Never Buy From A Back Street Car Seller This Customer Did!

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[@MegaReddevil71]

Can't get a lot for 1200 these days so not bad got a car that could last a good few yrs with some maintenance

[@ItaliaAutos]

Yep cracking motor

[@petermclynn2926]

Makes me feel nostalgic for my 156 1.9 jtdm sports wagon

[@philipcox5451]

That's quite a rare car now. The bonnet, wings, headlights, wheels and interior virtually justify the price paid on their own. Not such a gamble if you know that - and those 1.9 diesel units are pretty robust really. A good find!

[@themancuniancandidate2744]

I just can't get my head around buying a diesel Alfa. It seems like drinking alcohol-free whisky; completely missing the point.

[@Alfafanatico]

​@@themancuniancandidate2744 Yeah, I'm the same boat with you. Diesel Alfa is like a cold spaghetti alla carbonara.😁

[@psircos]

Thing is, engine wise it's the most reliable. JTS direct injection engines are rubbish and Twinnies are getting pretty old now. You'd be surprised at just how fast/good the 2.4jtd is, even in standard form. Drinks like a petrol ariund town though but, with some fettling, it's a beast and well deserves to be under the bonnet of an AR!

[@themancuniancandidate2744]

@@psircos I’ll take your word for it my man. Most people buy a diesel for its economy; and unless you can shoehorn a v8 diesel in there, nobody is buying Alfa diesels for the engine note either. Like I said; I don’t get it. But that’s just me 😊

[@ricado372]

​@tonysircos7935 I'm with you there, my 2.4 jtd is on 293000 km. Averages 50 mpg , I pull my food truck with it and use it for a work vehicle, too. There is no salt on the roads here, where I'm in France, so there are no rust issues yet. And mines a 2001. Before anyone asks, I definitely do not get 50mpg towing.

[@johnphaceas7434]

Sometimes you just have to swallow your fear, provided you know what you are looking at. I bought my '02 156 GTA two years ago for AUD$8500 (~£4250) on a whim after seeing it at a local Italian car day - mainly 'cos the guy was asking less than half the going rate. Wasn't advertised for sale anywhere - just had a bit of paper on the dashboard asking $10k. Looked good at first pass, so found the fella and chatted to him, mainly to work out why it was so cheap. In short it was high mileage (+220,000km) and had been "well used" (including interstate runs and the odd track day), and was still on interstate plates meaning it would need to pass a full inspection to be registered locally. All things which could frighten the average punter off. But it did come with a massive service history, and the seller was a top fella (& car nut) who needed the garage space while he built a dragster (which he showed me when I went round to his house...). I also knew it had been serviced at my local Alfa workshop about a year earlier, so I spoke to my mechanic who confirmed t was a good solid car and listed a few items he recalled would need looking at. (He regularly offers to buy it it when I take it in for its 6 monthly service) Though I had no need for a new car, I knew I'd always regret walking past this one, so made an offer and negotiated the price down to what I ended up paying. Went to the inspection, and sure enough it needed a few minor things done, all of which were easy to sort. At the end of the day, I'd landed myself an incredibly rare car (only about 100 GTAs ever made it to Australia) with the best upgrades (Q2 diff, adjustable coilovers, 330mm Brembos) on the road for only a bit over $12k (~£6k). Its my daily driver, has now done over 250,000km and is the best car I've owned in 35 years (my 4th Alfa, and my 3rd 156 V6).

[@ItaliaAutos]

Sounds like you will have a good gta.

[@johnphaceas7434]

@@ItaliaAutos thanks Neil, really enjoy your channel. Don't want to jinx myself by saying too much (🤐) but in the +30,000km I've put on it so far, it has been cheaper to service and maintain than my two prior 2.5L 156s. It is far from pristine - mechanically its very good, but have been progressively working through cosmetic/other tidy-ups at a relaxed pace. Replaced the dead info-centre screen myself, had the non-working AC fixed, just had the teledials refurbished (best investment to date). Next job is to get the sagging headlining fixed, and I'm tossing up whether get all the stone chips on bonnet and front spoiler corrected or just preserve the car as is (it is my daily, and I kinda like that it looks like a worker, not a garage queen).

[@-TheRealThing-]

I got a black 2.0 156 Veloce in 2009 with around 118K on it with stainless steel exhaust, high rear spoiler & sideskirts. It came with 12 months MOT & cost £950. Never let me down in the 3 years I had it & all I had to replace were the rear suspension arms & a couple of new tyres.

