O/T Alfa Romeo 156

[Tan]

Hi

Does anybody have experience of of the Alfa 156.

 

[clk270]

Nice motor, when its someone elses.

Handbook now says to check oil level every 300 miles, as Alfa are covering their a**es due to the number of blown engines.

V6 engine the sweetest but extra weight increases the understeer

Momo leather beautiful (when new)

Dealer service was crap - not sure nowadays

 

[Kinky]

To die for.

Best engines - the V6 or the 2.4 diesel - more like a 2 litre petrol - you'd never know.

Dealers are very patchy - I'm quite lucky in that SGT are not too far - who are one of the best imho.

Plenty of specialst folks around too.

Thes best Alfa forum to visit is Alfa Owner: http://www.alfaowner.com/Forum/

The 156-specific forum is at http://www.alfaowner.com/Forum/forumdisplay.php?f=52

Kinkys top tip of the day - if you do go and register - go to your User control panel - then select Edit Options - and at the very end set your Forum Skin to AO Classic.

There was a lovely V6 on eBay last week at £2,500 - which I was oh so so very close in buying.

K

 

[Tan]

A friend of mine is in the market to buy a new car.. I have tried to convince him to buy either a W124 Coupe or a C-class but he aint having none of it.

Mind you its very easy to fall for the italians charm, specially when £7000 grand is buying a 30ish k miles of 51 plate car with leather, air and tiptronic gearbox

 

[malc_n]

My last car was a 156 V6, cracking car, and I appeared to get lucky, as had virtually no problems in 3 years of owbership (save for a brake servo failure after about 3 months of ownership). I also got lucky living only a couple of miles from SGT in Taplow, where the service seems to be a mile away from most Alfa dealers. That said, I would be wary of buying a secondhand one without getting it thoroughly checked over, and look out for the 72.000 mile service ! On the V6 thats when they change the cam belts, and its very expensive (was a company car, but the invoice was the wrong side of £1500).

 

[kikkthecat]

A friend of mine is in the market to buy a new car.. I have tried to convince him to buy either a W124 Coupe or a C-class but he aint having none of it.

Mind you its very easy to fall for the italians charm, specially when £7000 grand is buying a 30ish k miles of 51 plate car with leather, air and tiptronic gearbox

I've never had any experience of the Alfa except that the first one I ever saw, about a week after thay went on sale, was getting put on the back of an AA truck. Sad but that image has stayed with me.
But I just got this from the tiscali motoring pages. I think your friend should see it .

Since its launch the 156 has picked up plenty of magazine and industry awards, but don't mention the customer surveys...
Used Alfas cost more to repair than any other make, according to Warranty Direct.
Alfas came joint worst for breakdowns in the German ADAC survey in 2001. Alfa was fourth-worst manufacturer and the 156 second-worst model in the 2002 Which? reliability survey.
The 156 came ninth from last in the 2002 Auto Express satisfaction survey; it didn't do too well in the 2002 JD Power survey either.
Meanwhile 4car's user tests on the 156 are riddled with niggling faults, and Alfa dealers get a very mixed assessment.
Be aware what you're letting yourself in for.


Personaly I'd have another pop at him about the older Merc.

 

[Tan]

Cheers guys