ST220 or alternatives + Questions : )

Peter450 said:
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While I don't expect it to sound like a v8 I will be disappointed if it sounds similar to a 2 litre one
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It sounds nothing like a 4 cylinder, its also not as quiet as people make out, a nice smooth v6 note, no different in cabin noise to many v6 cars. They are not noisy engines (in modern cars). Of course if you open up the air intake and add a performance exhaust youll get a nice roar. Something I have considered but not done so in the 2 and half years I have owned the car.
 
X Type Jags are nice cars, and my bro-in-law very nearly bought one last month.

What put him off was the worry of a dodgy transfer box and the fact that all of the cars we looked at had rather a lot of rust on the underside of the sills, and not just surface rust. I'd hate to see the state of the sills under the skirts. This was when we looked at cars up to 2004. Not sure whether later cars are the same.

6 cyl X Types have a cracking engine/exhaust note.
 
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The scream of the V6 sounds awesome... When on the outside or windows down.

The standard exhaust in quiet, adding a custom exhaust brings the sound of the car and engine alive. I have a Miltek that sounds lovely and raspy, not chav loud.

Great cars, massive room, great interior and specs, handling is great, engine is fantastic for the Mondeo, looks great. Still a Mondeo though, so cheap servicing, Oil is 6ltrs which is costly depending on the oil you use (£62 for me) 2x4ltr at £31.
 
danza said:
X Type Jags are nice cars, and my bro-in-law very nearly bought one last month.

What put him off was the worry of a dodgy transfer box and the fact that all of the cars we looked at had rather a lot of rust on the underside of the sills, and not just surface rust. I'd hate to see the state of the sills under the skirts. This was when we looked at cars up to 2004. Not sure whether later cars are the same.

6 cyl X Types have a cracking engine/exhaust note.
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On paper the 3 litre sport seems a winning combination, ST220 engine, 4 wheel drive and a nicer interior.

But there seems so much negativity around the car, while the mondeo is widely regarded as being a good steer, I guess my worry with the jag is I'm going to get jag running costs, not ford ones even though the cars are very similar and I actually prefer the styling on the ST220

At the moment I'm kinda 70% in ST220, it looks a good car for what I want which is something practical but with a sporty spin to it

However I do really like the 159 as well but not really sure on it, on paper it looks great and the styling/interior is great + mag reviews are generally positive too. My issue with it is for such a lovely styled car why are there not more owners on here ? There seem plenty of owners of other sporty cars including the ST220 yet so far my questions re the 159 have been met with a tumbleweed blowing by....

Which has me worrying the 159 might have a similar issues to the x type, I,e reputation for poor reliability and build quality but premium car running costs, it's just so damn pretty though......and if it had the old style Alfa v6 I might just take the risk but its got a gm unit.......

Don't get me wrong I have nothing against it, looks a good engine on paper but having said that I don't want Italian car style bother if I'm not getting a fabulous Italian style engine....hence why I,m curious if anyone here has any experience of the 159 and if it,s bucked the Alfa reputation for poor build and reliability, it looks well engineered but I'd like some owner feedback if possible and if I go to an Alfa forum there'll just tell me it's fabulous
 
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Rybo89 said:
The old 159 3.2 (GTA) is an awesome car, a drivers car. The newish one isn't.
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I just had a look at some 156,s they look good, I must admit I completely overlooked them, love the old style chromed v6 but they are commanding pretty hearty prices 6k + for really nice ones not sure if the premium is worth it over a ST220 and the new shape 159 might not be as good a drive but it's much newer and can be had for similar prices this is turning into a much harder choice than I thought


86JR said:
E39 530i?
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I'm trying to avoid anything older than 10 years, it's not set in stone but if I took an older car I'd be more inclined to go for a ford over a executive 5 series BMW with lots of expensive gadgets just waiting to go wrong
 
Peter450 said:
I'm trying to avoid anything older than 10 years, it's not set in stone but if I took an older car I'd be more inclined to go for a ford over a executive 5 series BMW with lots of expensive gadgets just waiting to go wrong
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Given the marque, quality of the cars in question and my 2 year ownership of a Ford I would guess that the Mondeo would go wrong more often than the BMW would.
 
86JR said:
Given the marque, quality of the cars in question and my 2 year ownership of a Ford I would guess that the Mondeo would go wrong more often than the BMW would.
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I've no doubt the BMW is the higher quality car it cost a lot more when new. But it will be older and when stuff goes wrong it will likely cost a lot more to put right things like suspension etc will likely be a lot nearer needing replacement in the BMW.

Both cars are nice with 6 cylinders and a decent power output, but the ford is newer with lower parts costs etc, the car is being kept outside and I would be surprised if the BMW worked out cheaper over 3 years
 
I've got an ST220 myself, and for the money it's absolutely brilliant.

Reliability - In 3 years of ownership I've replaced the washer pump (£10), a suspension mount, and both rear hubs (first changes, at 70k and 90k respectively). Total bill the right side of £200.

Servicing - The only significant increase in cost is the greater volume of oil, and the fact that replacing all the sparks adds an extra 30min on the servicing labour straight off since you have to remove part of the manifold.

Most "quirks" are common with any of the Mk3 petrol Mondeos. Additional points really are around:

- Rear bumper sag due to the larger mass of plastic - can be solved with 3 screws
- Aux drive belt/tensioner/crank pulley wearing - takes a long time and can be spotted a mile off due to the noise on startup
- If the heated seats go, they're custom for the Recaro and will cost you a pretty penny
- Fit decent tyres or it'll eat the front pair for lunch (I've got 18k out of my F1 AS2's which is excellent).

I'm not sure what else to write in a short summary, but there's an ST220 owners' thread on here that you might want to check out. Any questions can be answered in there :).
 
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