# Alfa Romeo 156



## MarkF (Jul 5, 2003)

I have decided to get one of these for fun instead of another bike and any advice would be appreciated from car nuts. It's one of the very few modern cars that holds any interest for me, I think it's beautiful.










I don't want to spend much cash, it's just a toy, maybe a 1999-2002 model.

I'll do minimal mileage a year, maybe 3000 tops and I don't like diesels, I have no interest in performance either (I get my thrills on my bike) it's purely the aesthetics that do it for me. Any known faults? What engine should I be looking for to enjoy Alfa reliability?


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## johnbrigade (Oct 15, 2007)

I am told (and i don't know whether any of this is true) that the Alfa electrics are suspect and the four pot engines are prone to going wrong in a big way, but apparently, the V6s are virtually bombproof, although I can't offer any more detail. This info was given to me by a fairly knowledgable mate of mine when I mentioned that I might replace my car in the next 6 months with a 159 - he could be making it up of course.

Except for the fact that everybody I know who has owned an Alfa has had something catastrophic go wrong with it. Two 147 owners - one of which stopped in lane 3 of the M1, a fella I shared a flat with had a 156 which went wrong badly - first the gearbox and (subsequent to the gearbox being replaced) then the engine.

The guitarist in my band has a 96 145 cloverleaf. Goes well and he doesn't seem to have had any problems that affect how the car runs - the alarm and central locking don't seem to work though and another mate of mine had a 147 before Christmas, said it was a great little car - but then I think he only kept it for a week or so.

Apologies if this isn't very helpful - I can't say anything that I've heard puts me off wanting to buy one because they're such lovely looking cars.

You may find a bit more info here


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## cookie520 (Jan 7, 2008)

Mark

Contrary to popular belief, and if you are very very lucky







then Alfa can be reliable. I have a GTV 3.0 V6 which imho is still one of the best looking cars on the road......you'll find loads of good information on the owners club site AROC UK or on a good forum site like alfaowner. Cambelts and variators are the main mechanical issues that get raised with the Twinspark engines ( mainly cos of the damage it causes







) but tbh most of the niggles with Alfas are caused by german electrical components that go a bit flakey.

If I was looking at a 156 and assuming I didn't want the V6 then I'd probably look for a late 2.0JTS or a multijet 1.9JTD.

There's a great community coupled with a sense of mad desperation with Alfa owners so I firmly recommend getting one.

If you can be tempted up the foodchain to the GTV then you should visit Sportsalfa


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## cookie520 (Jan 7, 2008)

MarkF said:


> I have decided to get one of these for fun instead of another bike and any advice would be appreciated from car nuts. It's one of the very few modern cars that holds any interest for me, I think it's beautiful.
> 
> 
> 
> ...


Just noticed this....so it's the GTA or the JTS then...


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## mrteatime (Oct 25, 2006)

wow.....love then alfa's...they look awesome, if i didnt have to rely on one to get to work everyday, or clean the oil from the drive i would get one like a shot. they are very pleasing on the eye, but only in red


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## blackandgolduk (Apr 25, 2005)

Leanne's dad had one as a company car for about 2 years and I thought it was a great motor - like you say, it has something different about it. We drove from Oxford to the South of France and back in it and had no problems at all along the way. Although his was a diesel estate, the performance could be pretty eager and it liked to be 'driven'. If you're doing low mileage then I reckon it's a good bet - have you checked the JD Power/Top gear surveys?

He's now got a baby Jag and although he likes it, I suspect he preferred the Alpha. One thing that I loved was the cabin - great attention to detail and quite retro, the dash had a 'rubberised' feel to it and attention to detail on the air vents etc. was great. I say go for it!


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## johnbrigade (Oct 15, 2007)

i _really_ want one of these \/










but i'm not sure i can handle the mad desperation that cookie talks about - plus my nearest dealer is 30 miles away and i'm not sure i can cope with going there every week


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## Robert (Jul 26, 2006)

Great cars - I went to look at them when I changed my car in 2003 but both times I went it was the Alfa salesmans day off







I gave up.

We used to have two in the fleet - one was perfect but the other wasn't. Just your luck.

