Mature 24yr old male seeks new car!

The Clown Man

I was in a very similar situation when I bought my car. 6 years driving, 5 years full licence and about 10k to spend. I went with the Alfa 156 cause I always loved the look of the car.

http://members.boards.ie/clowneh/Alfa%20156.jpg

Now when i bought it I had heard that the gearbox and brakes had a tendancy to give out but once they were replaced they were fine. The gearbox and brakes were replaced early on and it had a very good service history. (Was in a fleet management company so it got serviced every 6 months. Interior was in pretty good condition considering.) I also got the AA guy round to check it for me and it was in good nick.

I got your man down to a good price and even had enough left over to stick on a nice set of rims.

Now the 18" alloys are actually too big for the normal size of the arch but 17" fit fine. I had the arches rolled (€40) and I have to get a little bit of metal taken off the inside (€100).

So although my mates with their bangers moan about it needing so much attention, the only attention that it has needed is as a result of my messing around with it. The alarm I put in it also went on the blink once. But the car itself has been gliding on perfectly since I bought it 8 months ago.

Oh and it's soooo much fun to drive! Hit 4.5k revs and it just takes off! And 144bhp for a 1.8 is pretty good going.

I got insurance with ARB or someone but apparently if you mail hibernian with your driving history and details they will give you a few years no-claims to start with. That's only just recently. A mate of mine just got quoted €1500 on his '93 BMW 318. He's in the same boat - 23, 6 years driving, 5 years licence etc.

jayok

The Clown Man wrote:

Now when i bought it I had heard that the gearbox and brakes had a tendancy to give out but once they were replaced they were fine. The gearbox and brakes were replaced early on and it had a very good service history. (

You see that's my point with Alfa's. You shouldn't have to replace the brakes and gearbox to get it running smooth!

Reminds me of a quote of a collegue who bought a new 147. When I asked anything ever go wrong with it? His reply: "Nope, well, the a/c never worked but apart from that everything is perfect!" :eek:

unkel

jayok wrote:

His reply: "Nope, well, the a/c never worked but apart from that everything is perfect!" :eek:

He probably never read the instruction manual on how to switch it on. If it never worked, why did he not get it fixed under the warranty? :rolleyes:

The Clown Man

jayok wrote:

You see that's my point with Alfa's. You shouldn't have to replace the brakes and gearbox to get it running smooth!

Reminds me of a quote of a collegue who bought a new 147. When I asked anything ever go wrong with it? His reply: "Nope, well, the a/c never worked but apart from that everything is perfect!" :eek:

No you see I didn't replace the gearbox or the brakes. That was done in it's first 18 months. So the car that I bought second hand works perfectly. i.e. If you buy an Alfa second hand that has had the glitches fixed already it's a perfectly sound car.

Well, in my experience anyway...

HashSlinging

mate just go for a nice car with german DNA :- ) shameless plug i know!

Seat Leon Signo 1.6 '01. Manual, Dolphin met grey, 62k mls, 5 dr, ABS, alarm, immob, 16' TT Alloys, new tyres 205/55/16,FULL SEAT SERVICE HISTORY BY THE BOOK, full receipts, just serviced, tax, CD player/Mp3 connector, e/folding/m, all/e/w, fogs, clean car, nice reg number. Well looked after and minded, always warmed up first thing. Price: €11,250

http://www.seatcupra.net/forums/att...tachmentid=8146

Top gear:- 5 stars
What car :- 4 stars
Car magazine - 3 stars

Genuine reason for selling. Genuine offers only.

Sleipnir

unkel wrote:

He probably never read the instruction manual on how to switch it on. If it never worked, why did he not get it fixed under the warranty? :rolleyes:

Because if you fix something in an Alfa, something else breaks.
A mate of mine bought one brand new and in the first year it spent a grand total of 3 months back in the dealers for some reason or another.

One quarter for the time he owned it!

jayok

unkel wrote:

He probably never read the instruction manual on how to switch it on. If it never worked, why did he not get it fixed under the warranty? :rolleyes:

Well the Alfa warranty is like their cars, crap. Actually, Alfa don't cover their cars after 1 year. Basically the take out an insurance on the car and if it breaks outside the year, the dealer estimates the costs and submits them to the insurance company. If the insurance company "agrees" to pay the costs then it's covered, otherwise you are on your own! Have you ever tried to get full costs out of an insurance company?! :eek:

impr0v

jayok wrote:

....Alfa don't cover their cars after 1 year.....

They've obviously heard how bad they are too.

unkel

jayok wrote:

Well the Alfa warranty is like their cars, crap. Actually, Alfa don't cover their cars after 1 year

Is it only 1 year here? On the continent it is 2. Obviously if a warranty is 1 year and somethings fails after 1 year, the manufacturer is in no way obliged to entertain a free fix...

If the aircon never worked, it never worked in the first year either, so why didn't your man get it fixed within the warranty period :rolleyes:

I agree with the general feeling that Alfa's are not the most reliable cars, especially the electrics leave a lot to be desired. They make an interesting alternative though, think about it. You can have a beautiful, stylish and great engined 156 for the same price as the likes of a Nissan Primera, Opel Vectra or Renault Laguna. Instead of a boring repmobile you get a true car almost comparable to a 50% more expensive beamer!!!

You will indeed have to take into account some flaws, but it might be worth it

cdebru

anyone see the survey in the irish independent today
which magazine survey based on break downs non starts etc

basically good cars are anything japanese and ford and hyundai

crap is fiat bmw audi citroen vw saab rover renault opel puegeot daewoo chrysler

alfa actually come in as average with mercs porsche volvo skoda kia jaguar proton seat

but the point is if you want a good reliable car buy japanese

if you want to get to know your local mechanic very well buy a european car

buy i suppose the warranty will tell you that anyway
most japanese cars come with at least 3 yrs 100,000 kms

most european cars they wont stand over it for more than a year
so they know themselves they are building crap

unkel

That's already covered in this thread

The Clown Man

You can have a beautiful, stylish and great engined 156 for the same price as the likes of a Nissan Primera, Opel Vectra or Renault Laguna. Instead of a boring repmobile you get a true car almost comparable to a 50% more expensive beamer!!!

You will indeed have to take into account some flaws, but it might be worth it

I got mine for €9,500 inc alloys, archwork and pioneer mp3 player. Hell I can't fault that. Remember these cars were designed for the BMW 3 series/ Mercedes C Class market. And you can feel it when you're driving it.

They are solid, comfortable, sporty, good looking and they just feel so ... italian

However, I probably wouldn't buy one new - they start off fairly expensive... But for the second-hand price they are going for they are a great buy. Alfas have never held their value mainly because the earlier models always had rust problems. The 156 doesn't though and in my opinion, second-hand, they are a very good deal.