The electrical system is as bad as an English car's. It does leak oil, no matter what, so your garage floor will always be dirty (I keep kitty litter on mine). I probably spend about $1200 a year on repairs and tuning (but that's better than buying a new car, right, guys?). The third time was because they did such a rotten job on the second time (before my good mechanic).

Before that I tried a series of them, including an Alfa dealer, all of which were bad. The most important thing about owning an Alfa is to find the right mechanic. The worst time was when it happened just as I was getting on the Bay Bridge. I've never heard of anyone else's breaking. For some reason the accelerator cable breaks periodically-three times so far. It does require a lot of upkeep, but I've been stranded only two or three times in 15 years. It's not a great car for freeway driving, but it's wonderful on winding roads like Highway 1. I leave the top down all the time unless it's actually raining or I'm on the freeway. I love my Spider! It's a perfect car for San Francisco-great for hills and easy to park. He bent the valve keepers turning the engine over with the cams in wrong and some jerk cut a hole in the roof while it was in his lot. The most pain, however, was when the head gasket blew for the second time and I thought I'd save myself a little time and trouble and take it to a small town mechanic. Lots of good times, conversations and looks have come because of the car. So I'm looking for a nice rusty Subaru that's ugly as sin for a winter beater. But I just moved to New York from New Mexico, and even if I didn't care about it rusting away, I'd freeze my toes off driving it around in the winter. The longest stretch I've ever had it on the road without anything major going wrong is three months. It's currently my only car, which is kind of a pain in the neck. And I know what everything under the hood does. It's much more fun to work on (and needs a lot more, being only two years younger than I am) but it sure has a lot more guts. I can't ask for another good deal in my life I suppose, and I hadn't had enough fun/punishment yet, so I bought another. I bought my first one (an '81) for $200, put in a new trannie, clutch and some brakes for about $1,500 and drove it till some jerk pulled out in fronta me and I totaled it.

Alfa romeo spider 1978 wiring diagram