plus, while its drivable I don’t need to pay for a tow truck…

Whats not to like about that

I’m not looking to be ‘orrible, but you are asking – everything!

It looks like a set of dead animal lungs, stitched together and inflated.

I hope you never need the airbag; I fear a nitrogen-filled set of sheep intestines will whack you in the mush.

Whats the rack made of that its worn to near mot failure. Gruere ?

You know how” worn ” a rack as to be to fail mot right….. It like be like driving by proxy using letter sent by royal mail to change direction before it fails an mot.

Look at any land rover on the road …. 1948-2015 😉

Also , youll probably find your warrenty doesnt cover “oh its a wee bitty worn i want it changed”

Ps i know a landy has recirculating ball power assisted steering not a rack. But free play at the wheel limits are the same regardless for mot.

Well then I’d get it done now if it’s That Bad.

And, you know, I’d get a second opinion on the wear too.. Just in case someones pulling the loose bit in yer trews.

Glad to hear, in other words, the cars going well though.

And, you know, I’d get a second opinion on the wear too.. Just in case someones pulling the loose bit in yer trews.

This has occurred to me, but thanks.

You know how” worn ” a rack as to be to fail mot right….. It like be like driving by proxy using letter sent by royal mail to change direction before it fails an mot.

I don’t, no. I was shown – with the car in the air – the amount of wheel movement before the rack was engaging. It was about 4″ side to side.

As bikebuoy intimates, I have a friendly garage behind my house, so I’ll pop it in for a 2nd opinion.

Obviously things like this can make one nervous, as my wife drives the car also. I don’t want either one of us to find we are suddendly going straight on at a corner at speed.

A “stuck” rack happened to me once before in an XR3, luckily I was merely turning at some lights in town so just cam to a slow halt in the middle of the road.

Aye we know the dangers all too well, but a second opinion on this kinda thing really should be without question.

We, yes we, don’t want anything nasty to happen to you.

Anyway, were you on the A3 late Sunday night heading back to London ? Around Waterlooville/Petersfield ?

4″ seems a lot, I’d have thought that would be very noticeable when driving… I’d get the credit card out for that.

Anyway, were you on the A3 late Sunday night heading back to London ? Around Waterlooville/Petersfield ?

Nope. I was accompanying 12 craft beers on the sofa for dads day.

Oh, Alfa like yours with 2 MTB’s on the roof heading North back to Town, did wonder if it was you but glad I didn’t hoot and wave 😆

Was it wandering all over the place ?

Weeksy, no not that I can tell. It’s not the sharpest to turn into a corner, but it isn’t bad by any means bearing in mind it has a diesel lump up front and standard spec wandering bushes.

Buying an Alfa for 7k and spending 4.3k on it, doesn’t seem like much of a deal to me (TunerGuy). OP you’ll always be spending money on an Alfa, the cars are a labour of love and money. You are stuck in a hole now as without fixing the car it will be worth very little. Skodas are very good products now, I do feel your pain as my Mrs has ruled a Yeti out. If it where me I would find some other cars/brands you like and run them past the wife, it’s my view the Alfa will be an ongoing cause of pain.

Fix the 159 – you know it makes sense. It’s a car you love to drive which will only feel even better once it’s had some TLC.

Tomorrow the new Alfa “Giulia” is unveiled to give you something to save up for 🙂

You’ll always be spending money on an Alfa, the cars are a labour of love and money… …Skodas are very good products now…

Sorry that’s just not true with modern Alfas, they don’t take any more or less looking after than other cars of a similar type.

Skodas have definitely improved over the years but I wouldn’t say are a step above Alfa in terms of build quality and reliability, there are things that were far better on my last Alfa than my current Skoda – paint finish on the Skoda is piss poor, rust is far more of a problem, timing chains on the tsi engines frequently fail and the air con compressors seem to be viewed as consumable.

Sorry that’s just not true with modern Alfas, they don’t take any more or less looking after than other cars of a similar type.

