There's no car like an Alfa!

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Gill - 23 Sep 2005 17:46 GMT

I have just decided to replace my 1999 2.5 V6 Alfa 156 and decided to
do the trawl of the "lesser species" in search of an alternative,
partly because the Alfa dealer in Cheltenham (useless, but the most
convenient one for me) shut up shop with no warning recently. (Went
bust, I hear)

Tried Golf GTi. Boring. Had BMW 1 to play with for a day. Felt
middle aged (OK I am, but I didn't need reminding of the fact). Looked
at Audi and didn't even want to drive it.

Today I drove a 147 1.9 JTD 16v M-JET Lusso and at last, my smile
returned. I've ordered it in Alfa Red with black leather seats and am
taking dealer's word that he'll offer better service than Cheltenham
ever did. The drive took me back to the days of my old red Alfasud
(before the door dropped off, of course!) and quite why I ever
considered buying any other make of car is beyond me. Guess BMW might
be worth a try again when I'm 80 or so ;-)

My only niggle is that my lovely 156 is worth so little when it's such
a brilliant car.

Great to find a bunch of fellow Alfa enthusiasts.

Gill

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Catman - 23 Sep 2005 17:55 GMT

> I have just decided to replace my 1999 2.5 V6 Alfa 156 and decided to
> do the trawl of the "lesser species" in search of an alternative,
[quoted text clipped - 11 lines]
> ever did. The drive took me back to the days of my old red Alfasud
> (before the door dropped off, of course!)

LOL

> and quite why I ever
> considered buying any other make of car is beyond me. Guess BMW might
[quoted text clipped - 4 lines]
>
> Great to find a bunch of fellow Alfa enthusiasts.

Welcome :)

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Tony Rickard - 23 Sep 2005 19:12 GMT

> I have just decided to replace my 1999 2.5 V6 Alfa 156 and decided to
> do the trawl of the "lesser species" in search of an alternative,
> partly because the Alfa dealer in Cheltenham (useless, but the most
> convenient one for me) shut up shop with no warning recently. (Went
> bust, I hear)

Similar here. Just replaced my wife's (mine previously) '96 GTV. Bearing
in mind it was not my wife's choice, she inherited it from me when I got
a company provided car (156 V6)

> Tried Golf GTi. Boring. Had BMW 1 to play with for a day. Felt
> middle aged (OK I am, but I didn't need reminding of the fact). Looked
> at Audi and didn't even want to drive it.

Looked at Golfs and Focuses. The closest was an ST170 but it didn't do
it for me and wifey agreed the moment she started up the GTV, the Ford
didn't sound right - I have converted her! I thought I met get away with
keeping the GTV but she needed a more practical car.

> Today I drove a 147 1.9 JTD 16v M-JET Lusso and at last, my smile
> returned. I've ordered it in Alfa Red with black leather seats and am
[quoted text clipped - 3 lines]
> considered buying any other make of car is beyond me. Guess BMW might
> be worth a try again when I'm 80 or so ;-)

147 JTDs were a bit new especially as she wanted leather, multichanger,
17" alloys (cos they look nice), so we settled on a 147 2.0 manual,
Capri Blue with tan leather (great combo). Wifey is happy and she has a
car I am more than happy to drive (a vital factor after the time I
bought her a Metro and ended up driving it for a couple of years before
some kind soul destroyed it and I got an Alfa 33)

> My only niggle is that my lovely 156 is worth so little when it's such
> a brilliant car.

I took the company car opt out option and chose the Alfa 156 V6 on the
basis even if it had a poor trade in at the end of the term it wouldn't
cost me more than a Company supplied Vectra diesel - it will be touch
and go...

Steve H will probably pick it up for a Burger King and large fries when
it finally goes.

Whilst it meets the company car opt out criteria I really should just
keep it. Then again I'll probably justify a 200bhp 159 JTD on the fuel
savings and conveniently forget I will lose the equivalent of the GDP of
a small African nation all over again...

> Great to find a bunch of fellow Alfa enthusiasts.

As Jeremy Clarkson would say - we are all a bit loopy :)

Cheers
Tony

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SteveH - 23 Sep 2005 19:17 GMT

> > My only niggle is that my lovely 156 is worth so little when it's such
> > a brilliant car.
[quoted text clipped - 6 lines]
> Steve H will probably pick it up for a Burger King and large fries when
> it finally goes.

Oooh, bitchy ;-)

It's not my fault I have a habit of sniffing out decent motors for silly
prices :-)

I fancy another 33 16v at the moment, but it's more likely I'll get a
widebody 155 2lt TSpark.

Anyone want to buy a Kraut barge?

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http://www.italiancar.co.uk - Honda VFR800 - MZ ETZ300 - Alfa 75 TSpark
Alfa 156 2.0 TSpark Lusso - Passat 1.8 Turbo SE - COSOC KOTL
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Tony Rickard - 23 Sep 2005 19:35 GMT

>>>My only niggle is that my lovely 156 is worth so little when it's such
>>>a brilliant car.
[quoted text clipped - 8 lines]
>
> Oooh, bitchy ;-)

Nah, bitchy is when I say you will point out they are going for standard
fries on eBay :)

> It's not my fault I have a habit of sniffing out decent motors for silly
> prices :-)
>
> I fancy another 33 16v at the moment, but it's more likely I'll get a
> widebody 155 2lt TSpark.

So how many cars have you got at the moment?

> Anyone want to buy a Kraut barge?

No!

Cheers
Tony

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SteveH - 23 Sep 2005 20:01 GMT

> > I fancy another 33 16v at the moment, but it's more likely I'll get a
> > widebody 155 2lt TSpark.
>
> So how many cars have you got at the moment?

3. My 75, her 156 and the 'Panzerwagen'...... which I'm not proud of,
but it did the job when I was commuting 100 miles / day.

> > Anyone want to buy a Kraut barge?
>
> No!

Oh well, it was worth a try.

Strangely, depreciation hit the Panzer harder than it has the 156.

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J-P Westaway-Green - 23 Sep 2005 20:26 GMT

> >>Steve H will probably pick it up for a Burger King and large fries when
> >>it finally goes.
[quoted text clipped - 3 lines]
> Nah, bitchy is when I say you will point out they are going for standard
> fries on eBay :)

Or "Super Size", if you want to buy from Domestos :-)

J-P

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J-P Westaway-Green - 23 Sep 2005 23:06 GMT

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Remove _no_spam_ to reply

> >>Steve H will probably pick it up for a Burger King and large fries when
> >>it finally goes.
[quoted text clipped - 6 lines]
> > It's not my fault I have a habit of sniffing out decent motors for silly
> > prices :-)

> >>Steve H will probably pick it up for a Burger King and large fries when
> >>it finally goes.

Or "Super Size", if you want to buy from Domestos :-)

J-P

> > Oooh, bitchy ;-)
>
> Nah, bitchy is when I say you will point out they are going for standard
> fries on eBay :)

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Gill - 23 Sep 2005 21:05 GMT

Well, Tony, I thought of hanging onto it till it was worth just the
burger and fries, but having just read about the gearbox incident
earlier on the list, it reminded me why I thought it might be better to
quit whilst I was ahead - I've only had the cambelt to replace.

At least Mr Alfa offered me more than twice as much as Mr BMW did for
my 156.

Gill

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SimonC - 26 Sep 2005 16:16 GMT

I don't think you'll have to wait long for a new dealer in
Gloucestershire Gill.

I spoke to ARUK the other day about this and they say that there are
plans in motion to rectify this.

In the meantime, I'm using Fish Brothers (Swindon) and have no
complaints at all.

Happy driving

SimonC

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