164 reliability, 10 bleeding obvious long-winded alfa rules

[dshimano@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx]

<<<<Also, is the 164 a reliable car? Is the car a nice daly driver? Looki=
ng
for another car but worry about the expense of having two Alfas.>>>>
Dennis,

The 164's are very reliable cars and great as a daily drivers long or sho=
rt
haul. Comfortable, fast and rock solid as a Benz at speed. I have 66k on =
my
95 Q and it has rarely let me down. Two timing belts, a new radiator, a
Stebro exhaust [old one rotted away] and more brake light bulbs than I ca=
n
count are just about it. A quick look at the 164 home page will give you =
an
idea of what the problem areas have been for other owners. And yes, most
Japanese cars are more reliable, and so is my dishwasher, but it hardly
excites me every day.

I'm on my third "daily driver" Alfa, two of the V6 variety. I have found
them to be extremely faithful cars with one key factor- an Alfa will be a=
s
reliable to you as you are to it. I'm sure you know all this since you
already have one or more Alfa's so you can ignore my ravings if you will.=
 A
few lessons I've learned:

1.	Learn the car. Get all the manuals. Get to know everything about it,
where the trouble spots are. Watch the problem areas. This applies even t=
o
those who can't/ don't fix their own cars [sometimes it's a lack of time,
not skill or interest, and certainly not something to be derided]. Get to
know what the underside of the car looks like.
2.	Inspect the car regularly, fluids, tire pressures, all the "soft" part=
s,
corrosion etc=85Then look again.
3.	Change the oil and filter religiously. DUH=85
4.	V6 cars- no one ever regretted changing the timing belt every 30k.
5.	If it ain't [very] broke don't fix it don't apply to Alfa's- if it loo=
ks,
feels, smells like something may be wrong check it out. If it's hanging g=
et
it fixed. Every part in the car impacts and stresses another part somewhe=
re
else- don't wreck the balance.
6.	Drive it fast and smooth, don't drive it HARD. The car will know the
difference.
7.	When you start the car cold, don't go banzai until things stop creakin=
g a
bit. [serious digression- new M5 has great tach with LED's that raise the
redline from 4k and up as the car warms]
8.	Wash that salt and bird shit off the car before someone scrawls "wash =
me"
in it. Don't be afraid of automatic car washes- hand washing the car is
great, but if you find reason not to do it for six months [try winter]
you'll spend a lot more repairing rust than you will repairing a dull
finish. Besides, any Alfa is a beautiful car, let it show.
9.	Keep records of all the work done on the car. It's not just the next
owner or your estate that will need to look back from time to time.
10.	Break all of the above rules at least once or twice during the life o=
f
your car.

Life is short, though the commute is long=85why drive a boring car?

dave s.
NJ, USA
95 164Q
83 Aston Martin Lagonda

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