Are Alfas still unreliable rustbuckets?
Discussion
I swore years ago (several times) that I'd never have anything to do with Italian cars again after a variety of unreliable and rusty Fiats/Lancias/Alfas, but it's that time again, my memory of the past is developing rose coloured, sepia tinted spectacles and thoughts of Alfas are drifting into my consciousness.
My daughter is looking to replace her aging Fiesta with something slightly newer, a bit bigger and a lot more desireable. She's got a new job which comes with a company 4x4 for daily use, so her private car will now just be for pleasure trips, holidays etc so she reckons she can afford to buy something a little less frugal, a bit prettier, and a bit more exiting. She's only 20 therefore insurance costs are an issue so no Gallardos yet, but between us we've come to a conclusion that an Alfa Giulietta or similar might do the trick.
As her Dad, my chief job seems to be sorting out the messes she and her brother get themselves into so my question for those in the know on here is 'Just how much of a mess could a 5ish year old Giulietta get into ?'
My daughter is looking to replace her aging Fiesta with something slightly newer, a bit bigger and a lot more desireable. She's got a new job which comes with a company 4x4 for daily use, so her private car will now just be for pleasure trips, holidays etc so she reckons she can afford to buy something a little less frugal, a bit prettier, and a bit more exiting. She's only 20 therefore insurance costs are an issue so no Gallardos yet, but between us we've come to a conclusion that an Alfa Giulietta or similar might do the trick.
As her Dad, my chief job seems to be sorting out the messes she and her brother get themselves into so my question for those in the know on here is 'Just how much of a mess could a 5ish year old Giulietta get into ?'
Im in the same position as your daughter, im 21 and looking to upgrade and an alfa romeo is definitely on my list (159 and giulietta). From my homework on the brand the whole 'rust bucket' stigma still looms putting people off but that went away about 15-20 years ago.
It is Italian and things can go wrong (niggly sensors from what ive read) servicing and parts can be a tad costly aswell. They arent well built as say a german rival car either but thats expected (cabin rattles and sqeaks), but on the flipside to that they look great and stand out than other mainstream cars your see on the road. the diesels are fiat engines and are shared across a platform of cars (1.6/2.0 jtdm is the same engine used in vauxhalls 1.6/2.0 cdti for example. I cant comment on the petrol/petrol turbo engines as i dont know much about them. Owners ive spoken to at car shows rave about them and the feel they give when driving them.
The way i look at it now every modern car has their own problems, test drive one with your daughter and see what you think aswell.
It is Italian and things can go wrong (niggly sensors from what ive read) servicing and parts can be a tad costly aswell. They arent well built as say a german rival car either but thats expected (cabin rattles and sqeaks), but on the flipside to that they look great and stand out than other mainstream cars your see on the road. the diesels are fiat engines and are shared across a platform of cars (1.6/2.0 jtdm is the same engine used in vauxhalls 1.6/2.0 cdti for example. I cant comment on the petrol/petrol turbo engines as i dont know much about them. Owners ive spoken to at car shows rave about them and the feel they give when driving them.
The way i look at it now every modern car has their own problems, test drive one with your daughter and see what you think aswell.
A friend of mine has a 159 Sportwagon, and much as he loves it for driving pleasure, annual MOT time terrifies him.
Last year it was a steering rack needed doing, on a 6yo car. That and some tyres saw him on the thick end of a 1700 quid bill just to get through the MOT. Some other recent expenses make my E46 M3 seem positively frugal to run by comparison.
Last year it was a steering rack needed doing, on a 6yo car. That and some tyres saw him on the thick end of a 1700 quid bill just to get through the MOT. Some other recent expenses make my E46 M3 seem positively frugal to run by comparison.
Well Iv just bought my first Alfa Romeo 159 Ti 2.0jtdm it's 6-1/2yrs old/80k miles and funnily enough it developed a slight judder on the way home from purchasing it only 2 weeks ago, over the xmas Iv covered roughly 1000miles and the judder has now started wobbling the whole car,turns out it's a drive shaft that's goosed(£300 fix) which is being fitted tomorrow.
In my 2weeks owners ship Iv experienced an intermittent fault with the parking sensors, but this is actually down to the cold snap where having ,The radio reception is poor as the aerial base is prone to water ingress, the rear boot badge doesn't operate the boot,again an age vs weather thing, little things like the front n rear badges are weather/water damaged, just little niggles that I'll get round to sorting out and all common faults.
I'm not sure about the hatchback your looking at but the 159 shares it's engines with GM,think vauxhall.
There's lots of info on Alfaowner.com including buyers guides and common faults to look out for .
Overall I'm pleased with my purchase although the driveshaft issues has taken the shine off it a bit,
Sorry , couldn't resist
In my 2weeks owners ship Iv experienced an intermittent fault with the parking sensors, but this is actually down to the cold snap where having ,The radio reception is poor as the aerial base is prone to water ingress, the rear boot badge doesn't operate the boot,again an age vs weather thing, little things like the front n rear badges are weather/water damaged, just little niggles that I'll get round to sorting out and all common faults.
I'm not sure about the hatchback your looking at but the 159 shares it's engines with GM,think vauxhall.
There's lots of info on Alfaowner.com including buyers guides and common faults to look out for .
Overall I'm pleased with my purchase although the driveshaft issues has taken the shine off it a bit,
Sorry , couldn't resist
Edited by PapaJohns on Thursday 5th January 23:13
The slave cylinder (I think) for the clutch is inside the bell housing on the Guiletta (sp). This leaks, contaminates the friction surfaces on the clutch plates and leaves you stranded on the far reaches of the M25 on the morning commute. For example. They have have updated it by now.
