After keeping up with one from Thruxton to Northampton in my mate's Vectra GSi, I've been looking sideways at Alfa 155s, both V-6 and 4 cyl models, but know NOTHING about them.
Any opinions / knowledge???
-- RdB
I know somebody with a 147 (1.6). It's two years old now, and has had a number of problems. Nearly =A31000 of repairs have been done under warranty, and a few weeks ago the engine management light thing came on, which would've cost more. This is obviously only one case, but I suspect that none of them are particularly reliable.
One thing that they're all supposed to do is drink loads of oil. You may need to top up oil as frequently as the fuel. It will obviously depend on how you drive etc, but some Alfas are worse than others. I don't know if it's just luck or how they're run in.
If you're gonna get an Alfa I'd budget for lots of repairs, and lots of oil! Having said that I think all of the repairs were done under warranty.
I know somebody with a 147 (1.6). It's two years old now, and has had a number of problems. Nearly £1000 of repairs have been done under warranty, and a few weeks ago the engine management light thing came on, which would've cost more. This is obviously only one case, but I suspect that none of them are particularly reliable.
My mates 156 2litre Selespeed was awfull, he had electrical problems the day it was delivered...
One thing that they're all supposed to do is drink loads of oil. You may need to top up oil as frequently as the fuel. It will obviously depend on how you drive etc, but some Alfas are worse than others. I don't know if it's just luck or how they're run in.
If you're gonna get an Alfa I'd budget for lots of repairs, and lots of oil! Having said that I think all of the repairs were done under warranty.
Well, they are owned by FIAT - Say no more - mind you, so are Ferrari I believe.
talking of FIAT and Ferrari here's some useless background info. Looks like alfa & ferrari brands may well be up for grabs in the not so distant future.
That sounds pretty much the norm for those.
No, they *all* use oil, usually around a litre in 2-3000 miles.
I worked at a main Fiat/Alfa dealer as warranty administrator. We turned over 5x the claim value we do with Honda for the same number of technicians.
The 155 is not a bad car as it goes. Older Alfas are a much better choice than later ones. That basically comes down to anything with a 16v
4 cylinder, or 24v V6, avoid. Go for the older 8v and 12v engines.A 155 V6 12v will last for 200k. However, you still need to be prepared for large bills, and constant maintenance. Newer cars are still the same, but they also suffer catastrophic mechanical failures.
R (ruggNOSPAM snipped-for-privacy@yahooNOSPAM.co.uk) gurgled happily, sounding much like they were saying :
I had a P-reg 1.8TS 16v for about six months and 15k miles from new (Co.Car, and I changed job).
I *loved* it, even though it was an *awful* car in so many ways...
The exhaust back box broke off (none in stock), the alarm was completely paranoid (never satisfactorily fixed), the bonnet release fell off.
The switchgear was "designed" by somebody carrying a tray of switches tripping over on the way to the clay model.
But it was such an *utter* blast to drive...
Don't even contemplate a "narrow-body" one, though - get a "wide-body". Avoid the v6 like the plague.
The ride's bad enough on the standard alloys - so don't get hung up on the Sport pack. IIRC, the Lusso was slightly softer, so might be worth looking for.
What he said.
If you're looking for a 155, the one to have (and the holy grail for Alfisti) is the very rare 'widebody' 8v.
(Alfa did a limited run of the later 16v body shape with 8v engines to use up supplies)
Lusso is simply leather interior.
Sure about that? - I'm _convinced_ I've seen non-leather Lusso spec cars.
Maybe that was just the narrow-body TSparks, though.
Aye, my error, Lusso is of course Italian for 'Luxury'. However, I've only ever seen Alfas supplied in leather when applied with the Lusso logo. Not to say there aren't some out there, they are renowned for misbuilds.
Andy Hewitt ( snipped-for-privacy@spamcop.net) gurgled happily, sounding much like they were saying :
I think there was a bit more to it than that - and I'm reasonably sure that they were on slightly higher/softer suspension. ICBW.
It might be on the 155, although I've not heard of it before. Certainly on the later cars it was merely a cosmetic difference.
AFAIK it's just a trim level. Lusso being Alfa's equivalent of "GLX" or "Ghia".
Front fogs, alloys, and a few other toys normally.
Not even that. On the Alfa 147/156/166 and GTV it was merely used to denote the prescence of leather upholstery.
All UK models got fogs and alloys anyway. Suspension and handling upgrades were related to 'Sport Packs'.
Nutty, I've not had a 147/156/166 yet, but most of my 164s have been Lussos and none have had leather :-(
There's a shit load of 156s about with wheeltrims though, they're all imports? :-o
On the narrowbody 155, Lusso denoted fogs, alloys, nicer velour, upgraded audio and leather steeringwheel / gearknob.
Could have given it an electric roof, too, but I'm not sure if that was just an option, IYSWIM.
ISTR on the widebody models Lusso spec also gained that crazy climate control system that never works properly.
Certainly had nothing to do with leather, anyway.
It does explain why all steel-wheeled 156s are cheap as chips in comparison to those with alloys.
Still don't!
They got more cheapskate as these newer moels came out. It was about the time Fiat were *really* getting into trouble.
Yes, it could be. The year that the importing really took off,
2001/2002? Alfa lost 50% of its UK sales to the European imports. It was also a year where they sold massive numbers of the cars.IIRC, there were one or two that came into the country as pucker UK models that did have steels fitted. However, they weren't mean to be, they just couldn't supply anough alloy wheels.
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