Tempting fate....

[psproule]

For a lark a couple of weeks ago we bid on a 2006 156 JTS Selespeed on a Canberra auction website.
Not expecting to win.
And we did win with a bid of $3160.

So for the past couple of weeks I have been driving it around and it is surprisingly good. It's black with the red leather interior (exterior good with a few chips, interior immaculate), has been serviced every 10k by an alfa specialist, needs a new camshaft variator (dont mind getting on the tools) and we will swap all the cam / balance / ancillary belts while we are at it. But otherwise that's it - everything works as it should, including the selespeed. Passed a blue-slip and all.

I bought a VAG cable to check the ECU's and all good there. We then used it to tweak up the Selespeed adjustments and speed up the shift. Also noticed it rides on sportline eibach springs and bilstein shocks but these are the only mods I can find.

I'm sure to be bagged for buying a selespeed but this is a whole lot of fun for not much money. Cant believe how reasonable parts are either.






Cheers - Pat

[colcol]

Hello Pat, if you look after your car, then it will look you, its as simple as that, see a post from a few weeks ago about the 156 being the worst car a bloke had ever owned.
People take their Alfa Romeo's to franchised car service places and get them serviced incorrectly and then they break down and guess what?, its bloody Alfa Romeo's breaking down again.
While you are looking at the timing belts, you may change the water pump as some change them every 2nd timing belt change, as its easy to get at with the belts off, and its part of the belt tensioning system, Colin.

[MJenko]

Alfas have a reputation as being unreliable- which is justifiable.
Alfas require more money to maintain than most other cars. 
I have 4 .

[poohbah]

Alfas require more money to maintain than most other cars. 

I love my 156 to bits, but there is no denying it costs a bit to maintain. For a lark (or more likely self-punishment), I just went through my receipts for the 3 years since I bought my manual V6 for $7k. Total bills to date of over $11,600, and I will need to get the timing belt/water pump changed on my next service (180,000km).

That includes regular 6 monthly servicing, general wear/tear parts replacement, my first timing belt change shortly after I purchased, 1 set of tyres, new brakes all round, new front suspension arms & bushes, new CV joints and drive shafts, new cooling system hoses, and fuel pump repair.

Just as well I love it I guess.

Just remembered I also had a new muffler fitted as well.

[Alfapride]

It's a shame some of these models are so expensive to maintain given the low resale values I fear the day when most people won't save these cars due to high repair costs and simply send them to the wreckers leaving hardly any of these wonderful cars left on the road...

[poohbah]

It's a shame some of these models are so expensive to maintain given the low resale values.

Yeah, but I look at it this way: the low purchase price of these fantastic cars is what makes them feasible to buy and maintain. If it had cost me $15k to buy, there is no way I'd have stuck with it this long. Instead, I got a whole lotta car for almost nothing upfront. And I have no real plan to get rid of it.

[Stuart Thomson]

Alfas have a reputation as being unreliable- which is justifiable.
Alfas require more money to maintain than most other cars. 
I have 4 .

Really?  I have 6, all except the race car work really well, and I know who broke the race car!

We have a 159 diesel wagon with close to 200000 kms on it is no more expensive to maintain than other makes of car, with the exception of the elcheapo Korean made PsOS.  This car would fetch about 10-15 grand, and will probably keep going for another 200000kms without major problems.  But, it is serviced regularly by people who know what they're doing.

If you buy a cheap car and expect it to perform flawlessly, you'll be disappointed every time, regardless of make.  There's a reason they are cheap.

That's as much attention as this post deserved.

Cheers
Stuart

[MJenko]

Interesting points .
I love all my Alfas ,current and past and all have been regularly serviced and repaired by a sponsor of the club over the last 8 years.
I have no regrets ,but the facts  are for me  , I have spent close to double over the last 8 years on maintaining my Alfas than I did in the previous 16 years on various Japanese cars.
Including the constant electrical issues in both current - 156gta and 159 jts.
All good .



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