Buying or leasing a new car comes with certain benefits. Chief amongst them are the factory warranty and the fact that you can get repairs handled by the dealership. However, if that dealership fails to deliver, you can find yourself in one heck of a pickle. Worse, if you’ve financed or you’re on a lease, you’re on the hook for payments. David Kaplan from North Carolina has been going through just such a trial, and after six long months, he’s more frustrated than ever.
Speaking to The Autopian, he outlined his tale of woe, which he says all began when he leased a new Alfa Romeo Tonale. He should have been enjoying a glorious time with his new Italian SUV. Instead, it’s been stuck in dealer limbo for over six months now, and he says he’s been stuck paying the bills.
David’s story begins in August last year when he visited Leith Alfa Romeo in Raleigh, North Carolina. He liked the Tonale, but he had some concerns upfront about service. “The dealership in Raleigh, NC was about 100 miles from my house,” he explains. “They agreed to provide a loaner if the car required service overnight, [since] there was no comfortable place to sleep in their showroom.” With his concerns assuaged, the lease went ahead, and he took delivery of the vehicle.
A few months later, trouble struck as he was driving on I-40 in heavy traffic. “A small traffic cone appeared in my lane, I couldn’t avoid it,” he says. The car was still driveable after the incident, but it had sustained some cosmetic damage to the grille and bumper. “I called the dealer to arrange repair and reminded them of their commitment to provide a loaner and they agreed,” he says.
Sadly, things started to go sideways from there. Upon dropping the vehicle off and making a prepayment for repairs, he was told there was no loaner and he’d be on his own. “They sent me by Lyft to the airport so I could rent a car,” he explains. He ended up paying $75 for a rental out of his own pocket to get home.
That would be frustrating enough on its own, but things only got worse. Weeks went by, then months. “The car is still not fixed,” says David. “It is still, I’ve been told, at the dealership awaiting I don’t know what.” All the while, David has kept having to pay his lease month after month—all for a car he doesn’t have, and isn’t able to drive. He’s been lucky enough to have a Volkswagen on hand to get around in the meantime, but his frustration continues to mount.
David made multiple attempts to get to the bottom of the issue as the months ticked by. “First I was told that the parts were back-ordered, then I was told that they were available but were in Italy and would be sent by boat to the US,” he says. “When the parts arrived, they were put on the car but then painting was needed.” Next, he was told that the painting had failed and needed to be redone, then he was told the sensors needed calibration, and the saga kept on going. “I was [then] told that one of the sensors was defective and that it was back ordered; they didn’t know when it would be available.” He notes that he was told it was the adaptive cruise control sensor that was at fault, and he’d had no problems with it when he dropped off the car.
It remains a mystery to David why the vehicle wasn’t repaired in a quick and timely fashion. An insurance estimate made after the incident indicated it was expected the vehicle would take one day to repair. It listed a replacement bumper assembly, park sensor, and distance sensor, with costs expected to be approximately $3,000 including labor. Not cheap, but not surprising—modern bumpers can be expensive to replace.
Regardless, David isn’t hanging out for his Tonale anymore. He’s faced a brick wall at the dealership, and he says Alfa Romeo Customer Care hasn’t come to his aid after five or six phone calls, either.
“I went to Raleigh today to talk with the general manager at the Alfa store,” he says. “Nice guy who was completely sympathetic with my problem, and to declare absolutely that he can do nothing to help me.” He was directed to speak with Alfa Romeo corporate, though he says the general manager would not provide any contact details or help towards that end.
The Autopian contacted the dealership in question regarding the matter, and received the following statement.
Due to the nature of the damage the vehicle sustained when the driver hit a road hazard, the repair requires a full recalibration of the various driver assistance systems. Leith continues to work closely with the manufacturer and their engineering team to find a resolution for this complex recalibration. We remain committed to completing this repair for the customer.
Alfa Romeo’s US arm has also been contacted for comment on the matter.
At this point, David is looking for pretty much any way out of this ugly situation. “They have refused to buy it back, swap it with a new one on their lot, get me out of the lease, or reimburse me for the over $5,000 in costs during the six month period,” he says. He’s since engaged legal representation to serve a letter to the dealership, demanding a buyback and a refund for months of lease payments.
