So then, what do you know about Alfa Romeo 156 V6's ?

I dont want hear say or speculation - if I listened to that I wouldnt have a Skoda

Are the electrics dodgy and do bits fall off them?

I'm confident in the mechanicals, its the sparky bits that worry me slightly.

dad has a 156 twinspark the one with electric everything and its been great not a problem with it and its now 3

gf's mum has a 147 1,6 and again not a single problem

i almost bought a 147 gta when i got the fabia but 7mpg scared me

Do they creak and rattle?

when they are good they are good... but if you get the friday pm car they are terrible.

love the look.

buy used and test drive carefully.

Right - Serious Answer

I had a 156 Brand new (for 51 Reg). Was only a 1.6 but

Good points

Engine

Driver comfort for long journeys

Performance (very nippy for a 1.6)

Design (Rear Door handles were fab)

Brakes

Bad Points

Depreciation - 50 % in 1 year (mind 37,000 miles).

Dealers (Worst I have even dealt with in 20 years of motoring).

Rear suspension - Car was built with (quote from dealer) suspension bushes back to front. Was off the road for a month with a complete rear suspension re build.

Comfort poor for front and rear passengers

Servicing costs

Tight roads corners - turning circle was poor

Petrol filler sheered off

Paint scratched easily

Standard Firestones didn't grip

Electrics - bulbs popped monthly

So So

Fuel economy

Rear and Boot space

Advice

1. Don't buy new - get a nearly new car with low mileage. If you do go against this get the dealer to knock a few thousand off.

2. Find an Alfa service specialist

3. Get a good warranty

4. Take the car on a long drive to make sure you like it.

But as for me - probably not.

I would be looking at one with about 30k on the clock and would either get a warrantly from a delaer or an AA type warranty if I bought from a private seller.

First hand from the owner so not hearsay.Brand new Alfa,parked it up,couldn't turn it off.Tried stalling it,everything.That was the replacement for his previous one which needed a new engine.

Despite that,I think they are sexy cars.Even the boxier older 155 which I know nothing about.

Top gear survey 2005 has the 156 at 103rd and the 147 at 111th out of 159 models

Apparently one of the sales guys here had one. Needed a new engine after 2 years, had a constant puddle in the boot and used nearly as much oil as it did petrol.

dada had no rattle problems even with the sub going in the bose stereo

i'd second the comments above:

bought a 147 brand new (my first new car) just over 3 years ago.

blew the engine on the first day, so stuck in a variety of 156's.

styling and interior great, build quality of interior great.

however, every single year it needed a new variator, so didn't fancy owning it outside of warranty.

also expired in cloud of black smoke one christmas day, which was particularly handy - never satisfactorily explained.

the dealers are tools, as well: charging for loan cars, awful customer service etc.

the cars also depreciate like a lead pig.

in summary, pretty car, not a bad drive and great styling let down by iffy quality and residuals.

forgot servicing costs: pricier than a mate's boxster. final 3 years service plus MOT plus inevitable out-of-warranty work needed to get it to pass: approx £1000. final straw: goodbye alfa.

I can see this thread going the same way as the Laguna V6 thread

just buy a st220 van then.... or a signum ... or a c32 amg

To be honest the ST220 is the front runner, closely followed by the Signum.

ST220 and Signum both good used buys!...how about a Beemer?...325/328 or 525/230???...or something quite rare a Mitsubishi Galant 2.5V6 estate...nice looking car IMO!

Ever since having a V6 for the day a few years ago and umpteen twin-spark hire cars the 156 is one of the many cars I'd actually like to own one day. The styling, performance, noise of that V6 motor and price are a big attraction.

Now there's a BUT coming........ BUT I know the suspect reliability and over-priced servicing costs (I used to have a Fiat) would sour the relationship for me and as a result I will not be investing.......Goodbye

Guy at work has had a few probs with his in three months of ownership.

Had a problem with the steering rack which required it to be replaced - rather expensive.

Had an electrical problem, car wouldn't start and gave symptoms of an immobiliser fault - £300 later they found the earth fault!!

Two weeks ago heard lots of noise from engine, pulled over called AA, lots of sucking through teeth and dropped it off at the garage - result, big end bearing gone. £1100 minimum as long as they don't find anything else.

There is nothing like an Alfa V6. Had an '87 75 2.5 V6 Cloverleaf for a couple of years. Last of the 'real' Alfas IMHO: 156BHP Transaxle RWD Never known another car engine that revved so freely.They are lovely when they are working and very expensive to fix when not :(

As a mate said at the time when I ws thinking of buying it - "it will be like tearing up tenners as fast as you can".

When my hips finally get too bad to ride a bike I fancy a V6 Alfa again

Every time I see someone ask if they should buy an alfa it is inevitably followed by a long long list of 'my mate had one and this broke' and 'guy at work had one and it drank oil' so on and so forth.

I have no doubt that these experience are true and alfa are near the bottom of the JD power table for a reason, but it does sometime seem that they are singled out more often than other marks with the same if not worse reliability records. I have yet to meet someone who has owned an MGF and not had to replace the engine or have a major engine rebuild for example (currently up to 8 people).

Over the last 6 years I have owned a Fiat Seicento Sporting, an Alfa 164 24V super and an Alfa GTV twinspark.

The Fiat was bought from new and gave me 45,000 trouble free miles. The 164 was bought for

Every time I see someone ask if they should buy an alfa it is inevitably followed by a long long list of 'my mate had one and this broke' and 'guy at work had one and it drank oil' so on and so forth.

.

True.Especially if the question is asked on a Skoda site:) .

Alfa and all car makers suffer from some prejudice.People wouldn't buy my 150 (ish) mph car because its a skoda.I have a genuine belief and fear that if I bought an Alfa it would have a problem of some sort.

This is a shame because I am a big fan of looks/style/name Alfa Romeo and old Lancias (keeping an eye out for the re born Fulvia.Might risk money on that.Stunning)

im sorry but you have to buy any car that sounds like this cick here for 156gta

and a engine that looks like

Every time I see someone ask if they should buy an alfa it is inevitably followed by a long long list of 'my mate had one and this broke' and 'guy at work had one and it drank oil' so on and so forth.

I have no doubt that these experience are true and alfa are near the bottom of the JD power table for a reason, but it does sometime seem that they are singled out more often than other marks with the same if not worse reliability records. I have yet to meet someone who has owned an MGF and not had to replace the engine or have a major engine rebuild for example (currently up to 8 people).

Over the last 6 years I have owned a Fiat Seicento Sporting, an Alfa 164 24V super and an Alfa GTV twinspark.

The Fiat was bought from new and gave me 45,000 trouble free miles. The 164 was bought for

Oh by the way, a certain fairly decent driver also owns and drives an Alfa 156!!

Oh by the way, a certain fairly decent driver also owns and drives an Alfa 156!!

I heard he has a few mechanic friends though to help him out from time to time.