Maserati cheapskate alternatives | Fifth Gear Classic

In this classic clip, taken from series 24 and first broadcast in 2014, Jason hunts for the best cheapskate alternative to a Maserati. Prices correct at the time of broadcast. For access to exclusive Fifth Gear content and all FULL episodes from this series , join our channel / @fifthgearuk
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[@eroche913]

"Its an Alfa, thats unlikely to let you down" said no man anywhere ever. I'd still have one though.

[@fallinginthed33p]

All of these will let you down and leave you cursing by the side of the road. Still, the 166 3.0 has a gorgeous sound.

[@DashCamSerbia]

BMWs break down even more, and I don't hear anyone metioning that.

[@CathodeRayNipplez]

I have an Alfa 159 that thinks it a Toyota. Freaks me out.

[@fallinginthed33p]

@@CathodeRayNipplez Post-156 Alfas had much better reliability.

[@CathodeRayNipplez]

@Alle Warten Auf Das Licht I'm glad Alfa has a bad reputation or my car would have cost twice as much if people knew how non Alfa the 159 really is.

[@voicevoice2053]

The Jaguar probably the best choice. However I want the Citroën. Quirky luxury and a fun comfy drive. French flair

[@ruarimacallister1]

I was a massive critic of the c6 when it was first out. Now much much older its great looking car and uber stylish

[@Alexandra-Rex]

Made me miss my XM again. It happens a lot.

[@timgosling6189]

I've owned two of the three. 166s were always incredibly rare, and that facelift model shown even more so. But it still had that wonderful, soulful Busso V6. But mine had to go after it started turning its lights on overnight and draining the battery. The only way to stop it was to leave the light switch on and then kill them with the key. Dealer never could find out why it was happening, but at least it didn't go rusty! The XF I bought in 2008 was like it was from another planet though. The engine, handling and electronics literally were from a different generation. The reason the higher-powered XFs eat rear brakes is that they don't have an LSD but use the brakes to limit wheelspin. Many contemporty Jaguars had the same problem, especially XKs. The 2.7 diesel is smooth but a bit limp-wristed and the 4.2V8 petrol is quick but thirsty. If you're not totally anti diesel the 300BHP 3.0 diesel S from 2010 onward is probably the pick.

[@GTRSv]

Let’s be honest... even if a Ghibli is within your reach, you should still get one of these instead

[@derbigpr500]

The old one yes, it was rubbish. The new one is actually the best medium-large sporty sedan, drives much better than the 5 series.

[@IrfanArio95]

Actually these three are hard to choose, The Jag will make you like a gentleman, The Citroën is just a beautiful engineering, and The Alfa always makes you feel special.

[@arthurstube]

As owner of the Jaguar XF drivers great feel great drive just absolutely pain in the ass to work on.

[@rasta6603]

Nothing but facts

[@Tuganotube]

a mechanic once told me that the engine doesn't fit in the car! it is horrible to work on it! I love mine but is not reliable at all.

[@raff_spriggles_tfn5910]

Sold mine last month and went back to my trusty X type estate.

[@Tuganotube]

@@raff_spriggles_tfn5910 I bought a Model S 2y ago. Didn't sell my green and brown (interior) XF. ☺️

[@colincrawford6612]

I have the Citroen C6, I love it but my wallet hates it

[@trumpstinyhands]

Only 1 of my 7 alfas was still working when it left my hands I'll still buy another

[@loyalfans-kxngunkasaxxx2223]

3:47 Not in the US lol... Jaguars are HORRIBLE here which sucks because they are beautiful cars.

[@danbi2000]

jags have improved in some areas though

[@terrificspokesman7416]

Yeah because barely anybody is experienced on those cars in the US which means that they will make the car worse

[@stupidvideos1449]

Obviously the Citroen

[@open-minded-oldie]

With knobs on!

[@Dudleymiddleton]

Well the citroen don't look too bad - grows on you I guess!

[@MrAndreCoutinho]

it certainly does, beautiful car.

[@picdar16]

hmm more like £6500+ for a facelift 166 3.2, i looked for a good one for a while with no luck. Ended up getting a Lexus LS430, far better car for the money (From a passionate alfisti who has owned GTV6, GT's, GTA's ect)

[@jjefferyworboys8138]

The Jag 3.0D S would be a better choice.

[@stevec6427]

I'd take a 3.0D S over the 4.2 V8, it's a better drive. I've owned a 3.0D S and now a 5.0 XFR and I'd take the big shouty XFR every time, it's not even much more expensive to run unless you do lots of miles. The 3.0 S is a fast car but the XFR is insanity and comes with a better gearbox and suspension

[@alfisti93]

Funny thing, the 3.0 Diesel in the XF is basically the same engine as the 3.0 in the shown C6 Citroen. Decent engine, loads of torque from low revs thanks to biturbos and given the power - ridiculously low fuel consumption. However in terms of reliability, it's not even close - the 4.2 comfortably comes first. High mileage 3.0 Diesel can have severe issues and are difficult to work on; also the 5.0 with DI and possible carbon build up - no thanks. (We run a X150 4.2, previously also a X351 3.0D and my sister has an LR4 3.0 SDV6... Looking out for a X358 4.2, to match the X150, but all i ever see is 2.7D and the few V8 ones only get more expensive...)

