Can you get any better?

I have been racking my brain to find cars that represent better value than used Alfa's. I am really struggling to come up with a worthy alternative?

For example I have a 51reg 156 2.0 T.spark. I paid £2400 for her 2 months ago she has covered 74000 and a bit miles with full leather and air con. I was looking at the usual Mondeo , Vectra etc but could not help being draw in to a car that at first thaught I would not be able to afford.

The same is true for many of the other models like the GT, picking up a 55reg with reasonable miles for less than 10k seems like good business to me and the 159 is just gorgeous especially compared to the equivalant BMW, AUDI, Merc etc.

I suppose we will be bias on here and I am aiming this at the Alfa owners reletively new to the Marque really but all opinions are welcome.

How about it, are there ANY other cars that represent as good value as a used Alfa???

Fiat Coupe. Ridiculous amount of car for your money.

If you can live with the bland looks and just want metal for your money then Fiat Stilo's and Croma's are good value.

Most french stuff also suffers from high depreciation, so secondhand they are good value.

No, I was looking at cars for £7500 5 years old less than 50K miles when I bought mine. which was 3 1/2 years old 19K miles from an Alfa dealer with a years warranty leather seats, climate control, cruse control ect.
Nothing else even came close.

For VFM you must look at the VX Signum (or vectra if you must). Big car, decent diesel engine and loads of kit. Massively discounted to start with and cheap 2nd hand. Had one for just over 2 years and apart from a new clutch ( which was my fault really, totally reliable, took ages to get used to the auto indicators but love that feature now.

Mk1 MX5, OK they're old now, but you can pick up a decent one in full working order for £1500 or less. For a 20 year old design they look pretty good, and with bullett proof mechanicals, you can't go too far wrong.

The Fiat is a good choice although no good for a family, but still loads of fun for the price, as is the Mazda to a slightly lesser degree.

The other 2 cars prove my point really:

'If you can live with the bland looks and just want metal for your money then Fiat Stilo's and Croma's are good value.'

why would you want to 'live with the bland looks' when you can have an Alfa??? And as for the Signum - It is better than a Vectra but still not a car that will give you much pleasure every morning when you go out to drive the thing.

The RX-8 seems alot of car for the money. Before getting my GT I went to look at one for just under £9,000 with only 12k on the clock, 3 years old and 231bhp!! I was fairly tempted until I looked at pics of the GT when I got home

When i bought my 156 (2004 2.0 JTS 30k miles) I was looking on a budget of 6500-7000 (this was end of last year).

As I needed a 4 door saloon - I had it narrowed down to the Alfa, Audi A4, a Saab 93/95 or a Volvo S80. I was also looking at 3 series beemers, but only until I sat in one......

Although I liked the A4, the price range only got me a pre facelift model which looked too old. The Saabs were good, but tended to have lots of miles (popular lease cars?). Volvos was too uninspiring in both looks and drive. I could have got an 03 Saab or Volvo with 50k+ miles or a 20-30k 156 on an 04 or even a 54.

When I drove the 156 (red with beige leather, aircon, 1 owner, 30k miles, FARSH with new belts at 27k) it was a no brainer for the money.

I expect it'll depreciate like a lead balloon - but when you've only forked out less than 7k on a car it doesn't hurt too much.

Question is - Would I buy a new Alfa with that depreciation? I love the Brera to look at, and I could even convince myself that 2 doors doesn't really matter if I squeeze the baby seat in.... but oooh the depreciation from new.....

Originally Posted by FredDibnah

Question is - Would I buy a new Alfa with that depreciation? I love the Brera to look at, and I could even convince myself that 2 doors doesn't really matter if I squeeze the baby seat in.... but oooh the depreciation from new.....

I think you would have to be very brave and be looking to keep the car for quite a while. If you look at my car it has lost the best part of 20k in 7 years and I would imagine at least 10k of that would be in the first 3 years. - I could not cope with that unless I was in a position to change every year and did not have to worry about the deprecitation. I would probably still buy 2 years old though and get the top spec car for a hugely reduced price.

I like the point though - Are they beautiful engough that if you were looking for a new car could you accept the depreciation?????

i was buying a 3lt signum put the deposit down ready to collect the following week.driving home thinking id got a bargain when out of the corner of my eye i saw a red sexy bugger for 2k less with only 40k on the clock.ok so i lost my deposit.so what do i care.no.
mind you ive never cleaned a car so much in my life its blummin addictive this alfa ownership.every time i get in her i smile.......not sure id have felt the same about the signum after a year

I dont think there is really. When i was looking for a car i hadnt even contemplated an Alfa as i thought they would be expensive, so i looked at almost 100 other cars. I didnt want to go over 7k so kept it below that and there was nothing available that was fairly new and lowish mileage. Ford, Vauxhall (which i didnt want anyway), Seat, VW, none of them offered anything remotely tempting for the money. It wasnt until a guy at work suggested Alfa that i took a gander. And there she was. 53 plate, 22k on the clock, perfect condition, lots of toys, Bose system, sports upgraded suspension, winter pack all included for under 7k. It was hook line and sinker.

The guy at work who had just bought his 54 plate Mondeo 2.2 diesel for almost 10k with 24k on the clock was gutted when he looked at Alfa. He has been a life-long fan.

Originally Posted by Alfaspeed

I dont think there is really. When i was looking for a car i hadnt even contemplated an Alfa as i thought they would be expensive, so i looked at almost 100 other cars. I didnt want to go over 7k so kept it below that and there was nothing available that was fairly new and lowish mileage. Ford, Vauxhall (which i didnt want anyway), Seat, VW, none of them offered anything remotely tempting for the money. It wasnt until a guy at work suggested Alfa that i took a gander. And there she was. 53 plate, 22k on the clock, perfect condition, lots of toys, Bose system, sports upgraded suspension, winter pack all included for under 7k. It was hook line and sinker.

The guy at work who had just bought his 54 plate Mondeo 2.2 diesel for almost 10k with 24k on the clock was gutted when he looked at Alfa. He has been a life-long fan.

I hear you. MrsCorbo and I were looking to get a car, we aren't exactly loaded so the Alfa is our only car. Hadn't even contemplated an Alfa until one boring bank holiday flicking through auto trader on the net. A few hours later we were sat in it and I never thought you could get so much car for the money.

Originally Posted by symonh2000

If you can live with the bland looks and just want metal for your money then Fiat Stilo's

Aww the Stilo isn't bland looking (but then id be biased!)
Love the Fiat Coupe, Bazza had a very nice one indeed!

Had a couple of Jags, a Porsche, a Merc, then I got the car I'd always wanted

I think the stilo looks bland in 3 door form and dammed awful in 5 door form. I don't know what they were thinking when they designed it.

I the only fairly recent Fiats I really like the styling of are the Coupe and Barchetta. The Grande Punto is ok though, especially the Abarth and EsseEsse

Pick up a Rover for very little money. 75 is a good car