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06-23-2008, 07:35 PM
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Registered User
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Join Date: Sep 2005
Location: Hamilton, NZ
Posts: 360
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Well, to my eyes it looked nice. See my 'lawn' below.
I managed to kill off some of the weeds, especially the ones three feet high, but that took some of the grass with it. A friend suggested spraying the lot and resowing in Spring, which is something I'm inclined to agree with. I have tried Weed'n'Feed in the past, but no effect against the worst of the docks and thistles. Once you lose the battle with weeds, and then it rains every day, it's game-over.
Once, this was pristine turf. Unfortunately it was in the middle of a farm. In the last ten years, houses have been built around. I think I have a better chance from now on.
On the bright side my 164 lives in the garage and everything works except the A/C (I plan to fit that replacement compressor). A couple of weeks ago I sold my 166 - the only car that lived outside. That was a silver lemon if ever there was. It had a heater core leak, plus an 'Air Conditioner Faulty' message, not bad for under six years/100000km. Every panel resprayed and a distinct lack of body rigidity - while driving, it shook and creaked like a shed in the wind. If the back end was jacked up, the front doors wouldn't open.
-Alex
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'91 164 3L V6 Manual, green, '01 Punto Sporting CVT, yellow, '88 Uno Turbo, white
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06-24-2008, 07:25 AM
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Senior Member
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Join Date: Aug 2004
Location: Grosse Pointe, MI
Posts: 1,108
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Alex:
Send me a couple of tickets (one way would be fine for the wifey and I) and I'll come out and personally tend to your grass. Everyone I know that has ever been to NZ says it is amazing.
As far as the 166, are these Fiats with an Alfa badge? Are they notoriously bad cars or did you just get a lemon? Too bad, nice looking car (although somewhat reminicent of a Ford Taurus).
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- Rich D.
I like Alfa's
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06-24-2008, 06:22 PM
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Registered User
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Join Date: Sep 2005
Location: Hamilton, NZ
Posts: 360
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 Quote:
Originally Posted by gprocket
Send me a couple of tickets (one way would be fine for the wifey and I) and I'll come out and personally tend to your grass. Everyone I know that has ever been to NZ says it is amazing.
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Quote:
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As far as the 166, are these Fiats with an Alfa badge? Are they notoriously bad cars or did you just get a lemon? Too bad, nice looking car (although somewhat reminicent of a Ford Taurus).
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Good question. FIAT don't make large cars so no, they are Alfa Romeo, but they are basically a stretched 156 with a nicer-looking interior. Under the skin, I don't think they are anything like the car that the 164 was. The 166 has a double-wishbone suspension system, quick steering, and huge brakes - so the handling should be fantastic but ends up feeling slightly unpredictable. The four-speed automatic and engine tuned for power (not torque) really lets it down and the fuel consumption is astronomical. In the detailing, there's too many shortcuts (a lot of nice 164 features are missing) and the basic qualities of a large car - such as a nice ride - are lost.
As far as electrics, mechanical reliability, etc. - of course the 166 is notoriously bad - all FIATs and Alfas are. Mine was worse than most, though, having a great cross-section of problems related to brittle plastic and corroded circuit boards at just a few years of age. Then there was that awful respray. And the body rigidity that simply wasn't up to the standard that a 2002 car should have. In fact, it wasn't even up to the standard of the 164...
People generally think that newer cars are smoother and quieter than older cars. I bought a sound level meter just for the purpose, and I can confirm that 80km/h in the 166 was 2dBA LOUDER than 80km/h in the 164. That's ridiculous - there's 11 years between the cars!
Generally I would say that not having the 166 in the USA is no great loss. Other people liked the styling (though I never had anyone say that it looked like a Ford Taurus - aren't they much older?  ) but to me, the beauty was barely skin-deep.
This is getting a bit off-topic for the thread, but I guess the 166 was the perfect example of the inconvenience of a heater core leak. Apparently, the heater core is interchangeable between the 164 and the 166.
-Alex
__________________
'91 164 3L V6 Manual, green, '01 Punto Sporting CVT, yellow, '88 Uno Turbo, white
Last edited by AlexGS; 06-24-2008 at 06:25 PM.
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