Stop Me!

Way over-priced according to Parkers, and they've had it on sale for
ages...think they'd take £9k plus my '05 156 2.0 JTS?

http://www.craignairncars.co.uk/used...01115384514388

--
Halmyre

Ceci, n'est pas un signature.

--- Posted via news://freenews.netfront.net/ - Complaints to ---

On 16/07/2011 17:55, SteveH wrote:
> > wrote:
>
>> Way over-priced according to Parkers, and they've had it on sale for
>> ages...think they'd take £9k plus my '05 156 2.0 JTS?
>>
>> http://www.craignairncars.co.uk/used...-v6-jts-q4-lus
>> so-4dr-kirkcaldy-201115384514388
>
> Feels well overpriced - it's 4 years old!
>
> Ignore Parkers, though, they're completely out of touch with the true
> Glass's guide prices - Alfas seem to be holding value very well these
> days.
>
> But I still say that's overpriced.

Feels over priced to me as well. Not to say I wouldn't buy it, though.

--
Catman MIB#14 SKoGA#6 TEAR#4 BOTAFOF#38 Apostle#21 COSOC#3
Tyger, Tyger Burning Bright (Remove rust to reply)
116 Giulietta 3.0l Sprint 1.7 147 TS GT 3.2 V6
Triumph Sprint ST 1050: It's blue, see.
#www.cuore-sportivo.co.uk

On 16/07/2011 18:08, Catman wrote:
> On 16/07/2011 17:55, SteveH wrote:
>> > wrote:
>>
>>> Way over-priced according to Parkers, and they've had it on sale for
>>> ages...think they'd take £9k plus my '05 156 2.0 JTS?
>>>
>>> http://www.craignairncars.co.uk/used...-v6-jts-q4-lus
>>>
>>> so-4dr-kirkcaldy-201115384514388
>>
>> Feels well overpriced - it's 4 years old!
>>
>> Ignore Parkers, though, they're completely out of touch with the true
>> Glass's guide prices - Alfas seem to be holding value very well these
>> days.
>>
>> But I still say that's overpriced.
>
> Feels over priced to me as well. Not to say I wouldn't buy it, though.
>

I'm not that keen on the 159 shape...but it's an Alfa V6...but tax, fuel
consumption, insurance...please stop me...

--
Halmyre

Ceci, n'est pas un signature.

--- Posted via news://freenews.netfront.net/ - Complaints to ---

On 16/07/2011 23:40, Halmyre wrote:
> On 16/07/2011 18:08, Catman wrote:
>> On 16/07/2011 17:55, SteveH wrote:
>>> > wrote:
>>>
>>>> Way over-priced according to Parkers, and they've had it on sale for
>>>> ages...think they'd take £9k plus my '05 156 2.0 JTS?
>>>>
>>>> http://www.craignairncars.co.uk/used...-v6-jts-q4-lus
>>>>
>>>>
>>>> so-4dr-kirkcaldy-201115384514388
>>>
>>> Feels well overpriced - it's 4 years old!
>>>
>>> Ignore Parkers, though, they're completely out of touch with the true
>>> Glass's guide prices - Alfas seem to be holding value very well these
>>> days.
>>>
>>> But I still say that's overpriced.
>>
>> Feels over priced to me as well. Not to say I wouldn't buy it, though.
>>
>
> I'm not that keen on the 159 shape...but it's an Alfa V6...but tax, fuel
> consumption, insurance...please stop me...
>

If you want a V6, get a GT. It's a fine car, and much cheaper.

Slightly more proper Alfa V6 at that.

Fuel consumption isn't *that bad on long trips, and the tax is not that
much either due to what appears to be optimistic reporting of the CO2
emissions.

--
Catman MIB#14 SKoGA#6 TEAR#4 BOTAFOF#38 Apostle#21 COSOC#3
Tyger, Tyger Burning Bright (Remove rust to reply)
116 Giulietta 3.0l Sprint 1.7 147 TS GT 3.2 V6
Triumph Sprint ST 1050: It's blue, see.
#www.cuore-sportivo.co.uk

"Halmyre" > wrote in message
...
> On 16/07/2011 18:08, Catman wrote:
>> On 16/07/2011 17:55, SteveH wrote:
>>> > wrote:
>>>
>>>> Way over-priced according to Parkers, and they've had it on sale for
>>>> ages...think they'd take £9k plus my '05 156 2.0 JTS?
>>>>
>>>> http://www.craignairncars.co.uk/used...-v6-jts-q4-lus
>>>>
>>>> so-4dr-kirkcaldy-201115384514388
>>>
>>> Feels well overpriced - it's 4 years old!
>>>
>>> Ignore Parkers, though, they're completely out of touch with the true
>>> Glass's guide prices - Alfas seem to be holding value very well these
>>> days.
>>>
>>> But I still say that's overpriced.
>>
>> Feels over priced to me as well. Not to say I wouldn't buy it, though.
>>
>
> I'm not that keen on the 159 shape...but it's an Alfa V6...but tax, fuel
> consumption, insurance...please stop me...
>
It's 4k over priced and a crap colour. The suspension is not man enough for
the bigger engine
and also the drive shafts will fail.

