Hi all. Anyone has experience with these cars! Looking at a 2004-2006 model. In particular, which model is the most reliable! I've heard that they do suffer from various reliability issues. Thanks.
bae13,
Jan 15, 5:27am
They don't suffer from them they are made that way. You as an owner then suffer from the way they are built unfortunately. If you do get one get a driveright/auto sure/motorplus warranty policy
mugenb20b,
Jan 15, 5:39am
Get the one with a good old fashioned manual gearbox if you must have one. Fantastic car to drive. I have seen Alfas with Selespeed gearbox problems, cambelts snapping before they are due (Alfa Romeo 147), and $480 thermostats.
rovercitroen,
Jan 15, 5:50am
I had a 156 2 litre Selespeed. Personally I didn't like the Selespeed gearbox in the city but it was great on the open road. The 156 handles nicely, with good steering feel and a nice engine and exhaust rasp. Mine had had HEAPS spent by previous owners on Selespeed system, cam belt change, aircon and front suspension parts. I found the few parts I needed were very expensive even from independent Fiat / Alfa specialists. They need frequent and expensive cam belt changes too (60k intervals). Nice cars but if you must have one get a manual gearbox one. The 156 wagons are very nice too, especially with the 2.5 V6 engine.
franc123,
Jan 15, 6:39am
You'd think that by that time that Alfa would have sorted the Selespeed issues, we had a customer that got burnt big time with a 2001 version that was a 147 or 156, can't remember which, that he bought from Turners dirt cheap, which didn't seem to ring any alarm bells at the time.You'd think that the $7K worth of receipts still left in the glovebox SOLELY for sorting out the ongoing problems with the Selespeed system would have put him off but no.All I can say is when your Alfa is working properly you will have a blast, when its not you will be crying and cursing amongst other things.There are a few ex Singapore versions of these floating about too so beware.
foxdonut,
Jan 16, 2:02am
I looked into this too. If you spend an hour on Alfa forums you learn two things about this car: 1, get a Brera (159) instead and two, if you've ever owned any other brand of car, prepare to relearn what "servicing and maintenance" means - One crowd here in Australia I found assumes its the norm to send your car in for cosmetic, electrical or engine repair at least once a week.
If you go down the path, get the Monza (V6), in a manual (only) and replace the wheels (immediately) because they spald and warp, pulling your tires apart in the process.
There's a reason thy're cheap cars.
2spicey,
Jan 16, 10:16pm
Sillyspeed never worked properly and they are unservicable. Replacing is the only way to fix them (lasts just long enough to sell them) The 156 V6 auto box is made in Japan by Hitachi and is one of the sweetest auto trans to use and it will give typical Jap performance. The 2l uses oil and has cam belt issues. The legroom in the back of 156 is tight for kids. Get a 147 GTA 3.2 manual or the 156 V6 auto or manual (they never did sillyspeed on the 2.5 V6, but did on the 3.2GTA for some stupid reason) Summary, they are neat cars but never own a Selespeed for any reason.
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