It’s a sad story because David actually quite liked the vehicle up until that point. “I really enjoyed the car,” he says. “But I cannot say anything good about the experience.” In any case, he’s wary about even getting the vehicle back at this point. “[That] would leave me in a position to deal with their ‘Customer Service’ for the remainder of the lease,” he muses.
The situation remains at an impasse. His original lease was for 39 months, leaving him with over two and a half years remaining on the contract. He’s at the point of contemplating whether to stop paying the lease, even at a hit to his credit rating, since he simply doesn’t have the use of the vehicle that he’s paying for. He’s also considered legal action but suspects that fees and the time involved would make it a pointless endeavor.
David’s story is a simple one. He paid for a car, and he expected to have one. Instead, he’s out of pocket with years of payments ahead of him if he can’t find a solution. There are supposed to be mechanisms to help customers stuck in quagmires like these, both corporate and legal. David’s at the point where he’s running out of levers to pull.
Fundamentally, it’s not supposed to be like this. Accidents happen, and cars get damaged. Automakers are expected to keep parts on hand to fix them and help keep them on the road. Dealerships in turn are there to handle customer service and repairs. Somewhere in that chain, something went wrong, and that needs to be made right.
Image credits: David Kaplan, Alfa Romeo, Google Street View
Can’t believe I am siding with a dealer, and a typically known to be horrible Alfa one. But it’s 1000% the persons problem and hell they created for themselves. No dealer in the world will give you a loaner for accident damage repair, thats the insurance companies problem and of course it’s an Alfa so the parts ain’t gonna be available anytime soon. Surely next we will hear what a crappy job they did on the repairs….
Unless the vehicle was undriveable/unsafe there’s usually little reason if any to have left it at the body shop until they were ready to do the repairs, unless insurance would cover the rental for all that time. Cosmetic damage is just that: cosmetic. Drive the car until the body shop is ready to do the repairs.
My wife just had a minor encounter with a parking lot rock in her new Lucid. Of course there are only 2 certified repair shops that can even order the parts in our area and neither are very convenient. However, I’m not dumb enough to leave it with them while they wait for the parts. I took it to them to verify the adjuster’s estimates and for them to order the parts. I had to leave a deposit for them to order the parts, but once everything arrives it should take them just a couple of days (fortunately no sensors involved). When I was initially asked to leave it with them I verified what was needed from me so that it wouldn’t sit there for who knows how long.
Unless the vehicle was undriveable/unsafe there’s usually little reason if any to have left it at the body shop until they were ready to do the repairs, unless insurance would cover the rental for all that time. Cosmetic damage is just that: cosmetic. Drive the car until the body shop is ready to do the repairs.
My wife just had a minor encounter with a parking lot rock in her new Lucid. Of course there are only 2 certified repair shops that can even order the parts in our area and neither are very convenient. However, I’m not dumb enough to leave it with them while they wait for the parts. I took it to them to verify the adjuster’s estimates and for them to order the parts. I had to leave a deposit for them to order the parts, but once everything arrives it should take them just a couple of days (fortunately no sensors involved). When I was initially asked to leave it with them I verified what was needed from me so that it wouldn’t sit there for who knows how long.
My Alfa dealer provides me with loaners for service and warranty work. I would not expect that they provide me with one for accident repair, for which the brand and dealership bare absolutely no responsibility in. Also why doesn’t the Tonale owner’s auto insurance cover rental reimbursement for accident repair? Unless he opted out of that coverage, which again, should not be the fault of the dealership. An accident has nothing to do with routine service or warranty work specific to a make/model.
That said, I can understand the frustrating wait for Alfa parts. My Quad was waiting on a new engine ECU in May, had to be brought in from Italy. My dealer provided me with a loaner, which he said Alfa reimburses the dealer at a rate of about $55/day. I had the loaner for 2 weeks, so Alfa reimbursed the dealer $770. It seems to me, that someone in Stellantis parts logistics should realize that paying for UPS world wide express for a direct express shipment from Italy for $100-$150 (or maybe even less at large corporate account rates!) would have resulted in the ECU landing at my dealer much quicker at lower total overall cost and less inconvenience to me.
You’re spot-on about the loaner; it’s not a failure of the car, isn’t covered by Alfa Romeo’s warranty, so loaner is owed.
