I decided to give it a miss in the end, really only because of the lack of history. It went for £780 and I hope whoever bought it knew what he was getting as there was no mention of any of the faults on the listing, which also incorrectly stated that it had a CD player.
Thanks to all for advice, which will be of help in future I'm sure. Apart from anything else it gave me the opportunity of having a good look over a 166, plus a reminder of how awful car dealers are (sorry for the generalisation).
I decided to give it a miss in the end, really only because of the lack of history. It went for £780 and I hope whoever bought it knew what he was getting as there was no mention of any of the faults on the listing, which also incorrectly stated that it had a CD player.
Thanks to all for advice, which will be of help in future I'm sure. Apart from anything else it gave me the opportunity of having a good look over a 166, plus a reminder of how awful car dealers are (sorry for the generalisation).
I think you made the right choice. The 166 is a car that can sell itself, if you didn't feel right even after the 2nd visit then you made a good move.
good luck finding one, it is a painfull process trust me...what is your budget? about £1k? you shoudl find something for that...
When I bought my first Alfa about 9 years ago (145 Junior) it was just under two years old and the service book was missing. I bought it from the Alfa main dealer in Edinburgh (Arnold Clark on Gorgie Road) and when I asked if anything could be done on the missing book front the service manager took a new book out from his drawer and stamped it for the pre-delivery check and the 12k & 24k services. He never even bothered to check the system. Luckily it later turned out that the car was serviced twice by the main dealer but it was a different garage in a different city! Quite scary really and just goes to prove that a stack of receipts are much more important than the book itself.
Saw that, but I'm not a fan of automatics or semi-automatics. Thanks PF.
If anyone hears of a decent 2.5 or 3.0 manual for sale up to about £1,500 I'd be grateful if you'd let me know. As I said, I don't mind a little fiddling & fettling with electrics.
for the right price good be good - probably pick up a 'box fairly cheap but fitting (inc new clutch prob) will be the bugger cost wise unless you know a tame mechanic
Autolusso quote £1200 for fitting a reconditioned 6 speed box with Q2. Not including a clutch. You would get a whole running motor for that. Theres a low mileage Super on autotrader for £1500,private sale, maybe a bit far from you though. looks alright.
Autolusso quote £1200 for fitting a reconditioned 6 speed box with Q2. Not including a clutch. You would get a whole running motor for that. Theres a low mileage Super on autotrader for £1500,private sale, maybe a bit far from you though. looks alright.
Im not saying its no value for money, but that car + £1200 + whatever else is wrong with it (as you cant test drive) could get expensive. You cant drive about in a gearbox
it's overdue a belt change and seller is willing to negotiate a price reflecting this. Car is in West Midlands. Were I to buy it, does anyone know of somewhere good to get the belt done out there? There's a company advertising in Auto Italia (don't remember name) in Pershore who do them for £391, which seems pretty good. Otherwise I risk the drive back to Essex and get it done locally, in which case same question - anyone good over here for belts?
Is there any reason to shun a 5-speed model in favour of the six speed? I assume the six speed is something like an 'overdrive' with the first five similar to the five speed and a long-legged sixth for cruising. If it's just a closer ratio box, I don't think I'd bother. In normal driving, I almost never used second or fourth in the V6s I've had.
Thanks PF; I'll check about that water pump. Car has done 73,000 miles, 5,000 of which by current owner who hasn't had them done. He could see no mention of their being done in the service book when I asked.
Re the 'box, as I understand it, pre 2000 were five speed. this 2000 car must be one of the last fives.
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