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New Alfa reliability
Hi Jon,
My daily drive is a '98 156 2.5. Reliability is great, I've put 160000 km on it and aside from brakes, exhaust, and lower A arms, have only had scheduled maintenance. The car has never let us down, and has held up very well to the strain of two kids, a dog, and a wife who sometimes parks by ear. Performance is great, handling is very good for a front wheel drive (I live near the Alps) most of our driving is alpine, and control in the snow is very good. I've never really pushed the car, but at 180 on the Autobahn it is stable and quiet. The trunk is a bit small (The "2.5" marking on the rear does indicate Litres, but it also means trunkspace, not just displacement), This is solved by a skibox on the roof.
Before buying the 156 new I had a '82 (iirc) GTV 2.5, and two 75's. Although the GTV was only held together by the paint and rustproofing I have never regretted owning Alfas.
Minor complaints about the 156: the headlamp squirter checkvalves sometimes freeze open at about -3 deg C and then the ww fluid siphons out - After I discovered what the problem was I just disconnected the pump for these jets (separate pump from the windshield). The ABS cuts in a bit too early for my liking when I am driving agressively, I've been on closed road sections and tracks a few times and the ABS cuts in a bit too early for really aggressive braking. The A/C always starts with the car, which I personally don't like. Some think that the car should have a low oil warning/ Oil pressure gauge, as you really do need to check the oil every 3rd tank of fuel, and the doorlines/trunklines are such that snow falls into the car in the winter.
Andrew
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