In the insurance company’s eyes the repairs would take a day or so, since it’s apparently largely cosmetic. If they offered a rental it would have probably been for maybe 2-3 days, possibly longer based on parts availability. The issues with workmanship and/or subsequent parts failures – either from misdiagnostic or improper treatment during the painting (likely) – would be on the shop doing the work.
If it had been my car and if the damage was indeed cosmetic, I’d have let the body shop do the estimate, take the car back, and wait until they were able to do the repairs. Then arrange the rental ahead of time billed to the insurance company, then get the car to the body shop. Rental company picks me up from the body shop, repairs commence (hopefully as planned). Body shop finishes repairs, I return rental to rental company, they drop me off at body shop to pick up repaired car, ta-da done.
It may have been an agreement when the car was leased. A GMC/Buick dealer that I have leased from in the past gives free loaners if you use their body shop as a matter of policy, and it’s spelled out in documents that they give you when you lease or buy a vehicle. It’s usually been a Terrain or Enclave that they then sell at the dealership at a discount, but still with a new car warranty after it gets 5 or 6,000 miles on it.
Should say “so no loaner is owed. Not sure where the word went.
My Alfa dealer provides me with loaners for service and warranty work. I would not expect that they provide me with one for accident repair, for which the brand and dealership bare absolutely no responsibility in. Also why doesn’t the Tonale owner’s auto insurance cover rental reimbursement for accident repair? Unless he opted out of that coverage, which again, should not be the fault of the dealership. An accident has nothing to do with routine service or warranty work specific to a make/model.
That said, I can understand the frustrating wait for Alfa parts. My Quad was waiting on a new engine ECU in May, had to be brought in from Italy. My dealer provided me with a loaner, which he said Alfa reimburses the dealer at a rate of about $55/day. I had the loaner for 2 weeks, so Alfa reimbursed the dealer $770. It seems to me, that someone in Stellantis parts logistics should realize that paying for UPS world wide express for a direct express shipment from Italy for $100-$150 (or maybe even less at large corporate account rates!) would have resulted in the ECU landing at my dealer much quicker at lower total overall cost and less inconvenience to me.
You’re spot-on about the loaner; it’s not a failure of the car, isn’t covered by Alfa Romeo’s warranty, so loaner is owed.
In the insurance company’s eyes the repairs would take a day or so, since it’s apparently largely cosmetic. If they offered a rental it would have probably been for maybe 2-3 days, possibly longer based on parts availability. The issues with workmanship and/or subsequent parts failures – either from misdiagnostic or improper treatment during the painting (likely) – would be on the shop doing the work.
If it had been my car and if the damage was indeed cosmetic, I’d have let the body shop do the estimate, take the car back, and wait until they were able to do the repairs. Then arrange the rental ahead of time billed to the insurance company, then get the car to the body shop. Rental company picks me up from the body shop, repairs commence (hopefully as planned). Body shop finishes repairs, I return rental to rental company, they drop me off at body shop to pick up repaired car, ta-da done.
It may have been an agreement when the car was leased. A GMC/Buick dealer that I have leased from in the past gives free loaners if you use their body shop as a matter of policy, and it’s spelled out in documents that they give you when you lease or buy a vehicle. It’s usually been a Terrain or Enclave that they then sell at the dealership at a discount, but still with a new car warranty after it gets 5 or 6,000 miles on it.
Should say “so no loaner is owed. Not sure where the word went.
I mean this sucks ass all around but I’m struggling to find a ton of sympathy. He leased an Alfa, and a first model year PHEV one at that. If he did any research he’d be well aware of the risks that come along with owning the least reliable products from arguably the least reliable manufacturer in Stellantis…not to mention Alfa barely has a dealership network and the closest one to him is 100 miles away?
Did he think they were going to send an Uber black to come pick him up and whisk him back and forth? It’s a damn Alfa, not a Rolls. Also, “I’m just going to stop making payments, that’ll show them!” is such a petulant attitude that’s only going to harm the customer.
Alfa doesn’t give a shit if you stop paying (or does a bank own this car? I’m not too familiar with leasing), but the credit bureaus sure do and you signed a damn contract. You have to live with the consequences. That’s how being an adult works. You can’t just throw a tantrum and pretend it doesn’t exist.
