How does this sound for a plan?

Quick background.

Opting out of company car scheme, got around £5.5k / year all-in for a
car.

I really want a a 159 Sportwagon or Brera with a 2.4 JTD engine and
QTronic box - but they're still a bit too new and over budget.

Looking around, I could get a facelift 156 2.0JTS Selespeed for around
£5.5k with sensible miles on it, run it for a year or 18 months until
the 159 or Brera is cheap enough, then pass it on to Katie.

Reckon it's a do-able plan? - I hear that any Selespeed fitted to a JTS
engine or to the GTAs is 'revision 3', which means it's much more
reliable than earlier boxes.

--
SteveH 'You're not a real petrolhead unless you've owned an Alfa Romeo'
www.italiancar.co.uk - Ducati 750SS - Hongdou GY200
Alfa 75 TSpark - Alfa 156 TSpark - B6 Passat 2.0TDI SE

SteveH wrote:
> Quick background.
>
> Opting out of company car scheme, got around £5.5k / year all-in for a
> car.
>
> I really want a a 159 Sportwagon or Brera with a 2.4 JTD engine and
> QTronic box - but they're still a bit too new and over budget.
>
> Looking around, I could get a facelift 156 2.0JTS Selespeed for around
> £5.5k with sensible miles on it, run it for a year or 18 months until
> the 159 or Brera is cheap enough, then pass it on to Katie.
>
> Reckon it's a do-able plan? - I hear that any Selespeed fitted to a JTS
> engine or to the GTAs is 'revision 3', which means it's much more
> reliable than earlier boxes.
>

I would.

--
Catman MIB#14 SKoGA#6 TEAR#4 BOTAFOF#38 Apostle#21 COSOC#3
Tyger, Tyger Burning Bright (Remove rust to reply)
116 Giulietta 3.0l Sprint 1.7 145 2.0 Cloverleaf 156 V6 2.5 S2
Triumph Sprint ST 1050: It's blue, see.
www.cuore-sportivo.co.uk

"SteveH" > wrote in message
. ..
> Quick background.
>
> Opting out of company car scheme, got around £5.5k / year all-in for a
> car.
>
> I really want a a 159 Sportwagon or Brera with a 2.4 JTD engine and
> QTronic box - but they're still a bit too new and over budget.
>
> Looking around, I could get a facelift 156 2.0JTS Selespeed for around
> £5.5k with sensible miles on it, run it for a year or 18 months until
> the 159 or Brera is cheap enough, then pass it on to Katie.

I can vouch for the engine - very smooth, torquey and can be efficient, if
you stick to 60. I have the 2.0JTS with new inside/old outside. Can't
comment on the flappy paddels though.

On Sat, 30 Aug 2008 23:20:57 +0100, (SteveH)
wrote:

>Selespeed

As long as you've driven one and like them. I've just driven a Honda
with flappy paddles and detested it with a vengeance. If they worked
like they do in PC car games - fine. Sadly they're a zillion times
more useless. I'm with Clarkson on this!

--
Z
Scotland
Alfa Romeo 156 2.4JTD Veloce Leather
'Oil' be seeing you..
(Email without 'Alfa' in subject will be auto-deleted..sorry!)

SteveH wrote:
>
> Reckon it's a do-able plan? - I hear that any Selespeed fitted to a JTS
> engine or to the GTAs is 'revision 3', which means it's much more
> reliable than earlier boxes.
>

Well I had one of the original Selespeeds from new for a couple of years
and ab-so-bloody-lutely loved it! Apart from ignoring the stupid 'auto'
or 'city' mode everything else about it was magic. Left foot breaking,
both hands on the wheel at all times, all this with _proper_ gear
changes. Brill! I did, however, trade up (166) _just_ before it went
out of warranty for obvious reasons, so _if_ they've sorted out the
reliability issues - and let's face it, they should have by now - well
then I'd find it hard to argue against your logic :-)

My two (euro) cents worth,

Ed.
---- Posted via Pronews.com - Premium Corporate Usenet News Provider ----
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eddiealfanut > wrote:

> SteveH wrote:
> >
> > Reckon it's a do-able plan? - I hear that any Selespeed fitted to a JTS
> > engine or to the GTAs is 'revision 3', which means it's much more
> > reliable than earlier boxes.
> >
>
> Well I had one of the original Selespeeds from new for a couple of years
> and ab-so-bloody-lutely loved it! Apart from ignoring the stupid 'auto'
> or 'city' mode everything else about it was magic. Left foot breaking,
> both hands on the wheel at all times, all this with _proper_ gear
> changes. Brill! I did, however, trade up (166) _just_ before it went
> out of warranty for obvious reasons, so _if_ they've sorted out the
> reliability issues - and let's face it, they should have by now - well
> then I'd find it hard to argue against your logic :-)
>
> My two (euro) cents worth,

Unfortunately, despite all the reliability fears, it appears that I've
bought a 2002-ish car with the TSpark engine.....

