Just been to collect my 75

#21

On Tue, 8 Sep 2009 16:50:45 +0100, Halmyre <no.spam (AT) this (DOT) address>
wrote:

Quote:

I'm baffled. Why does she need *two* cupholders?

Simple. One for her and one for me or the bairn. Can't trust the bairn
to keep the bottle upright or get it in the rear cupholders without a
disaster. Anyone with a car and kids will know what I'm talking about!
:-(

Otherwise, she might be considering a "haulf 'n' haulf" (pr. hoff) as
some might say in these northern parts. 8-0

--
Z
Scotland
Alfa Romeo 156 2.4JTD Veloce Leather
'Oil' be seeing you..
(Email must have the word 'Alfa' in the
subject line to get through auto-filtering)

#22

On Tue, 8 Sep 2009 23:23:25 +0100, "Steve H on the road"
<steve (AT) italiancar (DOT) co.uk> wrote:

Quote:

My Prius

!! Oi..hold the bus..where did *that* one sneak in from? ;-)

--
Z
Scotland
Alfa Romeo 156 2.4JTD Veloce Leather
'Oil' be seeing you..
(Email must have the word 'Alfa' in the
subject line to get through auto-filtering)

#23

"SteveH" <steve (AT) italiancar (DOT) co.uk> wrote

Quote:

John Chapman <jchapman (AT) REMOVETHISclara (DOT) net> wrote:

SteveH wrote:
from the garage where I keep it, around 10 miles away.

Haven't had a chance to use it since the first week of June, but once
I'd disconnected the battery, it fired up pretty much instantly.

Who says Alfas are unreliable?

My 146 was very reliable over 90000 miles and never let me down.
Mind you I could never make it start with the battery disconnected.
That is a skill I do not yet possess ;-)

Doh!

'Re-connected'.

The 75 is on 132k-ish miles now and has only once left me stranded at
the side of the road.

I'm sure it was *you* that left *it* stranded at the side of the road! Its
one time of need and you walked away!

#24

"Zathras" <webnewsgroup (AT) nospamthanks (DOT) hotmail.com> wrote

Quote:

On Sat, 5 Sep 2009 18:00:17 +0100, steve (AT) italiancar (DOT) co.uk (SteveH)
wrote:

Who says Alfas are unreliable?

Well..in over 8 years of driving my Alfa, it let me down for one fault
- a dying crank rpm sensor. There were a couple of other incidents but
they weren't the Alfa's fault - like the time number one bairn decided
to put the rear courtesy light on before I parked the thing up for 10
days!! Up until the Alfa was 7, AA membership had been a complete
waste of money. :-) Not too shabby.

One thing that bugged me with the Alfa has been it's monotonous
ability to require large amounts of work *every* time it went in for
an annual service even though the mileage was very low. Last time it
was rear pads and disks, handbrake cable and rear brake pipes.
However, I don't think Alfas (or even my Alfa) is remotely unique in
this matter.

Having said that, I've never felt overwhelmingly reassured of the
quality of parts or build of my 156 (front door handles, exhaust,
alloys, deep pile carpets and leather excepted). The knocking and
creaking from the front suspension over the last 6 years that no
garage can (will?) fix plus the numerous rattles, clonks, creaks and
squeaks from the cabin depending on the day of the week! Yes, I got
used to them. But when in somebody else's car, the silence made me
feel like I owned a kit car some idiot had built in a hurry.

I'll have to take front door handles out of the reliable list - my passenger
side knob keeps getting stuck in when pressed. I've tried 3-in-1 oil,
grease, vaseline, wd40, more oil, but it still gets stuck in 1-in-10 times.

I'll second you on the squeeks. The one coming from the airbag area is the
most annoying at the moment.

Need to add the connections to the front speakers to the list of "friday
afternoon"/"assembled by a child" items. The sound just goes off on one side
until you blast the volume for a moment to get it back on again!

Also, availability of exhausts at a good price is annoying me at the moment.

#25

On Wed, 9 Sep 2009 10:33:59 +0100, "GT"
<ContactGT_rem_ove_ (AT) hotmail (DOT) com> wrote:

Quote:

I'll have to take front door handles out of the reliable list - my passenger
side knob keeps getting stuck in when pressed.

I've heard that from others too but mine have always been perfect -
hence on my list.

Quote:

I'll second you on the squeeks. The one coming from the airbag area is the
most annoying at the moment.

Over the years more and more have snuck in. Sometimes mine sounds like
it's falling apart!!

Quote:

Need to add the connections to the front speakers to the list of "friday
afternoon"/"assembled by a child" items. The sound just goes off on one side
until you blast the volume for a moment to get it back on again!

Are you sure? If you had a dodgy connector, just blasting the volume
wouldn't fix IME. I'd be suspecting a fault in the radio. I would say
that though because I'll shortly (well, when/if I can find the
instructions) have an MP3 ripping Clarion single CD radio for sale
that is coming out of my 156 including what passes for fitting panels
to fit it to a 156.

Quote:

Also, availability of exhausts at a good price is annoying me at the moment.

Can't help there. Although I suspect my baffles are all blown as the
car sounds particularly rorty these days, there's no sign of a
replacement being needed.

