Well guys, the alfa dealer has finished the inspection of the car yesterday. There were no major mechanical issues with the car.

These are all of the issues found in the report:
-front and back brake pads worn out (need replacing)
-front and back tyres worn out (need replacing)
-windscreen wiper worn out (needs replacing)
-engine knocking noise present, probably caused by tensioner/variator (not critical)
-some oil deposit underneath the gearbox cover (not critical)
-gearknob loose (needs tightening)
-power windows on both back doors not operating (switch failure)
-some minor body paint scratches

I have decided to put the deposit on the car after the seller has promised to fix all of the things outlined in the report (new tyres, pads, variator, etc) and also give me a one year warranty on the car.

Now Anth73, I agree with you that when chosing the used car the best thing to do is to buy the one thats in the best condition with the lowest kays and full service records. But there is always the issue of price.
I have managed to negotiate down the price of the alfa to $14,000 (remember, this is a 2003, new design 156 JTS selespeed with only 55k) and although this car is far from perfect condition, I stil think its a good value for the money. When I was in the alfa dealership they had this same model for sale in their used car lot (2003 JTS, manual with 45k in perfect condition) and the price? -$24,999.

I always loved the newly designed 156's and with my limited budget, this was the best way of getting it, and I know this was probably a purchase made by the heart and not the brain but aren't all alfa purchases like that
The only thing that I was a bit dissapointed with is that my car does not have the original alloys that came with the newly designed 156's (you know, the pretty ones with alot of small spokes) as the owner put on the 16" (telephone dial style) from the older series TS.

I'm picking the car up on wednesday so I'll keep you guys posted.

Yeah TurboGTV, the car seems to be mechanicaly OK as none of those are major problems. I think that I will probably change the timing belt next at 100k just to be on the safe side.

Now before I pick up the car, I wanna ask I few questions:
1) What motor oil should I use for the JTS engine? I've heard that alfa recommends using Selenia 10-60W but can I use any other 10-60W oil?

2) What are the actual servicing (oil and filters change) intervals for the JTS? Is it every 5k or 10k? Can the filters be found in the regular car-parts place?

3) Does the JTS engine run on premium unleaded only or is suitable for regular unleaded too?

thanks

Well guys, I have picked up the Alfa on wednesday so now I am a proud owner of a Alfa Romeo 156 JTS.

I didn't drive her alot in these couple of days as I was busy at work (I go to work by train) but every time I sit inside alfa and drive her to the shops I have a smile on my face . Theres just something about alfas that makes you feel good even if you are just looking at it.

Thanks to everyone that give me advice, especialy you 'TurboGTV' - you helped me alot man.

Thanks for the advice Doug.
I didn't know that service intervals are so spread out for a car that seems so fussy about proper maintenance (20k? - thats way too long, I think I'll just stick to service intervals between 5k and 10k, atleast for oil).

I have currently filled the car with 95 RON fuel from BP, but I think I'll change it to 98 with my next fill as everybody is suggesting it as the best fuel for JTS engine.

How do you guys go about getting those wear and tear parts (brake pads, filters, etc) for your 156's? Do you order them from alfa dealers or do bigger car-parts companies still supply them?

I've been driving my alfa alot more over the weekend and I just love the way it drives and the looks it gets from people - it looks like a way more expensive car than it is. Everyone thought I spent at least 30 grand plus on the car (poor alfas do depreciate fast)

Thanks again for the reply Doug.

Now I've been driving alfa more in the last few days and tonight I've notised a bit of an issue with the selespeed. When up shifting from third to fourth there is noise -"krr" (like the sound of clutch when u misshift in a manual car, just slightly quieter and shorter), this also happens (less pronounced) when downshifting from fifth to fourth; all of the other shifts are smooth and quiet. The car stil accelerates normaly in 4th gear, its just that the noise is present when shifting from 3-4 and 5-4.

What might be causing it? Clutch, actuator or something else?

hello guys, just doing a quick update as its been a month since my car purchase.

