RichardS2005

Thinking of getting one for commuting - 130 miles a day 90% motorway.

Does any one have any experience of them. Looking to spend about £3k something like this:

Autotrader

Cheers

Richard

AudiLover

they are unreliable

RichardS2005

I was thinking (and could be wrong) that the issues with Alfa were quality control so they do have lots of problems but they tend to get fixed under warranty so make a good second hand buy?

Other thoughts were a Saab 9-5 idealy want something with less than 70k miles

AudiLover

saab 9-3 if you can are good motoway cars. dont know anything about the 9-5

micabluematt

very unreliable,my work mate had the v6 and it cost him thousands breaking down all the time ,stay well away .

RichardS2005

i meant the 9-3.......

falkster

I had the same thought as I do 110 miles per day and didnt want to put miles on my M3 so got a '00 V plate 156 2 ltr for 1700 quid! I thought I could do a year or so then bin it.

Ive had it since just before xmas and done 10k without so much as a hiccup. I replaced the crank sensor due to, a couple of times, it not wanting to start when it was warm (cost me 20 quid) but apart from that its been fine.

They do have a rep for being unreliable but there are many guys that swear by them (and I dont mean when they are stood next to them at the side of the m/way)

Dont get the 1.6 though as I cant see that being a good m/way car. The gearing on the 2ltr is great for m/way and delivers pretty good mpg.....If I were to buy another I would get the diesel though as you can get much much better mpgs......and they are within your budget at 3k.

RichardS2005

how many miles did yours have on it?

Rioja

I have a Alfa GT 1.9JtdM; basically a 156 underneath. Done 25,000 miles since May '06 without too many problems. Which is for sale if anyone is interested; and not because of any problems!

Quite a few specialists about, parts are cheap on-line and the diesel engines are very, very good. Things to look out for; the front suspension components can be a bit weak, ARB plus drop links and control arms tend to wear and clunk. Electrics are good, which always was the weak point of earlier Alfas.

lots more info on Alfaowner.com
all the best

Kev

Type-R

I have a 156 1.8

Nice smooth drive, only issue so far in 10k, was a split in a intercooler pipe
You just learn to live with the Italian build quality.

lem6

don't do it! my friend has a 2.0 selespeed..engine blew up, suspension broke, gearbox went, why anyone would willingly buy one is nuts!

Scotsman

iTrader: (3)

Seems to be down to the luck of the draw. I've had 3 156's since they first came out and didn't have a problem with any of them.

Robertio

iTrader: (1)

I've got a 2.4JTD that's now touching 93k miles, and the factory clutch is reaching the end of it's life. Other than that it's been problem free for me, and I seem to be doing about 1500miles a month at present.

Buying new I'd be wary, but second hand where the previous owners have fixed the problems then all seems good to me.

I'm currently stuck at 43-44mpg, and just can't seem to better that, don't suppose that's too bad on a car that feels about the same as my old GTi-6 in a straight line. Not the greatest drivers car, but for motorway use that's not a huge issue. One thing to do, is ensure you get a reasonable test drive in one if it doesn't have cruise as the throttle pedal requires only a very small amount of pressure to maintain the legal limit - after half an hour I suffer a fair amount of pain in my right leg from this.

Dunk

iTrader: (1)

I'll tell you in 6 months time ! I'm pxing my 104k 01 130tdi Passat for a 03 54k 156 2.4 JTD from a franchised Alfa dealer for an additional £2.2k..........time will tell whether it was a head or heart decision !

D

falkster

Mine was on 79k when I bought it. Usual things like cambelt change blah blah.

Was a bit suprised that the one advertised had the cambelt done so early

Dunk

iTrader: (1)

The std practice is to replace every 36k, twice as frequently as Alfa originally recommended.

D

MarkCSC

Don't do it! I was in the same frame of mind 12 months ago. Looked at 5 156s and all were sheds of varring degees. Build quality is terrible for such a newish car.

I ended up getting a Saab 9-3 LPT with 60k on the clock for £4k. Really nice motorway car, comfy, quiet and has a bit of grunt. **** at going around corners but there aren't many on motorways

Mark

PS oh and the 1.6 and 1.8 are sooooooo gutless. If you do get a 156 make sure it is the 2.0 TS

PPS Nice Saab near you here

logiclee

Nope, it's not worth the risk.

I had a 156 for 20months from new. I was forever sorting niggling problems with the suspension, steering and trim. The standard suspension is too soft and bottoms out, the Veloce and Sports suspension destroys the bushes within a few thousand miles on anything other than smooth tarmac.
Luckily I didn't have any major engine and gearbox problems that others have.

For a mile muncher you can't beat a Mondeo. Excellent to drive, well built, reliable, easy and cheap to service and repair.

Cheers
Lee

Edit to add....
The car in the autotrader add is a 1.6, even the 2.0litre feels a little gutless. It's got all the show but 1.2 Corsa's will give it a good run.

Dunk

iTrader: (1)

Here's my new mile muncher a 150hp 2.4 JTD, with a great 5 cylinder yowl....



600 miles in a week & nothing's fallen off yet !

D

scoobyjimbo

I had one for a while and used it every day, but it used to consume fuel and things stopped working daily. A great car and very good looking for the odd commute or trip but I would not rely on one for a commute that big..

J