It sounds as if you've known the wrong Alfa owners. I've had quite a few and although one was prone to an intermittent tickover, I've not experienced a break-down with any of them. Although Alfa have had a bad press in the UK, this compares rather favourably with most car manufacturers, with the possible exception of Nissan who seem to be able to make their cars as reliable as a knife and fork. (Spoons are reserved by Honda).
Cosicave - OK I bow to your personal experience. Maybe not so many 'breakdowns' but things needing to get fixed. (As a very small aside - please don't all rush to respond in kind - my missus had a new Hyundai about 10/12 years ago - ((I'd prefer say a used Golf, )) but nothing ever failed etc. She gave it to a daughter on returning from living in the States. It is still going strong - just a new battery, window winders they did themselves and now finally a clutch). Fantastic service. So she bought another - an I30 Edition. Seems brilliant for the money. Now, my BMW 7 series and 3 series cost a mint to fix things. The 7 just had to go - seemed everytime I drove it told me something needing fixing. Now my fun car is an MX5 - so far so good. )
I love MX5's, borrowed the girlfriends mums yesterday for a blast (I cannot believe its only ã20 for 3 weeks insurance!), and just drove every B-road I could find, not the warmest, but definitely had to have the top down!