PapaJohns said:
Well Iv just bought my first Alfa Romeo 159 Ti 2.0jtdm it's 6-1/2yrs old/80k miles and funnily enough it developed a slight judder on the way home from purchasing it only 2 weeks ago, over the xmas Iv covered roughly 1000miles and the judder has now started wobbling the whole car,turns out it's a drive shaft that's goosed(£300 fix) which is being fitted tomorrow.
In my 2weeks owners ship Iv experienced an intermittent fault with the parking sensors, but this is actually down to the cold snap where having ,The radio reception is poor as the aerial base is prone to water ingress, the rear boot badge doesn't operate the boot,again an age vs weather thing, little things like the front n rear badges are weather/water damaged, just little niggles that I'll get round to sorting out and all common faults.
I'm not sure about the hatchback your looking at but the 159 shares it's engines with GM,think vauxhall.
There's lots of info on Alfaowner.com including buyers guides and common faults to look out for .
Overall I'm pleased with my purchase although the driveshaft issues has taken the shine off it a bit,
Sorry , couldn't resist
What a beaut though mate In my 2weeks owners ship Iv experienced an intermittent fault with the parking sensors, but this is actually down to the cold snap where having ,The radio reception is poor as the aerial base is prone to water ingress, the rear boot badge doesn't operate the boot,again an age vs weather thing, little things like the front n rear badges are weather/water damaged, just little niggles that I'll get round to sorting out and all common faults.
I'm not sure about the hatchback your looking at but the 159 shares it's engines with GM,think vauxhall.
There's lots of info on Alfaowner.com including buyers guides and common faults to look out for .
Overall I'm pleased with my purchase although the driveshaft issues has taken the shine off it a bit,
Sorry , couldn't resist
Edited by PapaJohns on Thursday 5th January 23:13
HustleRussell said:
Willy Nilly, most cars have concentric slave cylinders nowadays.
A friend had/has one and it did as described, well, at least dumbed a load of brake/clutch fluid in the clutch housing. Her husband, who is a very competent DIY mechanic and all round good bloke, wasn't too impressed. Seemingly it's not an isolated incident. But I will bow to the Alfa beards. Willy Nilly said:
HustleRussell said:
Willy Nilly, most cars have concentric slave cylinders nowadays.
A friend had/has one and it did as described, well, at least dumbed a load of brake/clutch fluid in the clutch housing. Her husband, who is a very competent DIY mechanic and all round good bloke, wasn't too impressed. Seemingly it's not an isolated incident. But I will bow to the Alfa beards. Reliability-wise, Alfas are no better or worse than other mainstream cars these days.
We're not talking Japanese/German levels here, but certainly on a par with anything French.
If I were given the choice of something from Peugeot, Citroen, Renault, or Alfa Romeo, the Italian would get the nod from me!
And no, they don't rust any more (haven't for best part of 20 years, to be fair).
We're not talking Japanese/German levels here, but certainly on a par with anything French.
If I were given the choice of something from Peugeot, Citroen, Renault, or Alfa Romeo, the Italian would get the nod from me!
And no, they don't rust any more (haven't for best part of 20 years, to be fair).
MorganP104 said:
Reliability-wise, Alfas are no better or worse than other mainstream cars these days.
We're not talking Japanese/German levels here, but certainly on a par with anything French.
Based on?We're not talking Japanese/German levels here, but certainly on a par with anything French.
According to warranty direct's reliability index Alfa are considerably worse than French cars, and TBH most German cars are nothing special either.
Compare the mito to the clio, c3, 207 etc
http://www.reliabilityindex.com/reliability/search...
Ive had my daily 2005 156v6 for over 7 years and recently worked out ive spent just over £1500 on servicing and parts incl cambelt/waterpump/idlers,yearly oil & filter change,brake pads,tyres and a new back box in that time (i do my own servicing etc)...far more reliable than my volvo`s and saab`s of a similar age.
Perhaps i got lucky
Perhaps i got lucky
Edited by noway on Friday 6th January 17:39
budgie smuggler said:
MorganP104 said:
Reliability-wise, Alfas are no better or worse than other mainstream cars these days.
We're not talking Japanese/German levels here, but certainly on a par with anything French.
Based on?We're not talking Japanese/German levels here, but certainly on a par with anything French.
According to warranty direct's reliability index Alfa are considerably worse than French cars, and TBH most German cars are nothing special either.
Compare the mito to the clio, c3, 207 etc
http://www.reliabilityindex.com/reliability/search...
As others have said too, the dealers can be very patchy.
They do have issues, from the link it seems electrics and suspension components are still an issue. Maybe some things don't change!!
I mistakingly thought alfas of new must be different and just got a bad rep, so advised my now ex to buy a 2011 gulietta and it was pretty damn unreliable tbh, various faults and so many electrical niggles - the main one being a retarded boot shut that effectively acted like a concetena on key wiring sending all sorts into haywire mode... stupid design defect that had it been a bmw or similar they would have fixed foc or at least contribured to repair, alfa didn't even want to know. Which is why i'll probably now never buy one and shows how alfa constantly shoot themselves in the foot due to short sitedness with their dealership network!
But my god it was a pretty car when washed! And was fairly decent to drive to say it was only the 1.6jtdm, certainly pulled well.
But my god it was a pretty car when washed! And was fairly decent to drive to say it was only the 1.6jtdm, certainly pulled well.
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