Unreliable Alfas?....

[Nigel_O]

Not in my experience

Bought my diesel Alfa GT as a leggy stop-gap five years ago and it just keeps going



mpg is still fairly handy - the dash figure was today's 80+ mile commute, including the carpark known as the M42 round Birmingham.

Not exactly an exciting and engaging drive, but I've got the Westfield for blowing out the cobwebs - I just need the daily hack to be reliable, comfortable and cheap. Good-looking is a bonus and a non-German badge is a definite plus in my book.

[Unbusy]

That’s cracking! I walked past a nice red one today, definitely a decent looking car.
Out of interest what mileage was the car on when you bought it?

[Nigel_O]

Unbusy said:

Out of interest what mileage was the car on when you bought it?

It was on 150k in 2013. It was a bit of a gamble, but it was cheap, so I figured it wouldn’t be a disaster if it died after a year or two.

[VitorioVeloce]

56 MPG my 2.0 JTS struggles to stay above 28 And that is without me actually driving it hard most of the time

[Chris Type R]

Looking at Alfa Owner, there are reasonable number starting to suffer from rust - the sort of rust which needs fixing in order to pass MOT.

[Nigel_O]

Chris Type R said:

Looking at Alfa Owner, there are reasonable number starting to suffer from rust - the sort of rust which needs fixing in order to pass MOT.

Correct and it is mainly the petrol models, with the worst-affected being the V6

I work part-time at an Italian car specialist and we have lots of GTs in - we don't get many rusty diesels

Far more rusty Breras and 159s though....

[Chris Type R]

Nigel_O said:

Correct and it is mainly the petrol models, with the worst-affected being the V6

I work part-time at an Italian car specialist and we have lots of GTs in - we don't get many rusty diesels

Far more rusty Breras and 159s though....

Why the lower number of diesels do you think ? Is it a case of them being written off sooner/more readily or self-medicating with oily residue ?

Surely the fact it's a V6 has no bearing on the rate at which it rusts - and reflects that owners are more likely to be prepared to keep it on the road longer ?

[jamiehamy]

Friend had a 156 2.4 JTD - was incredibly reliable and only died when he smacked the sump off a double cambered single track road. I actually loved it, was a gorgeous big barge. It had nearly 200k I think.

[Nigel_O]

Chris Type R said:

Why the lower number of diesels do you think ?

I have a feeling its because they are slightly less oil-tight, but we see plenty of diesels with no oil leaks and the floorpans are still generally OK.

I guess there's also an element of when we see a rusty V6, its a crying shame, whereas a rusty diesel doesn't matter very much, so it has less of an impact.

[Chris Type R]

Nigel_O said:

I guess there's also an element of when we see a rusty V6, its a crying shame, whereas a rusty diesel doesn't matter very much, so it has less of an impact.

I suspect the V6 engines will be re-purposed - last of the Bussos and all that.

[rassi]

My late father's 164 QV 24V racked up 280.000 km, and while the bodywork started to show some signs of rust, the engine still ran like a clockwork.

[Mound Dawg]

200,000+ on this. Disappointed that I had to change the water pump at 170k and the clutch at 190.



It's doing better than the previous one that was written off by a wool gathering bint in a Zafira at a mere 180,000 and 21 years old.

The engine from the red one was sold to my employers and was built into a race motor that we shipped to Malaysia. It won three consecutive historic touring car Championships.

[thekingisdead]

Fantastic. Mines on 188k and hope to take it above 200k

Never seen above 45mpg tho.and it spends most it’s like on the motorway at 70mph.
170bhp cloverleaf, fwiw

[thewifescar]

I clicked over 163k yesterday in my 54 plate GT diesel, it was on 80k four years ago when I bought it. I plan to hit at least 200k now after flirting with a change earlier in the year.