Not registered as a 2002, but a 2002 build.
--
SteveH 'You're not a real petrolhead unless you've owned an Alfa Romeo'
www.italiancar.co.uk - Ducati 750SS - Hongdou GY200
Alfa 75 TSpark - Alfa 156 TSpark - B6 Passat 2.0TDI SE

"SteveH" > wrote in message
k...
> eddiealfanut > wrote:
>
>> SteveH wrote:
>> >
>> > Reckon it's a do-able plan? - I hear that any Selespeed fitted to a JTS
>> > engine or to the GTAs is 'revision 3', which means it's much more
>> > reliable than earlier boxes.
>> >
>>
>> Well I had one of the original Selespeeds from new for a couple of years
>> and ab-so-bloody-lutely loved it! Apart from ignoring the stupid 'auto'
>> or 'city' mode everything else about it was magic. Left foot breaking,
>> both hands on the wheel at all times, all this with _proper_ gear
>> changes. Brill! I did, however, trade up (166) _just_ before it went
>> out of warranty for obvious reasons, so _if_ they've sorted out the
>> reliability issues - and let's face it, they should have by now - well
>> then I'd find it hard to argue against your logic :-)
>>
>> My two (euro) cents worth,
>
> Unfortunately, despite all the reliability fears, it appears that I've
> bought a 2002-ish car with the TSpark engine.....
>
> Not registered as a 2002, but a 2002 build.

My 2002 is 2.0 JTS. Registered October 2002. I'm fairly sure they changed
the engines over to JTS along with the facelift. If it was sold to you as a
JTS, then you must have some comeback on them?

"GT" > wrote in message
...
> "SteveH" > wrote in message
> k...
>> eddiealfanut > wrote:
>>
>>> SteveH wrote:
>>> >
>>> > Reckon it's a do-able plan? - I hear that any Selespeed fitted to a
>>> > JTS
>>> > engine or to the GTAs is 'revision 3', which means it's much more
>>> > reliable than earlier boxes.
>>> >
>>>
>>> Well I had one of the original Selespeeds from new for a couple of years
>>> and ab-so-bloody-lutely loved it! Apart from ignoring the stupid 'auto'
>>> or 'city' mode everything else about it was magic. Left foot breaking,
>>> both hands on the wheel at all times, all this with _proper_ gear
>>> changes. Brill! I did, however, trade up (166) _just_ before it went
>>> out of warranty for obvious reasons, so _if_ they've sorted out the
>>> reliability issues - and let's face it, they should have by now - well
>>> then I'd find it hard to argue against your logic :-)
>>>
>>> My two (euro) cents worth,
>>
>> Unfortunately, despite all the reliability fears, it appears that I've
>> bought a 2002-ish car with the TSpark engine.....
>>
>> Not registered as a 2002, but a 2002 build.
>
> My 2002 is 2.0 JTS. Registered October 2002. I'm fairly sure they changed
> the engines over to JTS along with the facelift. If it was sold to you as
> a JTS, then you must have some comeback on them?

Ahh - just spotted the other post - please ignore this!

GT > wrote:

> > Unfortunately, despite all the reliability fears, it appears that I've
> > bought a 2002-ish car with the TSpark engine.....
> >
> > Not registered as a 2002, but a 2002 build.
>
> My 2002 is 2.0 JTS. Registered October 2002. I'm fairly sure they changed
> the engines over to JTS along with the facelift. If it was sold to you as a
> JTS, then you must have some comeback on them?

Oh, I knew before I did the deal.....

Build date is sometime mid-2002 - facelift dash, but pre-JTS engines.

Registered October 2006.

An oddity, and a pain to sort out insurance and warranty as you couldn't
buy a TS on a 2006.

Who cares? - I've got a car I like, in great condition with stupidly low
miles on it, for almost disposable money.

I'm happy. Just hope it's a pain-free ownership experience!
--
SteveH 'You're not a real petrolhead unless you've owned an Alfa Romeo'
www.italiancar.co.uk - Ducati 750SS - Hongdou GY200 - - Alfa 75 TSpark
Alfa 156 Veloce Sportwagon Selespeed -Alfa 156 TSpark- Passat 2.0TDI SE

"SteveH" > wrote in message
. ..
> GT > wrote:
>
>> > Unfortunately, despite all the reliability fears, it appears that I've
>> > bought a 2002-ish car with the TSpark engine.....
>> >
>> > Not registered as a 2002, but a 2002 build.
>>
>> My 2002 is 2.0 JTS. Registered October 2002. I'm fairly sure they changed
>> the engines over to JTS along with the facelift. If it was sold to you as
>> a
>> JTS, then you must have some comeback on them?
>
> Oh, I knew before I did the deal.....
>
> Build date is sometime mid-2002 - facelift dash, but pre-JTS engines.
>
> Registered October 2006.
>
> An oddity, and a pain to sort out insurance and warranty as you couldn't
> buy a TS on a 2006.
>
> Who cares? - I've got a car I like, in great condition with stupidly low
> miles on it, for almost disposable money.
>
> I'm happy. Just hope it's a pain-free ownership experience!

Nice one Steve, if there's one out there, there could be more! I must keep
my eyes peeled....