Alfa 166 V6

[MrG 3]

I had a light green one, lovely cars, very poor lock though and horrendous mpg figure, but as soon as you hit 4k the thing took off and flew.

 

I had a few Autodelta parts fitted which did improve pick up. Very nice cars. For anything related to these cars nip across to

 

Alfaowner.com, have a look through the GTA topics, you'll soon see how bad these can actually be to own. Buy the wrong one and you're in for some heartache!

 

But I loved mine.

[SurGie 54]

Heel-and-toe is a driving technique used mostly in 'performance driving',[1] although some drivers use it on the road in everyday conditions in the interest of effectiveness. It involves operating the throttle and brake pedals simultaneously with the right foot, while facilitating normal activation of the clutch with the left foot. It is used when braking and downshifting simultaneously (prior to entering a turn), and allows the driver to "blip" the throttle to raise the engine speed and smoothly engage the lower gear.

 

Got it now, sorry GLP for the off topic sh*t.

Edited November 11, 2010 by SurGie

[Baz 421]

So i take it there is no real advantage.

 

I take it you're too narrow minded to research it for yourself.

 

Don't you ever wonder why some things exist if not just for the pure bejesus of it?

[MrG 3]

excellent way off topic posting!

 

anyhow back on track, when you collecting the 166?

[DrSarty 90 1 Cars]

What on earth did you think heel and toeing was Surgie?

 

I do it in my Punto, with 55bhp. It's part of the pleasure that can be derived from showing mechanical sympathy for the vehicle.

 

As a result - if done well - speeds and smoothness can be increased as the car can be better balanced in terms of grip, stability and preparedness, as the access to engine power is kept high.

 

Some cars have good pedal set ups for it, but it's not always possible when you have a lot going on, unless you're a driving God, which I am not.

 

None the less, it is rewarding and worth learning, and you will feel that when driving at any speeds. It's not just for speed.

 

Buy the Alfa.

[GLPoomobile 958]

I had a light green one, lovely cars, very poor lock though and horrendous mpg figure, but as soon as you hit 4k the thing took off and flew.

 

I had a few Autodelta parts fitted which did improve pick up. Very nice cars. For anything related to these cars nip across to

 

Alfaowner.com, have a look through the GTA topics, you'll soon see how bad these can actually be to own. Buy the wrong one and you're in for some heartache!

 

But I loved mine.

 

Sorry, 166 or 147?

 

I'll be making some phone calls tomorrow to see if I can line up viewings for this saturday. Gonna have to hire a car and make a very long journey, but if my plans work out, I'll be able to view 3 seperate examples all within a small radius of each other in the one trip (sods law this will fall flat on it's face now!).

 

As for heel and toe, it's something I do enjoy in the 205 from time to time. It will be a shame not to be able to do that with the V6, but it's not a deal breaker. And I guess the kittens will stay safe for longer thanks to that

[GLPoomobile 958]

Got 3 lined up for tomorrow. 2 manuals and one auto, all 3.0 litre. Wish me luck!

[Tesstuff 222]

Got 3 lined up for tomorrow. 2 manuals and one auto, all 3.0 litre. Wish me luck!

 

And they said they were rare, and you find three all in the same area

[GLPoomobile 958]

Good innit

 

They are pretty rare in terms of what's for sale in the UK right at this moment. There's nothing even remotely local to me, so I knew I was going to have to make a trip to see anything. I found one that I really like the look of, and then found 2 more within the same area. I don't usually have luck like this!

[Tom Fenton 1,542]

Sounds a good plan GLP, a few to drive quite close together to get a feel for them.

[Super Josh 4]

Just don't buy the Auto Steve

 

 

 

Josh

[GLPoomobile 958]

Auto wouldn't be my preference, but I wouldn't say no if the car is worth buying.

[steve@cornwall 100]

Sounds a good plan GLP, a few to drive quite close together to get a feel for them.

 

 

But avoid roundabouts - hope you find one . Alfa ownership is a box I will tick one day.

[allye 530 3 Cars]

I'm coming in a bit late here, but thats another cracker from Surgie! I commented a while ago how he always seems to bring it on himself a little!

 

Back on subject, I love alfas and saw plenty of beauties at goodwood this year, buy it! - they are one of the few, new cool cars left!

 

Also, I can't heel and toe but would love to learn, some times me and my mate like to doubledeclutch to see who can get the smoothest down change just for sh*ts and giggles because we're coooooool!