[@ItaliaAutos]

Awesome

[@ds1868]

As you say the wooden steering wheel is extremely rare, an option made by Momo for the 2002-05 models with the wheel buttons. Worth a bit by itself! Overall that's a good buy!

[@ItaliaAutos]

Not a fan either

[@Seatter_S]

Boy we got it off put a leather one in it, didnt like the wooden one either 😂😂

[@geoffarmitage6087]

the buyer took a chance and thanks to you this car will make a great daily drive for a few years to come - Nice one 😃

[@ItaliaAutos]

Yep all good now

[@simonhodgetts6530]

I’d be a bit wary with no history, but this one looks pretty good! I’d have another 156 if I could find a decent one!

[@ItaliaAutos]

He took a risk and it paid off.

[@jamesdecross1035]

Agreed - looks like another great save.

[@georgecope4673]

A very lucky chap put another 1k into it and a good clean job done 👍

[@ItaliaAutos]

Cheers thanks

[@Brisbane2024]

That’s a good buy. Engine sounds smooth and just underbody requires some love to the sheet metal. I love that color 😊

[@ItaliaAutos]

Lovely car

[@adamknight9535]

I always look forward to the Vlogs, love the attention to detail.

[@ItaliaAutos]

Thanks

[@autoazure]

Another good vid Neil, Thank You!

[@ItaliaAutos]

Thanks

[@psircos]

Agreed....could have much worse!! For the home mechanic, it's actually a steal 😊

[@karlos1060]

It never seem to be easy to find a rustfree bottom in the UK. If i comepare my 2004 156 in the Netherlands the bottom almost looks like new. Just on a couple of small parts a littlebit of surface rust. Rockers are very solid on both sides. Drainingholes you see some mild rust. Only my windscreen/ roof there is some rust, less then this one but still it's there. I think i will tackle that one fast and keep riding my old car. A 1.8 on LPG with about 180K miles on it now and still running sweet. Only needs oil 1 liter every 1k miles. But it does that already for 56k miles since i have this car...

[@ItaliaAutos]

N8ce. Lucky for the roads in your country

[@eyecatchersteenwijk]

Good old JTD, loved mine back in the days.

[@ItaliaAutos]

Nice car.

[@Art_Vandelay_Industries]

So nice to see another good 156 out in the wild.

[@ItaliaAutos]

It sure is!

[@robertwalker1742]

Bit of welding and some Lanoguard , a full detail and think the chaps been lucky he could end up with a great 156 for two thousand, result.

[@ItaliaAutos]

Yeah good motoring

[@amplituhedron5582]

I miss my 156 SW, same engine. Great cars, even with the diesel they handle well in normal traffic.

[@ItaliaAutos]

Yeah diesel 156s where pretty good cars in their day. Still lovely to drive today.

[@kieranmccreedy271]

About to sell the same but ‘04, less miles, Nero metallic, tan leather, BOSE and a lot less filth!!!… sounds like £1,500 would be fair price! A magic eraser would transform that interior btw!

[@ganz7ful]

I think he has done well there. Not too bad at all.

[@hamzah3138]

An excellent, lucky but for £1200. Another great informative vid. Thanks Neil 👍

[@ItaliaAutos]

Thanks

[@chrismills9346]

Thats cool thst gangster mahogany steering wheel i have one me mk3 mondeo ghia x

[@BojanBojovic]

The use value of this car is so much greater than the price paid. Far from a perfect car, but imagine you can drive it for 5 or 6 years, I would say even much longer for 1200, which is the same amount of money you spend on food and bills for one month.

[@marksmith3554]

Can you remove the undertray entirely and run without one on the 159?

[@ItaliaAutos]

Yes

[@deanstanley5799]

If that was mine think I would do a restoration on it it’s a rare Alfa with rare options and even being a diesel would look well at any Alfa show

[@Seatter_S]

Its parked next to our 04 20v Ti Sportwagon, pretty rare but will get used as a daily

[@MrRubberduck83]

Fair play to the customer, they've grabbed a bargain.

[@ItaliaAutos]

Yep sure did

[@daniellee9015]

Absaloutly brilliant video neil ❤👍what a lovely old car brilliant

[@ItaliaAutos]

Yeah it surprised me

[@stuartlew1229]

good vid mate keep them coming

[@ItaliaAutos]

Thanks

[@2008tourer]

Are you sure these are the xenons? The car doesn't have headlight washers so I think they might be some cheap aftermarket replacements

[@UnpaBGD]

Soon getting my alfa 147 into 20 years of existance! I'm looking at this vids with a luttle bit of shaking 🤭

[@Zeghetank]

It's missing the headlight washers.

[@ItaliaAutos]

Yep. I missed that one.

