Decisions, Decisions

Oct 12, 2005 26 Replies

The 164 I'm interested in can be mine for £550.



It's a 1994 TSpark Lusso with leather and only 80-something k miles and history. The only thing wrong with it is that the alloys could do with tidying - but that's nothing a dremel and a can of laquer can't fix.



I can sell my Passat for around £1800-£2000, pay off my credit card, buy the 164 and still put 500 quid in the bank.



My commute has dropped from nearly 100 miles / day to only 20 miles / day (both ways).



What would you do?


Not buy an Alfa as a daily driver. But that is just me.

Fraser

You don't know much about those 164s, then....

The TSparks especially are utterly bulletproof. V6 isn't far behind, you just need to keep an eye on the belts. But the TSpark is the old 8v Alfa twincam that seems to go on for ever.

In your position? Take advantage of the fact that my mortgage payments are very low, buy a 24v, and spend the few quid extra each week on petrol.

But that's not what you wanted to hear, is it? :-)

Seriously though, it looks like a real goodun, so go for it. Thing is, with something as nice as a 164, will the 75 end up getting neglected? If not, then go for it, if so, then get a diesel Fiesta.

Hehehehe.

Nah, the 75 is being resevered for track action and stuff next year.

True. I do know however that everyone I know with an Alfa has had it s*it itself in an expensive way at one time or another.

Fraesr

Here we go then. What'll happen now is that Steve'll mention that older Alfas have been a bit fragile in the past, but from the early 90s or so they've all been galvanised, and engines are a lot better etc etc., and the only ones that go wrong are the ones with numpties for owners. Then other people will chip in and say that lots of other people manage to produce engines of similar power without burning oil, and why can't Alfa manage it, then it'll degenerate to insults, and "my Dad's bigger than your Dad", then Remus'll pop in and randomly insult Steve, which he will reciprocate on the double. Then something else will happen, then something else, and before long it'll be night time and everyone will go to sleep.

Yep. Except all the newer alfas I know have had them s*it themselves. The are so bad you'd almost think they were made in England.

Fraser

It's hardly stripped and tuned, never will be. It's possible to have fun on the track in a road car.... I'd prefer to compromise on track performance to have something properly usable on the roads.

Aye, thing is, I do quite like that Passat, but starting a new job totally clear of credit card debt has a certain appeal.

So have you given up on all the fancy names then Carl, or you just on a different PC?

"The poster formerly known as NeedforSwede2, formerly known as Sleeker GT Phwoar, and before that, MeatballTurbo, and before that, SkodaPilot" :-)

Shoulda stuck with SkodaPilot like I did with AstraVanMan - a bit of 'heritage' there :-)

Do it. Use it daily, and then if/when it breaks get it fixed and "suffer" in the stripped tuned track 75 for a couple of days while the repairs are sorted.

It's a no brainer. My ideal choice would be the Saab 900 vert for posing arround/weekends, and a 9k Aero/Anniversary for the daily grind. No room for a second car though.

Different PC. Setting new one up at work. I'll soon change that.

You have a Passat? How boring.. ditch it and get the 164 anyday ;-)

I'd sell your Passat to someone called Douglas from Scotland for £550.

Douglas

That's a bit too cheap, but I think that £550 + a G reg BX GTi is more than fair.

Get a 164 V6 and disconnect the electric seats.

Add £1200 to that and it's yours ;-)

Even easier decission to get the 164 if the backup is less of a daily compomise.

If that's 10 miles each way, take advantage of the fact that it's now feasible to bike it. But you didn't want that answer...

cheers, clive

Hold out for a V6. The 164 has few enough merits to choose anything else.

Richard

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