A110 Buyer Questions

[gloomington]

Hi Everyone,

Have browsed through all the threads, so hopefully not repeating what's been said before. I'm looking to pull the trigger on a new A110GT (previously owned an MX-5 as a daily driver and a Triumph TR3 for weekends), and have a few questions:

- How hardy is the car for outside living much of the year? I won't have access to a garage for much of the time, and hear past talk of dodgy paintwork, has this been sorted?
- What's the turning circle like? (I've test-driven but didn't dare take the demonstrator down the narrow/high-kerb streets by my house, which have already claimed the alloys on my current car)
- Any unusual running costs I might not have thought of? I'm not expecting MX-5 levels of reliability, but is there anything I might not have considered?
- And, for the benefit of my wife (who asked this), has anyone managed to fit a second cup-holder? :-)

Many thanks

[johnnyreggae]

Good plan

Good tight turning circle

What cup holder ? Only in pre-2022 cars I think - so buy a 2022 one to save the argument over who gets to use the single cup-holder !

Go for it

Edited by johnnyreggae on Wednesday 21st September 16:42

[CliveJ7]

I don't think you would have any problems keeping it outside - unless you're very unlucky corrosion shouldn't be an issue, especially since it's all aluminium.
The odd paint problem frequently highlighted on forums IMHO shouldn't put you off.
If kept outside and not used often you might want to consider an outside car cover. Alpine do one.
Also, might be sensible to have the paintwork ceramic coated.
Never found the turning circle to be awkward.
Yes, there are some replacement items which are relatively expensive such as wiper blades (genuine) at £250, but generally they are reliable and without any nasty surprises.
Cup holders as said above - you'll have to go the aftermarket route!

[timhum]

I've had my PE for 4 years and its been kept outside through the whole time. No problems apart from it needing to be washed and polished more often.

Tim

[Hoofty]

Come join us!

Mine has only just made it into the (almost finished) garage after ~18 months on the drive - all seems fine; as noted the arch corrosion reports *seem* to be related mostly to earlier cars and less about outdoor storage than dirt trapping through use.

Turning circle is good, but even better is how easy it is to shunt around with fingertip effort. If you're particularly worried about kerbs it might be worth noting that the optional Fuchs alloys are half an inch wider than the others, so fractionally more vulnerable (albeit otherwise very desirable).

Cupholder - dunno if you can still do this with 22MY cars but a number of us use things like these, and they work well:

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Adjustable-Movable-Bracke...

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Heart-Horse-Multifunction...

I have the former (and I even went as far as to dull down the chrome with w&d while waiting for delivery ), latter might actually better match the interior.

Do it do it do it!

Nick

[gloomington]

Thanks everyone for the input. Parking will be on-street in a very genteel area for the next year, hence the general concern. There's another A110 down the road, but he's got a guaranteed parking spot, the lucky thing. Ceramic goes without saying, will definitely be doing that as I've done with all the other cars. As for cup holders... I couldn't care less (old enough to remember thinking 'why would a car need a cup holder?') but it matters to the missus on long journeys.

Will have to sleep on it and continue my hunt for a better parking option!

[OliffeFox]

Hi

I have just replaced my gt86 with a new Alpine as a daily driver, am absolutely loving it and thoroughly recommend it.

Also, bear in mind that these forums are fantastic for a heads up on issues and advice, but I think the car (especially MY22 with CarPlay and comfort seats) is, so far, a lot better than the forums might make it out to be.

Simon.

[gloomington]

Thanks again everyone. Down to final stages, dealer is saying that they don't do deals on the quoted price - is that normal for Alpine? I've seen others mention they've had deals before, just checking whether he's playing hardball on this.

[springfan62]

gloomington said:

Thanks again everyone. Down to final stages, dealer is saying that they don't do deals on the quoted price - is that normal for Alpine? I've seen others mention they've had deals before, just checking whether he's playing hardball on this.

Apparently deals are only obtainable on stock cars not factory orders. I think demand is high at the moment.

[gloomington]

That's great to know, thank you. Have pulled the trigger on an A110GT in Abyss Blue, now the waiting begins!

[KenC]

How long have you been told to expect the wait to be?

[gloomington]

They claim they've got a couple on dealer order, coming in December. Standard lead was quoted at six months.

[2 sMoKiN bArReLs]

Have you read this thread?:

https://www.pistonheads.com/gassing/topic.asp?h=0&...

Very sad given how stunning the cars look.

[gloomington]

2 sMoKiN bArReLs said:

Have you read this thread?:

https://www.pistonheads.com/gassing/topic.asp?h=0&...

Very sad given how stunning the cars look.

If that was my primary concern, I'd have bought another MX-5. I'm buying a niche product from Renault, I know what I'm letting myself in for.

[2 sMoKiN bArReLs]

gloomington said:

2 sMoKiN bArReLs said:

Have you read this thread?:

https://www.pistonheads.com/gassing/topic.asp?h=0&...

Very sad given how stunning the cars look.

If that was my primary concern, I'd have bought another MX-5. I'm buying a niche product from Renault, I know what I'm letting myself in for.

Winner


(From a long time TVR owner who understood the risks too )

[LE62NDE]

gloomington said:

Thanks again everyone. Down to final stages, dealer is saying that they don't do deals on the quoted price - is that normal for Alpine? I've seen others mention they've had deals before, just checking whether he's playing hardball on this.

I got a small deal on a late-model Legende: so My Spin connectivity, but with some decent options. And they gave me what I hoped for on my trade in -which, whisper it, was a bit of a nail. Perhaps they felt I hadn't pushed hard enough -I was given a free car cover, too!

[gloomington]

LE62NDE said:

I got a small deal on a late-model Legende: so My Spin connectivity, but with some decent options. And they gave me what I hoped for on my trade in -which, whisper it, was a bit of a nail. Perhaps they felt I hadn't pushed hard enough -I was given a free car cover, too!

My nail is a bit too naily to even consider that (2010 Golf with 150k miles), but I've got the dealer to lob in some luggage, which takes a bit of the pain away. I figure with the economy in free-fall, it doesn't make sense to hang around any longer, prices will start to whizz up - the wife's Tesla (which is further evidence I can tolerate rubbish dealers) went up by £2k between order and delivery, and that was before things got really bad.

[matt3001]

springfan62 said:

gloomington said:

Thanks again everyone. Down to final stages, dealer is saying that they don't do deals on the quoted price - is that normal for Alpine? I've seen others mention they've had deals before, just checking whether he's playing hardball on this.

Apparently deals are only obtainable on stock cars not factory orders. I think demand is high at the moment.

Yes this is correct. No deals on factory orders and probably minimal on stock cars. The sales prices of the used ones also back that up...

[Venisonpie]

matt3001 said:

Yes this is correct. No deals on factory orders and probably minimal on stock cars. The sales prices of the used ones also back that up...

Agree on factory orders however I was offered 4k off a stock Legende early in August from Manchester dealer. Car has been moved to West London and is still available at a reduced list price.

If I were to pull the trigger I'd try and make it as close to a 50k car as possible and do it.

[LE62NDE]

Venisonpie said:

...I was offered 4k off a stock Legende early in August...

Ouch. I wish I hadn't read that.

Still, won't matter when I'm out