Faults:

Not much really. Just a few niggles i.e.

Squeaky dash.

Track rod Problems.

General Comments:

Well wot can I say, but Breathtaking. The performance on it is great.

Takes my breath away can beat a BMW 328i. yeah I can get up to 90 Mph in 3rd Gear that's on the red line.

I've done 140 mph on the autobahn in it and my foot was not all the way down then. I bet it could do at least 160 mph.

I had to get rid of it because the running costs on it were to high, but in the 3 years I had it I loved it.

Faults:

The gearbox needed replacing after being badly serviced at the main dealer. They replaced it free of charge.

Two bits of the dash fell off.

General Comments:

Never ever use main dealers (see above). I did some investigating and the mechanics have been trained for Fiats!!!

I don't think stripping a Fiat Panda is going to help when working on a 230bhp V6 with multiple balancer shafts.

For good servicing join the nearest Alfa owners club and they know the best people. I ended up getting mine serviced by a man that would come to my home or work, and do all servicing required at a quarter of the price of the main dealer. When the oil alone is about £50, you realise how bad the dealers are.

For best performance, get the limiter reset to 7500rpm, stiffen up the rear suspension settings, and change the brake bias to between 50/50 and 40/60.

0-60mph comes up in about 6 seconds and no torque steer. Anyway you have to be a bad driver to bring on torque steer and it was the motoring journalists which complained the most.

Faults:

Steering rack leaked and was replaced soon after acquiring the car.

Starter motor failed at 78,000.

Complete exhaust needed at around 80,000.

Seat motors played up although a gentle knock with a hammer sorted it!

Started to have starting problems at 82,000 which eventually were traced to a worn rotor arm and distributor cap.

The clutch does not last long and I had to have it changed at 85,000 miles, only 43,000 after the first change.

General Comments:

This my second 164 V6, the previous one being a 1989 model. The comments apply to both cars.

The car has gorgeous looks, especially in red and is still a relatively rare sight on British roads unlike, say a BMW 5 series.

The V6 gives tremendous performance (average mpg of 26) and a great sound coupled with decent handling - the post 91 cars have a lot less torque steer than the earlier cars.

The car has decent interior space and boot, is refined and is a great cruiser with the ability to accelerate easily past traffic.

The body work is good and won't rust unlike previous Alfa Romeos.

However, expect things to go wrong on a regular basis.

Parts tend to fail prematurely although the engine and manual gearbox are generally very reliable.

Maintenance is hence expensive - I spent £1300 in just over a year and I did not use use dealers.

My previous 164 had a similar pattern of maintenance costs.

Faults:

Engine went bang on the M3 resulting in destroyed timing gear and damaged head. Cost £2,500 to fix. Fault believed to be caused by a faulty variable valve timing mechanism.

Heater mode selection is random.

General Comments:

Eats tyres. Eagle F1s work well.