Alfa 159 owner experiences / review
Discussion
I bought my 2007 2.4 jtdm manual 2 years ago with 106000km for $10000 nzd (about 5000 pounds) and here are my experiences and few tips to buyers.
In my 50's I've owned a few cars, others currently the alfa, 1992 mx5, 1996 hilux surf, 2006 subaru outback,between 3 drivers, mainly fairly unexotic but a few interesting ones (citroen bx gti 16v springs to mind) so when i saw the alfa advertised i was tempted expecting a bit of a rough car i would probably walk away from. Unbelievably everything seemed to work and i found it very good to drive and bought it there and then driving it 150km back home with no probs and straight in to my indie garage for a cam belt, water pump etc as this had not been done (cost 500 pounds)
since then other things done:
Powerflex bushes to lower wishbones, front lower rear bushes, the big ones. Set toe alignment to zero. Cost 220 pounds at my indie parts & labour. Solved the very bad front tyre wear to inner edges, they were lasting only about 8000km.
Changed power steering fluid myself by pumping out the reservoir a couple of times using a washed and dried hand cream bottle pump. Just used castrol red p/s fluid. Solved the grunching noise when manoeuvring.
Changed one rear window regulator myself, surprisingly easy, cost 40 from ebay.
Touched up fairly bad case of gravel rash (the undercoat is white on a black car so really shows) using black shoe dye on the large areas by rear door/arches/sills and black permanent marker on individual stone chips, then black car polish. Looks very acceptable now. The leather seats where in very good nick but needed a bit of coloured shoe cream and then natural leather treatment and now look like new.
Fitted a cable into the back of the stereo to give an aux in ( 10 on ebay)
That's about it.
Not bad i think in 2 years and 30,000km
Driving/Performance
Its a powerful front heavy FWD car so care in the wet (the traction control is good) but in our part of NZ it doesn't rain that often. Dry grip is good, suspension just right, better now with power flex, the lowered Ti version might be a bit harsh on our roads. Low revving turbo diesel with good power delivery. Mine is the older 200bhp but I've no issues with the way it performs, a tiny bit hesitant occasionally moving off at junctions it town but most of my driving is open road and that is where this car really is fantastic, effortless overtaking and long hills. i find it incredibly economical for the way it performs. Low revving means you can drive it fairly vigorously and always achieve 8l/100km (about 35mpg) most petrol equivalent will return much lower economy in real world driving.
A very comfortable car, great seats, great interior and definitely not boring like most modern cars.
Of course then there is the way it looks........black with red leather interior, possibly one of the best looking modern cars around, ever nicer i think than the newer alfas.
Buying tips/verdict
For the money fairly unbeatable in my experience. Incredibly good quality, dare i say (even better than the few german offerings i have owned)
Mine was always owned in a rural location judging my the dust/mud i cleaned out of it, and that is a good thing - longer trips, fewer short trips. Short/town driving is not good for the diesel engines, and this is not really a zipping around town car.
Only buy an alfa if you have a good indie garage you can trust and is willing and interested. If you are buying one, take it for a long drive, at least 1 hour and check everything, but these are not that difficult to work on and parts expensivish but not outrageous.
In my 50's I've owned a few cars, others currently the alfa, 1992 mx5, 1996 hilux surf, 2006 subaru outback,between 3 drivers, mainly fairly unexotic but a few interesting ones (citroen bx gti 16v springs to mind) so when i saw the alfa advertised i was tempted expecting a bit of a rough car i would probably walk away from. Unbelievably everything seemed to work and i found it very good to drive and bought it there and then driving it 150km back home with no probs and straight in to my indie garage for a cam belt, water pump etc as this had not been done (cost 500 pounds)
since then other things done:
Powerflex bushes to lower wishbones, front lower rear bushes, the big ones. Set toe alignment to zero. Cost 220 pounds at my indie parts & labour. Solved the very bad front tyre wear to inner edges, they were lasting only about 8000km.
Changed power steering fluid myself by pumping out the reservoir a couple of times using a washed and dried hand cream bottle pump. Just used castrol red p/s fluid. Solved the grunching noise when manoeuvring.
Changed one rear window regulator myself, surprisingly easy, cost 40 from ebay.
Touched up fairly bad case of gravel rash (the undercoat is white on a black car so really shows) using black shoe dye on the large areas by rear door/arches/sills and black permanent marker on individual stone chips, then black car polish. Looks very acceptable now. The leather seats where in very good nick but needed a bit of coloured shoe cream and then natural leather treatment and now look like new.
Fitted a cable into the back of the stereo to give an aux in ( 10 on ebay)
That's about it.
Not bad i think in 2 years and 30,000km
Driving/Performance
Its a powerful front heavy FWD car so care in the wet (the traction control is good) but in our part of NZ it doesn't rain that often. Dry grip is good, suspension just right, better now with power flex, the lowered Ti version might be a bit harsh on our roads. Low revving turbo diesel with good power delivery. Mine is the older 200bhp but I've no issues with the way it performs, a tiny bit hesitant occasionally moving off at junctions it town but most of my driving is open road and that is where this car really is fantastic, effortless overtaking and long hills. i find it incredibly economical for the way it performs. Low revving means you can drive it fairly vigorously and always achieve 8l/100km (about 35mpg) most petrol equivalent will return much lower economy in real world driving.
