Alfa Romeo - Any good?

Warper

Im getting a secondhand car soon and was wondering if a 2000 AR is any good. Costs 3k , 80k miles.

Any recommendations?

Henry Ford III

Here we go!

siralfalot

Warper wrote:

Im getting a secondhand car soon and was wondering if a 2000 AR is any good. Costs 3k , 80k miles.

Any recommendations?

yeah..... duck!!!

tuxy

I don't think Alfa Romeo have a model of car called 2000.

siralfalot

tuxy wrote:

I don't think Alfa Romeo have a model of car called 2000.

actually..............

the GTV 2000:

Owen

This should be good (Turns on the Benny Hill theme music, and sits back hitting refresh every 10 secs for the fun)

SecureSounds

Alfas are great, nowhere near as bad as people make out.

siralfalot

Warper wrote:

Im getting a secondhand car soon and was wondering if a 2000 AR is any good. Costs 3k , 80k miles.

Any recommendations?

A 156 i presume? petrol?
first thing is the cam belt, it should at this stage have been changed twice, it needs to be done every 36000 miles
next is oil, this needs to be checked every week religiously
front bushings, are nearly as bad as the ones VW use, knocking means they need to be changed, not a big job
flat spots in the rev range, again like VW, the Bosch air flow meter can give trouble

Eoin

siralfalot wrote:

A 156 i presume? petrol?
first thing is the cam belt, it should at this stage have been changed twice, it needs to be done every 36000 miles
next is oil, this needs to be checked every week religiously
front bushings, are nearly as bad as the ones VW use, knocking means they need to be changed, not a big job
flat spots in the rev range, again like VW, the Bosch air flow meter can give trouble

You've gone and ruined the thread now by putting useful information in it!

OP - check one of the stickies at the top of the motors forum, and you'll see links to a few of the longer Alfa threads we've come to love and cherish.

siralfalot

eoin_s wrote:

You've gone and ruined the thread now by putting useful information in it!

aah crap, sorry bout that.....

okay...... ahem.....

GRAB YOUR TORCHES AND PITCHFORKS!!!! HERE BE ANOTHER HEATHEN ONE WHO WOULD DARE TO CONTEMPLATE THE PURCHASE OF AN ALFA ROMEO, THE VERY CAR OF BEELBZUB HIMSELF!!!

better now?!

Hotwheels

siralfalot wrote:

aah crap, sorry bout that.....

okay...... ahem.....

GRAB YOUR TORCHES AND PITCHFORKS!!!! HERE BE ANOTHER HEATHEN ONE WHO WOULD DARE TO CONTEMPLATE THE PURCHASE OF AN ALFA ROMEO, THE VERY CAR OF BEELBZUB HIMSELF!!!

better now?!

Much worse than that, I'm gonna buy another new one next year...:D

colm_mcm

I heard they're made out of cheese

Eoin

siralfalot wrote:

aah crap, sorry bout that.....

okay...... ahem.....

GRAB YOUR TORCHES AND PITCHFORKS!!!! HERE BE ANOTHER HEATHEN ONE WHO WOULD DARE TO CONTEMPLATE THE PURCHASE OF AN ALFA ROMEO, THE VERY CAR OF BEELBZUB HIMSELF!!!

better now?!

Much better - back to normality

jimmycrackcorm

Will some admin please turn off the Alfa Romeo Cron posting Job....

Eoin

jimmycrackcorm wrote:

Will some admin please turn off the Alfa Romeo Cron posting Job....

You ain't seen nothing yet - if this Alfa SUV comes out, we could be in for one monster thread. Especially if it has always-on fog lights.

siralfalot

eoin_s wrote:

You ain't seen nothing yet - if this Alfa SUV comes out, we could be in for one monster thread. Especially if it has always-on fog lights.

I think I'll buy one, and put Lasers into it instead of those fog lamps


perhaps a Gucci designed Gun rack too?

Eoin

siralfalot wrote:

I think I'll buy one, and put Lasers into it instead of those fog lamps


perhaps a Gucci designed Gun rack too?

Don't bother - sure, won't it just break down as soon as you get it?

OP - sorry, it appears that the Alfa thread links have been removed from the charter.

Lex Luthor

colm_mcm wrote:

I heard they're made out of cheese

and chewing gum....

Sonnenblumen

Warper wrote:

Im getting a secondhand car soon and was wondering if a 2000 AR is any good. Costs 3k , 80k miles.

Any recommendations?

Some talk on the gum and cheese aspects, but given they are so cheap, I mean nothing depreciates like an alfa, others reckon the depreciation is more consistent than performance!

