2002 Alfa Romeo 156 JTS from UK and Ireland - Comments

For the guy with the loose wiring in the speakers here's a tip... when you open the front doors you will see a socket of wires that plugs into the door; most likely the clips have come loose. It is simple to fix, but every now and then they will come loose again (Of course it is an alfa after all)!

Well here I am again...it's been about six months now and whilst I have learned to ignore the "motor control system failure" warning it really irritates me. However now I have bigger problems, the car has stopped going into 4th gear!

I don't care what anyone says; this is a 4 year old car that has done less than 65,000 Kms and these things should not be happening. I have had fault after fault and headache after headache. The 156 is a beautiful car to drive and it looks fantastic both in and out, but it is an absolute lemon in terms of mechanical reliability.

I will now utter the words that so many have uttered before me (Only I was too stupid to listen)... I will never buy another Alfa again.

I have a 2002 Alfa 156 2.0 JTS. I have gone over two years since I had a "Motor Controller Failure" message. When it originally happened, the dealer replaced some wiring. However, it just re-occurred today. My question is: can I re-set the computer myself without returning the car to the dealer? I am fairly sure it's basically OK and it's just the sensitive OBD (On-Board Diagnostics) system that has triggered the 'fault'. This would save a lot of time and hassle.

Here I am again (The guy with the problems). Almost 2 years I have had the car now and the electrical problems just keep on coming - but now I just sort of laugh about it.

In summary -

- Windscreen wipers do not turn off (ever!).

- Continual blowing of headlights and break light globes.

- Motor Control Failure message at least 2 days a week.

- Manual gearbox stripped several teeth.

- Heater/fan motor failed.

- Diff gear problems.

- On board computer screen failed.

- Lose speaker wiring.

This car has never at any time been 100% during the 2 years I have owned it - always something wrong just to annoy me. It is such a shame that such a well rounded car is let down by poor quality.

So many people told me the cars have problems and I didn't listen. But the good news is I have finally made up my mind, the car is going for sure; I will give Audi or VW a try - fingers crossed it works out.