Alfa 156 taxi (!!) in Dublin

pburns

Has anyone seen the dark red 156 taxi around Dublin city centre? It has a big luminous sticker on the back door handle to help people find it! Maybe there's more than one of these (?) It seems almost sacrilege...

Rode in it once actually but was late for a meeting and in no mood to engage the driver in chit-chat...

What I'd like to know is how the hell does a car with the 156's reputation end up as a taxi?!?!?!?? I know it's cheap but for the same money you could buy a very servicable old Toyota that would go on forever.

prospect

It is probably a diesel.
The Fiat JTD engine is one of the best diesel engines in the world.

redman

The driver must like driving then!:D

phoenix_nights

Without offending Alfa lovers, he probably bought it like people still buy them nowadays. Probably did not know enough about the cars.

I am biased here but i own the same car which is (as far as i can see) the most popluar 'old' taxi that they use. These guys understand cars a bit more as these cars are renowned for there reliabilty. They can, once oil and coolant is changed regularly, go past the 500mile mark and have.

Any guesses...

The W124

pburns wrote:

Has anyone seen the dark red 156 taxi around Dublin city centre? It has a big luminous sticker on the back door handle to help people find it! Maybe there's more than one of these (?) It seems almost sacrilege...

Rode in it once actually but was late for a meeting and in no mood to engage the driver in chit-chat...

What I'd like to know is how the hell does a car with the 156's reputation end up as a taxi?!?!?!?? I know it's cheap but for the same money you could buy a very servicable old Toyota that would go on forever.

yellow012

Just saw one of these being used as a taxi in Dublin.

Sure beats being driven around in a scabby 15 year old Merc, Toyota, Nissan..:)

Eoin

A strange choice alright, not much room in the back for three and a small enough boot.

I also saw one, and the driver had put illuminous stripes on the rear door handles and arrows pointing to them; presumably people had been trying to climb through the front to get in the back.

phoenix_nights

I see one guy is driving around in a Prius .

ds20prefecture

eoin_s wrote:

A strange choice alright, not much room in the back for three and a small enough boot.

I'd agree, but then the Octavia is tiny in the rear too, and there's hundreds of those in use as taxis.

There's thousands of 156s in use as taxis and police cars in Italy. Perhaps the Italians don't know enough about cars.....

magpie

I've been in the very same taxi (replete with luminous arrows pointing to door handles) and asked the guy in polite terms why the **** he was driving such a piece of **** as a taxi since it was going to fall apart after about 6 months. Nice bloke driving it, Palestinian, said he already had the car before he started taxi-ing and that he was going to drive it until it disintegrated, and then go and buy a Merc.

Mystery solved. Move along, there's nothing more to see here....

phoenix_nights

magpie wrote:

and then go and buy a Merc.

Smart man.

Anan1

magpie wrote:

I've been in the very same taxi (replete with luminous arrows pointing to door handles) and asked the guy in polite terms why the **** he was driving such a piece of **** as a taxi since it was going to fall apart after about 6 months. Nice bloke driving it, Palestinian, said he already had the car before he started taxi-ing and that he was going to drive it until it disintegrated, and then go and buy a Merc.

Mystery solved. Move along, there's nothing more to see here....

Have you had a bad experience with a 156? I can see no reason why a well-serviced one shouldn't just go and go. It is a bit small in the back but, as has been already stated, so is an Octavia.

prospect

magpie wrote:

why the **** he was driving such a piece of **** as a taxi since it was going to fall apart after about 6 months.

Aaahh, the perpetual monotonous drone of the uneducated!
:rolleyes:

Ratchet

seen the 156 and was petrol also seen 4dr 94 civic which looked mad with taxi sign on the roof

sharkman

OK , So to take this in a different direction .....

What's the nicest Taxi youve been in ???????

Volvoboy

one lives on my road silver nice looking, seen alot stranger cars as a joe

-lexus ls430
-volvo xc90
-mercedes s320 (newer model 99-)
-bmw 740
-jag xj6
-nissan pathfinder jeep
-fiat punto

RobAMerc

phoenix_nights wrote:

Without offending Alfa lovers, he probably bought it like people still buy them nowadays. Probably did not know enough about the cars.

This is probably the biggest load of toss I have ever read on Boards.ie

Lex Luthor

magpie wrote:

why the **** he was driving such a piece of **** as a taxi since it was going to fall apart after about 6 months..

:mad: So what do you drive, big shot?

bazz26

I can understand the luminous stripes on the rear doors alright.