[@onlyme8001]

Must have had that exhaust welded near a pigeon loft :)

[@ItaliaAutos]

Sure did

[@peacelove5080]

Great video as always

[@ItaliaAutos]

Cheers

[@tomherbert8858]

Those alloys must be worth a few hundred on their own. Seems a fine purchase for the money!

[@ItaliaAutos]

Yep it's a good car.

[@dannydkasel8296]

So why no buying a car from a backstreet cardealer, like this costumer, as the headline suggests? It´s a fair price for a quite good 156 in reasonable shape with rare parts on it ... most 156 will die from rust, so the few cars which will survive will skyrocket in sellingprices

[@chrisrichmond403]

By luck the purchaser has actually found a very solid late 2005 car apart from 2 rust areas. I appreciate it’s each to their own but that body colour with that interior & wooden steering wheel is a combo i would avoid as i am not a big fan.

[@ItaliaAutos]

Yep decent car.

[@alexisamtosta]

Many dealerships there are all dodgy too. Many buy cars from auctions, make them look decent and sell them.

[@NaNa-wj8tw]

I know you'll disagree Neil but I wouldn't buy an Alfa from anyone bar an Alfisti with full doted Service history, low mileage and priced to sell. Patience is key with Alfas. There isn't another car on the road that fills me with more dread when looking at one for sale as so many are screaming hidden £1000's of repair bills. The only way I'd touch something other than that is as was normal in the past they are being given away. Most are totally uneconomical to sort out and never stack up. Lucky so many let their heart rule their head for you specialist guys I guess.

[@ItaliaAutos]

Perfectly find to do that if you have the patience

[@shane6115]

I don’t think 5 or 6 hundred is bad for a new turbo, it’s the rust on a car that turns me off it.

[@bantam49]

Sometimes you get lucky. Repairs to a car of that value can eclipse the value of what you paid.

[@ItaliaAutos]

they sure can.

[@Seatter_S]

This car is now parked in our driveway 😂

[@ItaliaAutos]

It's that good or bad news.

[@Seatter_S]

Shes a honestly a beast. Brother took her up from Bradford yesterday to Inverness so seems to be pretty good so far. Need to find a drivers door cars as its broken and EGR needs cleaned but the bodywork is very very good, needs a polish. On 124k now and running well. I will keep you updated haha, the scratch on the rear quarter is still there too. Also fixed the exhaust tip too 😂😂​@@ItaliaAutos

[@johnscollection7816]

Like your customer I bought a 156 1.9 diesel for the same amount. Not so lucky about the condition in two things. When pushed the duel mass clutch slips. How much is that going to cost? And there is a vibration in the wheels just at 50mph but I’ve had the wheels balanced. Any thoughts?

[@ItaliaAutos]

Around £800 for clutch, slave and flywheel

[@BigPaul62]

I think the buyer got a bargain for £1200 in this day and age. Chuck a bit more cash at it and he/she will have a car that's good for quite a while.

[@ItaliaAutos]

Sure will.

[@mikeg8835]

Neal , seems a bit misleading that title ? you said never buy from a back street car seller but that car only cost him £1200 and then you went on to confirm it wasn't such a bad car with few bits and bobs to do ?

[@ItaliaAutos]

Ask yourself these questions and see what answer most people would comment, hence the video title. No history, literally being sold in a back street, engine warning light on, and loss of power. Big risk to take if you don't know about cars. Thanks for watching.

[@mikeg8835]

@@ItaliaAutosFairplay , it was a big chance I suppose

[@josephmifsud8261]

They got lucky for £1200. A bargain

[@ItaliaAutos]

Very much so

[@charliefarley2213]

So the moral of this story is Buy your next car from a "Back street trader"!

[@ItaliaAutos]

Kinda lol. No moral of the story is this guy was very lucky. Thanks for watching

[@HowToSaveMoneyOnCarRepairs]

To old a Car for £1500...! £995 should be the Maximum for that Car..! 🤔🤔

[@ItaliaAutos]

Think the did quite well with £1200

[@owensteele1645]

Alfas tend to keep their prices far better than they used to. A 109000 mile '57-plate 159 JTD Turismo sold for £3495 in my area (Devon, South West England) recently. It has definitely seen better days, the gearstick feels very loose and has an MOT history stating rusty floors and rot in the front subframe.

[@BeigeTuna]

Wish mine looked that good underneath 🫣

[@ItaliaAutos]

I expected this to be worse

[@owensteele1645]

@@ItaliaAutosI should do the welding on that part of the floor, give it all a very good clean, and maintain it going forward.