'95 164LS Checkbook Report

["karl doll" <karld@domain.elided>]

A few of you expressed interest in the servicing of my '95 164LS (63K miles,
original owner)

It just came back from Cammisa Motors, near the San Francisco Airport, where
I bought the car new 7 years ago

- New center and rear exhaust (my tab)
- New motor mounts (2 on right side, extended warranty)
- New radiator (pinhole leak in a plastic area, extended warranty)
- 3 miscellaneous broken switches: power window, dash dimmer, brake light
(extended warranty)
- The "hunting" for idle speed when cold wasn't apparent while in the shop
and is something I can live with, as it is minor
- A-arms and torque rod bushings are fine for now

The Service Manager says there's nothing else that he would recommend doing
at this time, and it's a great example of that model. He sees some 164LS's
come in that are suffering from age and poor maintenence.

WIth my extended warranty almost up, I can report that I have skewed the
actuarial statistics such that Alfa warranties may cost more in the future.
I paid $2000 for the warranty, and they paid-out $4600!

One bit of advice to pass-on: Cammisa recently saw a 164LS serpentine drive
belt that broke and took-out the T-belt (and $4K worth of valves). He
advised watching the serpentine belt, and the associated bearings that it
runs on, for noises and wear.

Once again, I can recommend Cammisa for extensive knowledge on this model,
and that's why I drive past at least 3 other places that would be happy to
service my car to get to their place.

I'm still on-target for $2K or less per year in long-term maintenence &
repair costs, which has been quoted and confirmed by other owners.

<begin soapbox lesson> If you want to save a few pennies, you can get a
lower quote elsewhere; if you're in it for the long-haul and then choose
your mechanics wisely. <end soapbox>

Karl
'95 168LS
Sunnyvale, CA (the last North American Alfa under warranty(?))
--
to be removed from alfa, see /bin/digest-subs.cgi
or email "unsubscribe alfa" to majordomo@domain.elided