Benskia,
Sorry to hear things did not work out for you, in fact i am travelling in the opposite direction towards Alfa ownership. I do expect some issues, but then again my mercedes had issues when i did not think Mercs went wrong.
I have owned 3 beemers and 1 merc.
Had a look at lots of Audi's recently (A6 is nice inside) but come away with the same impression with all of them. The Beemers are just bland and boring, especially inside, nice if you like black dakota and silver. Mercs more imteresting but more 'old man' and expensive for E or S class and also the bottom 100 in the reliability index. Audi's are only nice inside if you get a well spec'd one, so the majority of A3's and A4's are just plain inside.

What did you get ?

 

Ive been through most marques, and have yet to find a manufacturer that builds a car that doesnt go wrong here and there. Doesnt appear that you had any major issues, just niggles (unless im wrong) Hope you get on better with the new car, but not sure i share your analysis of the 159 2.4

 

I went for a BMW, and it's petrol, and its got a lot less horses than the Alfa.
But it drives soooo much better, that the lack of torque or power is compensated for 10 fold by the quality of the thing.

The BMW might be sparser/more compact with regards to interior. But, it's nice and functional. The leather is much nicer than that hard, old man type stuff in the 159. The seats are far more comfier (I just could not get a good driving position after constantly attempting to adjust the seat in the Alfa).

Make sure you have a proper go in the 159 you plan to buy first. I bought it after reading all the good stuff, and wished I had taken more time to test drive it first. The fancy dashboard gets old really quick after you've gotten used to it. And the 159 seems terribly small inside. Perhaps that's just an illusion, but it seemed more cramped than my missus peugeot 307.

I took a week off work not long ago, and the 159 was that much of a chore to drive, we reverted to driving her 1.6 peugeot all week!

My 159 had 2 major problems:
1) It totally crapped out after 2 weeks of owning it. I think it was the EGR that went wrong, but they replaced all sorts of other stuff too.
2) The hand break (all though put on tightly) didn't hold it and it ran into the wall of my house - £1,000 for new front bumper.
Nothing else actually went wrong, but it always felt like something was just about to go wrong. Every time I drove it, I expected it to conk out.

Good luck if you buy one. I hope it just was mine that was particularly crummy.

 

Shame about yours benskia but good luck with the BM. I'm on 159 No.4 by the way; so far so good

 

I totally agree with you - I was relieved to get shot of my 159..

Oh and yes I never ever got comfortable - after a long journey I could hardly walk

Those leather seats look nice but they didn't hold you in (which when a car rolls as much as the 159 is bad) and just aren't supportive enough..

Enjoy the BMW - the chassis will be in a different league and it will be worth more than buttons when you come too sell...

 

oh and yes the room inside is unbelievable ! I've gone back to a Leon FR and it has loads more leg room than the 159 despite being considerably smaller !

 

You did test drive the 159 before buying it and made sure you knew exactly what you were buying into

Just remember this forum isn't representative of all Alfa owners, it's a cross section. There are plenty of people out there happily driving their Alfas who aren't aware of this forum and are happy with their cars.

Unfortunately it seems as with a lot of car forums that people only join up when they have issues with their cars therby giving a slightly skewed angle on the owner experience. Look at any BM/Merc/Audi forum and you will see plenty of people with car issues on there too. Equally there will be plenty of happy German marque drivers.

I'm on my 6th Alfa and 4th 159 as I already said. I've had two mechanical issues: EGR valve on my '56 plate 2.4 159 and a clutch replaced under warranty on my last 159. A couple of niggly, small faults and that's it.

Good luck with your new cars but don't go off thinking that all Alfas are rubbish.

 

Good luck with your new cars and now you can go of into the world and tell all the people you meet that Alfas are crap.:thumbs:

The rest of us prefer enjoying our cars and appreciate that you allowed a more deserving person the opportunity to drive a brilliant car without having to fork out loads of cash for a new one.

Didn’t you know that Alfa use uninformed people to buy new cars so that true Alfisti can get them at halve price secondhand. :cheese:
So all of us want to thank you for your part in ensuring that we can get good quality Alfas at acceptable prices.

