Alfa 156 what's to know apart from don't buy one?

[sierraman]

Really do fancy one of these, I realise it will be a complete waste of money and a drain on my time but I'd like one at some point. What's to know with them?

[alcyonecorporation]

Selenia oil is expensive and the V6s ride like shite. 

Other than that, I like them. 

[bigfella2]

Front suspension parts are classed as consumables, rot in the rear floor pans. Petrols have an appetite for oil. 2.4 20v derv has a hideously expensive fly wheel and clutch combo, generally not as highly regarded as 10v as more complex and problematic. Avoid like plague and any silly speeds unless you want financial ruin. Facelift car great looking, highly recommended, fancied one myself but didn't have the plums to buy one.

[sierraman]

Seen a few at £7-800 with recent belts and pumps on them. What's the front suspension like for working on, it's not one of those like the A4/Passat that's a real fucker to sort out is it?

[alcyonecorporation]

I'm not sure it's TEN BALLJOINT PER SIDE WOW SUCH QUALITY esque misery, but I can't imagine it's fun either. 

[cort16]

The 166 had the most contrived rear suspension setup I've ever seen . Mine had a weird rear camber so I put it up on a lift , looked at it, put it back down and immediately listed it on eBay .

 

I don't think the 156 is as bad.

[sierraman]

I'd be looking at paying banger money and having a year or two out of it.

[stripped fred]

I was bitten by the clutch/dmf on my 20v and it hurt, a lot. I liked the car but not enough to spend over half its value again but I had no choice. It soured my relationship a bit. My wife had the 10v version and it's still going strong. It lasted quite a bit longer than the marriage did! She's not had any real problems with it. When we got it about 8 years ago I got the garage to give it a coat of waxoyl which I think helped a lot.

[stripped fred]

Also suspension bushes need changing on a regular basis. I still don't know why that is. They do look great though, the car, not the bushes.

[Schaefft]

Didn't they have serious problems with keeping rainwater outside of the car? I think they are great looking cars, probably quick and sound great in V6 form, too. Not sure which models you should be looking for to soften the blow though. 

 

So yeah

 

[stripped fred]

I had no problems with water getting inside on the two I had.

[sierraman]

Needless to say I'd be looking at the 1.6/2.0 petrol. The concept of the italians messing about with common rail diesel technology is too much for me to consider.

 

Are the facelift jobs a better proposition? A lot of the T-X plate jobs are in the £4-600 range, at that money the fact it runs and has an MOT is a big deal. I'd be running the bigger till it blew so...

[stripped fred]

To anyone considering one of these i wouldn't rule out the 10v 2.4 as it's a great engine. The 20v is good too if it's had the failure points sorted. This is copied off another forum:

 

Issues for the 20V I've gathered from the forum and / or own (limited) experience:

- water pump - make sure it has been changed according to the mileage AND age (see thread at the top of the list), get it changed urgently if it hasn't

- driveshafts are weak (vibrations at high speeds) - not strong enough for the torque

- airbag connector in the boot goes loose, causing the airbag light to stay on

- front wishbones (knocking when going over bumps) - the engine is too heavy for them

- thermostat (engine running cold) - check real temperature via diagnosis, gauge often lies

- radiators go bad after a few years (engine running hot) - they rust away and must be replaced

- turbo hoses (exagerated turbo whistle, black smoke when accelerating, excessive fuel consumption) - there are two of them, the bottom one is likely to crack, as it rubs against a screw

[Bren]

Learn to weld. Get ready to put bits of trim back on. Four pot petrols not that economical and like oil.

 

Get one with red leather.

[320touring]

I'm on my second one.

 

Sometimes you just don't learn!

 

1.8 tspark uninspiring, 2.4 jtd 10v is lush.

 

Make mondo sense on a back road or on motorway. Crap everywhere else due to poor steering lock and consumable suspensions

[rainagain]

I had a 2.4 jtd 10v. I loved it.

