Anyone on boards own(ed) an Alfa 166

redman

Anyone here own or owned an Alfa 166 ?
I have had a couple of 156's and have sold my 530td looking to put the soul back into my driving.

dahamsta

I haven't, but a mate does and he's on his fourth sump. Not a happy chappy about it.

adam

junkyard

I had the misfortune to trade one in a couple of years ago, not a bad car to drive funnily enough but if you listened carefully you could hear the depreciation. Like all Alfa's people who love them are oblivious to their faults and the people who look at them from a moneymaking perspective cringe at the thoughts of them. They are money pits for sure but so is smoking and drinking. Horses for courses.

prospect

My dad has one.

It is a fabulous car. Excellent interior with every extra, and very fast, (2.5L V6) and it also handles very well for a big car.

But,
He let it go 8K past a service interval and the result was it needed to get a major engine overhaul

So, remember, they are fantastic cars to own. But they are not very forgiving if they are not properly looked after.

As junkyard said, us Alfa fans are a rare breed. But I have done my best here to be honest and impartial.

Tiger Jim

I had one as my wedding car. It created a stir on the day, as it was very different to any other wedding car ever used.
Apparently, they are not as troublesome as the 156, but this is only what I heard.
They are cheap now too!

Henry Ford III

I drove a 3 litre auto around Mondello! Seriously. Alfa Romeo corporate day.

Nice musical engine notes, and big leather chairs (not seats).

A silly buy in all honesty, unless you get one for half nothing.

redman

thanks for all the replys, good feedback.

Anyone used TI autos for servicing the Alfas, I believe they are well recommended but may be hard to book in?

colm_mcm

never owned one, but heard some amusing stories, like the one about the power steering hose that's too short on certain models, and works its way loose, fluid spills onto exhaust manifold, and smoke fills engine bay and cabin. meanwhile you lose power steering.

On the other hand, the 166 has oodles of soul and is very cheap

mike65

A slight exaggeration there Colm

http://www.autoexpress.co.uk/evo/fastfleet/19691/alfa_romeo_166_30.html

However, it did lose all of its power steering fluid, leaving art ed Damian Smith stranded one morning. A litre of fluid was enough to get it back to Alfa who, a few weeks later, issued a recall to replace the power-steering hoses on all 166s so they didn't chafe together. This had caused the leak on ours, apparently.

Mike.

colm_mcm

I know a guy who used to sell them, and what I described happened a few people in Ireland. one guy had it happen twice. and for every one good review you find, there'll be ten bad ones

Anan1

"Anyone used TI autos for servicing the Alfas, I believe they are well recommended but may be hard to book in?"

I've used them. As you say, very good, cheaper than Alasta, but you'll need to book a long way in advance.

prospect

colm_mcm wrote:

I know a guy who used to sell them, and what I described happened a few people in Ireland. one guy had it happen twice. and for every one good review you find, there'll be ten bad ones

That is a pretty poor example. Every manufacturer issues recalls for things like that. Short or weak hoses, bad or insufficient clips and connectors, dodgey relays, etc. etc.
If that was the only issue with 166's, there would be hundreds of thousands on the roads.

RobAMerc

My mate has one with almost 200k on it.
It still pulls like a train, is comfortable and joy to drive.
The interior and body look like they have done 1/4 of that milage.

I would be glad to own one.

Please don't listen to people who tell you to buy a Avensis , Camry, Omega etc a biscuit tin on a rollerskate would be a nicer car imo.

Henry Ford III

Omegas aren't that bad.

colm_mcm

prospect wrote:

That is a pretty poor example. Every manufacturer issues recalls for things like that. Short or weak hoses, bad or insufficient clips and connectors, dodgey relays, etc. etc.
If that was the only issue with 166's, there would be hundreds of thousands on the roads.

It's not the only issue the 166 had, but it's fairly funny, I know Alfa Romeo had to buy back some of the 166's they sold, and a few of the victims of the power steering problem were high profile. one of them a TD.

MercMad

I love the 166 and nearly bought a V6 !

I ended up buying a C-Class instead, head over heart !

I had a 155 so it would have been a nice progression, never fancied a 156 !

Anyway I drove each model and a V6 would be a great used buy, and TI engineering is the place to go with it.

Once you get them to inspect it and service it you'll be fine !

Go for it!

marku-allen

i had a 166 3lt tiptronic for about 8 months ,enjoyed every day no probs with it,sold it to a friend he had it for about 2years and no probs,but his house got broken into and they took keys and car ,touched nothing else,found car few weeks later but in a very sorry state...beyond repair:( i would only buy with f.m.d.s.h. btw i sold it with a small profit but she was immaculate and only 25k