[MALGTV]

Hi Guys, bit of a long post, but I am tentatively putting my Alfa 156 GTA up for sale, I am only initially advertising it here as would prefer to see it go to someone who will take care of it. I have recently changed job and now have a company car so the GTA is just not getting used, previous to this it was my main daily driver, I don’t have a garage to store it in otherwise I would definitely be keeping it. I always had it in my head I would keep it regardless but just feels a waste for it not getting used.

I am only the second owner of the car, I bought it over 8 years ago in April 2008.
The car is, Nero Black with Black Leather interior, it has a Q2 and the 330mm brakes. The mileage is currently at 93,156. I am not using it much so this wont change significantly. It has CF2 manifolds, wizard down pipes and a novitec quad exhaust. Koni FSDs with Eibach Springs and Wiechers Strut Bar. It has had a recent radiator with the autolusso silicon hoses, Stainless Steel lower pipe, new water tank etc. The car has the cadamuro front gill and the high wing spoiler (appreciate these wont be to everyone’s tastes!).

In my ownership the cambelt has been changed twice, the last change was 2013 at 76,339 miles, so its probably due next year on age rather than mileage.
The year after I bought the car the engine was rebuilt by the main dealer, (pistons and liners) following a compression test, showing low compression in 3 of the cylinders, this was done at approx. 43k miles.
I have full receipts of all the work carried out in the 8 years I have owned it, I also have all the mot certificates and two service receipts from the previous owner, the book is stamped with full service history.

The car had a new gearbox and clutch in 2009, this is when the Q2 was added. In my ownership the ECU has been replaced and the alternator has also been replaced.

I have two spare front wings and the original CF3 manifolds which will be included in the sale.

The car has just passed an MOT in April 2016. The MOT came with advisories of slight corrosion on underside and slight corrosion to oil cooler pipes, so these may need some attention in the near future.

The biggest issue for me is the bodywork, the passenger front wing has the usual rust (hence why I bought spares) and the sideskirts have stone chips in the usual areas, and I have a slight ding in the passenger rear door. Again as I was going to keep it, it was always my intention to have the bodywork sorted out as a long term project. The wheels also need refurbished. The car shines up well when cleaned and looks great from a distance, but close up I know where the imperfections are.

I also have a private plate, which I can leave on the car if the new owner wants to keep it (M19 GTA).

The computer screen has the fade issue when the car gets warm.

The interior is in reasonable condition given the age of the car, but does show some signs of wear.

Given the way GTA prices seem to be going I am looking for £5,500 for the car. This is the minimum I feel I would be willing to let it go for and given its overall condition feel it’s a fair price, and as I don’t really have to sell it, I wont sell it for less than this.

I absolutely love this car, so it’s a difficult decision to let it go, if anyone is interested or knows anyone looking for one just drop me a PM. I can send on more photos etc if required. The car is located in Edinburgh.
Thanks

 

[valinco]

If only this was a wagon as i'm in the market. Nice looking car and I hope you get the asking price.

My comments are the oil cooler pipes are super expensive, last time i checked i couldn't even source one of them for my old GTA. Then they would need to be fitted which is pretty much an engine out job. Autolusso do a very good looking kit, but again, its pricy and the cost of the kit plus fitting is best part of 600 quid ish depending on who you use. Secondly, having the wings is a massive bonus, but fitting and paint is costly. I only know this as I fitted new wings to my old GTA. So possible a few k of expense even before you start welding up the drain holes at the back (i've had to do this as well!).

I'd be amazed if you could persuade someone to part with that sort of money given the work needed as another 2-3k would be needed to be spent straight away. But i wish you the best of luck and, as you say, prices are going up for these cars.

GLWTS:thumbup:

 

[Hedgeperson]

I could well be interested in this, shall call you Monday.

Cheers,
Hedge

 

[bazza]

I can't agree with you Valinco. I think that the fact you're in the position of buyer is making you undervalue GTAs as a whole - after all, you want to pay as little as possible.

Of course we don't know the details behind those advisories, but what I've heard from experts suggests it's likely the oil cooler is absolutely fine. The underside corrosion definitely bears investigation of course.

As for the wings - well pretty much any GTA for sale which hasn't been sorted recently will have the exact same problem. You're not wrong about the cost of dealing with it - but you can hardly suggest that that cost should be knocked off the price of a 'normal' GTA, because it is a normal GTA. He's knocked about £900 off the cost of what should be considered a standard piece of work for a new owner who wants perfect bodywork by owning the wings already.