The suspension was a bit of a pain to work on as the bolts corrode in the aluminum. I only got rid of mine as the clutch was on the way out and I didn't have the time/facilities to change it. It's one of those cars you look back at after you've parked it and think that's a nice looking car.

[Six-cylinder]

I got mine back from the garage yesterday after the spring cup had given way and allowed the spring to bust the tyre. This happened to the other side 6 months ago and to my previous 156 2 owners later.

[outlaw118]

I CAN HAZ 20V 2.4JTD

 

Bought from MR S Fred, it's fucking great, and I don't regret it for a moment.

 

Yes, the airbag light is on.

yes, it's currently in for repair - front wishbone knocking, and mystery intermittent FTP, but that appears to be a loose wire somewhere....again....

 

I've read through the history file (yes, nerdy) but I'm sure the fact that previous owners spent £££ to keep her tip-top means I've had a 99% trouble free ownership experience. 

 

They're becoming cheap enough now to buy as a WCPGW type purchase, wheeupon if something does go pop/bang/catch fire/fall off, it's not the end of the world financially.

 

 

Buy one immediately, and start a thread. If you're lucky, the only updates will be like mine...ie, nothing to report!

[Dave_Q]

Don't stress about the suspension, it's nothing too difficult to work on, still a hammers and spanners job.

 

Top wishbones easy peasy, bottom ones a bit more of a faff.

 

Diesel engines can be hardier than petrols as long as you stick to the 8v 1.9 and 10v 2.4. 2.4 is an ace engine, great shove and good noise.

 

The JTD was a joint enterprise between GM and Fiat/Alfa, it really is one of the better modernish commonrail diesels.

 

The real problem on these is rust, wings, sills, floors,etc etc. Mine looks like they painted it with saltwater underneath before putting the (very thin) underseal on.

 

On that note have you thought about a 147? Seem to rust less and are identical up to the c pillar. You could be in a pez powered 147 for the cost of a night out, a dizzler for not much more.

 

Look at this on eBay http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/272758430555

 

Look at this on eBay http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/182502176832

[flat4alfa]

Just buy one, already

 

Had two, this one for 7 years and I used it today.  It's been fantastically reliable and after all these years and 175k only one dash bulb is out and it's still on original clutch and DMF.  

 

2002 2.4 10V with facelifted dash, tan leather

 

 

What gets forgotten is 156 was in the Vectra pricing arena and not up at 'prestige' BMW/Audi money, either at purchase or at their eye-watering dealer/specialist charges.  So inform those that confuse the waters to stop comparing.

 

What also narks about owning these is Mr Pub Expert teasing about why you shouldn't touch them because their reliability question - yet they drive off in a Renault that costs them dear.

 

Then you get the interim owners who get wound up about impending doom and sell on quickly, only to buy a motor from Ford or wherever that costs them more and proves to be less reliable.  Yet they are still glad they no longer have 'that Alfa' they were losing sleep over.  Not that it really went wrong.

[The Reverend Bluejeans]

I'd be looking at paying banger money and having a year or two out of it.

 

 

1.6 or 1.8 petrol then. No balance shaft belt (2.0) so cam belts are piss easy to do.  Make sure it's got lots of oil in it as the TS uses oil and there's no level sensor. If it look okay and drives okay, it's okay.

 

Leather is a must really but £500 is more than enough for a tidy one. They really are worthless so be picky!

[Dave_Q]

Hirst (RIP LIL SOULJA) did an excellent post on the subject of "Alfa people" on forums etc, sadly he deleted it but I can roughly remember the jist:

 

 

One of the problems of owning these cars is "Alfisti", or Alfa people, mainly on owners forums. 

They do not help the brands perception of unreliability as they constantly wank on about all the things they've had done to their car, and how much it cost at some pants-down Alfa specialist. 