 

Ali

[maturin23 10]

Just get out there and buy one, Steve.

 

You're choosing a car, not a deciding to have a baby, buying a house, or putting your life savings on black - you may or may not have a bit of hassle with it, but the most you can lose is the purchase price.

 

It sounds to me like you've got a itch that needs to be scratched. Go get your fingers smelly and tell us about it

 

PS Surgie - I love you.

[Tesstuff 222]

So glad i secured the rights to the wisdom of Surgie, that is my pension sorted

[Kev-G 1]

Funily enough saw one of these on the road today....Sounded nice, but the pass. doors were a bit 'wobbly'.... :-(

[GLPoomobile 958]

Left at 3.30 this morning to go Leicester. Lucked out with the rental car - requested a medium economy, diesel pref, same group as I had last weekend (went down to Devon). Last weekend I got a Peugeot 308, which is typically modern Peugeot. f***ing crap. Although it did have one positive, the 63mpg average over a 900 mile journey. This time I got a BMW 320D Touring. Absolutely lovely car with equipment I should not have been getting in the requested class of car (full leather, sports seats, cruise control etc etc). Really nice and refined diesel, quiet and smooth, and really pulls nicely too. Only managed to average 53mpg though.

 

Anyway, enough of that waffle.

 

Luckily the first 166 of the day was the auto. I say luckily, as it was the worst of the 3. The most expensive, and very tatty, and the belts were done approx 30k ago so that would need attending to in the not too distant future. First time I've driven any auto car. Very nice and smooth, but the performance just wasn't there. Whatever happens from here, I know that I would not want to own an auto 166.

 

2nd was a private seller. This one was also a little rough around the edges, but it had been serviced well, by a proper Italian specialist garage, had lots spent on keeping it maintained, belts etc done in the last year and a few thousand miles ago, and just had another service and MOT done. The seller was a lovely bloke, an Alfa enthuisast, and he was brutally honest throughout with a genuine (and regretful) reason for selling it. Luckily for me I got to spend a good bit of time looking it over on my own with no distractions, and then he let me take it up the road on my own (nutter - he didn't even check my license or insurance!). On the way back, 2 minutes away, it ran out of petrol I knew the fuel light was on, but I figured since he knew the car better than me, and knew it was going to be test driven, that he figured there would be enough left in the tank. No so Although I was generally happy with the car (much gruntier than the auto, but still slower than my Saab, and not quite as angry sounding as I'd hoped it would be), I left feeling that my heart wasn't really in it. I'd certainly consider this one, but at that point I was starting to think that maybe the 166 just wasn't for me.

 

On to the 3rd one. This one was another trade sale, and the one that had sparked my initial interest in going all the way down to Leicester, because I really like the spec - dark metallic green with cream leather, wood steering wheel, center console and gearknob, 3.0 manual, the sat-nav and phone preparation, and 17" alloys. Again I was luckily left to my own devices and by this point I felt I was in my stride, so I must have spent a good hour checking every nook and cranny. I was pleasantly surprised to find a massive stash of receipts and history, so it looks like it's had at least one enthusiast owner who made the effort to compile everything. On the test drive it felt the gruntiest of the 3, and had much more growl to it.

 

So the situation now is, I've come away not 100% convinced that the 166 is the car for me. But as Ian has just pointed out, it's just a car. So even if I just get one and run it for a few months, at least it's a box I've ticked. And since I'm not 100% passionate about it after these 3 today, there's no point waiting in the hope that an amazing example comes up. So if I'm going to go for it, it'll be the 3rd one. I'm still in two minds about it as it's by no means perfect, but I reckon I'd be crazy dismiss it - I'll explain why and see if I get the expected agreement from you guys....

 

The main negatives that concern me are:

Rust starting to bubble through in quite a few areas, mainly the bottom of the doors. The drivers front door has a rash of it along the full length. Putting it in to perspective, it's got a few more years in it yet, and it's not structural.

Digital odo has a duff display. Parts of the digits don't display. So instead of 86000 it was showing c6000. Could be an intermittant fault though as I only noticed it at the end of the test drive and I'm sure I saw it showing 86000 correctly prior to that. Docs seem to back up the mileage though so I don't think it's been messed with.

If I want to be anal about it, it's going to need it's 84k service as that is the only one not stamped to date. The belt history is a little iffy too - amongst the history there are some printed emails from one previous owner to the next, in which he says that the head mechanic from Mangoletsi did them at 77k at his home, so there is no receipt for the work, just the parts.

