Alfa 156 buy or not?

Alpha's aren't reliable, Fullstop

The 1.6 is a bit slow and gutless, stay away from the selaspeed models. All the 156 range suffer from electrical gremlins and badly put together interior trim. In my own mind the 1.8 would probably make a good second hand buy, they are going very cheap at the moment. They certainly are not what you would call a reliable car though but the 2.0 and 2.5 are very good fun but a mondeo handles better.

Andy

LOL, and people are likely to value your opinion when you can't even spell the brand correctly - it is ALFA you fool.

Hellraiser...........>

Oops :o

:-D

Heh, they still snap cambelts though :)

Hellraiser..........>

Expect some shaking of fists shortly........ ;-)

So will anything if you don't change them when you should.

I know Steve - I've got a Fiat 1.8 which is effectively the same lump, but it does seem those little plastic tensioners cause more than their fair share of trouble. Mind you, if someone doesn't change the belt, then.....

Hellraiser.........>

Problem is that Alfa/Fiat along with most other manufacturers got dragged into the extended interval war - everyone trying to outdo each other to have the longest cambelt change interval.

Since then, it's been found that 48k miles is the best time to do it.

I'm currently running the risk on the Passat - technically it's not due until 160k miles, but the common knowledge is that it should be done on

140k miles....... (VW say 80k interval - it was done on 80k, but it's reckoned that you should do it on 60k to be safe)

Fortunately, the Alfa has a chain :-)

Don't get so cocky, chains can snap too :)

Hellraiser.........>

They rattle first.

Actually, that's not strictly true, although something that is in the majority.

The 156 doesn't.

Well, yes, but I was talking about mine.

Ah, of course, back when they could do it right. I can't say I ever heard of those breaking.

And it's that which has swung things in favour of us restoring the bodywork on the 75 rather than chopping it in for that 146.....

Suprisingly, the wife was more passionate about the 75 than I was.

Righto. A hard choice really isn't it, but TBH Alfas were just crap after about 1996. As we've covered before, the old 8v chain drives, and

12v V6s are still the best to get.

A woman passionate about *any* car is surprising enough :-)

In general, 4 cylinder Alfa petrol engines need TLC. Some can DRINK oil and, if you're not VERY careful the damage can be surprising and expensive. Variators (variable valve timing on some engines) can wear and need replacement. Cam belts can snap if you leave changes too long. Suspension can require regular bush changes. Selespeed gear boxes can fail and/or cost an outstanding amount to fix. Servicing is expensive from main dealers - lots of which have a bad reputation. If you have any of the above happen, you suddenly become the unhappy owner of a 'crap' Alfa.

To a large extent the cure is to buy a diesel variant. My 2.4 is 4 year old and has been excellent for reliability. Expensive to service and eats bushes still applies though.

Well, it's easier for them to shift ordinary fare...

I don't blame you..they look fab.

..er..there's not a lot of room in them if you've got lots of kids and use the car to go on holiday so check this out first. They are 'compact executives'!

Buy sensibly and you should only have to shell out at service time!!

So you understand the irony then?

Interesting..my dealer (not known for cheapness!) quoted about 200UKP for that job on my 10 valve engine. As far as I can tell, 'menu pricing' involves the dealer accepting Alfa's official time for a job. All the dealer seems to be able to vary is the labour charge per hour and, possibly, the parts price!!! :-((

As an aside, the 10 valve 2.4 JTD cam belt assembly tends to last the

72000 miles that Alfa recommend for changing it. I guess that's due to the lower average engine revs on the diesel compared to a petrol as well as less complex valve gear assembly.