--
Z
Scotland
Alfa Romeo 156 2.4JTD Veloce Leather
'Oil' be seeing you..
(Email must have the word 'Alfa' in the
subject line to get through auto-filtering)

#26

GT wrote:

Quote:

"Zathras" <webnewsgroup (AT) nospamthanks (DOT) hotmail.com> wrote in message
news:1uq6a5th6d6li5igb3lvibki7vulnvooc1 (AT) 4ax (DOT) com...
On Sat, 5 Sep 2009 18:00:17 +0100, steve (AT) italiancar (DOT) co.uk (SteveH)
wrote:

Who says Alfas are unreliable?
Well..in over 8 years of driving my Alfa, it let me down for one fault
- a dying crank rpm sensor. There were a couple of other incidents but
they weren't the Alfa's fault - like the time number one bairn decided
to put the rear courtesy light on before I parked the thing up for 10
days!! Up until the Alfa was 7, AA membership had been a complete
waste of money. :-) Not too shabby.

One thing that bugged me with the Alfa has been it's monotonous
ability to require large amounts of work *every* time it went in for
an annual service even though the mileage was very low. Last time it
was rear pads and disks, handbrake cable and rear brake pipes.
However, I don't think Alfas (or even my Alfa) is remotely unique in
this matter.

Having said that, I've never felt overwhelmingly reassured of the
quality of parts or build of my 156 (front door handles, exhaust,
alloys, deep pile carpets and leather excepted). The knocking and
creaking from the front suspension over the last 6 years that no
garage can (will?) fix plus the numerous rattles, clonks, creaks and
squeaks from the cabin depending on the day of the week! Yes, I got
used to them. But when in somebody else's car, the silence made me
feel like I owned a kit car some idiot had built in a hurry.

I'll have to take front door handles out of the reliable list - my passenger
side knob keeps getting stuck in when pressed. I've tried 3-in-1 oil,
grease, vaseline, wd40, more oil, but it still gets stuck in 1-in-10 times.

Never had that problem on either.

Quote:

I'll second you on the squeeks. The one coming from the airbag area is the
most annoying at the moment.

Suspension for sure irritates me.

Quote:

Need to add the connections to the front speakers to the list of "friday
afternoon"/"assembled by a child" items. The sound just goes off on one side
until you blast the volume for a moment to get it back on again!

ITYF that's the connector in the door jam.

Quote:

Also, availability of exhausts at a good price is annoying me at the moment.

That's just you, though

--
Catman MIB#14 SKoGA#6 TEAR#4 BOTAFOF#38 Apostle#21 COSOC#3
Tyger, Tyger Burning Bright (Remove rust to reply)
116 Giulietta 3.0l Sprint 1.7 145 2.0 Cloverleaf 156 V6 2.5 S2
Triumph Sprint ST 1050: It's blue, see.
www.cuore-sportivo.co.uk

#27

Steve H on the road wrote:

Quote:

"Catman" <catman (AT) rustcuore-sportivo (DOT) co.uk> wrote in message
news:h86cf5$jif$3 (AT) news (DOT) eternal-september.org...
Halmyre wrote:
snip

I'm baffled. Why does she need *two* cupholders?

Why does she need *any*? It's a car, not a cafe.

Because she wants to grab a coffee and take it with her, perhaps?

Nope, sorry. Still not making sense. How can you drink coffee while
driving. I *genuinely* do not understand this.

I mean, I'll sit in the car and drink coffee on occasion, but I don't
need a specially designed receptacle.

--
Catman MIB#14 SKoGA#6 TEAR#4 BOTAFOF#38 Apostle#21 COSOC#3
Tyger, Tyger Burning Bright (Remove rust to reply)
116 Giulietta 3.0l Sprint 1.7 145 2.0 Cloverleaf 156 V6 2.5 S2
Triumph Sprint ST 1050: It's blue, see.
www.cuore-sportivo.co.uk

#28

Zathras wrote:

Quote:

On Tue, 8 Sep 2009 23:23:25 +0100, "Steve H on the road"
steve (AT) italiancar (DOT) co.uk> wrote:

My Prius

!! Oi..hold the bus..where did *that* one sneak in from? ;-)

Company car

--
Catman MIB#14 SKoGA#6 TEAR#4 BOTAFOF#38 Apostle#21 COSOC#3
Tyger, Tyger Burning Bright (Remove rust to reply)
116 Giulietta 3.0l Sprint 1.7 145 2.0 Cloverleaf 156 V6 2.5 S2
Triumph Sprint ST 1050: It's blue, see.
www.cuore-sportivo.co.uk

#29

On 9 Sep, 09:40, Zathras <webnewsgr... (AT) nospamthanks (DOT) hotmail.com>
wrote:

Quote:

On Tue, 8 Sep 2009 16:50:45 +0100, Halmyre <no.s... (AT) this (DOT) address
wrote:

I'm baffled. Why does she need *two* cupholders?

Simple. One for her and one for me or the bairn. Can't trust the bairn
to keep the bottle upright or get it in the rear cupholders without a
disaster. Anyone with a car and kids will know what I'm talking about!
:-(

Otherwise, she might be considering a "haulf 'n' haulf" (pr. hoff) as
some might say in these northern parts. *8-0

What a good idea. G&T, ice and lime for her. Single malt and water for
me. Cheers! (hic). But where can I put the crisps and nuts?

--
Halmyre

#30

On 8 Sep, 20:48, Catman <cat... (AT) rustcuore-sportivo (DOT) co.uk> wrote:

Quote:

Halmyre wrote:

snip

I'm baffled. Why does she need *two* cupholders?

Why does she need *any*? It's a car, not a cafe.

My wife's MX5 has cupholders in the door *and* in the centre console. Why?!?
The ones in the centre are especially annoying because they reduce the amount
of space available for small items.

You could (radical suggestion I know) put some small items in them?

She does. Her house keys. No room for anything else after that. It's
the same with the doors - it's as if they've put door pockets in, but
then covered them over. Alex Issigonis would be horrified at the waste
of space.

--
Halmyre