Alfa GTA

Nonoperational

Tell me I'd be mad to sell the GTi and buy this: http://www.carzone.ie/search/Alfa-Romeo/156/*FEB-SAL/201107201316118/advert?channel=CARS

I reckon with a respray / detail (depending on the paint), refurbed alloys and retrimmed front seats along with a good service (probably needs cambelt and brakes doing) and maybe new wishbones (even though it passed the NCT) and ARB bushes I'd have a seriously unique car for in and around 8 - 10 k... Would probably need a clutch in a while too I suppose.

Looks very cheap... anyone know or looked at it?

What GTi do you have?
I reckon you'd be mad to respray the Alfa anyway.

x in the city

3,600e might get that.:D

if you are happy to marry it, go for it.

Nonoperational

I have a 2006 gti at the moment.

The reason I was thinking of respraying it is at that asking price you could really make a project out of restoring it to almost factory condition.

I think the seats are class too but the drivers one looks very worn.

I reckon if you could get it for 4000 it is a serious bargain.

Your right about marrying it though, it's not really a sensible thing to do but I have always loved that car!

RobAMerc

I drove one of them once - they are bloody fast I must say, but be sure to pull out before you gun it or it'll torque steer you into the hedge !
nice car - a future classic if you could keep it.

Nonoperational

That was my thinking. I'd only buy it if I was going to make a project out of it and get it back to almost new condition. But at that price as long as it's reasonably sound you have that option. Hmmmmmmmm. Wish I didn't see it now to be honest!

You only live once as they say
If you bought it and didn't spray it and got sick of it and spent say €1000 on maintenance a year for two years it's still not too bad even if you literally got nothing for it.

unkel

Beauty!!!

Go for it dude. Fantastic motor and a steal at that sorta money. You seem to be a realistic guy, so budget for maintenance properly and have a little slush fund for when a thing or two go wrong. And cry yourself to sleep once a year after handing over the €1,566 in motor tax

RoverJames wrote: »

You only live once as they say
If you bought it and didn't spray it and got sick of it and spent say €1000 on maintenance a year for two years it's still not too bad even if you literally got nothing for it.

What he said!

waxon-waxoff

The reg would probably scare off some potential buyers!

There was a new, unregged one of those around before that sat unsold in the back yard of a dealer in Dublin for a few years. Dont know if its the same one but a rare machine.

waxon-waxoff

waxon-waxoff wrote: »

The reg would probably scare off some potential buyers!

Only looked at the reg now when you said that :cool: :cool: :cool:
Savage cool reg

unkel

waxon-waxoff wrote: »

There was a new, unregged one of those around before that sat unsold in the back yard of a dealer in Dublin for a few years. Dont know if its the same one but a rare machine.

I remember that one. Might have been an '03 and all. I think at some stage they were looking for €49,995 for it

x in the city

lolz

but why buy that when you could by an older BMW 850Csi, with a nice V12 to scare people away....

Daegerty

x in the city wrote: »

lolz

but why buy that when you could by an older BMW 850Csi, with a nice V12 to scare people away....

why buy any car when you can get one for the same price that drinks petrol like it's going out of fashion?

Dacia Sandero vs. a knackerd Rolls Royce?

Neilw

waxon-waxoff wrote: »

The reg would probably scare off some potential buyers!

I wanted that reg when I was importing my own car, it was on some poxy fiat when I checked

Vertakill

Daegerty wrote: »

why buy any car when you can get one for the same price that drinks petrol like it's going out of fashion?

I reckon the CSi gets the same, if not better, MPG than the GTA.

x in the city wrote: »

lolz

but why buy that when you could by an older BMW 850Csi, with a nice V12 to scare people away....

Point me in the direction of the 5k CSi please!

gpf101

gpf101 wrote: »

I have a 2006 gti at the moment.

Getting rid of that without losing your arse on it may be the problem me thinks.

Matt Simis

x in the city wrote: »

lolz

but why buy that when you could by an older BMW 850Csi, with a nice V12 to scare people away....

Lol, I can assure you, you cannot pick up an 850CSi for less than say £12,000 plus VRT. And thats the super cheap RHD versions. LHD is 2x the price.

x in the city

I know it will be way more expensive, I assumed everyone knew that.
Since the GTA is in 3 litre territory, the 850 BMW is a superior car all round.

I know which one I would get... I mean which ever car you get you will be marrying em for life , although I think the 850 would be easier to sell as its much more saught after.

Matt, why is a LHD more expensive? I saw a Polish LHD 850Csi in Cork years back, some car. Think it was a 97 model.