P.S. Next time you have a urge to Buy a Alfa just sponsor a true Alfisti with 50% of the purchase price and spare yourself the bad experience.:thumbs:

 

I owned various makes (German, Japanese and Italian) over the last 20 years. My last Alfa 147 has been on tow truck 3 times. Never had any tow truck experience with German or Japanese cars.

 

They are unreliable cars. in the 2 years I have had my 159 I have paid over £3,500 on repairs ( it's a long list!) Considering it's only just gone past 80k miles it just gets silly.

I can see benskias point. I can never fully relax because I'm not sure what will go wrong next...

 

Seem to be you got the wrong engine.

To say the 159is a bad car with only 2 issues (handbrake and the usualy DERV issues)
is a bit unfair.

It's not the best Alfa I've had, but I wouldn't say it's the worst car or
more unreliable than any others. (Again, maybe it's a DERV thing.)


Fit an finish is okay (the Brera was better) but to say it's old/dated/not
as good as the teutonic interiors is a bit hard also. (I can't stand the
current crop of fussy German interiors. Especially if you remove the leather option.)


Hope you have more luck with the Beemer.
(I know many people with Audis and Merc which had numerous issues,
but so far not much reported on the Beemer front.)

 

Glad to see you moved on... now how are we going to convince all the other forum members to buy reliable German cars...

 

foofighter seemed to share my views a few weeks ago.

http://www.alfaowner.com/Forum/4277049-post94.html

I also own a 2003 VW Golf - it gets serviced & MOT'ed once a year and that's it - 80k on the clock and still fine; I am not biased towards Alfas, to me it seems all car manufacturers produce good ones and bad ones. It just annoys me when people constantly bring up the 'Alfas are unreliable' line.

Nev don't forget the 2.2 stutter

 

100%

 

I wish i'd kept some of the massive repair bills from my 'ultra reliable' German cars ive owned.

 

Had my 159 2.4 ti for 8 months now. Engines a bit noisy and I don't realy like the diesel but I wanted an auto so I can't complain. I find it very comfy on long drives the steering isn't as heavy as some people say ( perhaps the wrong tyre pressure was used ) but it goes like stink when I want it so, so I have no complaints. And it's still the best looking car on the road IMOP.

 

Its interesting the OP remarks about the 159 seats, I've driven/owned many cars including BMW, Merc and Audi, and I find the 159 seats very comfy. In fact, IIRC there has been mention on the 'other makes' forum as to how the BMW seats are 'like a park bench', also comments on the 'unforgiving' BMW suspension. I guess though once you've made your mind up, theres no turning back.

 

Its interesting the OP remarks about the 159 seats, I've driven/owned many cars including BMW, Merc and Audi, and I find the 159 seats very comfy.

The seats in the ti are the most comfortable i've been in inside a car, and look smart as owt.

Not really sure what to make of the 'old man leather' comment? Did your seats come with wooden arms as well as tweed patterning? :lol:

 

Ive driven many a car. I tried a 911 carrera4s, like falling down stairs. Was in the back of a 56' 335D BMW, and no lie the ride is so stiff(but not crashy) it put my back out for 2 weeks. My dad has a '05 golf GTI and the ride is very unforgiving, has had it 3 months and has done 3 tyres through potholes damaging the side walls (18" Monza's on car) '07 BMW 535D, this is an exception, the car was superb in all aspects apart from usual dull interior. I have a Mazda RX8 and it had an amazingly compliant ride, but a little bit soft for me so i lowered it and its still less harsh than the 911,335D and GTI. I took out a 159 2.4 Ti the other day and found the ride quality better than the German counterparts, and interior just as good and a whole world more interesting (hence my deposit )

There are no bullet proof cars anymore, they all go wrong and its luck of the draw. Its all about how you look at it

 

I can see why you feel how you do Ben...BUT, I think we have to say you were unlucky...Yes mines been at the menders for 3 weeks, in the first 6 months of USED ownership. Ok the engine has a strange power blip occasionally, and yes since I was nearly confronted by a bill of thousands..on my warranty repair..then I do go round the corner expecting it to go pop.

However!

The seats are stupidly comfy, and (maybe i'm just big hipped) but really supportive unless your absolutely nailing it round a corner.

