Alfa Romeo 156 Saloon (1997 - 2005) 2.0 TS 16V 4d (2000/W) Owner Review

What does this car say about you?

This is a refined car for a refined person. It is performance without the hairy-chestedness of similar performing vehicles. I wouldn't call this a young persons car as it may be just too smooth but this vahicle does certainly say something about the class of the person at the wheel.

What do your friends / family / neighbours think of the car?

Friends and family all liked this car, as it was very comfortable and relaxing to be given lifts in. The car does look upper class and there's not a massive amount of them about. I've not had any negative comments about it.

Would you buy this car again and why?

I may consider does so when I choose to settle down more and have children / etc as I will again want something with reasonably good performance but with practicality and finesse

What are you likely to buy next?

I've already got it - TVR Cerbera

Type of dealer you bought from?

Didn't buy from a dealer

Did you buy this car new?

No

What price did you pay?

£7,000

When did you buy the car?

October 2005

Did you get a good deal and why?

Is there any special reason why you bought this car?

I bought this car as I wanted something rather more exciting than the 1.9TD Volkswagen I had been driving for some 5 years. I did like the Alfa's as practical sports saloons, however this one was offered to me so I decided to upgrade and buy it.

What was the dealer like?

What's it like to drive?

The Alfa is a very easy car to drive. There is good view to front and rear, overly chunky pillars can obstruct your view at some junctions, but it's easy enough to have a quick look around them. One thing to be aware of is the massive blind spots in the mirrors, I carved up a few people off of motorway sliproads to start with until I got used to how much you couldn't see in them, but they do match

What's it like to park?

The good view all round and excellent mirrors (I know I said they had massive blind spots, but you don't look that far to find a parking angle) made parking really, really easy. The 156 will slide into spaces that are surprisingly small. However, be aware that the full-turn-lock on this car is not brilliant for REALLY tight manouvering and may result in a lot of back and forward action if you get

Have you had any problems with the car?

The Alfa was not the most reliable car on the road. In the year I owned it, the cam belt variator went and resulted in low performance / and fuel ecconomy, the air-mass meter also failed and both had to be replaced, which was not overly cheap. However, despite their bad reputation for reliability, it never broke down and when I'd resolved the problems, didn't give me any more grief for the remaini

What's most practical about your car?

The car had a shockingly large boot. It didn't appear overly large from the exterior styling, but as soon as you pop the boot, there it is, a pretty large expanse to fill up with whatever rubbish you choose. For coupé exterior styling, the surprising discovery of two rear doors and a decent amount of passenger space in the back is a nice touch and suprises many who thought it actually was a coupé

Favourite gadget, option or accessory?

The trip computer on the Alfa was a nice little toy, and the exterior temp sensor was a great little monitoring device to watch the temperatures rise when I drove it down to Italy, later summer 2006. Apart from that, the car was well appointed with climatic control and very responsive power steering.