Can you image at around 3 am on a Sunday morning, a couple of well pissed people on the way home from the pub, having to look for the rear door handle of the taxi in the dark!

Max_Damage

I've seen a Mercedes 500SEL and a Lexus LS400 as taxi's (fuel bills must be fun to look at!)

And they complain about not getting enough money.....tiff!

Squirrel

For a lot of the more expensive cars the owners have bought a taxi plate so they can drive in the bus lanes, or so I read a while back. It could have been on a thread here, I don't really remember.

Lex Luthor

Squirrel wrote:

For a lot of the more expensive cars the owners have bought a taxi plate so they can drive in the bus lanes, or so I read a while back. It could have been on a thread here, I don't really remember.

ahem, Michael O'Leary:cool:

RoundyMooney

ds20prefecture wrote:

There's thousands of 156s in use as taxis and police cars in Italy. Perhaps the Italians don't know enough about cars.....

[Flame Suit] Given some of the crap they churn out, it would appear they don't, at least in terms of engineering longevity, reliability ,and useability into their products. They are, collectively, the British Leyland of the modern era of motoring.

And before the Alfa aficionados sharpen their knives-I bought a 156 *new* in 2001. I gave up on it a year and a half later, and lost a bomb. All the cars Fiat are churning out, and the group is still in financial difficulty...[/Flame Suit]

In the interests of fairness, someone posted up pictures of the new 159 the other day, and I wet my pants a little. It is the most beautiful design I have seen when compared against any mainstream saloon car of the last thirty years. Sad to say, I will never buy one, not even when they are five years old and relatively worthless.

As always YMMV...

junkyard

That taxi driver won't have to wait for long for that Alfa to disintegrate using it as a taxi, its like using a cardboard box to cross the channel.:D

RoundyMooney

junkyard wrote:

That taxi driver won't have to wait for long for that Alfa to disintegrate using it as a taxi, its like using a cardboard box to cross the channel.:D

Shhh, Junk. We'll get flamed in a minute

"They don't like it up 'em, Captain Mainwaring!"

All in good fun, folks.

edit: Actually, the one problem I haven't seen on Fiats et al., at least in the last few years, is rust. Am I not getting out enough, or is corrosion not as big a deal as it was?

Max_Damage

RoundyMooney wrote:

In the interests of fairness, someone posted up pictures of the new 159 the other day, and I wet my pants a little. It is the most beautiful design I have seen when compared against any mainstream saloon car of the last thirty years. Sad to say, I will never buy one, not even when they are five years old and relatively worthless.

As always YMMV...

Best thing to do there is to get a 159 and do a engine swap with some Japanese car. Problem solved!:D

junkyard

And then do a body swap with a Toyota or something that doesn't fall apart.:) The reason for no rust Roundy is that most cars nowadays are galvanised.

pburns

I notice a fair proportion of taxis are petrol rather than diesel. I've seen Maximas, Camrys and the like. I guess they're cheaper & less time/money off the road for servicing(?)

ds20prefecture

junkyard wrote:

That taxi driver won't have to wait for long for that Alfa to disintegrate using it as a taxi, its like using a cardboard box to cross the channel.:D

I saw my first post on boards about that taxi 2 years ago. So 2 years of constant day-in-day-out stop and go traffic. Pretty resilient cardboard.....

What a dull world ye live in.

RoundyMooney

ds20prefecture wrote:

I saw my first post on boards about that taxi 2 years ago. So 2 years of constant day-in-day-out stop and go traffic. Pretty resilient cardboard.....

What a dull world ye live in.

How do you know it's the same taxi? Here in Cork, there's one silver 156, that I'm aware of, doing the rounds. Law of averages would dictate that there are two or more, in Dublin. Even if it is the same car, when is the last time you heard of a Toyota/Nissan/Mercedes etc. suffering from the collective maladies of sunroofs flying off at speed, timing belts calving before their time (at 30k), breaking sun visors on a week old car, rear view mirrors that refuse to stay attached to the roof panel, noisy variators after six months, failed rear bushings after a year, sticky windows and switchgear, and sump cover panels that required renewing twice-without ever leaving a national primary route?

All of the above happened to me, enriching my life considerably, to use your analogy DS, and I have anecdotal evidence off, and latterly on the internet, of each and every experience of mine being shared by somebody somewhere who was taken in by the hype and the good looks of these lemons.

Don't have us believe these cars are as mechanically as well engineered as they look. That is frankly naive.