Handling wise, yes there is the opportunity for catastrophic understeer...but the answer is simple..don't drive like a dick...and it's pretty easy to tell at what point it's going to let go, and can therefore readjust as necessary..

I will admit, I will never ever love the Alfa as much as I have loved my 5, BUT when it sits in the office car park beside bmw 3-series, 5 series etc etc...I just look at them on the outside and the inside and just think...hmm thats all just a bit boring...and I know which one I prefer to get into.

 

Handling wise, yes there is the opportunity for catastrophic understeer...but the answer is simple..don't drive like a dick...and it's pretty easy to tell at what point it's going to let go, and can therefore readjust as necessary..

A traffic cop I once knew said to me re: taking a corner, Slow in fast out - fast in $h1t out.

 

Agreed...

Although weirdly my mate said "Your a crap driver, you could have done that much faster..why did you go into the corner so slowly?"

Arguing with him is like arguing with a brick wall, he didn't understand the concept that it's slow in, fast out..

 

Give him time, he'll find out, one day.

 

ive had bmws before and ive got to say that im a big bmw fan and a big alfa fan. mind you i got my alfa 159 in april and have only had the pleasure of doing 100 miles in her. A week after getting her I had what is called macula edema in both eyes which gives me blurred vision. Next week i start treatment for this condition. So im toying with whether to keep the car or not as i dont know when i will be able to drive again. When i hopefully can drive again, that will be my weight lifted from my shoulders. I hate not being able to see properly to drive

 

The handbrake was user error. RTFM

As for BM's, I had a brand new 320d M Sport after my 156 and while I was waiting for my 159. It was nothing special & quite mundane.

Poor ride, ok handling, poor comfort, cheap interior, nice steering, great economy with the cup holders being the only really great feature.

My 159 was way better to own, to drive, to be in & to look at.

BMW's = clitoris cars. You can guess why

 

BMW's = clitoris cars. You can guess why

Difficult to find after 12 pints?

 

i do think with the bmws though some people just dont like them because they are rear wheel drive and its a completely drifferent feel to the front wheels coping with the power and steering as on the alfa and other fwd cars.

 

Hello,

Just to clarify, this wasn't meant as a alfa vs bmw thread, or a my car is an xyz thread.
I'm just telling you how I feel, and expressing my own opinions.
Each to their own and all that.

My experience of alfa was poor. Everyone will have their own moments and memories with their cars.
Sadly, I had very very few good ones.

I didn't even start out saying that all alfa's are unreliable. Just that mine wasn't very good.
I got off light I think. I've got a feeling that there's a lot more to come on that particular vehicle. I'm sure I was heading for some of the horror stories that other people reported on here. I seemed to be picking off the various faults from the regular ones that keep getting posted up on here.

The seats are rubbish though. Maybe the TI ones are better. But the Lusso were crap.

 

Hello,

Just to clarify, this wasn't meant as a alfa vs bmw thread, or a my car is an xyz thread.
I'm just telling you how I feel, and expressing my own opinions.
Each to their own and all that.

Agreed, horses for courses and we all know that car roulette is going to leave someone unhappy. We just all hope theat when buying a new car it isn't going to be us.

Having read this thread I cant believe the stick this guy has had from some posters. His comments seem pretty fair and reasonable and he was only expressing his opinion about his car.

I don't think he's been given any stick from the vast majority? You can't argue with his experiences.... I personally found the old man leather comment humorous is all, and far less than 'objective'

 

He's right, the standard seats are poor.
But no worse than an Audi or Merc.

 

I guess if your car rolls into your house that is gonna take a while to forgive. Also depends if it was the car or the owners fault.

Don't think i've sat in a 159, so can't comment on the seats. My bro in law has just got a new 3 series saloon as a company car and he's moaning about not being able to get comfy (full leather iirc) and wants to somehow change it as it annoys him that much. Guess different seats suit different people.

I know we all harp on about bland interiors but i just can't disagree with it. No doubt they're all very functional and hopefully screwed together well, but just not very inspiring. The GT interior is looking dated now in comparison, especially with its long gear stick, but nearly everyone comments on how nice it is inside.

despite a few issues along the way, and a text book full of niggles, i struggle to see myself going back to any other make for a while yet.

But good luck. If the car was annoying you too much, its time to move on.