Alfa 159 tale of woe!!!

Hi guys

Not been on here for some time following a change of job that keeps me out on the road a lot but thought I'd share this one with you. If you read my previous posts you'll see that I was one of the first 159 owners in the UK...

Unfortunatley my car has spent more time in the garage than on the road having had the following problems:

New diesel injector system
New rear seat
New front and rear drop links
New roof lining
New front supension
New gearbox
New Steering wheel boss
New oil degredation sensor
New gear stick insert
New dashboard insert
New clutch
New rear seat belts
Repaired steering rack


Plus many more minor issues not worth mentioning...

The car was to be bought back by alfa 2 years ago but they rescinded the offer as they felt that there we no significant problems with the car.... what joy!

Anyway, driving at 60mph on the M6 yesterday, the water pump seized, snapping the timing belt and obviously causing significant engine damage. The car was moved from the lane it was in - there was no hard shoulder, and has now been moved to Mangoletsi's in knutsford.

Guess what - Alfa UK still think there are no significant problems with the car and there is no case for compensation...

Watch this space - and the press!!!!

This is pretty depressing stuff, will ARUK ever get their act together ?

Best of luck with this, with all those problems I think I would have been reaching for the razor blades.

That is absolutely terrible, I am shocked by Alfa's response.

Does anyone have the email address for the head honcho at Alfa HQ for spiderlover to contact?

Your 159 sounds like a lemon

Oh dear

PM me if you need any advice re rejecting the 159. Mine 1st 159 was successfully rejected for brake failure and inability to repair major safety issues.

Did you buy the car originally from Mangos Has it been serviced there and all the problems with the car dealt with by them If so your rejection has to go to them and ARUK has to support them in sorting out a replacement vehicle.

I suggest solicitors 1st and press later. You'll find ARUK and dealers hate press being involved and they'll go one of two ways. Either, theyll shut up shop and fight the case in court (read costing you a bundle) or everything will be sorted in 2 weeks flat.

Do you have a loan car in the meantime

If you need names of contacts etc @ ARUK, please feel free to PM me.

Im in the process of rejecting my new Spider, has been on going since February and process is glacial at the best of times, although it looks as though good things are on the horizon for me.

Good luck, you will need it.

Awful - no other word for it

Good luck with Magnoletsi's they're from Cheshire. That says it all. tried to buy a 159 from them but walked out after 45 mins of inattention

Thanks for all the responses guys. I've already had Christopher Nicholl involved to no avail and I'm not sure if I can actually go any higher than him!

What I've asked them to do now is buy me out of the finance arrangement - the car (if it had no problems) would be worth about £12,000 and there is about £13,000 outstanding on the finance. It will only cost them about £1,000 to buy me out but they are digging their heels in and saying they do not want to lose a customer. I've been loyal to Alfa for many years having a 147, 156 and 159 in the past. To be honest their attitude has been apalling so far and all they have offered me is £250 worth of Alfa Vouchers!!!!

If that's not an insult I don't know what is.

I'm expecting a call from customer relations shortly and if I don't get a positive response, there are already a number of journalists circling to take up the story.....

Keep watching this one - I'll post an update as soon as I get a response!

Time to contact the press methinks.

You have had a very high number of serious problems.
I would get a solicitor onto the case, to be honest I would have done that quite a bit ago.

I'm amazed with the attitude of Alfa in that they don't want to lose a customer, surely with the list of problems that you had that would get them off their a*ses and try and look after the customer.

If you ever get sorted then I wouldn't get another Alfa for a few years, give yourself a bit of a break, no brand is worth that sort of hassle or stress.

It's about time the goverment brought out the lemon laws like in the states.
I can't imagine why Alfa are going back into America if they produce cars like this, they will soon be bankrupt.

Definitely go to the motoring press.

They had their chance to fix things and they obviously haven't.

