It is a shame because Alfa make some very nice looking cars. Just not mechanically. Fiat have upped their game though. The new 500 is very well made, on a par with the Mini build quality, and even score the highest NCAP crash rating of 5. Far from the model it replaced, the Cinquecento which in the same crash test has the lowest score ever!
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- Thread starter Templar
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Justin
Active member
the ncap test is pointless, and it is soon to be scrapped and replaced, manufacturers know exactly what the tests are and so design thier cars to pass those specific tests, making the cars VERY dangerous in some REAL world accidents.
and the Mini's build quality??? lololololol i used to work very closely with Mini and well umm, be careful of the black roofs buckling in the sun as there isn't enough cardboard (yes i said cardboard) in the roof panels, remember to have at least 3 spare steering columns and steering pumps, be aware of the magically releasing handbrake.
personally i prefer the design and flow and "handshake" of the car rather than follow the pre paid reviews of cars
and the Mini's build quality??? lololololol i used to work very closely with Mini and well umm, be careful of the black roofs buckling in the sun as there isn't enough cardboard (yes i said cardboard) in the roof panels, remember to have at least 3 spare steering columns and steering pumps, be aware of the magically releasing handbrake.
personally i prefer the design and flow and "handshake" of the car rather than follow the pre paid reviews of cars
To be honest, I can't complaint about my Rover's reliability. At all. It's 11 years old (going on 12) and still going strong, dispite the "abuse" it has sustained.
It's been converted to LPG since new, the guys doing the convertion were amateurs and pretty much destroyed the cooling part of the engine... I was a kid back then
and let to issue go on (i.e. driving without cooling fluid) until the head gasket melted (wich seems to be a common issue on these K engines anyway).
Other than that, I lost the ignition solenoid and the indicator's relay. Oh, and the exhaust pipe corroded away too (the LPG exhaust fumes, wich are mostly water, are probably to blame). And that's about it. Not bad for an early 1998 car, I guess.
When I bought the car, I loved it for the looks, the handling, and the K engine (103 hp with an interesting binary curve). It had a sense of luxury the others didn't in the same price level (smooth interior light, no chassis showing on the inside, soft-touch materials, orange dashboard ilumination, engine immobilizer with coded plip, emergency code inserted using the key on the door (saved me a dozen of times), etc).
I haven't been disappointed ever since!
I too was really sad to see Rover/MG go belly up...
It's been converted to LPG since new, the guys doing the convertion were amateurs and pretty much destroyed the cooling part of the engine... I was a kid back then
and let to issue go on (i.e. driving without cooling fluid) until the head gasket melted (wich seems to be a common issue on these K engines anyway).Other than that, I lost the ignition solenoid and the indicator's relay. Oh, and the exhaust pipe corroded away too (the LPG exhaust fumes, wich are mostly water, are probably to blame). And that's about it. Not bad for an early 1998 car, I guess.
When I bought the car, I loved it for the looks, the handling, and the K engine (103 hp with an interesting binary curve). It had a sense of luxury the others didn't in the same price level (smooth interior light, no chassis showing on the inside, soft-touch materials, orange dashboard ilumination, engine immobilizer with coded plip, emergency code inserted using the key on the door (saved me a dozen of times), etc).
I haven't been disappointed ever since!
I too was really sad to see Rover/MG go belly up...
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Forgot to mention my wife's car. New Beetle 1.9 TDi Convertible in silver (covered in flowers hmm..). That is a really nice little car. And for a Diesel it is very nice to drive and the ride is firm but with quite soft forgiving suspension. The engine also has enough power to pull away well at junctions and accelerate up to speed on motorways. Great for going out for a drive in. We use it when going out for the day or when going camping as it is great fun with the roof down when exploring an area we are comping in.
Took a bit of getting used to when she first got it due to the huge expanse of dash in front of you. Only downside of the car, much like most soft tops is poor viability for reversing. With the roof up you only have the little rear window to judge things, so have to rely a lot on the mirrors, and with the roof down you can't see much out the back cause the folded roof is in the way. This is the only flaw though. Definitely a girls car though.
Took a bit of getting used to when she first got it due to the huge expanse of dash in front of you. Only downside of the car, much like most soft tops is poor viability for reversing. With the roof up you only have the little rear window to judge things, so have to rely a lot on the mirrors, and with the roof down you can't see much out the back cause the folded roof is in the way. This is the only flaw though. Definitely a girls car though.
Justin
Active member
i remember using public transport once, i think it was in the early 80's, i remember thinking "never again!" 
@dougal
Nice to see you here from A.org my friend, hope you remember our KCS problem solving.
Hope you stay around too, It's a much more civilised enviroment here. :shhh:
Regards
TC
I drive around in a humble 2001 Mazda 323F... just like the one pictured
I sold my car, and my gf has a 2001 mazda 323f that we use.
I'm not sure what you define as a great car. It is no sportscar, nor is it a grand tourer. But it a great small station wagon / large compact in terms of reability. And thats what one got to have when one is no longer a teenager who has no other passion than the Amiga
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Wo wo ang on a minute, where did all these Alfa haters come from? Cant speak for all Italian cars but there is nothing wrong with Alfas!!
Yes we have all heard about the poor reliability, but they were the Alfas of old (and mainly driven by the old)
</OFFSOAPBOX>
Yes we have all heard about the poor reliability, but they were the Alfas of old (and mainly driven by the old)
</OFFSOAPBOX>
As with most things in my life, my car is also "retro" - I drive a 1990 Ford Fiesta 1.4CLX.
I love it as it only requires (a small) repair once every 4-5 years, and has great fuel consumption ratio.
Inside there's a cassette-tape player, this car has never seen a CD!
(Yes, I'm weird this way
)
I love it as it only requires (a small) repair once every 4-5 years, and has great fuel consumption ratio.
Inside there's a cassette-tape player, this car has never seen a CD!
(Yes, I'm weird this way
)
Inside there's a cassette-tape player, this car has never seen a CD!
(Yes, I'm weird this way
There's nothing wrong with being retro, lad........or you wouldn't be here, would you?
:mrgreen:
My clutch cable snapped this afternoon oh:
Luckily I wasn't too far from home.
My car man has fitted a new cable in 10 minutes and now I'm all ready to go and only £50 worse off
Dave G
oh:Luckily I wasn't too far from home.
My car man has fitted a new cable in 10 minutes and now I'm all ready to go and only £50 worse off
Dave G
I totally agree with you.As with most things in my life, my car is also "retro" - I drive a 1990 Ford Fiesta 1.4CLX.
I love it as it only requires (a small) repair once every 4-5 years, and has great fuel consumption ratio.
Inside there's a cassette-tape player, this car has never seen a CD!
(Yes, I'm weird this way
Anyway, I have a vendetta against car CD players .... they always seem to fail on me, but, back to the trusty old cassette player, and all is good
From my own experience, Alpine aren't all that tbh. I had an Alpine single-slot CD head unit and had lots of problems with it.@ woodycool
Get urself an Alpine 10 CD Multi-changer & an Alpine Head unit & you wont go far wrong.
Kin
Justin
Active member
I-pod connected directly to an amp and that's it in the BMW, Alpina i-pod system in the porker and the colt has a kenwood i-pod system (can you see the common link?)
Oh yeah; all of your tunes will head South, once iTunes decides to have a headache, which is fairly frequently from what I hear!!
Justin
Active member
what's I-tunes? never heard of it and I've never used it and i never will.
