Alpha (156) - Deserved reputation?

Scottland

Scottland

Scottland

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Alfa (156) - Deserved reputation?

I've heard people say, and have been given the impression from people, that Alfa's are a bit unreliable.

Do they in general, and specifically the 156/JTD deserve this reputation?

We're talking about MY2000+ cars here.

Going from Pug to Alfa, whold this in your opinion be a case of out of the frying pan into the fire?

I'd appreciate your thoughts, cheers.
 
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No personal experience but Alfas were the only make of car to be banned from our company car scheme , this apparanlty was beacuase of reliability issues
 
I haven't had any personal experience either but from what I've read in What Car and the like their reliability still isn't as good as the more mainstream models but it's far better than the old 155/145/6 era models
 
Rotty said:
No personal experience but Alfas were the only make of car to be banned from our company car scheme , this apparanlty was beacuase of reliability issues
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Cheers, HonestJohn website seems to like the car but details reliablity issues in JD Power surveys and the like. Looks like the same kettle of fish as with French cars
 
They are not unreliable, just VERY high maintenance and if this is ignored of course you will get problems.
 
Rotty said:
No personal experience but Alfas were the only make of car to be banned from our company car scheme , this apparanlty was beacuase of reliability issues
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My company did the same thing. We had 4 156's, 2 of which threw the cam chains off, 1 rusted so badly around the A frame that Autoglass refused to put a new windscreen in it.

The other one never missed a beat though, and it had their fantastic v6 lump in it.

My heart would love me to buy an Alfa (I had the change to buy a 3l v6 166 a few weeks back) but my head won't let it.
 
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IMO they are unreliable.I've seen numerous JTDs with problems. Thing with Alfa is their beauty, they really are stylish vehicles and that can lead to people purchasing regardless of their reliability.

I think these figures speak for themselves

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%
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I think their low residual values highlight this fact too!
 
burbleflop said:
My head would love me to buy an Alfa (I had the change to buy a 3l v6 166 a few weeks back) but my head won't let it.
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You've got 2 heads? :o;)

Lets put this into perspective, would anyone buy a post 2000 156 2.4JTD (140bhp) for £3500-£4000. Leather, Climate, Cruise etc
 
Scottland said:
You've got 2 heads? :o;)

Lets put this into perspective, would anyone buy a post 2000 156 2.4JTD (140bhp) for £3500-£4000. Leather, Climate, Cruise etc
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D'oh! Maybe that's why I get funny looks everywhere I go?

In answer to your question though, no. The only way I'd have an Alfa would be if it were a company car so that I would be covered for when it broke down and wouldn't have to stump up for the nasty maintenance costs.
 
I think you're right. I think Oracle has hit the nail on the head, they tick all the boxes so you brush any "issues" under the carpet because of this, forgetting the stats which suggest they're unreliable nature.
 
not really a fan, we had a 156 jtd (1.9) when on holiday a few years ago and were driving up from barcelona to the french border when the engine cut out. This was on a car with 2000 miles on it :/

They look great but the mechanics of them are still an issue :(
 
One way to think about a s/h Alfa is the following:
- Costs considerably less than say an equivalent 3 series of the same year
- Actual running costs (including depreciation and maintenance) of a car that costs say 2/3rds of the amount of an equivalent BM may well be in the same ball park

For the cost of the Alfa, I wonder what age 3 series you'd get to buy, maybe a 97' (only guesswork, haven't got time to research it). I wonder how the maintenance costs of an older BM stack up against one?
 
Something like this from what I can see.

Realistically, at this price range competing with the Alfa's are 75's, SAAB's, Toledo's, Octavia's. These are all roughly the same Age/Price/Spec
 
So, yes, an old E36 BMW, but with an engine producing more power and one that will reliably go on to the plus side of 150k miles!

Stlye wise, like I said, Alfa, and I have to admit, personally I would probably jump at the newer car! But months later I'd kick myslef whilst waiting for the AA to come out and pick me up!
 
I've had an alfa for about 8 months now (156)
had a few problems, the aerial attached to the ECU that communicates with the keys to authenticate the starting of the engine copped out, end cost about £450 as the dealership thought it was the keys first of all and refused to admit they were wrong.
Now the Timing Sensor has failed, which apparently means about 8 hours worth of labour to replace a £5 part.
I'm going to try and do this myself, and probably break the car in the process.

The 72,000 mile service cost me about £1,100, mainly due to four new tires, a broken foglight and timing belt replacement.
 
Always liked Alfa Romeo.

My dad owned a Alfetta GTV6 2.5 in the eighties.

Serviced regularly never failed him
 
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