I really like the Lancia Delta HPE concept car


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## pauluspaolo (Feb 24, 2003)

A good friend of mine ran an Alfa for a few months, I can't remember the model number but it was an estate & looked superb - apparently the boot was actually smaller than the saloon's







He flogged it up & down the M1 going to London & back 2 or 3 times a week & it used to drink a lot of oil. He loved driving it & generally it was reliable for the year or so he had it, but it wasn't perfect & he did have a few minor electrical problems as well as some suspension problems, which, IIRC, was a main dealer job & cost quite a lot to put right. He eventually sold it & bought a BMW Z4 (so just the same as an estate car then







). Faults just seem to be built into Italian cars, my Lancia was the same - though mainly due to age & rust







!

Like any car look at/drive a few different examples before taking the plunge & putting any dosh on the counter - walk away if something about the car doesn't seem right. Service history from an Alfa dealer might be desireable too.

Best of luck & I look forward to seeing some pictures


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## colinryan (Jul 8, 2007)

Make sure you get a 2.5L V6 one; they are _rockets_. I had one for about a year and only sold it back in July when I lost my job.


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## MarkF (Jul 5, 2003)

Thanks for the replies.

Cookie, I'd like a GTV but the 156 is going to be used to ferry 3 kids around at times, I think I'd have to sell my motorbikes to be allowed to get a "selfish" car.











pauluspaolo said:


> Like any car look at/drive a few different examples before taking the plunge & putting any dosh on the counter - walk away if something about the car doesn't seem right. Service history from an Alfa dealer might be desireable too.


Good sound advice Paul, but I'll probably buy the first one I look at.


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## blackandgolduk (Apr 25, 2005)

The one I've had experience with was a 'bog-standard' diesel estate and it was good fun - I think you'd enjoy it, mate


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## cookie520 (Jan 7, 2008)

MarkF said:


> Thanks for the replies.
> 
> Cookie, I'd like a GTV but the 156 is going to be used to ferry 3 kids around at times, I think I'd have to sell my motorbikes to be allowed to get a "selfish" car.
> 
> ...


*Lots of very good specialists for Alfas - out the main dealers to shame in terms of service - Make sure the cambelt and variators have been done - on the Twinsparks, Alfa has been recommending 36k miles. When variators start to go the engine will sound like a diesel when cold - when they completely go you have a bill for a new engine *


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## thorpey69 (Feb 8, 2006)

Mark drove one when they were fairly new,it was a diesel and went really well,ive owned a couple of older Alfas and like their quirkiness,the chassis fellt really really good on the 156 on my brief drive,watch the electrics (pretty standard on all Italian stuff) mechanically normally pretty strong if they have been looked after,and always haggle to the death as there is a limited market for older Italian cars.


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## Johnny M (Feb 16, 2007)

thorpey69 said:


> Mark drove one when they were fairly new,it was a diesel and went really well,ive owned a couple of older Alfas and like their quirkiness,the chassis fellt really really good on the 156 on my brief drive,watch the electrics (pretty standard on all Italian stuff) mechanically normally pretty strong if they have been looked after,and always haggle to the death as there is a limited market for older Italian cars.


Nice choice Mark....Auto Italia magazine recently ran a buyers guide feature on the 156. Here's the link to the their back issues section.

http://www.auto-italia.co.uk/back_issue_contents.shtml

If you can't get it let me know and we'll sort something out.

cheers

.


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## rhaythorne (Jan 12, 2004)

Nice choice Mark, I love the 156 (and most Alfas to be honest)









I've not owned one myself but I know a couple of Alfa owners and we "talk cars" a lot. Electrics have been a problem with their cars, but if there's a good Alfa specialist in your area that shouldn't be a show stopper.

As you're not bothered about the performance it's difficult to suggest which engine to go for. The V6 looks and sounds great and cars equipped with this engine are quick in a straight line apparently. Rumour has it though that the 2.0 Twinspark cars handle better as there's less weight at the front and they can be more fun to drive.


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## Chappers (Dec 14, 2007)

With Alfas they are either good or bad, no apparent middle ground with them. Electrics are suspect and the V6 is one of the nicest looking and sounding V6 engines available.

All I can say is ensure that it has full service history prefrably with main dealer or specalist.