Will that do?

:-))

TonyB

On 17/07/2011 10:41, SteveH wrote:
> > wrote:
>
>>> I'm not that keen on the 159 shape...but it's an Alfa V6...but tax, fuel
>>> consumption, insurance...please stop me...
>>>
>>
>> If you want a V6, get a GT. It's a fine car, and much cheaper.
>
> Hmmm, but the GT is little more than a sawn off 156, so I'd question the
> value of 'upgrading'.

No real argument there. Feels more focused, but that's about it.
>
> If you're looking at proper V6 Alfas, the 156 GTA Sportwagon should be
> absolutely top of the list - they're massively under-valued at the
> moment and are probably the most depreciation proofed modern car you can
> buy. I think we'll see prices rising over the next few years.


--
Catman MIB#14 SKoGA#6 TEAR#4 BOTAFOF#38 Apostle#21 COSOC#3
Tyger, Tyger Burning Bright (Remove rust to reply)
116 Giulietta 3.0l Sprint 1.7 147 TS GT 3.2 V6
Triumph Sprint ST 1050: It's blue, see.
#www.cuore-sportivo.co.uk

"Halmyre" > wrote in message
...
> Way over-priced according to Parkers, and they've had it on sale for
> ages...think they'd take £9k plus my '05 156 2.0 JTS?
>
> http://www.craignairncars.co.uk/used...01115384514388

I'm in Kirkcaldy - do you know the garage?? (I'm not competing, but can have
a look for you)

On Sun, 17 Jul 2011 10:41:12 +0100, (SteveH)
wrote:

>If you're looking at proper V6 Alfas, the 156 GTA Sportwagon should be
>absolutely top of the list - they're massively under-valued at the
>moment

...isn't that because they were a bit..mm..****? 247 hp via a front
wheel drive chassis that couldn't really cope. Add in British roads
and that super-low front end with the heavy engine and the real-world
performance was alleged to be a bit dismal.

> and are probably the most depreciation proofed modern car you can
>buy. I think we'll see prices rising over the next few years.

Now that's entirely possible..it is a good looker. I'd guess that
overall running costs would be fierce, however.

--
Z
Scotland
Alfa Romeo 156 2.4JTD Veloce Leather (sold)
'Oil' be seeing you..
(Email must have the word 'Alfa' in the
subject line to get through auto-filtering)

On Mon, 25 Jul 2011 23:12:32 +0100, (SteveH)
wrote:

>Zathras > wrote:
>
>> On Sun, 17 Jul 2011 10:41:12 +0100, (SteveH)
>> wrote:
>>
>> >If you're looking at proper V6 Alfas, the 156 GTA Sportwagon should be
>> >absolutely top of the list - they're massively under-valued at the
>> >moment
>>
>> ..isn't that because they were a bit..mm..****? 247 hp via a front
>> wheel drive chassis that couldn't really cope. Add in British roads
>> and that super-low front end with the heavy engine and the real-world
>> performance was alleged to be a bit dismal.
>
>They always seemed to get decent reviews.

Not always. I did find a very few (trustworthy) reviews at the time
that criticised it on less than perfect tarmac (most UK roads now, I
guess!).

Away from the strange world of journalists eager to get Ferrari tests,
it's not so difficult to find users on forums commenting on front end
problems.

>I'd have one - but I'd want to tweak the front suspension and fit a Q2
>diff - so that'll be about a grand all-in to make it significantly
>better than it was from the factory.

Indeed that would all help. However, having thought long and hard
about this matter over 8 years of suffering it, I came to the
conclusion that it would be impossible to properly fix the 156 front
end for UK roads. Yes you can for the track or good roads - no
question.

The whole front end (from the steering wheel forward) is too low and
the overhang too low and long for UK roads. This leaves the suspension
with too much to do in an extremely short space of time. This leads to
tendencies of wallowing, floating and bottoming out on settled roads.

I do think that to get a car like this to remain in competent contact
with the road, the front suspension would have to have almost zero
travel. There isn't the ride height to do the WRX fix of softening the
suspension.

I really wish that Alfa, instead of telling us they built cars to
German standards, actually glanced at (say) the BMW 3 series dynamics.
The short front overhang makes the job of the front suspension so much
easier if you're going to insist on having it low.