 

The JTD engine is made out to be some highly strung wonder of engineering, despite the fact that millions of them soldier on unloved and unserviced in dog-eared Multiplas and Vectras.

 

Ultimately, the owners contribute to the (mostly) wrong perception of unreliability by making the car out to be something special and needing special attention.

 

 

Basically, the things were knocked together from old Tipo parts by men with hammers and spanners and they can easily be fixed by one as well, should the need arise. 

[The Reverend Bluejeans]

Why pay more?

 

 

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Alfa-Romeo-156-Veloce-1-8-Twin-Spark-12-Months-MOT-NO-RESERVE-/122593474634?hash=item1c8b23f84a:g:MQsAAOSw~rpZWlyN

 

 

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Alfa-Romeo-156-1-6-T-Spark-Veloce-/253026102709?hash=item3ae987edb5:g:p-EAAOSwrfVZWoM0

 

[The Reverend Bluejeans]

Hirst (RIP LIL SOULJA) did an excellent post on the subject of "Alfa people"

 

 

Alfisting

 

Avoid them at all costs. They really are a special breed.

[Dead_E23]

1.6 or 1.8 petrol then. No balance shaft belt (2.0) so cam belts are piss easy to do. 

 

The balance shaft belts on the 2.0 are prone to breaking, or at least mine did.  

 

The broken belt got swept up by the cambelt, luckily between it and the cover rather than on the inside, but enough to make the cam timing slip such that the valves could be heard battering the pistons as I drove to the bridge after dragging the remains through the gap in the top of the cover.   

 

The other things that stick in my mind about the 156 are that it always felt like you were driving faster than your actual speed, and the ride was annoyingly jiggly and consequently rather tiring.

[flat4alfa]

Didn't they have serious problems with keeping rainwater outside of the car? 

 

Never seen that in one's I've either owned or borrowed.  And there's been a good number of them.

[PiperCub]

Had my 2000/X-reg V6 for a year (intended to be no longer). Had no big issues other than rust in rear - had to weld the rear jack/sill mounts, not a big job. The previous owner was a bit Al-fisti type so did the hard work for me during his time, ie: belts, w/pump, clutch etc. 

 

Chassis wise, OK to work on but the worst thing about V6 is working on the engine, access is appalling, even the oil filter is almost impossible to remove without bending the AC or PAS (can't recall which) pipes out of the way - utterly stupid for a service item. It's this sort of thing that put me off long term ownership much as I liked the car. 

 

The other downside to owning the V6 was every know-it-all cunt with a Micra or super-boring econo misery-wagon never tired of saying shit like 'A V6? you know they use alot of fuel' - really? get on, you don't say, wow, if I'd realised that a 2.5 V6 of the old school wasn't going to give me 60mpg - I'd not have bought it, you are a genius. Did that ever get old fast.

 

Would have another, a 2.0 TwinSpark estate would be my choice.

[Wack]

Seen a few at £7-800 with recent belts and pumps on them. What's the front suspension like for working on, it's not one of those like the A4/Passat that's a real fucker to sort out is it?

Guy I know bought a Y reg spider , is that a 156, as a precaution he had the cambelt changed along with all the idler wheels and tensioners

 

Lovely Saturday morning , went out for a drive for some top down enjoyment which quickly turned to shite as it exploded on the A1

[flat4alfa]

What's the front suspension like for working on, it's not one of those like the A4/Passat that's a real fucker to sort out is it?

 

http://www.alfaworkshop.co.uk/alfa_lower_156_wishbone.shtml

 

http://www.alfaworkshop.co.uk/alfa_wishbone_replacement.shtml

[flat4alfa]

access is appalling, even the oil filter is almost impossible to remove without bending the AC or PAS (can't recall which) pipes out of the way - utterly stupid for a service item.

 

The Busso engine was originally designed for just longitudinal orientation.  Plonking it in a fancy Tipo 20 years later wasn't on the brief.   Racers get around all this by dry humping sumping.  Probably