About to become a 166 owner

Hi all

I know this isn't the introductions page but I thought I'd wait and do that until I've actually got my car - another 10 days to go.

I've paid a deposit on a 99T 166 3.0 V6 Sportronic Lusso with 62,000 miles which I collect on 1 July. That will also be the first day I see the car other than a couple of pictures I've been sent. Unfortunately, due to work pressures and distance between me and the car I can't get to see it sooner. However, the used car dealer selling it assures me (why wouldn't he) that it's all great, all electrics work, cambelt etc changed 12 months/10,000 miles ago and a "very full Alfa dealer service history".

Now, my lack of seeing the car might seem rather rash but my past three purchases have all been the same: 98S Galaxy V6 Ghia X; 94L Jaguar XJ6 3.2 Gold (for sale now if anyone's interested); most recently my much missed and complete opposite to the 166 - a 99T Citroen XM V6 Exclusive. All have proved to be great buys, great fun, loaded with toys, yet whenever you read through the forums such as this, maybe through human nature, most of the comments seem rather nagative/scary. The XM forum in particular was a sadist's paradise!!

Anyway, having read through all of this lot for the past few hours(!!) much to my wife's annoyance, it seems the biggest issues to worry about are whether the (presumably G2) sat nav works fine, whether the built in phone works and whether it has a CD changer in the boot (it better do!!).

I'm told everything electrical functions as it should and that the air con blows ice cold.

Anyways, I'm wanting to give the car phone a new number rather than sharing the one from my mobile - can I use any sim card or do only certain ones work?

Oh yeah, a bit random - what colour do the white instruments and other switchgear glow at night with the lights on?

I look forward to being a regular here - hopefully I won't quickly become a 'negative' poster though!!

Cheers

Keith

welcome to AO mate you'll have to get some piccys up

welcome keith to AO...great car you are getting..hope all goes well

Welcome to our small and exclusive corner.

There's a few experts on the G2 satnav here in the forum - I'm sure they will say hello in due course...

If everything works ok on her you're going to be in for a real treat!! What colour and trim options?

cheers
Denz

do you know, thinking about, I have NO idea what the back light colour is on the instrument panal! It must be subtle, not "distinctive" like the HORRIBLE VW golr blue/red affair.
Is it green? Can't be a rsed to go check....

And "a full Alfa service history" means absolutley nothing, no value. Unless you like your bella being touched by numpties.
Citroen XM? Now that is an interesting motor. Think you'll find the Alfa a little more "spirited".
Enjoy.

you sure you got sat nav? if so G2 you can only update upto 2001! doesnt matter if you dont use it that much! Phone you can use O2 and Voda but i think thats it, www.o2.co.uk have some great deals on pay as you go if you use it a lot!

Hi again

Sorry I've been away a few days: suffering from tonsillitis and a really bizarre insect bite on my leg!

Thanks for those that responded - has anyone been out at night in their 166 ever??? I'm guessing the dials and buttons glow green as looking in a 166 brochure, the lighter surround appears to have a green bezel.

The one I'm getting is Silver with the light grey Momo leather.

I'm fairly sure it must have Sat Nav - even though it's 5 years out of date - not that I'll use it much. Didn't all Lussos have Sat Nav?

Thanks for the advice about the phone companies to use. I probably won't use it much at all, especially after the initial novelty's worn off.

Another thing I do want to check - should it have at least 2 red keys and 1 burgundy one (the master one if you like). I'm calling the garage selling it to double check what's there and want to be sure it's of an age where it would have the burgundy master.

Cheers

Keith

nah - don't think any 166's had burgandy keys....should have two red "plippy" keys and a non plippy key (i think).

Originally Posted by niallmoran

nah - don't think any 166's had burgandy keys....should have two red "plippy" keys and a non plippy key (i think).

Aah, okay - so the one I'm thinking of as burgundy (from reading previous threads) is simply a red non plippy key? Presumably if it only has plippy keys this is a bad and expensive sign?

Keith

its green backlight

Hi all

Picked up my 166 today. So far, generally pleased with the car - a very different feel and sound to the recently departed XM. Unfortunately the used car dealer I bought it from was a bit of an a***hole so we argued for a while about knocking more money off for the extra paintwork I'll need to do.

Anyway, hope that doesn't sour my experience too much. Saying that, a couple of electrical gremlins appear to have developed since I came home (it was a fun 180 mile drive back!).

1) The ICS display occasionally displays a message saying there's a problem with the air con unit yet it appears to work fine. Is this a common fault? Is there a quick fix like disconnecting the battery and then reconnecting so that it's reset? I have an ICS code in my pack of stuff.

2) The offside rear door lock doesn't appear to work with the central locking. I haven't tried to see if it operates when the key's used but certainly on the remote it doesn't budge. The lock button itself works manually though. I'm not great with electricals but I can follow simple instructions if given. Any help would be appreciated before I take it somewhere to be looked at.

Thanks in advance

Keith

Hello

For first question:
you will probably need to regas air con sistem

for second
maybe a loose connection on lock mechanism in the door or in my case a burn out motor for locking/unlocking ..... 75 EUR (new lock)

cheers
Uros

Originally Posted by El Barto

Hello

For first question:
you will probably need to regas air con sistem

for second
maybe a loose connection on lock mechanism in the door or in my case a burn out motor for locking/unlocking ..... 75 EUR (new lock)

Thanks for that - not sure about the climate control as it blows freezing cold which suggests that it's working okay.

By the way, forgot to mention/ask, if anyone's got a spare front centre armrest lid, preferably with grey leather, although black considered, please let me know how much you'd like for it.

Keith

think the climate wills till work if the gas is getting a bit low - maybe worth getting a pressure guage and checking it....either that or the pressure sensor could be duff.

There's no problem with the plippy keys - the 166 doesn't have/need a master key and they all do the same job apart, although the non plippy ones don't switch the slarm on or off (grrr!).

air con - it could be the cabin sensor dodgy or its connection - its a little thing behind a perforation in the dasboard left of steering wheel near your left knee. If you stick your fingers behind you can feel a little fan which must push cabin air over a sensor. I think they can go a bit dicky.

door lock - does it clunk but not move? They can be a bit sticky or disconnected.
Its an easyish job but a real bugger to remove the door panal and save all the clips/keep things neat

Originally Posted by CrispDust

air con - it could be the cabin sensor dodgy or its connection - its a little thing behind a perforation in the dasboard left of steering wheel near your left knee. If you stick your fingers behind you can feel a little fan which must push cabin air over a sensor. I think they can go a bit dicky.

door lock - does it clunk but not move? They can be a bit sticky or disconnected.
Its an easyish job but a real bugger to remove the door panal and save all the clips/keep things neat

Funnily enough, I had both of these issues with my XM when I got it - or similar at least. Does the little perforated plastic piece prize off for cleaning or should it be okay being gently vaccuumed through the holes?

As for the rear door. No, there's no noise from the door that I've noticed. I don't mind having a go removing the door card (I seem well versed at this with the Jag and XM....). Are there any specially located screws, pins or vapour barriers to be aware of?

I've today discovered a new problem though - see new thread in a few minutes. And here was me hoping to be a positive poster!

Cheers

Keith

166 armrests dont come up for sale very often unfortunately! I have been e-mailing Alfa breeakers advertising on EBay on and off for 6 months withought any lunk in finding a grey topped one for my car as the leather on my current one is scuffed really quite badly. new from Alfa they're around £150! I'll just put up with it until one eventually appears!