I have found a dealer selling new and pre-reg Alfa 156 JTS Selespeeds 2004 at a good prices but without Alfa warranties, the warranty is provided by Car Care Plan.
My questions are Alfas are they as bad as some parts of the press make out and does anyone have any experience of Car Car Plan warranties
Thanks
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Do you know why there is no manufacturer's warranty? There should surely be at least 12 months manufacturer's warranty
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In my endless search for a new car, I had the mad thought that a Alfa GT would be suitable. I checked out an Alfa owners forum and it was endless tales of faults and problems. Scratch the Alfa
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Being one of lifes cynics, I would say that there is a good reason for no warranty from the manufacturer......I had a frind who bought an Alfa, the most mileage it did was to and fro the dealer!
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Doesn't any car in sold in the EU now have to have a manufacturers 24 month warranty? (This is from first registration but there still should be plenty of that left).
Stories in the press and on here are greatly exaggerated (as NoDosh will confirm!) I would be slightly concerned about the warranty situation however, I think that needs further investigation. You could try the forum on www.alfaowner.com
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Maybe they are not EU cars, or were not originally destined for the EU?. Any large cancelled Australian or Japanese orders recently?. If a UK importer bought a large lot of those, would Alfa have to provide a warranty that is to EU rules?.
That ebay auction for hundreds of smoke damaged Alfas come to mind, but I doubt those would be on sale here from a dealer.
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That's right Trancer,
I saw that on E bay as well. The stock was being offered for sale but as it had been 'written off' by the shipping companies insurers the cars could still be sold but had no warrantees what so ever.
May be this dealer has got some of these cars.
Put the dealer on the spot and ask him 'why no dealer warranty'
May be he has a valid explaination, maybe not.
If at all unsure I would walk away. Plenty of Alfa's in Car supermakets and dealers with warrantees.
Cheers
Jlo
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Going to give them a ring in the morning see if i can shed any light on it
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Ah, I remember seeing someone trying to offload a load of alfas about 6 months ago. They said they had been written off by a shipping company/importer/water damaged or somesuch. I think it worked out that each car was about £4k.
The selespeeds are the least realiable of the alfas so I wouldn't touch one without a full 3 year warranty no matter how cheap it was.
A lot of car supermarkets and even main dealers have pukka pre-regs at decent prices which will be much less risky.
teabelly
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If I remember rightly, those smoke damaged ones were older than these and were TS not JTS.
If it is that they were simply not due for sale in the EU I would check the spec very carefully, and if its not the same then walk away. Any savings now will be lost at selling time
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The smokey Alfas are resurfacing on Ebay. If it goes for the current bid price it looks like a good deal, even if you have to take a chance with no warranty, possible insurance hassles and no hope of any residual value. Assuming of course, it doesn't smell like the insides of an HGV exhaust box.
tinyurl.com/6obn7
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Another thought:
In the auction it is mentioned that the paint looks dull because it still has the protective wax on it. This might be the case, but considering the history of the car I would imagine it would be worthwhile to spend an hour or £30 on a valet to bring back the shine the seller claims is under the wax/protective stickers for the sake of interested buyers.
I wouldn't chance buying the car without first hand inspection as its quite possible that the dull finish could be due to heat from the fire, or soot staining/etching the laquer etc.
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If I had 8 and a half grand (and as trancer said - the painwork checks out) I would buy that in a shot.
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Adam
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You wouldnt Adam
you are behind me in the queue
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RF - QUICK - LOOK OVER THERE!
::Jumps to the front of the queue.
I had no idea Alfas were so classy on the inside too! Normally with cars like that, they look gorgeous but the interior wouldn't look out of place in a Cavalier.
Not my favourite 156 colour but who cares?!
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Adam
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I've been seriously looking at that now. It looks fantastic but something doesn't look right about the front right wheel - the brake in particular. Take a look at the screeshot and see what you think.
Maybe it is right - maybe I'm being too suspicious.
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Adam
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Nope - looks ok, the disk is rusty, but it has the huge (its a V6) caliper in the right place
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Thanks RF. At first it looked like something had broken away from the caliper but it's just the way the wire runs around it.
Now who wants to donate to the "Let's Buy Adam An Alfa" appeal?
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Adam
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It is the "mid-facelifted" model, so has the latest interior, with the info screen on top of the dash. Not sure its the 2004 model as stated though, although Im tempted aswell, at least until the 159 arrives....
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Yes but bear in mind the V6 has now been dropped in this spec. The only V6 now is the GTA. I actually like the dark blue, it looks much better in the metal tha in pictures.
As a 156 JTD 2.4 owner of near 20 months and 64K+ miles in that time I'd make the following comments, check out your local dealer and also the independants. If they're decent I'd have no issue about running it. Given the fact its half price that would cover some bills anyway!
Removing the diesel bit from my equation (see other post!) mine has generally been very reliable. One wishbone, couple of rear bushes and 1 set of pads all round and front discs. The common rail diesel bit I do have issues with but thats generic Bosch injection so would be the same on any car.
If your doing high mileage then the V6 is expensive to run both in fuel costs and also the cambelt change is much more complicated and at every 36K will be painful, TS & JTS is around £ 550 at a dealer not sure of cost for the V6.
As regards the Selespeed car I had a word with the local Alfa Tech at Medway Alfa and his comments were that the early ones were a pain, as Alfa will not permit any work on the Selespeed selector. Its replaced as a complete module at around £ 800!
However he said that some cars fail early and others have gone to high mileage with no probs, one example being 156K miles.
It is apparently a different driving technique as its NOT an Automatic.
Jim
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Adski, I think I might be inclined to avoid that 156 on eBay. While the blurb claims that the car was on a deck completely unaffected by the fire, look at the picture showing the close-up of the chrome risers.
How on earth have they become so badly tarnished on a brand new car?
I don't know whether smoke or fire damage would encourage them to tarnish, but I'm sure something there isn't quite right.
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Of course, if you'd checked out a VW, BMW, Merc, or Vauxhall owners forum, you'd have found exactly the same thing.
99% of people who use a car owners forum do so to either complain about a fault, or to ask for help about one.
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In case I wasn't the only one wondering what the heck a "riser" is, and like me, didn't want to ask for fear of looking thick, its the intake plenum/manifold/runners/thingys.
Never heard them called risers before. Considering that the air would travel *down* the tubes into the head shouldn't they be called "lowers" rather than "risers"? 8-).
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Whatever the hell they're called, Operation Convince Mum To Buy Me An Alfa was wholly unsuccessful. :-(
I'll be perfectly honest, I'm amazed she never gave me a clip around the ear for even asking!!!
:-)
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Adam
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I hadn't really put any thought intp why they're called that, I just know they generally help that V6 look georgeous, but on that car they look terrible.
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It might be a 2004 model, but the car was actually built in 2003, judging by the shipping details.
Following the link at the bottom of the ebay page referred to above gives: www.ukliquidations.com/AdCre8or/2005821437/FullSiz...g
Note the date 11/09/2003.
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"It might be a 2004 model, but the car was actually built in 2003, judging by the shipping details.
Following the link at the bottom of the ebay page referred to above gives: www.ukliquidations.com/AdCre8or/2005821437/FullSiz...g
Note the date 11/09/2003."
But isn't that always the case? Latest year's models always start shipping months before? Rather like April's editions of monthly magazines seem to appear in Feb?
Question marks are because I am not sure!!
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