cheap STS

[Roadkill]

Hmm . . . Maybe an everydayer in the future, then . . .

[Motorama]

I was just looking back through my stock book.

The STS i had earlier this year was a 2000 model, Silver, blue leather with 65k miles and reasonable history. I sold it in early Feb for £4800 so the one up the road for £2400 now seems very cheap.

[HardRockCamaro]

I had mine down as being 5k , maybe as low as 4k on a bad day.

[EDGE]

2K seems suspiciously cheap....

[Motorama]

Quoting: EDGE

2K seems suspiciously cheap....

Look on Autotrader, there's several under £3k now.

[Motorama]

Quoting: HardRockCamaro

Indeed.

RHD drivers door mirror glass - £260
LHD drivers door mirror glass - £60

Cant you just by a rh mirror glass for a left hand drive car?

[EDGE]

the drivers side is auto dimming....

[HardRockCamaro]

Indeed you lose the auto dimming as that is drivers side only.

Thus that would be pikeying out and Im always wary of any car that appears to have been pikey'd.  If someone is not prepared to spend the money on the right part then I question the maintenance and life the car has had in general.

Shame both mirrors don't autodim otherwise it would be the way forward...

[Roadkill]

Quoting: HardRockCamaro

If someone is not prepared to spend the money on the right part then I question the maintenance and life the car has had in general.

Don't buy a car off of me, will ya.

[Motorama]

Quoting: HardRockCamaro

Indeed you lose the auto dimming as that is drivers side only.

Thus that would be pikeying out and Im always wary of any car that appears to have been pikey'd. If someone is not prepared to spend the money on the right part then I question the maintenance and life the car has had in general.

Shame both mirrors don't autodim otherwise it would be the way forward...

It was a hypothetical (sp) question but i see your point. I also prefer to use the right part wherever possible.

[Motorama]

Looks like someone just hit the Buy It Now button!

[HardRockCamaro]

Quoting: Motorama

t was a hypothetical (sp) question but i see your point. I also prefer to use the right part wherever possible.

Oh indeed, I wasn't suggesting you'd use the wrong bit, you clearly weren't to know the passenger side mirror was not auto dimming.
Hell I only know because I had to replace the mirror glass when I bought the car as the previous owner had replaced it with a universal stick on mirror.  

Who spends £40,000 on a car and replaces the mirror glass with <£10 of universal stick on job?

[HardRockCamaro]

Quoting: Roadkill

Don't buy a car off of me, will ya.  

Hehe!!!!!

The problem is that I *know* what maintenance it's not had, lol!!!

[philoldsmobile]

Quoting: HardRockCamaro

2k is absolute rock bottom for an STS which is why I'm suspicious.

i dunno, thats the second one that popped up in the last month at that kind of price..

the was a silver STS with 140,000 miles on autotrader about a month ago for £1999

[philoldsmobile]

its also worth noting that to maintain the reliability with just about any modern high end car, not just any parts will do, only genuine parts will do..

not all oil filters are the same, for example, just because it physically fits don't mean its gonna do what the genuine part will do.

[Roadkill]

I think out of the newer Caddies I'd go for a 93-97 (?) Edlorado Touring Coupe.  To me they still look like a Cadillac.

The STS's are O.K but do look rough in certain colours, IMO.

[philoldsmobile]

the STS is lovely, but i'd have an alfa 166 in preferance, its similar money for the same age / milage..

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/1999-T-REG-ALFA-ROMEO-166-2-5-V6-24V-BLACK_W0QQitemZ320195744635QQihZ011QQcategoryZ9834QQssPageNameZWDVWQQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow\">http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/1999-T-REG-ALFA-ROMEO-166-2-5-V6-24V-BLACK_W0QQitemZ320195744635QQihZ011QQcategoryZ9834QQssPageNameZWDVWQQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem

[Motorama]

Quoting: philoldsmobile

the STS is lovely, but i'd have an alfa 166 in preferance, its similar money for the same age / milage..

but i doubt the parts would be any cheaper

[HardRockCamaro]

It will also break down a lot more...

[EDGE]

and then eventually (3 weeks or so) rust away to a bucket of orange dust....

[Roadkill]

Plus it's an Alfa.  

Their motors sound like a bucket of nails being stirred with a hammer from day one.

Always sound like they need oil, IMO . .

[HardRockCamaro]

The Alfa is nice to look at but it's hardly in the same league as the STS.

The STS is a much larger car, it has a V8 engine (no matter how you slice it, it's a more upmarket engine than a 2.5L V6) and is better equipped.

A fair comparison is a Jaguar XJ series or equivalent Merc, BMW 540i (slightly smaller but gains points for rwd) or 745i, or a Lexus 430.

In terms of competitive class (generally based on car size followed by engine size) an Alfa 166 is not the same as an STS you may as well compare a VW Polo to a BMW 3 series.


On a side note Alfa's *are* unreliable, don't talk yourself into one based on the rumour that they're not as bad as they used to be because in any case that's not saying much even if it is true.

[philoldsmobile]

actually alfa reliability is very hit or miss, depending on model..

the GTV and 156 are truly awful, but the 147 and 166 are excellent, in fact the 166 is regarded very highly for reliability..

the GT 159 and brera are currently too new for any major gremlins to show up, but are looking good so far.

look on carsurvey.org for the 166 reviews, its a sea of smilie faces!

[philoldsmobile]

Quoting: Roadkill

Their motors sound like a bucket of nails being stirred with a hammer from day one

the alfa V6 is one of the sweetest sounding engines on the planet!

[philoldsmobile]

the V6 is sweeet..



even the diesel sounds really good!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PbEvXMmuy9U&feature=related\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow\">http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PbEvXMmuy9U&feature=related

note that it goes pretty well too!