We've been flooding the readers with Alfa Romeo sedans lately, so we'll let the flood continue with this flood / water damage title 2001 Alfa Romeo 166. When Alfa Romeo departed the US market, US customers were due for a successor to the 1991-1995 Alfa Romeo 164. Had things turned out differently, this is what we would have received.

When it comes to Alfa sedans, we like to think of the Milano as essentially a 1970s car with a lot of plastic attached to it to pass for an 80s car. Take a look underneath a Milano, and you can see that the component assemblies were not very well-integrated. If you take a look underneath a 164, you'll see an increase in complexity and a number of improvements in the name of reducing variation between vehicles. Looking at the 166, we see the current age of automotive assembly - most of the fluid and electrical connectors, the minor clips and the formed routings all look like they could be from a car today.

Year: 2001
Model:  Alfa Romeo 166 2.4 JTD
Engine: 2.4L 5-cylinder diesel
Transmission: 5-speed manual
Mileage:  110,457 mi
Price: $8,995 obo
Location: Red Bank, NJ

CLICK FOR DETAILS: 2001 Alfa Romeo 166

***TITLED IN USA***

**CAR HAS BEEN RAN THROUGH OUR SHOP, RUNS AND DRIVES ISSUE FREE**

***2.5L TURBO-DIESEL INLINE 5 / 6 SPEED MANUAL TRANSMISSION***

***4 WHEEL DISC BRAKES w ABS***

***17" 5 SPOKE BLACK ALLOY WHEELS***

***HEATED LEATHER TRIMMED FRONT BUCKET SEATS***

***FULL POWER DRIVER & PASSENGER SEAT***

***3 DRIVER'S MEMORY SETTINGS***

***SINGLE-ZONE AUTOMATIC CLIMATE CONTROL***

***REAR SUN-SHADE***

***NAVIGATION SYSTEM***

***PROJECTOR BEAM HEADLIGHTS***

***AM/FM/CD/AUX RADIO***

***ALFA ROMEO PREMIUM AUDIO SYSTEM***

We won't recommend that anyone here buy a flood title car unless you know what to look for; we'd stay away without some real investigation into the damage and repairs. That said, this looks to be a really good example of the 166, albeit with an engine that makes a lot more sense in Europe than it does here. We'd take the Alfa V6 engines over the diesel if it were our choice.

These cars aren't very desirable on the used market in Europe. They're known for a lack of reliability, they depreciate quite a bit, and the V6 models were too thirsty for frugal drivers. In the US, we are will to forgive a lot of that for the unique styling, competent handling, and the novelty. We'll keep our eyes peeled for a good V6 example.

-Graham