A very comfortable car, great seats, great interior and definitely not boring like most modern cars.
Of course then there is the way it looks........black with red leather interior, possibly one of the best looking modern cars around, ever nicer i think than the newer alfas.
Buying tips/verdict
For the money fairly unbeatable in my experience. Incredibly good quality, dare i say (even better than the few german offerings i have owned)
Mine was always owned in a rural location judging my the dust/mud i cleaned out of it, and that is a good thing - longer trips, fewer short trips. Short/town driving is not good for the diesel engines, and this is not really a zipping around town car.
Only buy an alfa if you have a good indie garage you can trust and is willing and interested. If you are buying one, take it for a long drive, at least 1 hour and check everything, but these are not that difficult to work on and parts expensivish but not outrageous.
Edited by mazzer1 on Wednesday 14th February 23:22
Nice write-up but we need some pic's as well 
I've an '07 159 as well albeit the 1.9 version. I agree, they are still one of the best looking saloon cars on the road and the overall feel and quality is very good for the money. Mine is on 166k miles and is starting to feel like it's loosening up, needs some bushes too I think. I'm changing the front brakes this weekend, did the rears not so long ago.
I've an '07 159 as well albeit the 1.9 version. I agree, they are still one of the best looking saloon cars on the road and the overall feel and quality is very good for the money. Mine is on 166k miles and is starting to feel like it's loosening up, needs some bushes too I think. I'm changing the front brakes this weekend, did the rears not so long ago.
We have an 85 plate Ti Estate, 2.4.
We got it at 40K miles, its now on about 110K. The only expensive bills have been a new turbo and inlet manifold, but it is a 210 remapped to 260 (and driven hard), so I'm not complaining.
We've also had a window winder failing, the odd broken spring, and the aux belt pulley breaking up (fairly common, sounds and looks catastrophic, very simple fix that takes about 30 minutes).
Very happy with the car, I've done 6 hours non-stop in it across Europe, no worries.
We got it at 40K miles, its now on about 110K. The only expensive bills have been a new turbo and inlet manifold, but it is a 210 remapped to 260 (and driven hard), so I'm not complaining.
We've also had a window winder failing, the odd broken spring, and the aux belt pulley breaking up (fairly common, sounds and looks catastrophic, very simple fix that takes about 30 minutes).
Very happy with the car, I've done 6 hours non-stop in it across Europe, no worries.
As mentioned in another thread, I've got a 1.9JTDm Sportwagon '07. Great car, comfortable, good long distance car, great interior, powerful enough and looks great.
I've had a few issues, wheel hub, new battery, front sub-frame (caught it before it got too bad) and the big one water pump that took out the cam-belt (£1,000 repair). I bought it at 40K, changed the pump/belt soon after and it failed at 86K. I'm going to keep it until it dies but it will be getting a water pump change at 36K intervals. Currently needs front discs/pads, drop links and the parking sensors are playing up.
Everybody says well it's an Alfa what do you expect, but the engine is shared with other makes (Saab/Vauxhall).
So conclusion great car but replace water pump regularly and check front subframe (under the under-tray).
As mentioned we need some pictures !
I shall probably get the same model to replace ( or in addition to....!!) my current main car, 2005 156 JTDM 150 that now has 150,000 on it.
I agree about finding a good indie garage that cares about Alfas, some garages do not want to work on them. They do have the Alfa 'quirks' that may put some people off.
I also agree about the build quality: the Alfa interiors are 'special', they have that something extra that IMHO puts them above the German cars...( I also had an E36 BMW 318iS for a few years, and the interior trim on that was poor and badly designed !)
Wheel alignment is very important if you want to experience the superb handling: the 156/GT rear alignment regularly wears off tyres if not adjusted correctly.
I shall probably get the same model to replace ( or in addition to....!!) my current main car, 2005 156 JTDM 150 that now has 150,000 on it.
I agree about finding a good indie garage that cares about Alfas, some garages do not want to work on them. They do have the Alfa 'quirks' that may put some people off.
I also agree about the build quality: the Alfa interiors are 'special', they have that something extra that IMHO puts them above the German cars...( I also had an E36 BMW 318iS for a few years, and the interior trim on that was poor and badly designed !)
Wheel alignment is very important if you want to experience the superb handling: the 156/GT rear alignment regularly wears off tyres if not adjusted correctly.
Yeah, tbh I'm not really into taking photos of my car, it's completely standard black with red leather, original wheels etc. It was more about my experiences of ownership and the few little tips, particularly about the p/s fluid and powerflex bushes (a very worthwhile mod i think, note there are 2 sizes, the later cars have slightly wider ones so measure before ordering.) good luck with finding one, it sounds like you know what you are doing, but consider something other than the diesel if you live in town and doing mainly short journeys. Chur as we say in nz (cheers bro)
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