Firstly an interesting situation that happend to me a couple weeks ago while driving an alfa.
I set off from the lights towards this slight uphill section of the road and i notice a highway patrol car behind me.
As I'm slowly cruising I realise I'm starting to lose power and stepping on the accelerator doesn't do anything - so i try downchanging but nothing helps and the car is coming to a stop in the 70 zone and the copper is still behind me probably thinking- wtf is this guy doing? I stop in the left lane and the engine just stops - the policeman pulls up next to me and asks what happened; I replied "i dont know, i think that engine or gearbox died" to which hes says: "well thats what you get when you buy an alfa, good luck" and then he speeds off.
'Motherf....r' I think to myself, and than it hits me that I've been driving with the fuel light on for the last couple of days. Luckily the petrol station was a short distance away, so there was I on a busy road in the middle of the day filling petrol from a canister (it cost me $26.50) into my alfa. I turn the key and the engine starts. What bugged me is that the fuel gauge never dropped below the 'empty' line when I was driving it - but I've learned my lesson now, when the light goes on - fill up as soon as you can.

I have also been fiddling with the ASR (anti-slip regulation) button next to the gear knob, which is basicaly a traction control. I've noticed that when its tured off the engine becomes far more responsive and lively and when you turn it back on it feels like you took 20kw from the engine.
Is that the way it should work normaly cause by reading about how it works, the ASR should only come into action when the ECU senses loss of traction, otherwise it shouldn't intervene with the engine. But to me it feels like it does even when driving normaly, so every time I wanna give it a bit of a squirt I turn ASR off.

When to comes to selespeed, I have learned to enjoy it as it's a good compromise between having a manual car and the car you can easily drive in traffic. There are two things that annoy me abit, firstly: the slow clutch take up from start - It seems that you can't lauch selespeed fast off the line as you are always 'outlaunched' by all the corollas and camrys next to you lol; secondly the change from first to second always seems to be slow but almost never smooth no matter what revs/throttle position you use even when its in sports mode (over 5k revs and full throtle) you still whish it had a faster change.

All in all I'm satisfied with my alfa is it always make me grin every time I drive it, and I always have to turn back to have a look at it when i park it- a real looker

More updates guys.

THERMOSTAT

I have just replaced thermostat on my 156 JTS in the alfa dealership.
Ever since i purchased my car I have noticed that my engine temperature goes down a lot when cruising with no traffic - we are talking 55 -60C on a cool night, cruising on a motorway (optimal temperature should be 85-90C). At first I didn't think much of it, but then I did a bit of a research and came to conclusion that 'stuck open thermostat' is a common issue with all alfa 156's. Now that I've replaced it, the temperature sits at 90C no matter what the driving style is.
The engine now feels more responsive, and apparently a cold running engine uses more fuel, so I should see an improvement there as well.

MOTOR FAILURE WARNING

In this month of ownership I also had a bit of an issue with a 'motor failure' warning that came up on the computer screen a few times in random situations. The warning would disappear after a few seconds and the engine would stil run normaly. I have researched this as well and it turns out that this is also a common fault that is caused by a bad conection/wiring at the main computer. So today at the alfa dealership I asked a mechanic to have a look at it.

On alfa 156 JTS the main computer is located all the way on the right side of the bonnet, under black plastic cover next to the selespeed fluid. When you unscrew the plastic cover (simple two screws) you will see a small black box with a bunch of wires going in to it from one side and a bunch of wires going out of it from the other side. The wires are connected to the computer with a plastic clip (yellowish colour) and usualy the main problem is that this clips get loose over time causing bad connections (thus sending bad signals to the computer - motor failure warning).
There can also be a bit of rust/dirt at this spot which needs to be cleaned and the clips need to be tightened. In my case, the mechanic discovered that one of the clips was actualy missing, making the connection to computer very loose. He replaced to clip and cleaned the spot from the dirt. Hopefuly this will sort out some of those warning issues.

PRICES OF SERVICING ALFA 156  AT DEALERSHIP

I have collected a few different prices for repairing and servicing alfa 156 JTS at my alfa dealership, so will put them up for your future reference.

REPLACING THERMOSTAT (inc labour)  -$450 (thermostat cost alone -with housing - $240)
CAMBELT CHANGE (inc labour) -$860
FRONT BRAKE PADS (inc labour) - $350
REAR BRAKE PADS (inc labour) - $450
ENGINE SERVICE (replacing oil and filters, calibrating selespeed) - $330
REPLACING WORN SYNCHRO ON SELESPEED (inc labour) - $1400
AIR FLOW SENSOR - $990
GENERAL CAR CHECK-UP AND PROBLEM DIAGNOSIS - $150