Volkswagen Golf or Alfa Romeo 156

[b silver]

Thinking about buying a second hand car. A 1-2 year Alfa Romeo 156 and a 1-2 yr old VW Golf work out about the same. Can't decide which to go for as the Alfa is so beautiful and "things"- multi CD, sat nav etc etc but I'm not too sure about the quality of the car. Know that it handles well but am worried about things constantly going wrong with it. The VW on the other hand I believe is very reliable, won't depreciate anywhere near as much but has no real interesting features

Would be grateful for any information/ opinions to help me decide.
Ta.

[davemorganfan]

The VW has depeciation (or lack of it ) in its favour, but the reverse of this is that they cost more to buy. And VW reliablity is a myth - they are no better or no worse than most other cars in this respect. Get the Alfa and enjoy.

[429CJ]

Are they really substitutes for each other?

[Dave Brand]

If you need to ask the question, you should buy the Golf; it will depreciate so little that when you're bored with it you won't have lost much when you trade it in & get something interesting.......like an Alfa!

[topwelshman]

Yep, I'd agree, I've driven loads of golfs over the years and they're So SO SO Boring, unless its the R23 of course. The Alfa is lurvely to look at and a decent drive and should be able to be found for alot less than a golf.

[daz90]

Get the Alfa, forget about its problems and enjoy a beutifull car, instead of the VW.

[touringcarnut]

An Alfa like that would be a lovely car to have, but they are not as reliable as a Golfs are. Hmm. Its style or practicality..

[topwelshman]

But golf's are SO SO boring and two a penny now,and, they are not as well made as they used to be!

[alfasud]

If you are buying second hand, then someone else has paid the bulk of the Alfa depreciation, so I'd say the Alfa. Have you also considered an Alfa 147? The 147 is the more direct competitor to the Golf I'd say.

If you go to carsurvey.org you will find good and bad reviews on both cars, so difficult to comment on the reliability.

The Alfa sillyspeed (selespeed) gearchange can be a source of problems, so I'd get an Alfa with a proper gearchange if it was my money.

[Logrence]

Alfa hands down!

Do you want a few extra quid in your pocket come sale time, or self respect?

If I had a Golf I'd forget where I parked it. On purpose.

[EERO]

I have a 2000 Golf with the 1.8T.

It's a sweet little car, well designed and thoroughly reliable. My only complaint is a little too much roll at the rear on cornering, easily fixed with a suspension upgrade. If you can swing a GTI, all the better.

Unfortunately, we cannot get Alfa's in the States, so I cannot make a fair comparison, but the Golf has nothing NOT to recommend it to my mind.

[spanner]

Funnily enough its the same choice i'm trying to make. Though the high prices of golf are pointing to the cheaper Alfa's due to high depreciation. Unfortuneatly i'm looking at the diesels

[garcon]

Depends what you're looking at, but the newer 156 JTD is a fine beast. Loadsa torque, and according to a friend of mine a better all round driver than the petrol 2.0 JTS. And he should know - he's an Alfa dealer sales manager.

[touringcarnut]

It is now possible to get a nice diesel car, i must say, a cab i was in was remarkabley quite for a diesel.. that was 4 years old.

[AussieV8]

buy a seconded hand Mazda 6...

[garcon]

Mr Mazda speaks!

Actually that's not a bad idea. Nice and cheap in the UK (relatively) and one of the best cars in its class (if you can stand the Aiwa centre console...)

[hodsonaj]

If it helps I am on my second 156. The first did 60K in 3 years and never missed a beat. The second has now done 24K since March 03 and again is marvellous. The first was a 2.0TS the current one is a 2.0JTS. I have also driven a diesel and he torque is amazing - plays hell with front tyres tho!
You do need to watch the oil, a litre about half way between services seems about normal.
Get the Alfa and enjoy!!
Tony Hodson

[Phil Morrison]

We have 2 year old golf GTI and a 3 year old Alfa 156 V6 in our household.
Main points to note:

Golf:
Positive: Feels very solid, it seems very well built to me..
Negative: How dare they call it a GTI, it's unbelievably sluggish compaired to it's predecessors, what sort of manufacture lables a modern car as a 'sporty hatchback' when it has 60bhp per litre

Alfa:

Positive: Best sounding engine you can buy under 30k, it's one of the best drives I've had in a FWD car..
Negative: After 3 years reliablity has become an issue, with various electrical faults, replacement starter and alternator, replacement radiator, all hoses, etc etc.

[TerryC]

I have the Golf and it's my second one in the family. Have had a few minor faults (cabin sqeaks & rattles, windows regulator) since new but nothing serious. Very solid car to drive and feels like a small luxury car from the inside with quality interior, good cabin (unless you're a six footer rear seat passengers/boot space. Slow depreciation. Costs a bit more to buy. Service cost isn't as cheap as you might think. Boring & dull drive.

I like the look and the sound of the Alfa. Only doubts I have for the car are the still yet-to-be-proven reliability, resale value and the generally "poor" dealer support (at least in the UK). Don't get me wrong, it's a lovely motor.