Car advice needed. (Alfa Romeo)?

Any bad opinions of Alfa's are mainly from those who won't take the step to buying one so wish to ruin the experience for others. They aren't Ferrari's, but they are just a little different to other cars in their range, and generally pretty with it. 2000-onward Alfa's that you ask about have none of the over-exaggerated problems of the Alfas of the past. They want to sell cars and theirs is still a quality marque, unlike some oriental competitors who used to make fridges and tricycles. Alfa Romeo used to win Grand Prix, on the other hand.... that's who I'd want making my car:) Rubbish cars are those produced for the lowest possible cost to an ignorant market who want to get from a to b in the cheapest way possible. These people are not Alfa customers. Even a tired and ropey Alfa will make every journey a pleasure compared to most things you could buy nowadays. It's there to cater for your discerning tastes, imperfect but all the car you'll need for a while.

I would agree with that. I would buy an ALFA with great enthusiasm. In my experience, the older ALFA had suspension troubles mostly due to the fact that Italian cars were built without consideration for cold, icy and snowy road conditions. Almost all European cars feature fuel injection and electrical systems manufactured by BOSCH, a very reliable company. THe braking system are usually ATE or Girling, another fine European name. If you are worried, ask about an extended warranty, but READ the fine print and DEFINTELY read your manual 3-4 times, cover to cover, to gain full understanding of the car and it's workings. GOOD LUCK!!

"Almost all European cars feature fuel injection and electrical systems manufactured by BOSCH, a very reliable company." And yet, European cars are always the ones that have electrical problems. Your logic is flawed. Don't ignore the fact that Alfa Romeos have some of the worst electrical problems in the automotive industry, and that their Selespeed transmissions are always absolute rubbish. Manual and fully working electrical systems are essential to owning an Alfa, as well as the acknowledgement that most of them, including the 156, are actually gutless and quite horrible to drive. And unfortunately yes there are plenty of lemons in this age. The Chrysler Sebring and 99% of all Korean cars are just some of them.

I have an Alfa-Romeo 75 TwinSpark, which is great fun, lively, rear-wheel drive. I don't like front-wheel drive, but the 156 is a beautiful car, and as Timbo said, the selespeed ones have a bad rep for the gearboxes failing, but so long as you buy a car with full service-history, and keep it that way, it should be fine. Clarkson said never to buy an Alfa with your own money!

Been working on cars since 1969 i love alfas but they are not for fools and you can soon get stitched up with one buy from someone who knows what he is talking about, specialist etc, dont buy one from the side of the road or without a warranty my last one was the 3ltr GTV had it for three years no problems at all 33 sportwagon before that 1.7ltr and a few suds wish i had them now currently running a 406 pug (winter car) bike and rolls for the summer

itallian cars used to have a problem with the poor quallity steel. RUST and quality control issues with electricals but a well sorted alfa usually runs for years.

You will get to know Tony.