Statistics indicate very few people buy new alfas and anyone who buys secondhand, well given what others say, I'd imagine the boot is full of spares and emergency phone nrs.

Someone needs to find out why potential Alfa always ask are Alfas any good? I mean what is it about these prospective buyers that always ask "are they any good?" It's priceless.

Thumbs up for a laugh but do yourself a big favour and think carefully.

Eoin

Sonnenblumen wrote:

Some talk on the gum and cheese aspects, but given they are so cheap, I mean nothing depreciates like an alfa, others reckon the depreciation is more consistent than performance!

Statistics indicate very few people buy new alfas and anyone who buys secondhand, well given what others say, I'd imagine the boot is full of spares and emergency phone nrs.

Someone needs to find out why potential Alfa always ask are Alfas any good? I mean what is it about these prospective buyers that always ask "are they any good?" It's priceless.

Thumbs up for a laugh but do yourself a big favour and think carefully.

I don't know why I'm bothering but...

Depreciation is driven by several factors - e.g. reputation. Reputation is not a fact. Alfas don't have a good reputation for reliability - noone can dispute that. Is it completely deserved? Many current and ex-Alfa drivers will say it's exaggerated, but will no-doubt the "Alfa Brigade" will be dismissed by the herd as ignorant of all motor-related information, and so on and so forth - while they enjoy the bargain of the car they probably got because of all the nonsense out there.

I'd also be surprised if Alfas are the only make that people ask are any good.

TychoCaine

eoin_s wrote:

Depreciation is driven by several factors - e.g. reputation. Reputation is not a fact. Alfas don't have a good reputation for reliability - noone can dispute that. Is it completely deserved? Many current and ex-Alfa drivers will say it's exaggerated, but will no-doubt the "Alfa Brigade" will be dismissed by the herd as ignorant of all motor-related information, and so on and so forth - while they enjoy the bargain of the car they probably got because of all the nonsense out there.

I'd also be surprised if Alfas are the only make that people ask are any good.

I know I shouldn't rise to the bait, but..... Alfa's reputation seems to be deserved. They are consistently rated in user surveys as one of the most unreliable car manufacturers on the road, with surly and sometimes incompetent dealers. I presume you're looking at a 156, so I went to honestjohn.co.uk and found the following (see http://www.honestjohn.co.uk/carbycar/index.htm?md=7&)

honestjohn.co.uk wrote:

FIAT/Alfa joint worst for breakdowns attended by German ADAC during 2001. 9th from Bottom of 100 models for reliability in Auto Express 2002 survey. 18th from Bottom in 144 car 2002 JD Power / What Car? Customer Satisfaction Survey of V and W reg cars. Alfa Romeo had joint highest average cost in warranty claims for cars up to 10 years old in 2002 Warranty Direct index Joint fourth bottom in 2002 Which reliability survey of cars up to 2 years old; 74 cars surveyed. Alfa Romeo 2nd least reliable of 31 makes of car in 2002 'Which?' reliability survey cars 2000 - 2002; 3rd least reliable cars 1997 - 1999. Only 87% breakdown free in 2003 Which survey. Alfa Romeo had fourth highest warranty repair costs in 2003 Warranty Direct Reliability index (index 155.10 v/s lowest 31.93). 98-2000 average for breakdowns and faults and poor for problems; 2001-2003 average for breakdowns and poor for problems and faults in 2003 Which survey. 7th from bottom out of 137 models in 2003 Top Gear survey. 156 8th bottom model and Alfa Romeo bottom marque in 2004 JD Power Customer Satisfaction Survey. Alfa Romeo 5th bottom of Reliability Index for 2004 combining average cost of repair of £392.88 with high 39.55 failures per 100 Warranty Direct policies. Link:- www.reliabilityindex.co.uk Came 16th from bottom in 2005 JD Power/What Car Survey of 23,000 cars reg Sep 2002 to Aug 2003 with satisfaction score of 74.7%

The cars are beautiful; some go like sh1t off a shovel, and they put a smile on your face when you're driving it, but not everyone likes to wait at the side of the road for the AA for the tenth time.... It's a trade-off. I've still got my eye out for a nice GTV for the weekend though

~~SKYHIGH~~

They look lovely but I heard they use superglue and sticky tape to keep the interior bits together. And the headgaskets are made of cardboard.

Shame since they look so nice...

junkyard

These threads seem to start more often than Alfa's do.:)

Woogie Boogie

look great & cheap so might be worth a chance if you not doing big mileage