He was getting rid of it because he's bought a place in Italy and the 159 couldn't handle the narrow roads in the snow. He'd have kept it otherwise.
Ahh, that might be a problem then I hoped being 4x4 it might mean it would be good in the snow and around the narrow Welsh roads!
My 156 was better quality and that's saying something.
Buy a Honda CRV, cracking bit of kit.
159 is full of GM bits that were made to even a tighter budget than Alfa, suspension parts wear badly, subframes rot and the engine just doesn't feel like a 3.2 V6, it doesn't like to rev and just doesn't inspire. If you want a 4WD estate I would look at the Subaru or Audi models both have a good mix of performance and durability
There's not that much clearance so he got stuck. The replacement is a Panda 4x4
We ran a Q4 sport wagon for a few years. It was gorgeous to look at and to sit in. That's where it ended though - very heavy, not as quick as we'd hoped and didn't have the noise of a Busso engined car. It ate tyres and was too thirsty as a daily.
We settled on a Defender for Welsh lanes - copes with snow, slurry and mud.