Hi chaps

Time for an update on the story. It looks like ARUK are finally taking the hint after I've got the press involved, however the plot has thickened in relation to the car itself.

After picking the car up after the engine had been rebuilt following the water pump/cam belt problem, I only managed to get a week out of it before it there was an intense smell of fuel from under the bonnet followed by smoke pouring out from under the hood. This was 2 weeks ago and the car was once again returned to Mangolestsi... It turned out that the diesel injecctors had failed (AGAIN!!!!) and were spraying fuel all over the show.

OK, they then had the car for 4 days and fitted a new injector system (bear in mind this is the second time the injection system has been replaced)... I picked the car up again last week and jokingly said to Paul (the service manager and a great guy!!!) that I would see him again soon....

I managed two miles before the engine failed again. I managed to turn round and got back to Mangos in limp mode.

The car has now been there for a further week while the problem has been investigated. It appears that there is a known problem (?!) witht the manifold flaps and these have failed... The engine is in pieces at Mangos and parts are on order - it appears that they are made of that new alloy called unobtanium and I have no idea when I'll get the car back!!!!

So, all in all after 35,000 miles, the car has been back to the dealership on no less than 15 occasions - do you think I can now start to lose patience???

Anyway, I've now been contacted by Zena Jones who has replied to a rather snotty email I have sent to Chris Nicoll and I am hoping that I will get some sort of closure today....

You guys will be the first to know!

Originally Posted by glennfhunt

Good luck with Magnoletsi's they're from Cheshire. That says it all. tried to buy a 159 from them but walked out after 45 mins of inattention

A rather strange post


@spiderlover - were you at Mangos 2 Saturdays ago

I hope you get the 159 back on the road but I also hope you can reject it - I don't think I'd want it back

Yep, that was me stomping around looking like a bear with a sore head...

I've got my own mug next to the coffee machine now!

I did reject the car at the beginning (about 18 months ago after I made a real stink at the Alfa experience day at Tatton Park) and it was even returned to the dealership while a replacement was arranged. This offer was rescinded after the car was inspected by ARUK as they said all the problems had been fixed. I think the rest of the story shows they were wrong..........

What an unbelievably bad experience you've had with the car. As dpat says, if it was me I really don't think I'd ever want the car back again. Good luck getting this insane situation resolved.

Originally Posted by spiderlover

Yep, that was me stomping around looking like a bear with a sore head...

I've got my own mug next to the coffee machine now!

I did reject the car at the beginning (about 18 months ago after I made a real stink at the Alfa experience day at Tatton Park) and it was even returned to the dealership while a replacement was arranged. This offer was rescinded after the car was inspected by ARUK as they said all the problems had been fixed. I think the rest of the story shows they were wrong..........

I saw you mate - you were sat in a spider at one stage (The Alfa bug, eh )

Best of luck

Spider Lover - a tale very similar to my ongoing woes.

Mangoletsi have my car right now and carrying out similar works, 10 days on.

This is my 2nd 159, after the 1st was replaced by ARUK. The 2nd one is actually worse than the 1st!!

One of my threads is here - its a long thread, but if you go 4 or 5 pages from the end and read from there, you'll be in the picture.

http://www.alfaowner.com/Forum/gener...d-or-what.html (Am I Jinxed Or What?!?!?)

I would suggest rejection, eveything in writing, dates of breakdowns, list of problems etc and maybe speak to a solicitor like I have.

Put the ball firmly in Mangoletsi/ARUK's court.

Did you originally purchase the car from Mangos When With Fiat finance or out right purchase It does make a difference.

Autoexpress have always done me proud when it has come to my battles with Alfa.

Your story makes shocking reading. Perhaps drive it into ARUK's main reception without first opening the doors. That should get their attention

Originally Posted by Hunter

Did you originally purchase the car from Mangos When With Fiat finance or out right purchase It does make a difference.

How does finance/outright purchase make a difference? just for in the future, you never know

Ahh finance you need to take the finance company to court

Chris