Without viewing it to be sure, I'd say the price is extremely fair.

 

[alfabeat]

Oil cooler kit from Autolusso is only £220, plus say 3 hours to fit. So not a major worry. And these ones are not leaking yet.

It's a very fair price for this GTA in my opinion, especially as ECU and Alternator have been replaced and new wings are included!

 

[valinco]

I can't agree with you Valinco. I think that the fact you're in the position of buyer is making you undervalue GTAs as a whole - after all, you want to pay as little as possible.

Fair enough Baz, i wouldn't expect my views to be universally agreed with in any case!

I just want to say one thing. I'm not a buyer for a saloon. I'm a buyer for a wagon. So there is no motive or prejudice whatsoever in my comments. Just saying it honestly how i see it.

One of the reasons I haven't got one is i have been offered sheds at 4-5k that need a lot of money spending on them - there's no such thing as a cheap GTA and all that!

I sold my saloon with 90k miles on it last year, its was completely sorted and had a respray and belts. I achieved 6k for it. I would expect to be paying slightly more for a wagon in the same condition. IMO this would be fair.

I really hope the OP gets what he wants. These are just my opinions and are honestly made. :read:

 

[bazza]

No worries, I'm not suggesting that you're deliberately trying to devalue this car, only that your viewpoint will lead to a particular opinion on value.

If anything, the fact that what you've seen is that the value of a poor GTA is still (apparently) £4k+ only backs up the value of this one being at least fair at £5.5k.

Given the premium for a SW, were I selling mine tomorrow I'd be asking for £7.5k I think. And, like this one, it comes with two unfitted new wings (although the reason they're not fitted is because the bubbling is only just starting to show, so it wouldn't be justified currently.)

 

[valinco]

If anything, the fact that what you've seen is that the value of a poor GTA is still (apparently) £4k+ only backs up the value of this one being at least fair at £5.5k.

Yes, but the cars I've been offered at that money I didn't buy. And AFAIK haven't been sold.

I viewed one (a wagon) about 2 months ago and the guy wanted 4.5k and wouldn't budge. It was a total shed, but he was happy not to sell it. There's a lot of folk who are happy just to sit on them, not drive them, and hope the value goes up.

The premium in the future will be on cars with less than 60k and have been sat in garages IMO. I really don't see the point in sitting on a 100k plus shed, i'd rather invest my money in property or shares. The longer they are left the more recommissioning they'll need. But then each to their own.

 

[Pud237]

The reason sheds aren't worth so much less than good working GTAs is because of the breakup value (and people building Stratos replicas).

A good honest GTA at £5-6k plus some minor repairs & tarting up is almost always cheaper than the cost of a shed GTA plus rebuilding it - unless you can do the work yourself and even then the savings are not necessarily huge.

Hard to say without seeing the car but this one looks like it is far from being a shed, and is probably about right on the price. He could sell the wings for £500 as they are, knock the price down by £500 and get that price IMO.

If I were to put my 110k mile saloon up for sale it'd be up for £10k, but I do have £30k+ of invoices to go with it, so it isn't your typical GTA.

 

[156GTASW]

No such thing as a cheap GTA - at £5k ish this GTA is a fair price with everything declared. If it were fully sorted it would be worth much more - Problem is that buyers want a sorted GTA for less than what they are worth (because a shed is still worth £3k broken). We have now seen GTA's fetching circa £15k this fully sorted at £8k is a very fair price.

156 GTA's will also start to creep up in price further with the halo effect due to the new Guilia - already in early test drives the GTA is often mentioned, that will in itself generate renewed interest. My view is that if you want a GTA either get ones like this and make it right, spend top dollar (now at least £15k and get one that is not on the market - but will be perfect) - or keep waiting and miss the chance to own one at all.

 

[GTA_Russ]

I declared the minor issues on mine and it didn't go at 3.5k! Identical car as the OP as well with no rust issues.

True I didn't try very hard to sell it but still.......These are a very hard car to value and even harder at times to sell!

And the adage about there being no such thing as a cheap GTA - it isn't always true and frankly just puts people off some of the genuinely good bargains that appear.

 

[156GTASW]

I declared the minor issues on mine and it didn't go at 3.5k! Identical car as the OP as well with no rust issues.

True I didn't try very hard to sell it but still.......These are a very hard car to value and even harder at times to sell!

And the adage about there being no such thing as a cheap GTA - it isn't always true and frankly just puts people off some of the genuinely good bargains that appear.