I respect totally the views of those who love Alfas or other FIAT products for what they are. I have no time for the bottom feeder who buys a '98 from a backstreet garage for widescreen TV money and then deems himself a petrolhead, and fools himself into thinking, "sure it's just as good as a 3 series, boy".

Santa Claus

yellow012 wrote:

Just saw one of these being used as a taxi in Dublin.

Sure beats being driven around in a scabby 15 year old Merc, Toyota, Nissan..:)

Hmmmm, a 70 odd thousand euro taxi.....bit of a wild guess here but I'm thinking perhaps the owner of that taxi could be connected to the criminal life (like when the monk was driving round in his Merc 500 SL with the taxi plate on it...great way of justifying shady earnings)

BrianD3

IIRC a few years ago there were Merc S-class taxis around with Nissan Urvan diesel engines fitted. Pretty common engine swap apparently. So if anyone was in a 560 SEL and it didn't sound quite right that was the reason

Gatster

Fair play if 156 man keeps it going, there are Alfas for sale with big mileages, although admittedly I wouldn't buy one (though I may buying a lower miles one soon). Recent Mercs haven't exactly been stellar performers in reliability surveys of late.

I was in a Prius taxi last year at about 0530 going to the Airport (from Swords) and was quite frankly freaked. The display fascinated me (I was slightly hungover) and the bloke went on about how great it was but it was like being in a luxury milk float.

At the other end (Heathrow) I was picked up in S500L with DVD in the back, bar etc. (I can recommend PCS Chauffeur services from LHR) organised by work.

Nice contrast...

junkyard

If driving a well built, reliable, quality car is your idea of living in a dull world DS then I'm sorry to disappoint you but I'd prefer to stay there. Driving an unreliable yoke of a car that f***s up at every turn is not my idea of excitement. Tbh if an Alfa taxi pulled up at my door I'd be a bit concerned that I would get to my destination......I wouldn't be booking it for a trip to the airport anyway.;)

unkel

BrianD3 wrote:

IIRC a few years ago there were Merc S-class taxis around with Nissan Urvan diesel engines fitted. Pretty common engine swap apparently. So if anyone was in a 560 SEL and it didn't sound quite right that was the reason

Yep the Merc S-class 2.8 diesel conversions. During my very taxi dependent (for work - 5am airport runs) years ('95-'96) it was the most common taxi I'd get. Rattles included

junkyard

There were some brutal diesel conversions around alright in the 80's, some fine cars were butchered, large Mercs, Jags,BMW's, I even remember seeing a Rolls Royce Silver Shadow with a Nissan 2.8 diesel under the bonnet:eek: nothing over three litre was safe in those days. I have a 1963 Austin Princess wedding car out the back of my garage for parts for my Princess and some cowboy put a Nissan Bluebird 2.0 diesel in it and wrecked the car which was pretty good when it was converted.

PauloMN

Alfa threads always make me laugh. For years now, I've seen Alfa-related threads here, on the old MotorNet, on Octane etc. and it never ceases to amuse me how Alfa fans defend their favourite marque.

Each to their own I suppose, but when people make any sort of negative comment about Alfas, it's met with this "you don't really know about cars then" type attitude. Or the "they're a great drive" line. Or the "they're Italian, so they must be a great car" line. Or the "you're boring" line.

I've never been an Alfa fan, and not just because of the poor reliability issues. I don't see the attraction looks-wise to be honest. I know.... shock - horror... someone who doesn't think Alfas are pretty. For example, I think rear doors look better with handles, especially if the front doors have them. I think reg plates look awful off-centre. I think the 147 looks ok in 3 door, but not great in 5 door form.

I saw a 159 the other day, do people consider that a good looking car? I mean it wasn't Daewoo or Kia ugly or anything, but it was at best inoffensive. It was ok, alright. Like a 5-door 147 with a boot, nothing else stood out to me about it.

Alfas are quirky cars, you either love them or hate them. Can people who fall into the latter category therefore not properly appreciate cars in general like their Alfa-loving counterparts?

pbergin

Good response PauloMN, I do disagree with you, I really like Alfa's, but that is my opionion, just like you have your opinion, its just nice to see a reasoned opinion, not like some useless comments

junkyard wrote:

Tbh if an Alfa taxi pulled up at my door I'd be a bit concerned that I would get to my destination

prospect

PauloMN,

Similarly to pbergin, I am a BIg Alfa fan, and love the look of the 156. I think it is easily the best looking saloon on the road today. But as you pointed out, it is opinion only.

