Think we have a new saleman at work...

I generally only do about 190-200 mainly motorway miles ATM, and when=20 the GT4 was sick (bad Lambda and stuck open stat) I was getting 19MPG,=20 and I was surprised I could afford it just, so a nice comfy 166 V6=20 mainly on motorway should be cool.

--=20 "Sorry Sir, the meatballs are Orf" The poster formerly known as Skodapilot.

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Reply to
Sleeker GT Phwoar
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This is before the cambelt change, and other inevitable maintenance costs.

Much as I love the 166, I've been warned off them by an ex-Alfa mechanic as they were the most troublesome model he can remember. This is why they're cheaper than an equivalent 156.

If I were doing 100 miles / week, though, I might risk it, and probably will.

Having said that, I'd probably just reposess the 75 :-)

Reply to
SteveH

Yeah, I know, but that is starting to become an inevitable cost on almost all modern cars you buy. As long as you get one with decent history, and at the right time/miles, and my 12k miles a year driving, could own one for a few years without it needing doing again.

Reply to
Sleeker GT Phwoar

This is where I always found problems when looking at late 155s / early

156s and 166s, most were due or overdue a change, instantly adding £400 or so to the purchase price of the car. A large majority of people seemed to be going with the original handbook suggestion of 60-70k mile intervals, too, which means you may not even get the car home before it self-destructed.

Same with Bravo HGTs / Marea HLXs and Fiat Coupes. It seems people sell them as soon as a belt change is due.

Reply to
SteveH

Waddya get now ?

The new Pug has returned an average of 25mpg since I've owned it, according to the trip computer. I do the most uneconomical journeys ever, and I like WOT, so I'm actually quite impressed - I was expecting it to be nearer

20mpg.
Reply to
Nom

But then you get the trader to sort it before you buy. They won't lose a sale over getting some mechanicals sorted.

Surely 99.99% of people would follow the handbook's suggestion ? Do they snap early ?

Reply to
Nom

I bet a lot would in the case of an engine out cambelt change if they thought they could flog it to the average punter on the street for their asking price, blissfully unaware of the cost of the cambelt change.

And I bet 99.99% of people sell it within a couple of thousand miles of the very latest it's due as per the handbook.

Reply to
AstraVanMan

Oh yes they will.

I've had several dealers refuse to sort a cambelt on a 5-pot Fiat before sale - they know the costs and that's why they won't do it.

It was revised by Alfa down to 48k miles after a series of tensioner failures.

Reply to
SteveH

But to be fair, this only applies on traders that aren't also garages, and cars that are under a grand :)

Reply to
DanTXD

No it doesn't. Well, not entirely.

I was prepared to pay sticker price for a Bravo HGT the year before last

- it was up for £3995, not a bad price, but not a bargain. Dealer refused to have the belt done - however, he couldn't do it himself.

Reply to
SteveH

Obviously that's the situation they'd prefer :) But if you went along to buy it under condition of cambelt change, I rekon most traders would do it.

Yep - that's exactly what I'd do :)

Reply to
Nom

Fair enough, but very few realise that to avoid virtually every potentially interested buyer just walking away, the asking price must reflect the fact that it's due a £400-500 cambelt change.

Reply to
AstraVanMan

22-23, but I noticed, that last week when the weather was drier, and the mornings and evenings lighter, it was up half an MPG, because I needed the headlights popped up about 1/4 less. And I do the M62 between Warrington and Manchester everyday. Coming home, it can be an 80 MPH 10 minute run, or it can be 1st gear all the way for 1 1/2 hours. In the mornings, it's so busy, I do most of it arround 40 in 3rd, and 4th.

Did get 30MPG when I took it for a 180mile motorway run when I first got it, before I started messing, but also replacing things like the stat and the Lambda, and split intake hoses and stuff.

After it has had the shocks and bushes etc changed, I'm going to get the timing and stuff sorted. See if I can get the best from it.

Reply to
Sleeker GT Phwoar

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