Correct me if I'm wrong - but you managed to get yours at an excellent price - as it had about 140k on the clock?

 

[GTA_Russ]

I certainly did. However the value has gone up since then. I was also the exception as no one else wanted to touch it as.....you guessed it....there's no such thing as a cheap GTA!

Case in point.

 

[156GTASW]

I certainly did. However the value has gone up since then. I was also the exception as no one else wanted to touch it as.....you guessed it....there's no such thing as a cheap GTA!

Case in point.

I think the point I was trying to make is that yours with 140k on the clock is not the same as 90k on the clock. I'm not saying that yours is not in excellent condition - but with those miles it takes a brave person such as yourself to buy it, hence why you got it for what you paid - as to if that was cheap or the right value for a GTA with 140k is what I'd ask?

 

[GTA_Russ]

The point you made was that there is no such thing as a cheap GTA.

Excluding service items, my GTA has cost me nothing except the purchase price.

Low mileage isn't always a pointer to a good car. Mine is so high because the previous owner covered around 85k in 4 years - between 2008 and 2012. In that time it had around 10k spent including a full top end rebuild, all documented, all by main dealers or specialists. Since then it has done very few miles.

The OP has a good car - lets give him our support in his sale and stop knocking the cars at the lower end of the spectrum - I was trying to get across that they are not all knackered and most are still extremely driveable.

 

[Slicer]

That is very fair price!
My car was up for a sale with 6000 gbp (7800 euros). In last October mayor tuning and repairs were done.
With cost of labour (1500 euros) total cost was 5000 euros (3800 gbp).
Gearbox rebuild with now Q2 diff, clutch, all the engine and gearbox mounts, 330mm caliper and brakes, PF pads and braided hoses, new set of KW coilovers, driveshafts and many other things. Techincally made it sound again. Now the body is in the works with new windshield.
Hopefully get it back in 1 month.
But I put it up for sale just before the bodyshop, to see if there are interested buyers with 6000 gbp.
There were 2 guys, one who complemented the tightness of the car when driving and all the feelings, but broken down body put him off. Other interested person was real italian old guy (on vacation in Estonia) around 60+ years old, but he didn't do a testdrive.
Just looked around the car and interior and under the bonnet (he did start the engine). He didn't like that it was not in 100% original condition under the bonnet (some screws were not in original position etc... :nerd: ). I said it was 14 year old car with being basically daily driver last 6 years and have had engine out couple of times. He was suprised by that!
Said that i had a cambelt failure 40k ago (rightnow there is 95000 km on the clock), he looked shocked... dunno why Basically he was looking a car that was in factory condition every way, because those will sell very high in Italy in 10 years. And 147GTA's are even more valuable and go up sooner. I told him, that the car he is looking for will cost him 15000 euros right now! Not 7800euros and I said in the car add that the car needs full bodywork... dont know if he missed that...
But I put my car up for sale again and added the new bodywork price and little extra.
Will take new pictures for add, when car is ready and take the high gloss pictures
http://eng.auto24.ee/kasutatud/auto.php?id=2241738&rhash=4f32

 

[valinco]

A few current owners think its a super price. Fair enough.

Russ. The only reason your car didn't 'sell' is because you only listed it on here. When I sold my GTA i listed it here for about a month, got zero interest. I then stuck it on ebay as a classified and within a few days someone came round and offered the asking price. You don't seem to want to sell it? Also, in my experience of owning one and my father has owned one for 14 years (from new), they are expensive to maintain. So the adage 'no such thing as a cheap GTA' is kinda fairly applied IMO. Mine was a total money pit and my dad's, with about 140k on is costing him circa 1500 a year, over the last few years.

Someone commented about the pipes. Assuming you don't do the Autolusso mod, and you stick to OE pipes, those cooler pipes will be a very expensive job. When i sold my GTA, they needed doing, I fixed up the union with a new o ring, but the actual metal was becoming porous. Just saying. The pipe was 3 hundred and something quid (in 2014) and the local guy (not a main dealer) that my old man uses wanted to take the engine out to fit it!

They are such great cars and i regret selling mine. As many posters at the time said i would.

 

[Pud237]

Oil cooler pipes aren't a big deal anymore. £400 fitted for our Mocal kit.

 

[Olly Gta]

They're only going one way.

http://m.ebay.co.uk/itm/ALFA-ROMEO-156-V6-24V-GTA-MIRO-RED-/331856776159?nav=SEARCH

Get one while you can.

 

[156GTASW]

That won't hang about for long !