'04 166 3.2 - ebay

don't suppose anybody here bagged this? Less than 10k seemed a bargain...if i had the money it would have been mine

I was interested in this when it was in auto trader 4 to 6 weeks ago but he wanted too much cash along with mine as PX , did not bother as less than a year newer and only 20k miles less!

He was wanting around £12k and was selling without cambelt change (which is now done) - I am not so sure that it will have sold. I would guess that he has bid for it himself in end as there was no way that this was selling without a reserve!!

Not that much of a bargain considering new ones were recently selling for just over £20k as Alfa could not get rid - That is a bargain! Although only 2.5 years old this car has 66k miles on clock!

System is playing silly buggers with me - Ignore this second post, although neither seems to register on the counter!

Jesus! Thats a good buy! I wish i could have gone for that, although same its not in the proto red of black! but that just being picky! It looks smart that does!

Wish I had the money, not only does that look a bargain, its so hard to find them for sale as well.

we should have clubbed together and had it on a timeshare basis

I'd have got it if it wasn't for bidders 10,11,12 and 13..thats life.I'd have swapped my 2 for it .What's wrong with the colour.....I prefer it to the red or black.I suppose thta's what makes evryone different.The cambelt was done at 57 thou when dealer sorting out water pump problem.....now thats clever.It made the car even more tempting...if only it had sat nav and intergated phone.YES I always want jam on it....Hope it got a good home.

As I said earlier I do not think this has actually sold.

Not sure about your info Pomeo - When I spoke to the seller last month the timing belt had NOT been done, car had the 66k miles on the clock that it was advertised with!

Hello,

yes I am the lucky and proud new owner - actually one thing I have to do is get a 60k service immed (which means new spark plugs) as it hasnt been done - can anyone advise which is better - Southern Alfa's with Jeff for £375 (who seems to be highly rated on these pages) or Alan Gibson in reading - (£525).

I have just changed from having a Corrado VR6 for nearly 10 years and used a specialist garge who really knew their stuff (Autotechnik in Totton - now good mechainc has moved to maserati and new owners gone bust - in no small part one of the reasons for a change!) - as most main dealers seem to be pretty variable (at best!).

Car is out of warranty (>60k miles) but is there any reason to go to a main dealer on a "newer" car - as I'm sure that's what the main dealers would say

Would really appreciate any feedback thanks...

well done 166 Newbie, nice motor you have there, Are you happy with it, loving it yet?

Hi and welcome to the forum!

That's a lovely looking car, well done for bagging it!

In my opinion, unless you have to go to a main dealer for warranty work, steer clear. Most of the dealers don't have the knowledge that a good independent specialist does - dealers aren't bothered about repeat business - independents rely on offering good service to keep customers coming through the door.

Find a good specialist and enjoy!

Thanks Gents for the responses - havent really been driving it long enough to enjoy yet - but had loads of alfa's in my teens and twenties (mainly sud and sprints - esp liked the green C's) - hope new one has all the best they had (engine and handling) without the rust!

Initial reports suggest awesome although slight adjustment to be made after 2.9 VR6 - less tuneful - more German - if you know what i mean - but Corrado acts like its on rails - need to get some hours in on the new car to get to know just how much better it is!!! (although really should get servicing up to date - ish before any really long jaunts......

So - can anyone recommend southern Alfa (Jeff at Hedge End) over Alan Gibson BASINGSTOKE (said reading before accidentally)

Cheers

Well done 166 newbie...What a whumper of a car. ENJOY....The price you got it for means my 99 2.5 and 01 3.0 are worthless in financial terms but when I am driving them they are priceless.

Well done 166 Newbie - I honestly did not think it had sold! He obviously dropped his price after having the car hanging around for a bit, certainly was not offering me anywhere near that price - You got a great deal there!

Sorry that I can't help with garage recommendations - Too far away up here! You could always have a go at the spark plugs yourself?

Did the ebay seller blurb not state that car was still in warranty - I am sure he said 3 years and unlimited mileage! Could be worth taking him up on!

Yes Dougie I recall reading that too. Something really fishy here...Car at 66,000 You were told cambelt not done I was told at it was done at 57,000 when doing waterpump...... Warranty WHAT WARRANTY....166 NEWBIE is getting the 60,000 service done as its not been done yet.Mileage is 66,000..My impression was that services had to be carried out with 1,000 miles of service interval...Does this make warranty null and void. I had the impression that it was unlimited mileage on the facelift 166 version but could be wrong....166 newbie are you having awind up or are you up for a lie detector test. If you have got the car and you can change a wheel the spark plugs are only just a shade more difficult...get your hand dirty and save a bomb.

For info I put cheap champions off ebay in for £12 for the 6 plugs...Alfa dealer said wrong plugs and would have to be changed for proper ones...I agreed but want old plugs back. their plugs about £25 each. When I picked up car they never changed the plugs said they were ok just a slighltly higher resistance....The car still goes great.

Big difference between £12 and £150.

Anybody else any views on plugs.
Show us a picture of your car at your local asda car park.Ill definately believe you then unless your good at merging images like my boy.
Finally can you shed any light on the warranty.

OK - here's what my investigations have yielded....

have got all receipts for work on car and called this morning to Whitequay reading to confirm mileage on warranty work for:

replaced water pump as noisey including replacement timing belt and auxillary drive belt.

They confirmed milage at this point was 56,021 and that the work had been done on 26/04/2006. (Also confimed this work is warrantied for 1year)

Car was an ex demonstrator then had 1 owner who's details are on all of the bills. Looks like someone who did high mileage for medical instruments company. to me looks as if person who did high miles was due a change so didnt bother getting it serviced at end of time.....:-(

re warranty - i havent asked specifically but initial check suggested 3 years OR 60k miles (unless someone tells me otherwise) - Also dont actually need any warranty work done and this runs out in March even if it is extended (I didnt read anything into the comments on the ebay ad because the guy said one of his customers told him that the warranty was unlimited mileage)

Thanks for the tips re the plugs - to be honest I was thinking that i needed to get a service done asap and that it needed to be main dealer for the history etc. - but really I will get my act together and sort out an independent (as car will be out f warrranty soon) - unless anyone give me a good reason otherwise!

Have checked and seen plugs on ebay
http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.d...MEWA:IT&ih=001

or

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.d...MEWA:IT&ih=009

my pref would be to go Bosh over NGK but long time since I've owned italian! any suggestions?


p.s. will post a piccy when i get my digital camera back from Sony and yes i am up 4 lie detector test

Thanks again for everyone's help on this site

think the alfa OE ones are NGK...at least the are on the twinnies...