Does Anyone Own An Alfa Romeo Diesel On Here?

[Venod]

I'm already thinking about getting the wheels powder coated black or anthracite and possibly lowering it

You have found a nice example there, don't spoil it.

 

[T4tomo]

Great cars and less than the price of a new clutch and rebuilding the engine on a diesel Alfa when the water pump seizes and sods up your cam belt. I speak from GT coupe experience.

It may well leak through the hood, but I think that's par for the course with any old rag top

 

[screenman]

I drove a lowered MX5 last week, compared with a standard one it was horrible.

 

[Globalti]

I have a woman colleague who does drifting for fun and always turns up in interesting cars, the standard company A4 being far too dull for her. She says the MX5 is one of the best balanced driver's cars around in standard form so I guess messing with the setup would not make it any better.

I've recently graduated from a Passat B7 that had low-profile tyres to a B8 that has more sensible tyres and the difference is remarkable; the taller tyres are more comfortable, quieter and give the car a much more grown-up feel. Sometimes "sporty" additions are not good.

 

[fossyant]

Black alloys are naff. What if you curb it ? Stick with silver.

 

[Proto]

95000 miles on my SAAB 9-5 Vector Sport estate, 1.9 JTDi engine. No problems. Hoping to get at least another 100000 miles out of it.

Had a temperature sensor on the catalytic converter give me a little grief, but soon sorted. Other than that car has been faultless.

 

[BrumJim]

Bizarre fact of the day:
John Attenborough, forgotten brother to Richard and David, used to be General Manager of Alfa Romeo GB.

 

[mustang1]

To cut a long story short I got made redundant 3 months ago and got a good payout. Luckily after 2 months of looking I've managed to get another job, not as good as my original job but not bad. At the moment I've got a sensible japanese small petrol car that was cheap and is ultra reliable. I just fancy something a bit more exciting, German cars just don't float my boat at all (I'm in the minority it would seem).

After looking around the Alfa Romeo 159 Sportwagon appears to be my dream car. Yes I know it's a diesel (petrol is out of the question) that shares the same engine as a Vauxhaul Vectra or a Saab, but my god it so looks way better than a BMW 3 series, Audi A4 or whatever just IMVHO. The 156 also looked way better than previous models also.
Stuff deleted.

I needed a laugh!
(Sorry couldn't resist)

 

[mustang1]

An Alfa with an oil burner? Surely such an abomination cannot exist?

Yeah right!? My friend just bought his SECOND diesel Alfa. He looks sensible on the outside but now I think he's a nut job.

 

[mustang1]

You'll get lots of excitement alright with a used Alfa.

 

[Jody]

You know you want to

 

[mustang1]

Cletus, will you get stick or auto?

A friend has a 164 diesel in excellent condition and no problems. He services it himself. Another friend had a164 3.0 petrol and has no end of problems. Some others have mitos diesel and turbo petrol with no problems and also 159 diesel, again no problems.

Good luck with your search (I mean that in a nice way, not the "youre gonna need it" way ).

 

[Piemaster]

An Alfa Romeo with a diesel would be like a Bianchi or a Pinarello with a belt drive and Alfine hub.

Alfa were the first to sell a mass market common rail diesel. Story is they ran out of development money so sold the system to...Bosch.

+1 on the "don't arse about with the MX5 vote"
Of course I've no idea why you would want one when you can get one of these (48k in 13 years)

 

[T4tomo]

Japanese engineering and electronics vs temperamental, albeit beautiful, Italian stuff?

 

[Jimmy Doug]

I'd go for Japanese every time. We've just said goodbye to a wonderful Corolla that did 240 000 kms without a single thing ever going wrong with it, despite the fact that we'd never serviced it (beyond one or two oil changes). Similar story for my parents-in-law - they had a Picnic which they thoroughly neglected yet which remained reliable until 250 000 kms, when the belt eventually snapped (they'd never changed it). Now we've got a Prius, one of the most reliable cars on the road (but I suspect that this is the other end of the spectrum to the sort of vehicle you're looking for!).
About diesels: over here (and in Germany too I believe) they're the most popular engines by a long margin so I wouldn't worry about how good they are. They're definitely more reliable and economical, but they pollute more than petrol engines.
I think that Mazda is a great vehicle, though. I remember seeing Richard Hammond waxing lyrical about them on Top Gear once - apparently they have a great gear box. As for the Alfa, one of my colleagues has had two. Lovely to drive and they look gorgeous, but she's had quite a few reliability problems with them - she's now thinking of getting a hybrid like mine!