[mistersooty]

As the summer closes I thought many would like to hear about the reliability of the 164 instead of its foibles.

This summer we (girlfriend and I) have gone on a number of weekend trips to Wisc. , Iowa, Mich. etc. roughly 6k miles, with nary a hesitation. The 164L always started, ran strong and of course looked good in the process. No lights burnt out, cruise control held steady, doors locked and unlocked, in sum no electrical gremlins. Might I also add that during many of the nice days during the summer the 164 also made the 90 mile roundtrip commute to work.

My other supposedly more reliable vehicles did not fare quite as well. The Mercedes 240D, leaky water pump which I replaced. The Mercedes 300SD, blown brake line. Replaced the brake line and am in the process of replacing the fuel line. The Honda Civic, worst of all, new O2 sensor, new catalytic converter, new radiator, new transaxles.

Now I understand why some of you have more than one 164. Why put up with other cars when you can have reliabilty, performance and character.

 

[Alfisto Steve]

Ditto, we drove our 164 this weekend on Alfa club weekend event as lead rabbit for 8 other Alfas about 300 miles on Saturday and for 11 Italian cars (Maseratis/Alfas on Sunday for about 50 miles. None of our Italian cars had a hiccup.

I drive my 164s two of them daily and my daughter drives hers about three days a week to work after school week over and she is at soccer practice with it now.

I really don't think I could keep a smiile on my face with another brand of car like the 164 does for me.

 

[Denny164l]

Hey My car is my daily driver only one I have "92" L and Ive owned it since Feb 2005 it only had 93K on it now it has 100845k....and not to mention that I think timing belt was replaced once on this car!! Scary right I was going to replace it this past labor day weekend but it couldnt happen because I didnt recieve parts on time. I have the parts at hand but every weekend its either to cool or crappy outside so Im saving it for this spring.

 

[Alfissimo Int.]

As the summer closes I thought many would like to hear about the reliability of the 164 instead of its foibles.

This summer we (girlfriend and I) have gone on a number of weekend trips to Wisc. , Iowa, Mich. etc. roughly 6k miles, with nary a hesitation. The 164L always started, ran strong and of course looked good in the process. No lights burnt out, cruise control held steady, doors locked and unlocked, in sum no electrical gremlins. Might I also add that during many of the nice days during the summer the 164 also made the 90 mile roundtrip commute to work.

My other supposedly more reliable vehicles did not fare quite as well. The Mercedes 240D, leaky water pump which I replaced. The Mercedes 300SD, blown brake line. Replaced the brake line and am in the process of replacing the fuel line. The Honda Civic, worst of all, new O2 sensor, new catalytic converter, new radiator, new transaxles.

Now I understand why some of you have more than one 164. Why put up with other cars when you can have reliabilty, performance and character.

I think this is a very reliable car. I only have had issues in the past few years due to age, nothing more.
I have driven from coast to coast with no issues, AZ to SF and back with no issues.
Never any electrical issues really at all. More small little annoying things like a rock off the road jumping into the timing belt and bending 3 valves, you know? Minor detour!
In all reality if taken care of PROPERLY these cars are very reliable.
It has it's bad times just like any car will. No different from the rest IMO.

All about the mechanic you your the checkbook type and or your own work that makes the difference. Follow the intervals for timing belt, water pump etc and so on and your good. Use the proper fluids and oils and your good. When something goes wrong fix it right away or it will domino.

Ciao
Jason

 

[andrewg]

In the last 90 days I have put 10k miles on the 91 S. Some of these miles were to the AROC convention in Detroit. Once there Andy Kress and ,myself shared the car for both the time trials and the rally. I also ran the autocross and had to run get parts once. Since then I put about 600 miles a week on my commute between Houston and Fort Worth. The only work thing done to the car is oil changes, gas, replaced worn AFM hose and a wash & wax last week. I am ready for a tire rotation and alignment - pulls a little to right at high speed ( was most likely caused by using the curbs in Detroit ).

My 164 has run flawlessly in all weather conditions. The 164 has been example of reliability these last few months. I had spent a fair amount of money in July with maintenance, but older cars require that you stay on top of the maintenance if you use them as daily drivers.

 

[Zunige]

We have two 164s, and they are serious cars for us. We drive them several times a year between NJ and OH, and believe me, we wold not embark on a 648 mi. trip if we thought they were not reliable... Of course, they are also classy, comfortable, and a blast to drive.

Best regards,

 

[fafner1]

Bought my wife's daily driver 1995 164Q with 35k on the clock. It's now up to 55k. Aside from some initial ugliness with the brake master cylinder, it has run like a train.

 

[pavanbabut]

Even though I spent money occasionally on these maintainence, but I strongly believe that these cars are more than reliable if they are taken proper prompt maintainence at regular intervals. I hope my tealie will be like that once I do head gaskets, timing belt, water pump (and related), steering rack and brakes. Well I covered everything didnt I .

-Pavan.

 

[jontg428]

I too have had good luck with my car, it was tough at first, had to drop about $1600 into an FI problem and the timing belt change, but after that very reliable. I drive mine every other week, the Peugeot I drive in between those weeks. I get the comments from people like "oh you are brave", but the 164 has been a gem. Including tires I think I have put about $500 into her in the last two years. Did the heater core myself, got the parts from Jason at Alfissimo highly recommend him, good prices and service! I drove the car to work today and am still amazed by it, so comfortable, quick, and agile for a big sedan, and the beautiful sound it makes with the magnaflow exhaust minus the resonator, wonderful! I am coming up on 200K soon, hope to film the event for you all to see. Just get a good one, and they will reward you for a very very long time.