I Bought a 164 LS

["Roger Pellegrini" <pellegrini_roger@xxxxxxxxxxxx>]

Howdy.  Some months back I posted a note about what kind of car I should
get as a station car, yada-yada-yada.  Most folks said not to go with an
Alfa, in a surprising and uncharacteristic burst of collective sanity.
Well, it turns out that I really didn't need a car to get to the station,
as I can do better with rides, feet and cheapo local cabs.

Instead, we really just needed a second car as a backup for my wife's 15
highway mile commute, and for general use.  Aha!  What followed was a
scouring of the web for used 164's relatively close to our Westchester, NY
location....and voila!  A 1994 164 LS turned up at a Jaguar dealer in
Pennsylvania.  Black, auto trans (for my wife's use) and in really good
shape.

Picked it up with a 12 mo/12K extended warranty and drove it home.  Now I
can see why this thing engenders the following it does.  The "Sport" auto
transmission mode is wild!  As for defects, there are very few in this
example, (no vibrations at speed, no ticking steppers, etc.)

Here are my observations of faults, some of which I've heard before on this
list, all of which may fall into the "they all do that" category:

- - Some segments of the clock's LCD are shot (big deal)
- - The front fog lamp lenses seem cracked, although the fog lights function
normally (by the way, are they always a bit anemic?)
- - When closing the sunroof, it seems to bump into the wind deflector
sometimes, and I have to stick my finger in to free it.
- - I feel there's a good amount of wind noise coming from the closed sunroof
at speed (70 mph +)...or could it be the cell phone antenna on the top of
the rear window?

Overall, I'm really pleased with it, and would heartily recommend the
(non-Alfa) dealer I bought it from (the used-car manager owns a 164, for
example)...."The Great Britains" of Willow Grove, PA.  They even had the
164 indoors on the showroom floor when I showed up!

I know I should have the timing belt replaced just as a routine safety
measure but any other thoughts ?

Best regards,
Roger

1969 1750 Spider (in hibernation)
1994 164 LS
1990 MB 300 TE 4MATIC

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End of alfa-digest V7 #418
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