Faults:

At 11.000 miles the engine was replaced with a new one (luckily under warranty). I still don't know the cause of engine failure neither does the garage.

Driver seat belt still gets stock unexpectedly even though I made couple of visits to the garage.

Poor and unreliable servicing: First had Follets of Mayfair as garage (until they switched to Ford), than got minimum servicing from Gyln Hopkins. Finally found a reliable service: Desira.

General Comments:

Great on looks, performance and handling but definitely an italian car which requires constant attention.

I thought, with new 156 and Fiat ownership, Alfa would become a reliable manufacturer: not so fast I guess.

They still have miles to go to catch German and Japanese manufacturing quality and servicing.

Faults:

Rear door retaining catches following replacement of the door rubbers (due to ill fitting roof bars).

ABS warning light on (hair line crack in the fusebox).

Engine would not turn off (intermittent fault, only occurred for about 3 days, had to turn back to MAR to switch off).

General Comments:

I bought a Alfa demonstrator, and what a great car it turned out to be.

Yes it has faults, but then what car doesn't, it's just how the faults are dealt with and perceived.

Have to to say that dealer (Hylton of Worcester) customer facing is excellent and can never do enough, but it is obvious that sometimes the back office (mechanical side) lacks a little something.

I have diesels now due to mileage and it being my own car, I have owned 4 Alfas prior to this but a long time ago. It had always been my intention to buy another when things improved, and they did so I did.

I drove a new BMW 530d last week and engine did not feel much better, in fact some of the trim was loose.

When having car serviced, I usually get petrol versions of 156 and whilst they feel marginally quicker when worked hard, the JTD provides all the power without the effort.

You buy these cars with your heart not your head (oh and some cash).

Faults:

Unexplained loss of Selespeed oil from new. 4 Selespeed actuators replaced. First at 3,000 miles, and the latest at 42,000.

Gears stuck in neutral on several occasions.

Power steering failed.

Fuse box cover replaced three times and counting.

Heating system fault on delivery.

Drivers seat (leather) damaged by the dealer. Replaced.

Inner edge of the off side front tyre suffers excessive wear. Watch out for this, the rest of the tyre will seem fine, but the inner edge could be worn through to the ply.

Water ingress into the boot (trunk).

General Comments:

The Selespeed system when working is excellent, but it's completly unreliable and I would not recommend this car to my worst enemy.

The customer care from Alfa is not caring, and the dealers aren't much better with limited knowledge of this car.

General build quality is poor, and the driving position is the most uncomfortable I have experienced.