Alfa Romeo 159 Sportwagon (2006 - To Date) : WAGON
Thursday May 1
Models Covered:: 5DR SPORTWAGON (1.9, 2.2, 3.2 PETROL, 1.
9, 2.4 TURBODIESEL [TURISMO, LUSSO])
BY ANDY ENRIGHT
This might sound like a stuck record but the 159 Sportwagon is an Alfa Romeo that you can countenance buying used. Im guessing this was probably said about the 156 and the 155 before. Maybe not the 75 but with each subsequent generation of Alfa Romeo models, the Italian manufacturer closes the quality gap on the better cars in its sector. Alfa has pulled its socks up and the results are apparent in improving independent customer satisfaction surveys.
Of all the current Alfa models, the 159 rates highest and of all the 159s, the 159 Sportwagon offers the most alluring blend of panache and practicality. It has to be worth a punt.
Practicality. Rarely an Alfa byword, this is one area addressed moderately well in the 159 Sportwagon. I say moderately because, as an estate car, its predecessor, the 156 Sportwagon was, and lets not get too delicate here, a joke. With its rear seats in place, it possessed less useable luggage space than the saloon on which it was based.
It had other redeeming qualities insofar as it was better looking and, well, better looking but beyond that, it was never the most pragmatic choice. Nor is the 159 Sportwagon, if your blend of practicality involves lugging wardrobes or cubic hectares of garden waste. Where the 159 Sportwagon does move the game forward, albeit moderately, is that despite having the same overall length as the 159 saloon, luggage carrying capacity actually rises. With 445 cubic litres when the rear seats are in place, its only 15-litres shy of a 3 Series Touring and a whopping 80 litres up on the 156 Sportwagon.
At least now it can justify its existence as something other than a pretty face. Whereas many other manufacturers have learned all sorts of tricks from building MPV-style vehicles and have incorporated these into their estate cars, Alfa Romeo remain resiliently old school. The rear seats may be pleasantly light and easy to flip forward but the seat squabs stay fixed, which means that the seat backs wont fold flat. This limits the overall carrying capacity.
Some estate cars also feature neat touches like fold out compartment dividers and chromed steel floor rails so that heavy goods can slide in without destroying the carpet: sometimes, you even get pull out loading platforms. You dont get that with the 159 Sportwagon but thats not to say the Alfa is just a show pony. As well as an auxiliary power supply in the luggage bay, theres a light, a pull cover and, best of all, the basic shape of the load area is broad, flat and low with no intrusion from the rear suspension. The actual useable space may well be greater than those with greater quoted capacity in cubic litres.
The rear seats split 60/40 and theres a fold down section in the middle thats great for carrying longer items. Theres even a small cargo net on one side thats a handy place to store gloves, a torch or other bits and pieces.
The Alfa Romeo 159 Sportwagon range starts at just under £13,000 for a 1.9-litre JTS Turismo model but do bear in mind that this model was almost uniformly ignored in favour of the 2.2-litre JTS engine, examples of which start at around £13,500 in Turismo form. From here, its quite a step up to the first of the diesel models, the 1.
9 JTDm Turismo, which opens at around £15,250. Youll still need north of £20,500 to land one of the first 3.2-litre JTS V6 Q4 all-wheel drive variants.
One advantage of the 156s long lifespan was that Alfa could well and truly iron out its faults. The company wisely carried over certain mechanical parts to the 159 and as such, it has had a refreshing lack of teething issues. Check the driver information system for faults and ensure the controls for the ventilation system all function as they should. The 2.
4-litre diesel-engined car has quite an appetite for front tyres, so make sure these have the requisite tread depth and consistent wear rate. Alfa dealers once had a rather patchy reputation but some serious investment is starting to pay dividends with regards to service quality.
(based on a 1.9 JTS) A clutch assembly is around £138. Front and rear brakepads are around £50 per set of each, a rear exhaust box about £143 (excluding catalyst), a starter motor around £190. A replacement headlamp is about £145.
Its not worth pretending that the Alfa 159 can hold a candle to a BMW 3 Series as an enthusiasts performance car. Its front wheel drive chassis precludes that but with the option of all-wheel drive versions at the top of the range, the 159 has an advantage when it comes to all-weather security. Perhaps the 3 Series is the wrong car against which to benchmark the 159. It seems a more natural competitor to top-end Honda Accords and Saab 9-3s.
This sub premium compact executive sector still yields significant returns and is populated by cars like the Volvo S60 and the Jaguar X-TYPE, cars which the Alfa compares very favourably to. Five engines are on offer, split between two diesels and three petrol powerplants. The entry-level diesel option is the 150bhp 1.9-litre Multijet unit, while the range-topping diesel variant is the 2.
4-litre 200bhp Multijet JTD. This is an absolute stormer, capable of zipping to 60mph in a tad over 8 seconds. JTS petrol engines start with a 1.9-litre 160bhp four (replaced by a 140bhp 1.
8-litre MPI unit in mid-2007), with a 2.2-litre 185bhp powerplant above that. Of more interest to serious petrol heads is the 260bhp 3.2-litre V6, based on a Holden unit from Australia and rebuilt to a special Alfa recipe.
The manual transmission offered has been improved from the lazy, long-throw change of the 156 but theres also the choice of a six-speed automatic and a six-speed Selespeed sequential manual.
The Alfa 159 Sportwagon is a car that rewards a little patience. While Alfa build quality is on a sharply ascending curve, there remains some variability between individual cars and its worth having a look at a few examples before settling on one. Find a decent one and it should be no more or less reliable than an equivalent Saab or Volvo. Of all the engines offered, the 2.
2-litre JTS petrol and the 1.9-litre JTDm diesel are the best choices but the others are no slouches either.
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