They are really good looking cars however and you'll have a lot of fun as they are driver focused just get a good un. I always have a look on www.parkers.co.uk they have buying guides on there tell you what to look for etc when looking at one.

I seem to remember however the later models being better than the earlier ones as is normally the case with many cars.


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## stevoc (Dec 18, 2006)

I speak as a long time alfisti and a 156 owner, so yes, I'm biased.

I think they're great cars and I think you'd be hard pushed to buy a more interesting "driver's" car for less money. I think the 2.0 TS is probably the best compromise - although the 2.5V6 has a wonderful engine - the fuel bills can be eye watering (then at 3000 mile/year that might not be a problem) and it doesn't handle as well as the TS's as the engine's much heavier.

Main problems seem to be:

Timing Belt/Tensioners - Alfa have recently (last year?) HALVED the interval for changing these for all TS engines. It's now 36K/3 years. You only have to look on ebay to see the number with snapped cambelts - it's not worth the risk. Budget Â£250-300 at an independent Alfa specialist. It's normally the tensioners that go and it's always results in valve/piston damage. Â£500-1500 to fix.

Variator- Varies the cam timing with engine speed. Develops a rattle - makes your car sound like a diesel on startup. If changed with the cambelts add Â£90.

Oil Starvation. - Can't remember the exact figure, but Alfa quote a fairly high allowable oil consumption. Mine uses hardly any between oil changes, but some cars need regular checking. Plenty of ex company cars never got there's checked between 12K changes, thus low oil and bottom end damage.

MAF/Lambda - Cause of a lot of Alfa running problems, both made by Bosch, Â£60 for Lambda, Â£80 for MAF.

Front Suspension - lower and upper arms can wear quite quickly if driven as intended. worse on the diesel's and V6 as they've got heavier engines.

Overall, if you don't risk going past the timing belt interval and get one that's been looked after, you should be alright.

Someone's already mentioned alfaowner, but the forums on alfa156.net are a mine of information.

It's worth considering the JTD's as well. For Â£300 you can remap the 2.4JTD to 190HP and more torque than you can shake a stick at. Of course it would be handy if you owned a tyre/clutch place as well.

Steve


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## MarkF (Jul 5, 2003)

Thank you for that Steve, I am still looking not as much as I was, I'll probably wait until summer now. The Alfa forums were a mine of info and the reliability "issues" can be avoided it seems, by plain common sense and advice.

I got waylaid because I have bought a Vespa, but it's in Bilbao and I can't get insurance from the port without UK plates and I can't get UK plates without filling in a lot of IR shitty forms and then getting an MOT. How am I supposed to do all that at the port?







I am going to see my pal in Barcelona soon so I am going to ride my bike down, leave it there, collect the scoot and ride back pretending to be Spanish if I get stopped. Thus, giving me another excuse to re-visit Spain and collect my bike.


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## PhilM (Nov 5, 2004)

Hopefully things did improve on the quality of them when being produced, I had a Y reg 156 for a short time from new. Within a couple of months the side skirts started to fall off, had to go back to the garage at least twice for them to completly remove and apply the glue again









Electrics was another issue, I went through two dash boards... the main consule kept loosing it's connections... good fun driving at night









However on the plus side, I would say it's a great car for driving long journeys in.. very good driving position and responsive


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## redmonaco (Nov 29, 2004)

I've just put mine up for sale after enjoying it for a year (7500miles).










I had never owned one so thought I should. I wanted the 2litre but this one was at our local Alfa dealership and had been traded in by the previous owner who had bought it from new. It had 37k on it then and had been kept wonderfully. They do hadle very nicely. I'd reccomend to own one evn if you dont keep it long...


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## redmonaco (Nov 29, 2004)

sorry about the over large pic, I can't seem to edit the post now to change the pic...

To carry on, my model is the 1.6 TwinSpark yet it still drives nice and briskly! The main enjoyment is the handling, absolutely superb. Mine has the full leather which is IMO a better finish than I've previously enjoyed in both Saabs and BMWs (and more comfortable than BMWs as well). The speakers are pretty good too!!

Best to look on autotrader (you'll see mine on there!!)

Best of luck.


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