Matt Simis

x in the city wrote: »

I know it will be way more expensive, I assumed everyone knew that.
Since the GTA is in 3 litre territory, the 850 BMW is a superior car all round.

I know which one I would get... I mean which ever car you get you will be marrying em for life , although I think the 850 would be easier to sell as its much more saught after.

Matt, why is a LHD more expensive? I saw a Polish LHD 850Csi in Cork years back, some car. Think it was a 97 model.

If you want cheap, nice sounding, FWD and somewhat exclusivity, then buy the GTA. Its entirely different in nearly every way to an early 90s V12 German coupe though.
For similar price the OP could pick up an 850i (5.0 M70 engine, not CSi which is a 5.6 S70 engined unit) and get it tuned quite easy to 340bhp. Still, not really a sports car though and IMO, needs a wrencher as an owner (or someone that can afford to pay for maintenance on a near £100,000 coupe).

LHD models are worth more as there is simply more of a market on continental Europe, they are highly sought after there. And the US and Japan (where they have a preference for LHD "true" German cars). Those guys cannot stand the pricing we can get the RHD (used) versions at.. even more amusing is there was only 160 odd RHD CSi's, one of which is mine. Given that rarity even at our heavily depreciated prices I think it wouldnt be too hard to sell, though that doesnt interest me (selling it).

If you saw a 1997 "CSi" then it was a fake, the CSi was sold upto 96 and even that would be extremely rare as most are 93-mid95. It may have been an 850Ci which is the later 5.4l M73 engined version. Or, much more likely, the baby version, the 840Ci (M60/M62 4.0/4.4 V8) which came with the MTech (CSi) bodykit in many markets and was sold upto 1999.
Still, comparing a 156 GTA to a 850CSi is an amazingly apples to oranges comparison! :pac:
I wholeheartedly recommend the GTA, for the price, sound and performance (in that order.. )!


PS: On the GTA at that price I wouldnt do more than a good detailing and maybe some performance mods (cant recall what the LSD status is on them), I wouldnt be spending big $$ on it, certainly not 100% of the car value being suggested!! :O

x in the city

Matt Simis wrote: »

If you want cheap, nice sounding, FWD and somewhat exclusivity, then buy the GTA. Its entirely different in nearly every way to an early 90s V12 German coupe though.
For similar price the OP could pick up an 850i (5.0 M70 engine, not CSi which is a 5.6 S70 engined unit) and get it tuned quite easy to 340bhp. Still, not really a sports car though and IMO, needs a wrencher as an owner (or someone that can afford to pay for maintenance on a near £100,000 coupe).

LHD models are worth more as there is simply more of a market on continental Europe, they are highly sought after there. And the US and Japan (where they have a preference for LHD "true" German cars). Those guys cannot stand the pricing we can get the RHD (used) versions at.. even more amusing is there was only 160 odd RHD CSi's, one of which is mine. Given that rarity even at our heavily depreciated prices I think it wouldnt be too hard to sell, though that doesnt interest me (selling it).

If you saw a 1997 "CSi" then it was a fake, the CSi was sold upto 96 and even that would be extremely rare as most are 93-mid95. It may have been an 850Ci which is the later 5.4l M73 engined version. Still, comparing a 156 GTA to a 850CSi is an amazingly apples to oranges comparison! :pac:

I wholeheartedly recommend the GTA, for the price, sound and performance (in that order.. )!

thanks for the update, I am sure it was a Csi, as it was either written on the back, or the garage guy told me (who servced BMs for over 20 years and said he heard the grrrrrrrrrrr when it was driven into his garage and he curled up his ears like a dog... lol, he never saw a machine like it). I remember the guy telling me it was the high end 850, he sure wasnt bluffing.!


I took a pure guess on the year, btw. it had foreign plates. my photos are long lost sadly.

Off topic, but what insurance do you pay?!

Matt Simis

x in the city wrote: »

Off topic, but what insurance do you pay?!

EUR400 with 6k miles a year. 15years and older counts as classic for BMWs. See BMW-Driver.net for more details ("Classic Insurance offer"). Basically you can insure all the greats (E30 M3, E34 M5 or regular models) for that or less, think at the 4th car they give a further 75% discount.

Obviously like with any Classic type policy you are meant to have another, primary, car.


PS: "CSi" being written on the back isnt much of a feat, you can get them from eBay or dealer! Some used dealers even badge and sell 840's as CSi's, would be like selling a 530i as an M5 as it had an MSport kit.

x in the city

thats cheap..

I am still pretty sure it was a CSi, it certainy had a v12 lump...

my photos are long gone sadly. but lovely car.