159Q4 V6

LALFA · February 23, 2012, 10:20:36 AM

Hi everyone, thinking about buying my wife a 159Q4 V6, it has just under 90k kms and are asking 35k. Any thoughts on this model? Goods, bads, underpowered, Holden motor no good? There is not much written about them anywhere. And why did they stop making them?
Thanks for your time?

colcol · February 23, 2012, 08:59:12 PM

If you are in Melbourne you could come along to the current model Technical workshop night at ZAGAME on Friday, May 25th and ask a few Questions, Colin.

colcol · February 24, 2012, 09:11:50 PM

The V-6 Holden motor is allright, [in a Commodore], but Alfa should be making their own motor, the only negative i have heard about the Alloytec, is that it stretches timing chains, and causes an alarm, because the valve timing goes out in relationship to the crankshaft, then the computer goes into limp mode, the fix is a new timing chain, totol cost i hear on the grapevine is $2500, i know that the 4 wheel drive 159 is quite heavy and uses a fair bit of fuel, it seems the new owners hardly ever talk about thei cars on the forum, maybe they are a bit shy, or their cars don't give trouble, i don't know why the 159 went out of production, it seemed to be selling ok, its only about 6 years old, few years left in it yet, more FIAT logic, the replacement for the 159 is going to be called the 160 or the 169 or the Guilia, [just to confuse it with the new Guillietta], or whatever FIAT decides at morning tea that day, and there will be no more Holden alloytec, the replacement motor will come from Chrysler in America, it will be a V-6 they developed with Mercedes, until they got divorced, and by all accounts, its a good motor, Mopars allways had good motors, Colin.

Evan Bottcher · February 25, 2012, 02:31:55 PM

I'm pretty sure it's answer B. You don't hear much from the 159 owners because the cars don't give much trouble. Best place to find out the likely things to go wrong is on the alfaowner.com forum - the room dedicated to the 159. However in the UK they sell more diesels and petrols than the v6 I'm guessing. When I look it's relatively minor problems - other than the diesel emissions control problems (DPF and EGR) which seem very common.

You might like to ask biggus on here: http://www.alfaclubvic.org.au/forum/index.php?topic=6881.0

Scarlan · February 26, 2012, 10:36:11 PM

Quote from: LALFA on February 23, 2012, 10:20:36 AM
Hi everyone, thinking about buying my wife a 159Q4 V6, it has just under 90k kms and are asking 35k. Any thoughts on this model? Goods, bads, underpowered, Holden motor no good? There is not much written about them anywhere. And why did they stop making them?
Thanks for your time?

If you are in Melbourne you might like to look at mine.
Are you after a manual or an auto?
Mine is manual with 60km; search IVIX on carsales.
BTW, great car and never had any problems.

shiny_car · February 27, 2012, 05:22:22 AM

What year-model are you looking at? And Ti or non-Ti?

Series 1 are up to 2008, and included the regular Q4 or Ti. Manual.
Series 2 from late 2008-2010 are all Ti models when a V6, and all QTronic auto (except special-order). Minor but worthwhile updates/changes.
Series 3 being the latest, with little/nothing changed AFAIK. Option of anthracite wheels, and I suspect they may have raised the rideheight, but that's only from looking.

We have a 159SW Ti, 2009 3.2 QTronic. Very happy with it. Great as a family car. Brisk but not urgent; very solid, refined, looks great, handles very well, fantastic AWD grip. Have to be a little careful with low rideheight. Seats awesome in the Ti.

Fuel economy definitely isn't its strong point. We do a mix of highway/city (mostly hwy) and average mid-12L/100km. A 150km round trip to visit the parents can be a $50-60 expense.

LALFA · February 27, 2012, 07:22:49 PM

Thanks everyone for your responses, my wife prefers the ti model. The one we are looking at is a 2007 model so I think it is a series 1, it is the one that lorbek has for sale. Do you guys think the q4 is the way to go instead of the other models? I have to spend a bit more but I was thinking it might hold its value a bit more.
Thanks again

Scarlan · February 28, 2012, 09:28:12 AM

LALFA,
I have sent you a PM.

shiny_car · February 28, 2012, 09:56:55 PM

Aside from the petrol expense and insurance, the Q4 is great for the sound of a petrol engine (!), fantastic grip, and HID headlights.

alfagtv100 (Biggus) · February 29, 2012, 05:34:13 PM

Hi LALFA,

I am approaching 4 years of ownership of my 159 ti 3.2. I can say the car has been an absolute joy to own.
The fuel economy is indeed poor but heavily influenced by driving style. Put the foot down to enable full enjoyment of the throaty exhaust notes when pulling away from traffic lights and speed humps and you will see an average l/100km figure of 16.5. I should know. You will also need to be careful when passing over speed humps, as the nose can touch the ground as you drop off the far side of the hump.
The only other thing to remember is that the 19" tyres are expensive and don't last more than approximately 30,000 – 35,000km.

Otherwise, they seem to be a very well built car. Mine has not developed a single rattle and has been the most reliable car I have ever owned. The 7.2 second 0-100kph time feels rapid enough during normal road use and the handling is as sure-footed as the brakes are powerful. There is plenty of overtaking grunt and the car sounds awesome as the revs rise.
Load space in the boot is pretty good and excellent with the rear seats dropped. The Bose sub-woofer does eat in to the boot space, meaning some items may fit through the boot opening yet not all the way in to the boot. The car also comes with ISOFIX baby seat mounts. However, ISOFIX seats are not permitted to be sold in Australia, because our government doesn't value the safety of children.

The seats are supportive, comfortable and hard wearing (as is the rest of the interior, including the carpets). The air conditioning works well and the Bose stereo, excellent. Cubby holes in the cabin are a bit small but that means you end up carrying less crap.
The auto-dimming rear view mirror, auto headlights, red interior 'mood' lighting, heated seats (in mine anyway) and being able to open all windows and the sunroof remotely with the car key, are all highlights.

Rear ¾ vision is poor and the rain sensing wipers are crap, though the wipers themselves are excellent.

All-in-all, I reckon Alfa did a good job with the 159. For ultimate driveability and balanced handling, its no BMW 3-series but much better value for money and has that special 'Alfaness'. In a good way.

Cheers,
Marco

LALFA · February 29, 2012, 09:02:18 PM

Hi all you guys have been very helpful in helping me decide to go for a q4, now just to find one. now I can't wait, once again thankyou

L4OMEO · February 29, 2012, 09:47:59 PM

Well written and nicely balanced summary Marco.

Rory

lmarr · March 20, 2012, 11:16:21 AM

I'd say $35k for a 3.2 with 90k on the clock is on the expensive side. I picked up one with 15k on the clock for the same cash, and noticed that there were a few others available around this price range. The 3.2 is relatively rare and demand isn't that high, the guy i bought mine from had his on the market for 3 mths.

Fantastic car though. I've found mine to be 100% reliable, the only minor niggle is the oil temp gauge works intermittently, and i'm told its an engine out job to fix, so not really worth it. Aside from that a very solid car but as others have said very heavy on the fuel. On long trips I can get 10L/100km at best, but for city driving its closer to 16.

Despite that its a much nicer car than the standard 2.2. - electric/heated seats, xenons, bose system, nice alloys, auto wipers/headlights all add up. And the engine note is addictive in the higher rev range!!