>In reality, they're no worse at coping with UK roads than Veloce spec.
>or Sportpack cars anyway.

I'd wonder if it would be worse simply because it's much faster.

>> > and are probably the most depreciation proofed modern car you can
>> >buy. I think we'll see prices rising over the next few years.
>>
>> Now that's entirely possible..it is a good looker. I'd guess that
>> overall running costs would be fierce, however.
>
>No worse than any other 156 with a V6.
>
>Oh, I see what you mean ;-)

LOL..yep! ISTR that some standard service part is a real bugger to get
at on a transverse V6..is it the oil filter?

All said and done though, if I earned enough money, I'd have one
too..the 156 was so good looking IMHO.

--
Z
Scotland
Alfa Romeo 156 2.4JTD Veloce Leather (sold)
'Oil' be seeing you..
(Email must have the word 'Alfa' in the
subject line to get through auto-filtering)

"Zathras" > wrote in message
...
> On Mon, 25 Jul 2011 23:12:32 +0100, (SteveH)
> wrote:
>
>>Zathras > wrote:
>>
>>> On Sun, 17 Jul 2011 10:41:12 +0100, (SteveH)
>>> wrote:
>>>
>>> >If you're looking at proper V6 Alfas, the 156 GTA Sportwagon should be
>>> >absolutely top of the list - they're massively under-valued at the
>>> >moment
>>>
>>> ..isn't that because they were a bit..mm..****? 247 hp via a front
>>> wheel drive chassis that couldn't really cope. Add in British roads
>>> and that super-low front end with the heavy engine and the real-world
>>> performance was alleged to be a bit dismal.
>>
>>They always seemed to get decent reviews.
>
> Not always. I did find a very few (trustworthy) reviews at the time
> that criticised it on less than perfect tarmac (most UK roads now, I
> guess!).
>
> Away from the strange world of journalists eager to get Ferrari tests,
> it's not so difficult to find users on forums commenting on front end
> problems.
>
>>I'd have one - but I'd want to tweak the front suspension and fit a Q2
>>diff - so that'll be about a grand all-in to make it significantly
>>better than it was from the factory.
>
> Indeed that would all help. However, having thought long and hard
> about this matter over 8 years of suffering it, I came to the
> conclusion that it would be impossible to properly fix the 156 front
> end for UK roads. Yes you can for the track or good roads - no
> question.
>

At last, someone that agrees with me - I have a 1998 2.0 TwinSpark 156 SP2
(which as far as I can tell included somewhat lowered and stiffened
suspension). As much as I have loved the car (and still do on a silly
emotional level), the ride on anything other than perfectly flat roads has
always been rubbish and at times downright scary. Before anyone says I
should get it sorted, I have voiced my opinion to several main dealers and a
couple of independents (when the car has been in for service), giving them
the opportunity to relieve me of some cash, but they always say "no, no
fault" or something similar.

Although now ancient, the car has been like this pretty near since new.


> The whole front end (from the steering wheel forward) is too low and
> the overhang too low and long for UK roads. This leaves the suspension
> with too much to do in an extremely short space of time. This leads to
> tendencies of wallowing, floating and bottoming out on settled roads.
>

Wallowing, floating, bottoming out : I agree. Try adding tram-lining and
"leaping sideways when you hit a pothole" and you just about get the
complete picture.


> I do think that to get a car like this to remain in competent contact
> with the road, the front suspension would have to have almost zero
> travel. There isn't the ride height to do the WRX fix of softening the
> suspension.
>
> I really wish that Alfa, instead of telling us they built cars to
> German standards, actually glanced at (say) the BMW 3 series dynamics.
> The short front overhang makes the job of the front suspension so much
> easier if you're going to insist on having it low.
>
>>In reality, they're no worse at coping with UK roads than Veloce spec.
>>or Sportpack cars anyway.

See my comments above... mine is SP2.


>
> I'd wonder if it would be worse simply because it's much faster.
>
>>> > and are probably the most depreciation proofed modern car you can
>>> >buy. I think we'll see prices rising over the next few years.
>>>
>>> Now that's entirely possible..it is a good looker. I'd guess that
>>> overall running costs would be fierce, however.
>>
>>No worse than any other 156 with a V6.
>>
>>Oh, I see what you mean ;-)
>
> LOL..yep! ISTR that some standard service part is a real bugger to get
> at on a transverse V6..is it the oil filter?
>
> All said and done though, if I earned enough money, I'd have one
> too..the 156 was so good looking IMHO.
>
> --
> Z
> Scotland
> Alfa Romeo 156 2.4JTD Veloce Leather (sold)
> 'Oil' be seeing you..
> (Email must have the word 'Alfa' in the
> subject line to get through auto-filtering)