However I must point something out. Usually when it is argued that someone doesn't know what they are talking about, it is done so because they don't know what they are talking about.
There are tonnes of people who will just join the majority and spout out a load of crap about how unreliable they are, and yet they do not own, or never owned an Alfa. They remember their grandfathers neighbour had a brother who had one that rusted on him!

As a general comment, I don't think there is any marque that offers the kind of reliability that the BMW and Mercs of old did. There is too much mass manufacture, and plastic components going into cars these days. Even the reliable japanese engines are being let down by poor interior quality.

Eoin

junkyard wrote:

If driving a well built, reliable, quality car is your idea of living in a dull world DS then I'm sorry to disappoint you but I'd prefer to stay there. Driving an unreliable yoke of a car that f***s up at every turn is not my idea of excitement. Tbh if an Alfa taxi pulled up at my door I'd be a bit concerned that I would get to my destination......I wouldn't be booking it for a trip to the airport anyway.;)

So, am I (and numerous other 156 drivers on boards.ie) incredibly lucky to have experienced problem-free motoring, or are we so naive and/or ignorant that we have just managed to miss any of the problems that must have occurred?

Obviously the evidence is there that there is a higher rate of problems with Alfas than many other cars, in particular jap cars, but to suggest that the car is that unreliable is just OTT.

ds20prefecture

PauloMN wrote:

Alfa threads always make me laugh. For years now, I've seen Alfa-related threads here, on the old MotorNet, on Octane etc. and it never ceases to amuse me how Alfa fans defend their favourite marque

Good post PauloMN. They make me laugh too, as it seems to be the only marque that drags people out of the wood work to denounce all Alfas as crap, despite over 70% of former Alfa owners on boards stating they'd buy another. Citroens are much more approximately made than Alfas, and in recent times have been dull, execrable facsimiles of their Peugeot cousins. Yet I have rarely seen the kind of vitriol poured on the Citroen brand that Alfa manages to attract.

If I see a thread titled "Which: 316i or Passat?" I just walk on by, despite being sure in my conviction that, having driven both, a Kenwood Chef would be a more preferable ownership proposition. Why rain on somebodys parade if I have nothing constructive to offer? But if people see "thinking of a 156" the world and its mother jumps in with their token Alfa horror story, which might, for example, relate to a poorly serviced 3rd owner example that they have lying at the back of their scrapyard, or might be completely invented.

Or in this case - someone is using a 156 as a taxi. Apparently this man needs his head examined, when he could be driving a '91 Toyota Enema with curtains on the windows, which some halfwit reckons will need less maintenance than the 4 year old Alfa.

Alfas are quirky cars, you either love them or hate them. Can people who fall into the latter category therefore not properly appreciate cars in general like their Alfa-loving counterparts?

Of course they can, but conversely they cannot seem to make space on boards for people in the former category.

phoenix_nights

PauloMN wrote:

Each to their own I suppose, but when people make any sort of negative comment about Alfas, it's met with this "you don't really know about cars then" type attitude. Or the "they're a great drive" line. Or the "they're Italian, so they must be a great car" line. Or the "you're boring" line.

I normally apply Formosa's law in reaction to said people.

SouperComputer

phoenix_nights wrote:

I normally apply Formosa's law in reaction to said people.

hmm I like that one

PauloMN

phoenix_nights wrote:

I normally apply Formosa's law in reaction to said people.

Right, but how do you know if they are mental or not?

phoenix_nights

PauloMN wrote:

Right, but how do you know if they are mental or not?

?Candidate? wrote:

This is probably the biggest load of toss I have ever read on Boards.ie

its really not that hard;)

ds20prefecture

junkyard wrote:

If driving a well built, reliable, quality car is your idea of living in a dull world DS then I'm sorry to disappoint you but I'd prefer to stay there. Driving an unreliable yoke of a car that f***s up at every turn is not my idea of excitement.

No, my definition of "living in a dull world" is getting your kicks by chipping in the same tired old cliches on yet another alfa thread.

Driving an unreliable car that f***s up at every turn is not my idea of excitement either, and I never have. My idea of exciting motoring is something that looks good, sounds good, goes well, stops better and keeps me involved with every drive. With any car I buy, I don't want to be overcharged for a badge and I don't want to see more than 10 on the way to work. I take it for granted that any car I buy will be reliable, and make sure it is well serviced to keep it so. Lastly I'd prefer the car to retain a reasonable amunt of its value over time. This is only way my Alfa ever let me down.

junkyard

Well look what I've got here then, a 1999 Alfa 156 with 14k on the clock that was serviced by the main dealer and still blew up suprise suprise! And it was just a year and a half old at the time and out of warranty conviently enough and the main dealer wasn't interested in helping the owner out. So you can see why I have no time for Alfa Romeo. I don't come on here to take a swipe at some people, I'm just hoping people will think twice before buying what they're led to believe is a quality marque and see what these cars are really like.

ds20prefecture

junkyard wrote:

Well look what I've got here then, a 1999 Alfa 156 with 14k on the clock that was serviced by the main dealer and still blew up suprise suprise! And it was just a year and a half old at the time and out of warranty conviently enough and the main dealer wasn't interested in helping the owner out. So you can see why I have no time for Alfa Romeo.

