Economic decent looking car..

SiHH · 13 Jun 2006 at 11:31

Am currently driving an Alfa 156 Veloce X reg with 39k miles on the clock.

I like the car, its peforms fantastically both performance wise and handling but it isnt the most economic car on the planet..

It needs a 36k mile service which i've missed and also it will probably need the cambelt/tensioners done as well (as recommended by an alfa site)...

The exhaust needs replacing and i have a horrible feeling the suspension is creeking too..

Oh and the Tax is due next month

I am buying a property and moving in two weeks so money is very tight... I am very tempted to downgrade my car to something without the extras i get with this decent car..

Trouble is the Alfa is prob only worth 3k at best i reckon (the bodywork has a few scratches on it)..

Could i take it to a second hand dealer and ask to swap for another car (lower spec) if i chucked in a few hundred ?

What are the Astras like (old model) have seen some knocking about for around the 3k mark ?

[TW]Fox · 13 Jun 2006 at 11:45

As much as I dislike the 156 - I think it's a mechanical liability - I'd be mindful of swapping it for something like a Vauxhall Astra, for the following reasons:

a) Unless its something like a 3.2 V6, which given you think its worth £3k it probably isnt, you'll actually save little money in the real world by moving to a 'more ecomical' Astra.
b) Your car requires a major service. This is expensive. Unfortunately, everyone who would buy one also knows this, and this is going to affect the value of your car.
c) You take it to a dealer and you'll get rock bottom price for your car and pay top whack for whatever it is you chose to swap it for. The worst kind of deal.
d) If you've got a 156, the chances are you at least see driving as a tad more than simply a way of getting from A to B. A Vauxhall Astra will drive you mad - unless it's an SRi they are dull to drive, dull inside and uninspiring to look at.

I would sit down and do some PROPER maths about how much your 156 will cost you over the next year in fuel, insurance, servicing and repairs, and then how much something more economical would cost. You may be suprised at how small the difference is - for example, for me, it is going to cost approx £500 a year more in fuel to move from a 2.0 Mondeo to a 3.0 5 Series - not really that much when you break it down.

If you still feel you want to change - and owning a car which needs a £750 cambelt change every 36k would get annoying - consider something like a Focus or a Mondeo. Both are reliable, both are great to drive, and although the Mondeo is dull without the bodykit (You could find a Zetec-S maybe) the Focus is at least vaguely interesting and they are both very reliable and very cheap to service - a Cambelt change on one of these is 3-4 times cheaper than on your Alfa and needs doing only every 100,000 miles. It also means you need not sacrifice your extras to get something cheaper to run. I'm a student and I can afford to run my Mondeo, and it's probably got more extras than your Alfa

But don't do it from a dealer - buy one privately or something.

D4VE · 13 Jun 2006 at 11:50

Get that cambelt done mate, on an Alfa it is absolutely necessary to get it done on time.

SiHH · 13 Jun 2006 at 13:22

[TW]Fox said:
As much as I dislike the 156 - I think it's a mechanical liability - I'd be mindful of swapping it for something like a Vauxhall Astra, for the following reasons:

a) Unless its something like a 3.2 V6, which given you think its worth £3k it probably isnt, you'll actually save little money in the real world by moving to a 'more ecomical' Astra.
b) Your car requires a major service. This is expensive. Unfortunately, everyone who would buy one also knows this, and this is going to affect the value of your car.
c) You take it to a dealer and you'll get rock bottom price for your car and pay top whack for whatever it is you chose to swap it for. The worst kind of deal.
d) If you've got a 156, the chances are you at least see driving as a tad more than simply a way of getting from A to B. A Vauxhall Astra will drive you mad - unless it's an SRi they are dull to drive, dull inside and uninspiring to look at.

I would sit down and do some PROPER maths about how much your 156 will cost you over the next year in fuel, insurance, servicing and repairs, and then how much something more economical would cost. You may be suprised at how small the difference is - for example, for me, it is going to cost approx £500 a year more in fuel to move from a 2.0 Mondeo to a 3.0 5 Series - not really that much when you break it down.

If you still feel you want to change - and owning a car which needs a £750 cambelt change every 36k would get annoying - consider something like a Focus or a Mondeo. Both are reliable, both are great to drive, and although the Mondeo is dull without the bodykit (You could find a Zetec-S maybe) the Focus is at least vaguely interesting and they are both very reliable and very cheap to service - a Cambelt change on one of these is 3-4 times cheaper than on your Alfa and needs doing only every 100,000 miles. It also means you need not sacrifice your extras to get something cheaper to run. I'm a student and I can afford to run my Mondeo, and it's probably got more extras than your Alfa

But don't do it from a dealer - buy one privately or something.

Cheers for the reply - really useful.

I have come across a decent looking place to get the work done i need and seems pretty reasonable (VERY reasonable in fact)..

http://www.alfaworkshop.co.uk/

Hmm.

Decisions, Decisions..

Bug One · 13 Jun 2006 at 13:42

The key to italian car ownership. Find a specialist for the hard bits, and do everything else yourself.

SiHH · 13 Jun 2006 at 13:55

Bug One said:
The key to italian car ownership. Find a specialist for the hard bits, and do everything else yourself.

I am a total noob when it comes to car maintenance - never really done anything before..

Am tempted to do a short car mechanics course at college in the future....

Maz · 13 Jun 2006 at 14:04

£3k isn't unreasonable - what engine is it?

We paid £2800 for Alfa 156 W reg with 60k on it as a trade in against a 147 we had.

SiHH · 13 Jun 2006 at 14:05

Maz said:
£3k isn't unreasonable - what engine is it?

We paid £2800 for Alfa 156 W reg with 60k on it as a trade in against a 147 we had.

It's a 1.8 TS engine