[@nigelfisher3756]

I’ve had 4 Alfas and never had reliability issues. My German cars; that’s a different matter. I’ll take the Alfa 166 please.

[@barriemoorcroft534]

Reliability. Alfa, Jaguar, Citreon ?!?

[@onelyone6976]

All of them are luxury limousines with too many electronics, so don't expect high reliability on any of them

[@rasta6603]

U get a jag XF with the AJ V8 and it’s gonna be really reliable. Just the stuff around it can get really finicky.

[@Berkay-xl4hu]

Jaguar still looks like made today

[@DaveDVideoMaker]

The Citroën C6 is replaced by the DS9, but there is a new C6, specifically for sale in China and nowhere else.

[@antmcgowan]

New C5X coming soon though - will be good to have a big Citroën for sale in the UK that isn’t an SUV.

[@DaveDVideoMaker]

I see.

[@onelyone6976]

@@antmcgowan although the C5X won't be in the same class as the C6 was, probably more like a replacement for the C5x7 estate that was discontinued in 2017

[@antmcgowan]

@@onelyone6976 Take your point, but I think it’ll still qualify as a big Citroën 👍🏻

[@MrMoss2001]

Facelift XF 2.2 diesel for me £4-5k currently and reasonable mileage , less to go wrong than V6 either the 2.7 or 3.0 tdv6

[@Professor-Scientist]

It's slow though

[@MrMoss2001]

@@Professor-Scientist depends on the standard mapping 160 or 190’ish

[@Josh-er6oz]

The earlier Alfa 166 is wayyyyyy better looking than the facelift

[@ariffmuzafar6784]

C6 😍

[@bobibest89]

No way you can find a good 166 3.2 for 1400 pounds these days.

[@BurtSampson]

If you're not picking the Jag, you're picking the wrong car. These are just facts folks.

[@colonia8]

SAAB best choice!

[@christiantava442]

How do they find these cars for only 1500 pounds? They should cost a lot more

[@FootballCoachK]

It's an old show, maybe they did cost that much back then, but lots of these "cheapskate alternatives" are turning into modern classics and increase in value. Which, admittedly, is not a horrible thing, but they will cost more now than they did when this was filmed.

[@stephen10.]

the feeling , the comfort , the class . Can we put the 3 in one car ?

[@onelyone6976]

I guess the C6, the epitome of French luxury

[@waynecurtis7057]

They do one called the E36 Bmw

[@stephen10.]

@@waynecurtis7057 well done . But have you tested it ?

[@VladDracula80]

C6 were only 12k built so it is obvious choice :)

[@Darthadios]

C6 or the Jaguar, but no Alfa for me. Funny enough those Jags are now like 8000€ at here, I have been considering buying a Jaguar, but all the good ones are diesels. =/

[@rasta6603]

If u want one Get a v8 the sounds are terrific

[@UNCPeewee]

5th gear is not the top gear for a Lamborghini Aventador... I have really good humor

[@farishanafiah8461]

Imagine what would happen if Alfa Romeo made a GTA version of the 166.

[@g00dfeeling]

I would like AR 166 mkI and C6 together

[@catfirst2593]

"The Jag has a good reputation for reliability "...

[@ZesPak]

I'd happily taken any of these over the Ghibli.

[@ciaranburke3243]

166 please 👌

[@johnnyd.9501]

I’d rather have 3 Alfa 166’s than 1 Citroën C6. You’d probably need 3 Alfa’s though for the spare parts…

[@alfisti93]

Mean! However you're right - but probably not the way you meant it. Whenever someone crashes, rear ends or t-bones ya old Alfa, you'll find out the hard way the (neglected) cars might be dirt cheap - but spares are not, or even better - aren't available anymore...

[@johnnyd.9501]

@@alfisti93 That wasn’t quite what I was intented to state but I totally understand your point as well. A friend of mine got a ‘96 Celica with a busted front window. The only way to replace it was by shipping aan non-genuine part from Japan. The shipping alone costed more than the value of the whole car. Guess it’s kind of the same with na Alfa 155…or any other Alfa from that era.

[@filmopfil]

in what universe citroen is alternative to maseratti ?

[@MrAndreCoutinho]

Stylish design for a fraction of the Maserati costs.

[@Kelveron]

Sad that exec saloons like these are getting pushed out by overgrown, overweight SUVs.

[@mudskipper0075]

Agreed ,everyone has convinced themselves they live at the top of K2 and need a 4x4...🤔

[@aliozdil6586]

Jaguar please

[@myaccount6905]

Actually the first model 166 looks a lot better…

[@ro63rto]

Completely wrong on the Alfa headlights.

