User Reviews

156 2.0 Selespeed sportwagon

David

Overall Rating

Gorgeous looking car, even better as the sportwagon than the saloon. Handled nicely for a large front drive but shown up by the Focus we bought as a second car! Good, strong acceleration and performance. Never had any trouble with the often derided Selespeed system. At the time I was commuting some distance and found the 'auto' mode perfect for the M25 stop/start conditions and the semi-auto controls were okay for back roads (though I suspect a manual may have been better). Returned 30 - 35mpg which was not bad considering the driving style and vehicle's performance. Rear space was tight and not hugely practical but car came with all the toys and for the time I had it (not long as I moved jobs, 6k miles?)was reliable.

156 GTA Sportwagon 3.2 24v V6

Paul

Overall Rating

Being a real Alfa nut I was looking forward to the GTA. Unfortunately it doesn't live up to expectations. The good bits - looks, performance, engine sound and kit - are excellent. Downsides - The ride is very hard but the handling doesn't seem to benefit (my C180 Merc is faster round corners). The weight of that big engine, front wheel drive + lots of power means the traction control is constantly kicking in. Straight line performance is outstanding and it is certainly an exciting car to own. It's not enough though. Couple the handling and ride with only average build quality, poor mpg (20-ish on a good day), high servicing costs, group 19 insurance and a woeful dealer network... and I've had enough. If you want excitement buy an Impreza instead!

1.9 JTD Multijet (140bhp)

Paul

Overall Rating

An excellent car with stunning looks and great performance, economy and value. It has been extremely reliable to date - just keep away from the main dealers! After more than 70k miles it is starting to creak a little in places.

1.8 TS Veloce

Pete

Overall Rating

I have recently sold my 156 after three years of ownership, and it has been a very mixed three years! It is now widely agreed that the 156 has great looks and it handles like you'd expect an Alfa Romeo to handle. Unfortunately the durability of the vehicle is questionable. I really thought the Italians were getting better at this. I had the full leather interior plus all the toys such as climate control which made the cabin a comfortable place to sit. It is a pity the suspension transmitted virtually every pebble and crack in the road directly to the occupants. The engine, whilst being reliable and free revving, did make its presence known vocally at motorway speeds. Along with the tyre and wind noise. The rear seat capacity was cramped if you had tall adults in the front seats. The boot looked big but could be problematical when loading the family bags in to go on holiday. The boot opening was just the wrong shape. Back to that durability statement I made. It was not a reliability problem although I was left stranded with a non-starter on one occasion. It was more the rate that things wore out. The suspension had almost continous work carried out on it once the vehicle passed 40,000 miles. Apparentlay this is a known weakness of the design. The cambelt was changed at 36,000 miles at Alfa's recommendation but the engine continued to suffer from valve timing rattle on start-up, which was another known weakness. The engine plastic under tray contacts the road very easily and speed bumps are guaranteed to scrape it. Various electrical gremlins were present from day one but never traced. Having all these known problems repaired by an Alfa dealer was expensive due to their hourly labour rates so once the car was out of warranty it had to be disposed of. Pity really. Nice looking car, nice handling car but Alfa have still not got the robustness of the product sorted out.