 

Positives:

Only 86k

FSH up to now (just need the 84k done now)

Brand new MOT

3.0 and manual (L@@K R@RE in eBay speak)

Lovely colour scheme - the wood trim really works so well with the green bodywork and cream leather, and the wood rimmed wheel actually feels really nice when driving

Pretty clean interior. Hardly any marks and only a few squeeks and rattles. Head and shoulders above other two. All electrics work, and even still has the Sat Nav cassette with the mapping CD in it, the CD autochanger cassette, and even a Sim card in the phone slot

Cheapest of the 3 at £1495.

 

 

Sorry if this has bored you lot If anything, this is more a case of me mapping my own thoughts from today and putting them in to perspective. For once I'm not going to be rash, as I've got a bad track record for buying the first car I see, and it usually ends in disappointment.

[jackherer 543]

Make a silly offer on it, I've got trade cars before for under half the asking price. They are not in demand at all so its a buyers market.

[Tesstuff 222]

Hang on.....you came all the way to Leicester and didn't pop in

[GLPoomobile 958]

Sorry dude, didn't even think about who might be in the area! TBH it was a bit of a hectic day anyway.

 

I will see if I can knock a bit off the asking price, but I'm kind of in the weaker position really. They know I'm keen, they know there's not many around, they know I'm serious enough to come all the way from Edinburgh, and I can't haggle face to face with cash in hand unless I go all the way back, which could be an expensive waste of time. And if I do turn up with cash and try to haggle they'll know I'm unlikely to just walk away (a very long walk ) if they are not interested in coming down on the price.

 

Still nothing ventured, nothing gained!

[Tom Fenton 1,542]

F*** me, I didn't realise they were as cheap as £1500, I thought they would be a £3k odd car.

 

At that money I would have taken the cash with me just in case, and from your write up bought the third car there and then.

 

At £1500 (or maybe £1400, £1350, £1300, £1250? if you can barter it down) you are getting an awful lot of car, and even if you get fed up with it in 6 months, you should still be able to knock it on at a similar price.

 

Stop over analysing and do it would be my suggestion, I personally would not be too worried about this 82k service or whatever it is, change the oil and filter yourself when you get it and otherwise just smoke about in it until you decide if its a long term proposition or a short term whim.

[Atari Boy 11]

I feel that others are right in suggesting to try and stop over analysing things. Sounds as though if you don't get it, you will always be thinking what if. I am the same however, I have spent more time choosing a cars than buying houses, taking jobs etc myself.

The car sounds good, not perfect but no second hand cars are in any price range, there will always be some compromise. I too have the Alfa itch that I will need to scratch someday.

 

As a side note, I had a 166 3.0 manuel on my drive for a week or so 18 months ago as I sold one on eBay for a mate in the motor trade. It was a beautiful car, with a great (if subtle) sound, it drove faultlessly and was very comfortable. I had enquires from all over the country and there is a loyal following with good knowlage base.

 

Go for it Steve, you know and we know you want to.

Saying all that, they are somewhat avant-garde and not (thank god) mainstream so make an offer to get the price down, the dealer won't be receiving offers every day of the week.

Edited November 14, 2010 by Atari Boy

[Liquid_106 97 1 Cars]

I will see if I can knock a bit off the asking price, but I'm kind of in the weaker position really. They know I'm keen, they know there's not many around, they know I'm serious enough to come all the way from Edinburgh, and I can't haggle face to face with cash in hand unless I go all the way back, which could be an expensive waste of time. And if I do turn up with cash and try to haggle they'll know I'm unlikely to just walk away (a very long walk ) if they are not interested in coming down on the price.

Could somebody closer to Leicester buy it on your behalf? Obviously somebody you trust to give a grand+ to

They may have a little more bargaining power as they are 'more local' and they can mention there are 2 others close by(?) etc....

 

 

 

Not putting myself up btw

[Tesstuff 222]

Yes i thought that Liquid.

 

Thought i could pop down to car number 3, have a chat with him and stress that the 166 v6 are not really wanted by many, what with the economy and the high fuel consumption offered by the car, and i am offering hard cash, all £1100 of it, he would mention he had strong interest from someone who had travelled all the way from Edinburgh to see it, i would inform him that i know of him, he was a well known forum eccentric and he was likely to pile it up on an island within a fortnight and it would be such a shame to see that happen.

 

Promising him i am a true Alfa enthusiast should seal the deal.

 

Then i sell it on to GLP for £1200