New Car

[Sundayjumper]

Not mine so no need for the usual games. My Dad has bought a diesel Alfa on a complete whim

This one:

https://www.barons-auctions.com/view-lo ... -gt-19-jtd

He collected it today and so far has discovered the drivers window goes down but not up

Anyone want to wager which bit breaks next ?

[IanF]

It got to 100k... so that’s good...

Also, I pick electricks as the first thing to go wrong... And I’ve already won!

[Mito Man]

At least it has a lovely interior to admire whilst waiting for the recovery truck.

[GG.]

From my prior experience with this vintage of Alfa... almost anything (see below)!

Brake lines, heater fan blower, aux belt tensioners, gearbox, rubber exhaust mount, MAF, wheel bearings... and I only had it about 18 months IIRC

[integrale_evo]

List sounds the same as what goes wrong on pretty much every 10+ year old car. At least the gt still looks good while it's sat broken, unlike most.

[Rich B]

If it’s electric, it’ll break.

[Sundayjumper]

List sounds the same as what goes wrong on pretty much every 10+ year old car. At least the gt still looks good while it's sat broken, unlike most.

I was assuming GG’s wasn’t 10+ years old at the time !

My Dad actually went to the auction thinking about buying the Bitter. THAT is a random thing to want.

https://www.barons-auctions.com/view-lo ... -bitter-sc

[GG.]

No to be fair it was and was slightly older (in terms of reg year rather than when I had it) than that GT but with similar underpinnings I think.

That stuff doesn't usually ALL go wrong on cars with 80,000 miles on them (well, not if they aren't Italian or French!)

My 10 year old e90 with 95,000 miles had a leaky gearbox seal in the 2 years I had it and that was it!

[integrale_evo]

Yeah I may have read that wrong

My dad had three 156s ( which the gt is based on obvs ) and the only one which ever had any issues was after autoglass fitted a replacement windscreen poorly which let water leak behind the dash causing a few electrical gremlins...

[IanF]

List sounds the same as what goes wrong on pretty much every 10+ year old car. At least the gt still looks good while it's sat broken, unlike most.

I was assuming GG’s wasn’t 10+ years old at the time !

My Dad actually went to the auction thinking about buying the Bitter. THAT is a random thing to want.

https://www.barons-auctions.com/view-lo ... -bitter-sc

That gearstick doesn’t seem to have any selectable gears... is it not intended to be actually used!?

[Carlos]

He collected it today and so far has discovered the drivers window goes down but not up

But give the switch a wiggle and it goes back up ?

Classic Alfa my 164 and 166 had similar issues even though they had totally different switch gear

[IanF]

He collected it today and so far has discovered the drivers window goes down but not up

But give the switch a wiggle and it goes back up ?

Classic Alfa my 164 and 166 had similar issues even though they had totally different switch gear

Just need to run a bit of water down the inside of the door..

[Jobbo]

The Bitter is generally in better condition than the Alfa judging by the stars

[jamcg]

My guess is it’s going to be a warning light to say the airbag isn’t working

[ste]

That Bitter looks lovely.

[240PP]

Saw a Bitter last week, looked great. I had to do a mycarcheck to see what it was.

I had a black 57 plate 159 with that same engine (Vauxhall iirc). Lovely thing to look at and sit in (still the best seats) but it put me off Alfas for life. Engine and gearbox problems, rather than electrics though..

[simon_g]

I had a similar era 156 wagon (but with the big diesel) that I took well past 100k, and had a later owner get in touch via the service history who was past 140k.

They get through wishbones (no separate bushes, you replace the whole thing) and it blew a perished vacuum hose but generally really reliable. Never had any electrical issues.

[Jezh]

^THIS

Genuinely regret selling my 2.4 20V. relatively light and oodles of torque with the uprated Bilstein dampers from Harvey Bailey Engineering it was a dream to drive.

[GG.]

They get through wishbones (no separate bushes, you replace the whole thing) and it blew a perished vacuum hose but generally really reliable. Never had any electrical issues.

Oh yes - missed wishbone off my earlier list (and radiator). Oh and the fuel guage stuck at 1/4 and then would drop to nothing. Its the only car I've ever run out of fuel and the only front wheel drive car I've managed to spin

This was my abiding memory of it...

[Mito Man]

My mito had its third pair of front wishbones at the beginning of this year. It goes through them twice as fast as the tyres