This one's for the revheads out there. :D

I'm thinking of getting a novated lease for a new one but I've heard some horror stories about Alfa reliability. It's an awesome looking car and has some serious performance credentials (0-100kmh in 8.2secs for the 2L), but a friend of mine has an Alfa Spider (the 1999 Twin Spark 2-litre one) and she's complained of little niggling problems (passenger airbag light turning on, engine revving at red lights, etc etc - little annoying things like that).

This is the one I'm talking about:

http://carpoint.ninemsn.com.au/Conte...0/8n9gtvfp.jpg

I've done my math and it's either going to be an Alfa Romeo GTV (2L Twin Spark) or a Volkswagen Bora (Jetta in US) V6 4Motion which does 0-100 in 7.3 secs and has luxury everything (kicks the ass of the BMW 318, 320 and the Mercedes C-Class that are similarly priced). This one:

http://carpoint.ninemsn.com.au/Conte...0/cu5borfd.jpg

I know the Volks is going to be reliable and will have a good resale at the end of the lease, and is obviously more practical, bigger, has a bigger boot, space for five adults (as opposed to 2 adults and 2 kids for the Alfa), performs better overall, has 4 wheel drive, luxury everything (since it's the top of the range Bora), etc. as opposed to the Alfa which has a tiny back seat, no luggage space, no central locking, etc. - but the Alfa is kind of like an emotional choice - it's an Alfa - look at it!! It drives like a dream apparently and looks like one too. :D

Anyone here have a "newish" Alfa? If so, what was your experience with it?

The Alfa definately wins the looks contest!

I hope someone here can relate their experiences, but it's kind of hard to judge. Several years ago, I bought a new Dodge truck despite the horrible experiences of a co-worker with Dodge. She did everything she could to talk me out of buying a Dodge and couldn't believe I'd bought such a "lemon". I owned that truck for 5 years and never did anything more to it than changing the oil and feeding it gas. ;)

You never know.

[ 10-09-2002, 12:18 PM: Message edited by: Ronn_Bman ]

I know...this is going to be one of those tough practicality vs. emotion decisions... [img]graemlins/awcrap.gif[/img]

It's tough!

No matter which choice you make, you'll probably think, well the other car would have been better for this or that or the other thing.

The good thing is that they are both awesome [img]graemlins/thumbsup.gif[/img]

[ 10-09-2002, 09:13 AM: Message edited by: Ronn_Bman ]

I dont know much about cars but the Bora aint that bad looking!

Both are nice cars! I was looking at the V. Golf or Passat myself

BUT... my babies are below:

I like this one....
http://www.audi.com/imgs/com/en/new_...8248332699.jpg

BUT, I LOVE this one! It's 32K though [img]smile.gif[/img]
http://www.audiusa.com/common/images...odel_coupe.jpg

http://www.audiusa.com/common/images...ttcoupe_lg.jpg

[ 10-09-2002, 10:26 AM: Message edited by: Ziroc ]

If your going with Alfa, prepare for some major dissapointments. My brother has one, and had gearproblems a couple of times, that's THE infamous Alfa bug. There you are, standing in front of a red light in a beautiful car, the light turns green, and your car refuses to move. :D Very annoying at the least.

Don't drive, but just in case anyone missed them the first time round, here are my beautiful scooters....

My Vespa ET4 125:

http://image1ex.villagephotos.com/extern/727099.jpg

And my 1969/70 Lambretta GP(DL) 125:

http://image1ex.villagephotos.com/extern/786427.jpg

Good luck making a decision Memsie! But whatever you get, it won't turn as many heads as a scooter does! Not kidding, everyone wants to talk to you when they see a scoot.

I looked at the Audi TT as well, Z. Awesome performance and major street cred...but it's $80k here. [img]graemlins/awcrap.gif[/img] Maybe I'll live on McDonalds for 4 years or something. :D

Despite the fact that the Bora is ahead in practically every measurable category against the Alfa, I'm kinda leaning towards the Alfa, believe it or not - I'm one of those impulsive people and I like my car to be a bit different - which is why I'm not considering the standard Beemer. [img]graemlins/wow.gif[/img]

The other one I was looking at was the Mercedes Benz C180K Coupe, which is similarly priced ($A 55k or $2200 pretax per month) but 0-100 is 11 seconds, which is well out of this league. I want my car to have a bit of go, not just a bit of show. :D

Not overhere Epona. Overhere they're only annoying, especially the ones with the build in stereos. the sound that comes out of it is totally screwed up, all you hear is boom boom boom boom boom boom. And the people that drive em here aren't all that cautious either, if you don't watch yourself they bump you right of the pavement. :D