[@ryanpham3308]

Pretty sure 500 quid is as much as replacing a 2006-2012 GS 350's HID ballasts (which has terrible access). I doubt the Alfa's would cost that much.

[@erikh1041]

alfa any day of the week

[@seppomontaalasmaaman1339]

This is not fifth gear.

[@mirsfamlikov1223]

Əladi

[@steve75112]

This guy doesnt know what hes talking about. Recommending old money pits that will cost someone a pile to fix and they will go bad . Why not recommend something reliable?

[@-Dash-]

Man wearing a Panerai recommends buying an Alfa 166 and a Citroen C6... Unsubscribed.

[@MrCoreslash]

Jaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaag

[@yup.4901]

I remember when Maserati's were beautiful. What hapened?

[@Dudleymiddleton]

Christ, they all fell off the ugly tree! Especially the jaguar, really nasty look to it! Only my opinion though! :)

[@ceceliapriyanganiefernando4846]

First

[@DaveDVideoMaker]

No one cares.

[@CathodeRayNipplez]

I have an Alfa159 with 300,000km that thinks it a Toyota. Freaks me out. 12 years old and has never left me on the side of the road and absolutely everything still works. Black sheep of the Alfa reputation it seems. 🤯

[@fallinginthed33p]

The GM partnership did a lot of good. 2.2 JTS or the big V6?

[@CathodeRayNipplez]

@@fallinginthed33p Nothing that exciting, 1.9JTD. Country cruiser for gobbling up big Oz miles. Has enough grunt to dispatch passing of road trains etc tho. I'm glad Alfa has a bad reputation or my car would have cost twice as much if people knew how non Alfa the 159 really is.

[@derbigpr500]

@@fallinginthed33p If the GM partnership had anything to do with Alfa's reputation, then it would have gone down compared to how it was before. GM didn't affect Alfa in absolutely any way, and it wasn't a partnership, they just shared some components of a single engine in the lineup that almost nobody bought anyway. Alfa hired people for quality control who used to work in BMW in the 90's. And their engines were always really reliable.

[@UPnDOWN]

And there's me with my C6 which cost £750! Spoiler works too....most of the time. And it does need new tyres.

[@raycroal]

amazing price why was that?

[@roberttaylor7462]

@@raycroal colossal cost and headache to fix.

[@dortkommendieclowns1474]

The Jag and C6 share the same V6 diesel engine(s)

[@stevec6427]

They do but the C6 has front drive and a single turbo where the Jag has twin turbos and rear drive

[@aaaabababa]

@@stevec6427 the c6 also has twin turbos, it's the exact same engine.

[@JustRememberWhoYoureWorkingFor]

I didn't know a Jaguar and a Citroën shared their engines, specially because engines are usually designed either for fwd or rwd.

[@fasthracing]

Citroen C6 great car but an absolute money pit. Suspension and dpf filters the main problems in my experience.

[@mickymac6571]

A work colleague has just bought one, he's constantly repairing it, currently the hard drive in the console has gone, clutch in the autobox ,water hoses split d various little faults, plus £550 road tax on the 2.7d.

[@fasthracing]

@@mickymac6571 Yep. We had our 57 plate one at 18 months old and sold it at 3 years old. We loved the car but it was just SO unreliable (thank god we bought a Citroen extended warranty) it had circa £10000 in repairs in the time we had it. A great car in so many ways (Driving experience, looks, quality of interior, first car in UK with daytime running lights, heads up display Etc Etc) but it was in the dealer every 2 months without fail. In the end the suspension went (whilst on holiday in Poland!) so it had to go. Great car but badly made in crucial area's.

[@mickymac6571]

@@fasthracing always fancied one but too unreliable, only about six on auto trader says it all.😄

[@TheNorville2]

If i was in to buy, it would be the Jag all day long. The servicing on Jags are way way cheaper than the other 2.

[@supernova1976]

3 of the most unreliable cars available today 😂.

[@jazzyg9722]

What would u know probably couldn't afford an xf my one has been totally reliable haha

[@ryanpham3308]

V8, @@jazzyg9722? Which engine choice do you recommend?

[@superthierry1]

Buy a Citroen and pretend to be Jacques Chirac, or a Jag and be David Cameron for the day.🤓

[@420Ard]

If you're into a Ghibli, the C6 won't do it for you. You'll have to go for a 166, which is a great (quite sporty) drive. If it's styling that rocks your boat than I miss the Lancia Thesis. But the best alternative has to be a Quattroporte V.

[@chrisc475]

Plato's Panerai is lovely!

[@yup.4901]

I noticed that.

[@drone_tours]

I don't suppose the Citroën has the same JLR/PSA engine that is known to snap the crankshaft

[@Boris-xx7dw]

you wait 60 k for a cam belt on the alfa you'd be better off playing the lottery lol , dont get me wrong I love the and head seven of them .

[@andrewmccullough9334]

It's an Alfa that's unlikely to let you down. Come on now

[@filmopfil]

alfa 166 is not even alternative to bmw older version .

[@mirsfamlikov1223]

Buitful