*sigh* alfa expired.....:now with mustang update:

[CJ-IROCZ]

speaking of 3rd gens , i'll have one for sale soon

[ianjpage]

ahh feck not good at all then if its that gone as well / rather than head gasket....

Quoting: Roadkill

Take the p!ss, yes. But we've all said we sympathise

its only light hearted fn mate, we all know that is not nice to have one car feck up on ya loet alone two .... fingers crossed the lexus lasts a bit more (which hopeuflly it should!)

[Incursus]

Indeed upmost sympathy dude.

Personally I prefer the Lexus over the Alpha. but each to his/her own.

Asuming it can be fixed for a reasonable price I would go back to the Mustang. As HRC says

Quoting: HardRockCamaro

At least the Mustang is interesting, has low mileage and an excellent body.

saying that this time next year I will probably be giving up the yanks as well...at least temporarly but thats another story...

[Motorama]

have you considered an eye test, your rose tinted specs arent working

Seriously, get shot of the Alfa. They look great, sound great, drive great etc but they are money pits

[F Body]

Quoting: Roadkill

Sell the Alfa !  

That or shoot it

[philoldsmobile]

i think the plan will be......

sell the alfa as is, fix the mustang, and sell as a mint car (there is absolutely NO way i'm keeping it, i HATE that car..) then smoke around in the lexus for a year or two, trying to keep some money asside.

in a year or two, with a chunk of cash stashed, i'm gonna look for a face lift alfa 166 or a mint 147 with low miles and full service history. the diesel 147 will be in price range by then..

[F Body]

Surprised that you didn't get another trusty Chavscort , still plenty of tidy ones around for peanuts

[FUBAR]

Quoting: philoldsmobile

in a year or two, with a chunk of cash stashed, i'm gonna look for a face lift 3rd gen Z28 or a mint IROC with low miles and full service history

I made some spelling corrections for you there m8

[Gator]

Quoting: FUBAR

in a year or two, with a chunk of cash stashed, i'm gonna look for a face lift 3rd gen Z28 or a mint IROC with low miles and full service history


I made some spelling corrections for you there m8  

absolutely just when i think Phil's said the stoopidest thing ever, he keeps talking


Philiss you need a 3rd gen get it into your skull man

Craig has a nice one for grabs

[Fieldy]

Quoting: philoldsmobile

in a year or two, with a chunk of cash stashed, i'm gonna look for a face lift alfa 166 or a mint 147 with low miles and full service history. the diesel 147 will be in price range by then..

[Cunning Plan]

Modern Diesels are awesome, would like a TDi something as a dailey...  

[Fieldy]

Quoting: Cunning Plan

Modern Diesels are awesome, would like a TDi something as a dailey...  

Exactly why I have the cirtoen dude, modern diesel engines rock

[EDGE]

Quoting: philoldsmobile

in a year or two, with a chunk of cash stashed, i'm gonna look for a face lift alfa 166 or a mint 147 with low miles and full service history. the diesel 147 will be in price range by then..

[HardRockCamaro]

Quoting: philoldsmobile

in a year or two, with a chunk of cash stashed, i'm gonna look for a face lift alfa 166 or a mint 147 with low miles and full service history.

Seriously, you are setting yourself up to make this lesson even more expensive...
Alfas are a bad plan.  A friend of mine has had several, like you he loves up but they always break.  He buys new so not too much of a problem due to the warranty but it's still inconvenient as he's a consultant and sometimes *needs* to get somewhere...


At this point you may as well buy a TVR...

Even more character and coolness and maintenance and repair costs be damned!

[Incursus]

My friend has a 147, 53plate I think.  Hardly any problems at all.   Just the gear box which the guys at Alpha could never really fix properly and random electronics... never really managed to get them fixed properly either.  Other than that its been quite reliable.

Saying that he walks to work most days so the milage stays low.

[55starchief]

If thats what he wants to do then let him, i guess its something he needs to do. But this is philo and he blows like the wind take sunday for instance when the alfa died his 1st words were im gonna by a merc! so what did he buy a lexus! hmm i always thought they were japaneese  not german

[EDGE]

unfortunately for Pillow this alfa had died in ways that:

1) could happen to most cars, clutches and head gaskets can go in most things.... they're not what you'd class as alfa faults, like electrics for example

2) are mostly fairly expensive to fix due to the complexity of the car

Im not sure there's a market for the car as a breaker though due to the small number sold in the uk...

Dude.. I think the best bet is to get it fixed where ever and however is cheapest and then punt it out on ebay... take it as a warning or something... I know you always wanted and alfa and it is to be fair a nice car... but this one's wan*ered  It would be enough to put me off the car as its so epensive to fix.  I know you've spent a lot of money on it but if you get the head gasket done im sure you can punt it out for 2.5k especially if they usually go for 3 or more...

Get a quote at the local garage or something for a haed gasket job but try that alfa place too as they seem fairly cheap... especially if theyve done it before too.

Wouldn't mention it on the ebay advert though..  I know its a bit cun*ish but how many cars on ebay do you think have blown a head gasket, had it repaired and not told anyone..... probably a lot... and if you see a car that says "recent head gasket" you would, and i know i do, go back to the list of cars and start looking again....

fix it... punt it.... keep the lexsux for a while but it'll use a lot of fuel....  I would NOT buy another alfa though dude... take this one as a fiarly expensive warning.... imagine though if you'd spent 10k on a newer one and it'd been this much trouble, it would have sworn you off the brand forever....

think about it logically, i know we all take the piss, but its for your own good...... and the good of your wallet....  get the mustang fixed and punt that too.... you might see 6.5k in your pocket altogether.... im sure that'd help in more ways than one..... i know it'd make me smile

[ianjpage]

tend to agree with the majority of what edge says..

FYI phil knows whats up with the mootang now - and its not good news i'll let him add to this post later

[Roadkill]

Quoting: HardRockCamaro

At this point you may as well buy a TVR...

[55starchief]

Quoting: HardRockCamaro

At this point you may as well buy a TVR...

Thats more reliable

[F Body]

Quoting: ianjpage

FYI phil knows whats up with the mootang now - and its not good news

Jeeze surely he must use up all his bad luck soon ??????????????

[ianjpage]

You'd hope so!!

[FUBAR]

Quoting: ianjpage

FYI phil knows whats up with the mootang now - and its not good news

Uh-Oh...

[philoldsmobile]

in fact, it couldn't actualy be any worse...

asside form being off work for a couple of days with an eye injury (more good luck eh?) the vproblem has been found. at idle its running at 22* retarded timing, and it jumps all over the place, because...............

the crank has snapped just inside the block..

the advise from the garage was there will likely be lots of swarf all around the enigne, and its very likely everythihng is toast inside, as there is now no oil pressure, and major grinding and rattling noises..




have found a replacment engine, and will likely be having an engine swap party at edges gaff in a month or so..

[55starchief]

Dude the barn would be closer and easier if you want to use it, plus i have the engine crane there