Cars - Opinions, please

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Opinions, please

My 155 is looking as though it's not worth keeping as a long term
proposition, so I'm looking around for a replacement at the moment.

I've found 2 alternatives:

155 TSpark 8v 'narrowbody' - currently on ebay, and I reckon the final
price will be around £600. 66k miles, full history.

or

155 TSpark 16v 'widebody' - In stock at Alfa Net in Bristol. Don't yet
know the mileage, but I fancy a widebody. It's up for £1399, but what
worries me is the 16v engine.... is it as bad as it's reputation would
suggest, or is it almost as good as the 8v so long as I keep on top of
oil and belt changes?

OR

should I push the boat out, take out a small loan and buy a 156?

--
Steve H 'You're not a real petrolhead unless you've owned an Alfa Romeo'
http://www.italiancar.co.uk - Honda VFR800 - MZ ETZ300
VW Golf GL Cabrio - Alfa 75 TS - Alfa 155 TS Lusso - COSOC KOTL
BoTAFOT #87 - BoTAFOF #18 - MRO # - UKRMSBC #7 - Apostle #2 - YTC #

"SteveH" wrote:

> 155 TSpark 16v 'widebody' - In stock at Alfa Net in Bristol. Don't yet
> know the mileage, but I fancy a widebody. It's up for £1399, but what
> worries me is the 16v engine.... is it as bad as it's reputation would
> suggest, or is it almost as good as the 8v so long as I keep on top of
> oil and belt changes?

AlfaNet is in the most notorious road in Bristol so don't dawdle around
trying to find it or you'll get pulled for kerb crawling...

Tricky choice - your 155 hasn't lasted too long so it hasn't been
particularly cheap motoring, but then again a few year old 156 could be a
money pit which you are committed to, at least you can cut your losses with
your 155.

There are some fairly low mileage 156s out there for reasonable prices.

Finding one with a reasonably recent cambelt change and maybe even a new
variator may defer any big bills. Although suspension bushes seem to be a
regular thing (my 18 month old one included)

Cheers
Tony

Tony Rickard > wrote:

> "SteveH" wrote:
>
> > 155 TSpark 16v 'widebody' - In stock at Alfa Net in Bristol. Don't yet
> > know the mileage, but I fancy a widebody. It's up for £1399, but what
> > worries me is the 16v engine.... is it as bad as it's reputation would
> > suggest, or is it almost as good as the 8v so long as I keep on top of
> > oil and belt changes?
>
> AlfaNet is in the most notorious road in Bristol so don't dawdle around
> trying to find it or you'll get pulled for kerb crawling...
>
> Tricky choice - your 155 hasn't lasted too long so it hasn't been
> particularly cheap motoring,

Well, when you say hasn't lasted too long, it's given me 15k miles of
trouble-free use. It's just that I hit the rear silencer that had fallen
off a car at *eek* mph the other morning - an almighty thud, and an MOT
'advisory' for the steering rack followed. Unfortunately, it also killed
it's lamda sensor this week, too, so I'm still not MOTd on it..... but,
overall, it's going to have cost me under £500 all-in for 15k miles of
use, which isn't bad at all, IMHO.

> but then again a few year old 156 could be a
> money pit which you are committed to, at least you can cut your losses with
> your 155.

That's my reasoning behind cheap cars - when you're doing 600 miles /
week, there's 2 options - buy nearly new and under warranty, or buy an
old hack. My 155 was definitely in the 'old hack' category - it's a
'well used' example, so maybe I went a bit too 'used' with it!

> There are some fairly low mileage 156s out there for reasonable prices.

But reasonable means lots more money than a 16v 155 which is 99% of the
car for 30% of the money ;-)

> Finding one with a reasonably recent cambelt change and maybe even a new
> variator may defer any big bills. Although suspension bushes seem to be a
> regular thing (my 18 month old one included)

Yeah, that puts me off 156s, along with the fact that most have been
owned by idiots that don't check fluids, so can be a disaster waiting to
happen.

Peversely, I prefer the 155s anyway.....

