Alfa Romeo? Good or bad?

[Steve McF]

I've been casually surfing Autotrader, as I do from time to time - and always having a bit of a an eye for cars that no one I knows has, I find myself looking at things like Saabs and others repeatedly

I recently started looking at Alfa Romeos - a brand along with Fiat and Lancia (and to some extent French cars), I spent a long time avoiding due to their reputation for dodgy electrics etc. However, I like the look of some of their models, especially the Mito, which in some forms, comes with low road tax, small engines and good fuel economy.

With my boy using my 107 all the time now, I am using the Aero as my daily driver now, which means I'm about 20mpg down on what I could previously expect So I was surprised to see some of these Mitos with 900cc or 1.4 engines with cheap road tax, which looked like they might be cheap to run (and a bit bigger and more comfortable than a 107!!).

Anyone got any experience of the more recent Alfas (2009 onwards, ish)? Any good? Reliable?? Cheep to run? Fun??

[carrera]

My local Saab dealer moved over to Alfa Romeo, and used to have Mito's as loan cars

Can't say I liked them, but that's probably because they are a modern car meaning poor visibility, cramped and controls that are too light.

Get another 107 (I'm using one today)

[Steve McF]

I've had my 107 since 2011 when it was 2 and a half years old. My son was 5 when I got it, and now he's driving it!!! Been a great little car, but I think when he gets his own car, I might want something a little bigger/comfortable and more modern to use as the daily driver. But I'll probably just end up carrying on with the 107 

[carrera]

I was in the 107 again today. Front bumper off (partially)  to get access to the washer bottle rear pump which was whirring away with no water coming onto the rear screen. Turned out to be a blocked line which was carefully cleared with an airline producing lots of black stringy gunk. I didn't even know it had a rear screenwash until my daughter told me there was a whirring. Treated it to a headlight refurb as the lights seemed dim, did tyre pressures, cleared the engine light caused by the new, but cheapo cat, & finished off with a wash.  It genuinely drove better on the way home, just as quick as the M3 that was in front of me 

[welshwizard]

I remember my sister having a 145, striking looking car but she swaps and changes her car like her mind... Thought it was an odd choice....

When I lived in Holland my local Saab dealer, het Motorhuis in Leidschendam, started selling Alfas.  They had a Mito in the showroom while they dealt with my broken solenoid (that was mentioned on UKSaabs many years ago), I thought build quality was atrocious.  The trim around the front windscreen was moving away from the glass...  I preferred the Grand Punto and the previous model Ypsilon.

Moving away from small cars I thought the 159 was a terrific looking car, and one with the Busso engine would be very nice but Fiat stopped making them before the NG9-5 came out.  The Giulia looks terrific too; a Veloce with the 2-litre engine is under consideration.