Brera Owners

[wongthecorrupter]

Hi. My wife is in the market for a new car and fancies swapping her dependable golf gti for a Brera. Could do with any advice such as , mileage related issues or basically anything that will help when looking at cars. She would want the v6 as it looks like the fastest model, but what is the best engine size to go for. I'm no stranger to danger when purchasing cars as I have recently moved on from an Integrale and discovered TVR's. I'm now on my third and the best a Tuscan. I do not expect the brera to be built as well as a golf but within reason are they a reliable every day car. Any help would be most appreceiated. I think she will set her budget to 10K max

[RicksAlfas]

I had a 2.4JTD for four years and enjoyed it. If you are concerned about practicalities, it's a big wide car with enormous curved doors so it's not the easiest in car parks. There is no room in the back and the boot has a very high sill. The interior is great, especially if you avoid the boring black. Make sure you get the Sky View roof has it really lightens the interior. Reliability was "ok". There was a problem with the steering racks on the early ones which was replaced under warranty and I had an oil leak which I can't remember much about. The main thing would be to see if there is a good independant specialist near to you that will look after you, then you can avoid the main dealers.

Engine choice is personal. All are thirsty, all have their good and bad points!

[MoleVision]

I have (about a month ago) recently bought an 08 2.4jtd(210). Agree with the above as its not the most practical and car parks are a pain. I got the 2008 interior facelift model which has different seats and a nicer (imo) headlining. The different seats aren't to everyone's tastes re comfort so best to try both... I'm still trying to tweak my driving position. and its definitely a 3 seater at best!

The car I bought doesn't have the panoramic roof which is a shame as its a nice feature BUT...I now have an extra 2 inches headroom which makes a massive difference (I'm 5'10) as it allows me to have the seat in its lowest position which gets round a very common issue that the driver's seats tend to rock slightly (see links below). I looked at 5 or 6 Beras and every one had this issue just with drivers seat when it isn't in its lowest position (a new seat base is apparently £500).

The 2.4diesel also tends to soot up inside unless doing long motorway journeys which can cause you big issues so I've had mine EGR deleted, DPF removed and remapped to avoid any reliability issues and it also improved the fuel economy significantly. oh and now it has about 250bhp and goes like a train.
The 3.2v6 sounds lovely but 22mpg and £490/yr tax are scary for me!

I spent a long time researching these (also waiting for one to turn up that I liked) and the below link will hopefully give you most of the info you need.

http://www.alfaowner.com/Forum/alfa-159-brera-and-...


So far I'm very happy with my purchase.

[Patch1875]

I went the opposite way Brera to a golf GTi

As mentioned space is a big issue inside that was the main reason I moved it on. The Diesel engine is great especially with a remap and dpf delete but don't expect diesel economy usually got 30-35 mpg.

Great looking car with better than usual alfa reliability.

[digger_R]

I have a 2.4 JTDM SV - I'd say the panoramic roof is a must, as is a non-black/grey leather interior (mine is the blue/orange combo). Mine ate 18k motorway miles in the last year effortlessly and is a great drive but it's going to have to go in the next few weeks.

[RicksAlfas]

digger_R said:

mine is the blue/orange combo

That's what I had. Blue and tobacco Alfa called it.
Was much admired by all who sat in her.

[rodericb]

Rusty subframe!