This also isn’t warranty work. If it was warranty work he might have a case…but he wrecked his car. He can deny responsibility for it all he wants, and maybe it wasn’t his fault at all, but the car didn’t do anything wrong. Am I missing something here? I fucking loathe car dealerships, and I agree that this sucks, but I’m struggling to see how David is a victim here.
What was the reliability issue though? The damage was cosmetic. If you read it again, the dealer claims the cruise control system broke, but it wasn’t broken in the crash. So it would have been the dealer who broke it during repairs, if it even is broken.
The way a lease typically works is that the manufacturer has an affiliated financial services company that purchases the vehicle and your rental (lease) contract is between you and them. The contract specifies the acceptable methods of service (generally at a dealership) and repair (OEM parts), as well as costs for damage on return. The dealer has no more interest in the car than any other car they’ve sold. The manufacturer’s finance arm has an interest in getting things taken care of, but the contract generally puts the actual responsibility on the person leasing the car.
I mean this sucks ass all around but I’m struggling to find a ton of sympathy. He leased an Alfa, and a first model year PHEV one at that. If he did any research he’d be well aware of the risks that come along with owning the least reliable products from arguably the least reliable manufacturer in Stellantis…not to mention Alfa barely has a dealership network and the closest one to him is 100 miles away?
Did he think they were going to send an Uber black to come pick him up and whisk him back and forth? It’s a damn Alfa, not a Rolls. Also, “I’m just going to stop making payments, that’ll show them!” is such a petulant attitude that’s only going to harm the customer.
Alfa doesn’t give a shit if you stop paying (or does a bank own this car? I’m not too familiar with leasing), but the credit bureaus sure do and you signed a damn contract. You have to live with the consequences. That’s how being an adult works. You can’t just throw a tantrum and pretend it doesn’t exist.
This also isn’t warranty work. If it was warranty work he might have a case…but he wrecked his car. He can deny responsibility for it all he wants, and maybe it wasn’t his fault at all, but the car didn’t do anything wrong. Am I missing something here? I fucking loathe car dealerships, and I agree that this sucks, but I’m struggling to see how David is a victim here.
What was the reliability issue though? The damage was cosmetic. If you read it again, the dealer claims the cruise control system broke, but it wasn’t broken in the crash. So it would have been the dealer who broke it during repairs, if it even is broken.
The way a lease typically works is that the manufacturer has an affiliated financial services company that purchases the vehicle and your rental (lease) contract is between you and them. The contract specifies the acceptable methods of service (generally at a dealership) and repair (OEM parts), as well as costs for damage on return. The dealer has no more interest in the car than any other car they’ve sold. The manufacturer’s finance arm has an interest in getting things taken care of, but the contract generally puts the actual responsibility on the person leasing the car.
Eh, dealers, there is no penalty for frauds.
How about DOT?
Eh, dealers, there is no penalty for frauds.
How about DOT?
Why let the car sit at the dealer when it is perfectly drivable? I work for a Chevy dealer and we send customers on their way, with their vehicle, all the time when parts are backordered. Then we call when the parts are in and schedule an appointment.
I’m not usually one to defend dealers, but I’m sure when they agreed to the loaner for overnight service they meant for repairs that were Alfas fault, not the dude crashing his car.
Also cones don’t just appear out of nowhere.
Why let the car sit at the dealer when it is perfectly drivable? I work for a Chevy dealer and we send customers on their way, with their vehicle, all the time when parts are backordered. Then we call when the parts are in and schedule an appointment.
I’m not usually one to defend dealers, but I’m sure when they agreed to the loaner for overnight service they meant for repairs that were Alfas fault, not the dude crashing his car.
Also cones don’t just appear out of nowhere.
So this guy damaged his car, and expects the dealership to put him into a loaner for damage he caused? Why? Dealers don’t hand out loaners for cars in accidents. That’s why you pay your insurance company another $30 every six months to have a rental car.
This isn’t like a alternator went out, and is being covered under warranty and the part is on backorder.
So this guy damaged his car, and expects the dealership to put him into a loaner for damage he caused? Why? Dealers don’t hand out loaners for cars in accidents. That’s why you pay your insurance company another $30 every six months to have a rental car.
This isn’t like a alternator went out, and is being covered under warranty and the part is on backorder.
