ALFA ROMEO 166 3.0 V6 24V Sportronic 4dr Auto (1999)

Quite costly to run

Needless to say my husband led the decision to buy our Alfa Romeo 166. In fairness though he made a good case. It's got a lot of gadgets and general stuff inside given the relatively low price (compared to BMW etc - he actually made me a spreadsheet to compare). This is used I'm talking about, don't know about new.

He's always going on about how great it is to drive, especially to his silly mates who all love cars. Sadly our little boy seems to be getting interested to, but I suppose it's something they can bond over. Anyway, from my point of view it's good in the sense that it's a reliable car, doesn't mess us about too much. The boot is a great size, much better than the Mazda we had before. The car is a saloon but the boot is really a lot bigger than you'd expect from that.

The problem is that the boot seems to have jutted into where the back seats should be, and the back seats are pretty pokey as a result. They don't fold either, so what you see is what you get. It's mostly just the kids in the back at the moment, and they're fairly small now, but that won't last. Still, our Alfa Romeo 166 is ten years old so we might sell it on at some point in the next few years.

I say my other half goes on about the car, but I have to admit the sound of the engine burbling and gurgling away is quite pleasing at times. The car is quite fancy all in all and feels like a bit of a exec car. I sometimes feel a bit daft getting out of it in Tesco. It make me laugh when boy racers eye it up then see a mum and kids get out, teehee.

What makes me dislike it the most is the cost of running. The repairs are few, thankfully, but the fuel is too much. It really drinks the stuff, and oil too, and I think hubby drives faster than me anyway so he must get through even more.