1999 Alfa Romeo 156 Reviews

Cam belt pulley - became noisy on start up.

Ignition immobiliser - engine wouldn't fire.

Selespeed trans - slipping into neutral, not changing gear.

Airbag light came on - seems it is caused by a loose connection under the seat. Should be hard wired.

Love its looks and driving "feel".

Handles very well, surprisingly well at times.

Love the seating position.

Hate the jumpy driving in 1st or 2nd gear.

Biggest hate is no accessory position for ignition switch, which means cannot have radio on when parked without the ignition being on.

Lights not very good, quite poor in fact.

Petrol consumption is very high (20-25mpg).

Suspension creaks and bangs.

Gear box crunches.

New tires, pads and discs all round.

A stunningly beautiful car that is a pleasure to own and drive.

I absolutely love it, but the mpg and problems are too costly.

Drivers airbag warning light illuminated and will not cancel even when main dealer attempted to cancel it on several occasions at 70,000 miles

Climate control gave up the ghost at 65,000 miles.

Both rear suspension required replacing at 72,000 miles.

Front near side suspension required replacing at 70,000 miles.

With body work - paint flaking (badly) from front bumper.

Where roof meets windscreen on off side paint bubbling over rust.

Both front brake discs warped at 71,000.

In the 4 years and thirty thousand miles I have the car most things have gone wrong and has been expensive to repair.

Bearing in mind the car is a 2 Litre it lacks power - don't get me wrong it's OK, but when compared against a standard 2.0 mondeo or Vectra it struggles especially considering it has 155BHP.

It has a lot of extras such as climate/all around electric windows/6 CD changer uprated suspension/large alloys and carbon interior as standard on the Sport Pack option, but it just lacks oomph. I had a 2.2Vtec prelude before and looking back I wish I'd never changed it!!

Starter Issue, but a quick service cured the problem.

Gear Engagement Issue - resolved by rectification to the gearbox housing.

Absolute a smashing car to drive.

Handling is good, but can still be improved with some modifications to the anti roll bars and stiffer suspension.

Air Conditioning is adequate, but wished they would have gone with the 166 design on the center air condition vents for better ventilation.

The design is timeless... very attractive and a head turner eventhough after 8 years in production.