Indeed it is..... i have loads of opinions about this but i'll save it for another thread....
id go for the alfa as they are different and really good to drive, the jtd's are actually reliable, 156s suffer with squeeky wishbone bushes though, even after replacement they the just sweek all the time.... just buy one with a well documented service history and i reckon you cant go wrong..... to be fair i would think that cars are only as reliable as far as they are maintained......for example would an audi with a no service history be more reliable than an alfa with a full service history? probably not.....point is that everyone tells me that Peugeots are unreliable, yet ive had 2 of them and theyve never let me down, probably to do with the fact that they were very well looked after, id say really its down to the owner, a guy who buys a peugeot is more likely to neglect it than a guy who buys an audi or vw... different kind of person.....
i hope all that makes sence....actually i suspectit doesnt....