--
Steve H 'You're not a real petrolhead unless you've owned an Alfa Romeo'
http://www.italiancar.co.uk - Honda VFR800 - MZ ETZ300
VW Golf GL Cabrio - Alfa 75 TS - Alfa 155 TS Lusso - COSOC KOTL
BoTAFOT #87 - BoTAFOF #18 - MRO # - UKRMSBC #7 - Apostle #2 - YTC #

I`ve had two 155s and loved `em both . Just make sure the variator and cam
belt have been done ( or do them ).
In all other respects mine were every bit as good as most similarly priced
"modern" cars . And loadsa fun.
Phil
"SteveH" > wrote in message
. ..
> Tony Rickard > wrote:
>
>> "SteveH" wrote:
>>
>> > 155 TSpark 16v 'widebody' - In stock at Alfa Net in Bristol. Don't yet
>> > know the mileage, but I fancy a widebody. It's up for £1399, but what
>> > worries me is the 16v engine.... is it as bad as it's reputation would
>> > suggest, or is it almost as good as the 8v so long as I keep on top of
>> > oil and belt changes?
>>
>> AlfaNet is in the most notorious road in Bristol so don't dawdle around
>> trying to find it or you'll get pulled for kerb crawling...
>>
>> Tricky choice - your 155 hasn't lasted too long so it hasn't been
>> particularly cheap motoring,
>
> Well, when you say hasn't lasted too long, it's given me 15k miles of
> trouble-free use. It's just that I hit the rear silencer that had fallen
> off a car at *eek* mph the other morning - an almighty thud, and an MOT
> 'advisory' for the steering rack followed. Unfortunately, it also killed
> it's lamda sensor this week, too, so I'm still not MOTd on it..... but,
> overall, it's going to have cost me under £500 all-in for 15k miles of
> use, which isn't bad at all, IMHO.
>
>> but then again a few year old 156 could be a
>> money pit which you are committed to, at least you can cut your losses
>> with
>> your 155.
>
> That's my reasoning behind cheap cars - when you're doing 600 miles /
> week, there's 2 options - buy nearly new and under warranty, or buy an
> old hack. My 155 was definitely in the 'old hack' category - it's a
> 'well used' example, so maybe I went a bit too 'used' with it!
>
>> There are some fairly low mileage 156s out there for reasonable prices.
>
> But reasonable means lots more money than a 16v 155 which is 99% of the
> car for 30% of the money ;-)
>
>> Finding one with a reasonably recent cambelt change and maybe even a new
>> variator may defer any big bills. Although suspension bushes seem to be a
>> regular thing (my 18 month old one included)
>
> Yeah, that puts me off 156s, along with the fact that most have been
> owned by idiots that don't check fluids, so can be a disaster waiting to
> happen.
>
> Peversely, I prefer the 155s anyway.....
>
> --
> Steve H 'You're not a real petrolhead unless you've owned an Alfa Romeo'
> http://www.italiancar.co.uk - Honda VFR800 - MZ ETZ300
> VW Golf GL Cabrio - Alfa 75 TS - Alfa 155 TS Lusso - COSOC KOTL
> BoTAFOT #87 - BoTAFOF #18 - MRO # - UKRMSBC #7 - Apostle #2 - YTC #

SteveH > wrote:

> My 155 is looking as though it's not worth keeping as a long term
> proposition, so I'm looking around for a replacement at the moment.
>
> I've found 2 alternatives:

Bad form, but.....

The 16v 155 has done too many miles and had it's engine 'rebuilt' (I
read that as cobbled back together after a cambelt fail) 11k miles
ago...... so it's a shed, I reckon.

Alternative:

146Ti, still to check out the mileage, P-plate, £1995 ono from a local
dealer.

Possibility, do you think?
--
Steve H 'You're not a real petrolhead unless you've owned an Alfa Romeo'
http://www.italiancar.co.uk - Honda VFR800 - MZ ETZ300
VW Golf GL Cabrio - Alfa 75 TS - Alfa 155 TS Lusso - COSOC KOTL
BoTAFOT #87 - BoTAFOF #18 - MRO # - UKRMSBC #7 - Apostle #2 - YTC #