1999 Alfa Romeo 156 Selespeed from Australia and New Zealand - Comments

Interior lights do not work together, but will work individually.

Small interior trim pieces loose.

Very jerky when cold and/or under part-throttle in 1st & 2nd gears.

Headlining sagging a bit under sunroof.

Fuel gauge inaccurate under 1/2 tank.

Driver's door button initially jammed, but dealer fixed it with WD40 and haven't had any problems with it since.

Amazon Green, cloth interior, sunroof.

Have only had the car a month, and absolutely love it.

Minor gripes in terms of lack of interior storage for CDs etc.

I would also not like to be any taller than I am (180cm). I have a friend who is 190+cm, and he can't drive it (which I am completely unconcerned by...).

Dealer was arrogant and generally uncooperative (a real "We are the only Alfa dealer in this town and we know it" attitude). Have heard very bad reports about their servicing, so I definitely won't be sending my little car there!

Beautiful to look it; wonderful to drive. Everyone who has seen it thinks it is fantastic.

I am somewhat fearful of the many concerns I have read in other reviews of various problems, but fingers crossed!

Don't worry too much, make sure the car is serviced regularly, attend to even the most minor problem rapidly.

I agree with the jerky gear changes when cold, careful use of the throttle will minimize this problem.

I have had mine since 2000, loved every minute of its 2 litre'grunt'.

Just enjoy the Italian magic, my other car is not a Ferrari!

Will I buy another one? You bet!

I have a 156, 1.8, Sport Pak 1. I haven't had any problems with it, well, not really, and have had it for 2 years. There are just two small things I'm not too happy with;

1. The front side light bulb is a nightmare to change when it goes. My local mechanic managed to get it out after a bit of a struggle.

2. For some reason, my car has developed a squeak like a rusty old spring mattress from somewhere around the front wheel areas. I have had numerous mechanics look it over and none can find its source. Has anyone else had a similar problem and found the solution?

But those two items aside, I absolutely love it and look forward to driving it for many more years to come. What a classy looking car. The Italians really know style.

Mine sweeks from the front too and I have no idea why, but it seems to do it less when warmed up it seems to come from the front offside. also the front tyre has worn from the inside quite badly prehaps the tracking is out?

I drive Alfa since 1994, 155 1.7 TS, 146 TI (that one for 6 years without a problem!) now since July 2003 a Selespeed... bought the car second hand from first owner, lots of things were replaced on the car, complete ECU, actuator, you name it! so in fact I got a complete tested car. I love it!!! fitted 17in wheels, an air intake mod and sport filter. If the sele does what the 146TI did, I will be more than delighted! will keep it for at least 6 years.

My 156 (Twinspark Selespeed) is my third Alfa (after a Sud and 164) and falls somewhere between the two. I have had exactly the same problem with the ECU, which was replaced twice, once at the dealer's expense. The boot around the robot mechanism in the early models was well known for leaking fluid I was told. It also had a habit of jumping out of gear into neutral, which turned out to be a programming problem.

However, apart from those "small problems" the car has performed well. However, a good servicing garage is essential as is regular by the book maintenance.

It has had far more reliability in the electrics than the 164 but not the same comfort and the power is obviously down, requiring far more work on the gears. However, we have just taken it over some very "hairy" roads, gravel, rutted, potholed and it's gone like a dream. It left far more fancied cars like Subaru and their famed all wheel drive for dead on the corners and was more secure in a straight line than any of the big so-called offroaders. We are looking at turning the car over and toying with either another 156 - probably manual - or possibly the sportswagon. We can't afford the GT, yet, but the replacement will be an Alfa.

My Selespeed also sounds like a mattress in the morning, but after 5 minutes it's gone, I think it's due to just cold steel, but that's it, it was slipping into neutral, but got it recalibrated and it's fine, only slips when cold, but the car is stunning everyone loves it with its' red leather on silver. I love getting in everyday, real head turner just love it! Carl.

I bought a silver 1999 156 2.0 Twin Spark 16v with Sport 2 pack, wood trim and wheel and Momo leather (blue) in June of this year (07).

I paid GBP1700 for this 8 year old car and the car has one owner from new, full Alfa service history and had covered 60k miles.

I have replaced the radiator and battery (original items) but apart from that nothing needed attention over 3k miles and six months.

My fuel economy is around 34mpg and that's a daily commute of 40 miles round trip including 20 miles of country lanes at speed (5:30 a.m. is a good time to drive).

Overall I'm impressed. I've owned 60 cars in 25 years, this one's the best value performance car so far (and my second Alfa, the first being a 'Sud many years ago).

It punches above it's weight if you keep the car on cam despite a lack of low rev torque. Do not be misled by the 0 - 60 brigade, these cars are much more about performance in gear, not shredding boy racer types at traffic lights.

Keep it fizzing around 5000 to 7000 rpm and it easily keeps up with more exotic stuff as the handling is pin sharps and brakes fade free with plenty of feel.

Build quality is also good and nothing is broken, frayed or otherwise showing excess age, a first for Alfa!

You must keep an eye on oil levels (although mine doesn't show any sign of using oil between changes yet) and have that cam belt changed at 36k or 3 year intervals.

I also recommend that you carefully clean and lubricate the bonnet catch every six months or when it looks gritty as this is a known weak point on the 156.

My intention is to run this another six months then try a diesel Sportwagon - used of course, I would hate to have my wallet shoulder the depreciation on these Italian stunners!

Hey guys! I just have a quick question about the maintenance costs on these Alphas, as they clearly require regular servicing and timing belts. I was looking into getting one as it is in my purchase price, but as a university student I can't afford massive maintenance costs, though I definitely want something different. How much does the cost of servicing and getting parts replaced on these compare to local or Japanese cars? Cheers guys would be appreciated, (I live in Australia by the way).

Hi

I'm a mechanic & I've bought an Alfa 156 Selespeed recently, with the usual 'gearbox problems'.

It was slipping out of gear into neutral frequently, when going up or down the box.

I had the system ecu diagnosed, and it came up with intermittent errors on the 'gear selection sensor'.

Reset it twice, but the fault kept re-occuring.

The selespeed oil level was low, so I topped it up, ran through the gear selection with the key on MAR & foot on the brake, then test drove it. It hasn't given me any more problems for over 3 weeks now!

Absolute beuty to drive, very smooth & quick for a 2.0 litre.

I love this car & I think if its well maintaned & regularly checked, will last a long time!

Check the oil level on both the engine & the selespeed resevoir frequently!

Hi guys. I have just bought my 4th 156 1.8 TS. She is the 8th month of 2000.

My questions are do you have to let the engine run when checking the oil level, like you would do with 911 porker?

Also she is quite underpowered when I give her the boot, but when I ease my foot back, she picks up. It's as though she's choking. Airflow meter? Air filter? Thanks in advance for any help.