Tell that to Kryton….

or my mate who had to scrap his…

I only know 2 people who’ve owned Alfas… both have ben nightmares…

It’s not a good stat, doesn’t prove much… but tells me not to buy an Alfa.

He seems happy with his car?

Without knowing your mates or seeing what cars they bought they could well have bought dogs and driven them into the ground. A friend of mine just had to have a new engine in his wifes Polo GTI (2 years old, 20k) shit happens, doesn’t mean I wouldn’t buy a VW.

Having owned a good few Alfas over the years (without issue) I’d say they’re pretty reliable if you’re sensible.

Kryton57 – Member

I have to spend £1500 on a new steering rack.

jamesfts – Member

He seems happy with his car?

Not that happy LOL.

Whatever you do, dont go for one of these lease deals you end up totally screwed over and it costs a fortune.

weeksy – Member
Sorry that’s just not true with modern Alfas, they don’t take any more or less looking after than other cars of a similar type.
Tell that to Kryton…

Well, to be fair, its only had new pads, an EGR blank (choice) and a service, in the six months since I bought it. I did change the tyres from the shitty ones that were on it, again thats a matter of choice.

In general I’m very happy with it.

Back to the PAS – googling the symptoms reveals I have none of them, except the demonstrable play when moving the front wheels when the cars is of the ground. The PAS fluid is on the minimum mark, but I never checked it before so it could have been that way for ever for all I know – there certainly no fluid on the garage floor.

Maybe I should just drive it until a more obvious symptom appears.

4″ of play at the wheel ….. You would not/should be able to drive it if that was the case

Strikes me as praying on alfa fear! Get second opinion.

For Kryton

CLICK

It’s not a good stat, doesn’t prove much… but tells me not to buy an Alfa.

As came out in a previous thread on here, current Alfas have a lower warranty incidence rate than their VAG rivals – I know it’s not what the media want to publish but there are a lot of myths about a lot of cars out there still. It’s not that long ago that TG did a eulogy (of sorts) following the demise of Saab – it essentially said most of the stuff that they (& others) had spouted over the past decade was a load of old guff.

I know 3 people who have had Boxsters – 2 were nightmare, money-pits…. tells me not to buy a Porsche…. 😉

All the stuff about Alfas having dodgy steering racks is rubbish based on random internet forum postings like this one.

I think the leather looks ace btw – though not in red – but I have a Corrado VR6 with leather in it too. It’s available from all sorts of brands, even Skoda these days I should think.

Whats the deal on the Octy VRS for £200pm? ie whats the deposit and mileage ?

Details here, FunkyDunc

I was tempted by the Simpson’s offer, but £6800 for two years’ motoring seems quite alot, especially when its way more car then we need for nipping to the shops, over a choked M8 or the occasional long journey down South. I did test drive an Octavia as a result – the 1.6 TDCi. It was very mice but…. just… a bit plain. So I bought a 1 year old Honda Civic 1.6 dTec. Feels a lot more sporty, frugal as **** on diesel and looks… well, different. Innit.

Ah its not that cheap.

£7k for 2 years on a very low mileage…. no chance!

Currently pay £330 per month for BMW 320d Touring (no estate tosh) fully insured & maintained 12k miles

You lot are heathens , Alfas and red leather interiors are a given unless its a Red Alfa which should then have a tan leather interior to be perfect.

I suppose the Red leather clashes with your Tartan travelling rugs and velour tissue box 😉

Well, I’ve just come back from that second opinion. This was from the local Garage at the back of my house, I know the chaps so you think they wouldn’t piss on thier own doorstep.

There verdict is, there is nothing wrong with the rack, track rods or no play in anything. Regarding the atypical 159 steering rack problems he basically said “If you’re worried keep an eye on the fluid & floor, if it starts grinding or the steering gets heavy, pull over. But basically, stop worrying and if it breaks get it fixed”

Shrugs. The other advice was from an Alfa specialist with a national reputation. One wonders who is right and why they’d tell me it was a problem.