Wow! It looks remarkably good for a car that has "blown up" and then sat still for 4 years. It hasn't "fallen apart" at all.
How do you define "blew up"? Was there an engine fire? Seizure? Electrical failure? Timing belt? What was the cause of the failure, and what could have been done to prevent it? Has every 156 you've been in contact with suffered the same failure? Or just this one?

Alfa dealers generally suck, and in my opinion have done more damage to the brand than any specific problem with the cars.

I don't come on here to take a swipe at some people, I'm just hoping people will think twice before buying what they're led to believe is a quality marque and see what these cars are really like.

I don't think even Alfa make Quality their #1 selling point. I think you can rest assured that if there's someone on boards considering an Alfa, they'll be forced to think twice about it not least by the countless "insane" Alfa fans who constantly point out the weak points of the car and what to look for when buying used.

junkyard

One large hole in the side of the block and no luck with finding an engine so the owner gave up and bought a proper car. I'd be surprised if it fell apart seeing as no one has touched it in years in fairness modern cars don't rust. I have some other customers whose Alfas have fallen apart i.e. doors fall off (fairly common according to the dealer) Suspension failure (not uncommon either) Gearbox failure (we have heard of that alright) electrical problems ( they have a few issues there) Anyway I'm starting to get depressed now just thinking about them.:(

ds20prefecture

junkyard wrote:

One large hole in the side of the block

Sounds like a symptom rather than a cause. What caused the hole? Did someone shoot it?

There's no doubt that Alfas do not share the reliability reputations of, say, BMW or Toyota. But I believe their poor reputation is over stated.

Regarding the woes that are getting you down:

Never heard of the door issue until now. Not listed in Honestjohn. Nothing on google. Is this the same Alfa dealer who wouldn't replace an engine after 14000 miles?
Suspension Failure - was this the worn wishbone bushes issue? Manifested as a knocking sound from the front? Worn bushes are not "suspension failure" but you do need to replace the whole wishbone (€400) to fix it. My car had this after 45000 miles. Given the road I drove to work everyday (Rathmichael, Johnny Foxes, Hellfire club, tallght) I was not at all surprised. Apparently Audi A4s suffer from a weak rear suspension design.
Likewise - the only cars I've heard of that are prone to gearbox failure are older Audis. Never heard of that with an Alfa. Is it the auto box? Or perhaps the Selespeed semi-auto?
Electrical problems - they consume bulbs with a voracity matched only by Mk IV Golfs. Other than that, I haven't heard of electrical problems that would amount to a car being scrapped.

We had 5 Alfa 156s as company cars for 3 years. All had their doors, gearboxes, electrics and timing belts in perfect condition when they were passed on to their next owners and all cost less in maintenance than the 2 Mercedes we had at the same time.
My brother put 100000 miles on his 1.8, eventually forced to sell when he couldn't fit 3 child seats in it.
None of these 156s exhibited any serious faults whatsoever.

Perhaps the taxi driver will join the 80% of people on boards who have owned an Alfa in buying another? Personally, I hope so. The roads are a prettier place with Alfas on them.

junkyard

Beauty's in the eye of the beerholder DS.;)

unkel

Jay, another Alfa thread

Maybe the pragmatic angle of driving an Alfa Romeo 156 hasn't been covered as well as it should have on most previous Alfa threads. Here's my 2 cents:

First owners / drivers are typically company car drivers. The very reason sales of the 156 rocketed in the late '90s. Why the hell would anyone interested in driving a drivers car choose to drive a Vectra, a Mondeo or a Passat when they could drive a 156 for the same BIK?

Second owners are typically private buyers. Second hand prices are very low, partly for a reason and partly because of market expectation. Hell, one could buy a 3 year old 156 for half the price of a similar spec and performance BMW 3-series. Another point rarely made here, is that the Alfa, although being hindered by being FWD, is really almost as good a drivers car as the equivalent 3-series