Sounds like the damage was not such that it made the vehicle undriveable – So why leave it there waiting for parts? He should have taken the car in for his survey/estimate – then taken it home and brought it in again for the repair.
Dealers don’t give loaners out without an appt – and they don’t give them for months at a time due to crash damage – only a day or two for maintenance appointments.
His car insurance should have covered the rental – if he had that line in his policy. If he didn’t have that line in his policy – He’s self-insured.
It’s not a lemon and it’s not the manufacturer/dealers fault he crashed his car.
Sounds like a narcissistic whiner to me.
Sounds like the damage was not such that it made the vehicle undriveable – So why leave it there waiting for parts? He should have taken the car in for his survey/estimate – then taken it home and brought it in again for the repair.
Dealers don’t give loaners out without an appt – and they don’t give them for months at a time due to crash damage – only a day or two for maintenance appointments.
His car insurance should have covered the rental – if he had that line in his policy. If he didn’t have that line in his policy – He’s self-insured.
It’s not a lemon and it’s not the manufacturer/dealers fault he crashed his car.
Sounds like a narcissistic whiner to me.
Unfortunately supply chains still aren’t quite back to normal, and getting collision repair parts can be much slower than it used to be. Buying an uncommon car doesn’t help the matter.
Unfortunately supply chains still aren’t quite back to normal, and getting collision repair parts can be much slower than it used to be. Buying an uncommon car doesn’t help the matter.
It was rumoured that Stellantis did not want Alfa Romeo when it bought the Fiat group.
Not even Italians know how to make them work– the story of a bumper sensor wrecking the cruise control is typical — they probably share a bus connection because it looked like the right place to put the wire…
It was rumoured that Stellantis did not want Alfa Romeo when it bought the Fiat group.
Not even Italians know how to make them work– the story of a bumper sensor wrecking the cruise control is typical — they probably share a bus connection because it looked like the right place to put the wire…
Leave it to Stellantis to make Fisker look like a well-oiled model of efficiency in comparison (I mean, they didn’t have parts available, either, but they took them off the CEO’s company car when a customer needed repairs, so, hey, they at least tried to find a creative solution)
Leave it to Stellantis to make Fisker look like a well-oiled model of efficiency in comparison (I mean, they didn’t have parts available, either, but they took them off the CEO’s company car when a customer needed repairs, so, hey, they at least tried to find a creative solution)
How is this the dealership’s fault? He had a crash. It’s taking time to get parts to fix his vehicle from the crash. That sucks, but it’s reality. I think Mr. Kaplan needs to be yelling at his insurance company, who really should be stepping up to provide him with alternative transportation (assuming his policy covers it) while his car is being repaired, and should be hounding the shop fixing his car to get the parts in stock and get the car returned. Also curious why this is being fixed at the dealership, rather than at a autobody shop closer to home.
The blog says that 1) he arranged repair with the dealer, 2) they promised a loaner, and 3) he pre-paid for the repair.
Assuming that those facts are true, it is on the dealer to both provide the loaner and to get the repair done in a timely manner (not give BS like a “bad paint job”, which can be re-done in a day if they really wanted to).
That said, it was also pretty stupid of the guy to pre-pay for something at a dealer. No way in heck I’d pay a penny to one until work was completed to my satisfaction.
Yeah, I know Autopian likes to crap on Alfa, but this article has scummy dealer written all over it. I’ll add that the dealer stated there was a fault with the cruise control sensor and it needed replacing, but the owner had had no problems with it.
Leith was a pretty good local dealership group (as far as car dealers go) but they were recently bought by a larger dealership network. I wouldn’t be surprised if this was a result of large corporate dealer enshitification.
That is happening all over the US (maybe worldwide). And if the dealer has a decent reputation, the private equity buyers usually keep the name. One here locally even contracts with the former owner to do advertisements even though she sold the store in 2017.
The more I think about this, it feels like something fishy is going on. I wonder if the guy doesn’t have rental coverage on his insurance, so rather than taking it to a body shop he said I’ll see if the dealer can handle it, then I can press them for the rental car they promised me.
Very much a spirit of the agreement vs letter of the agreement type argument, but the dealership should have told him to take his collision repair to a body shop vs trying to do it themselves.
I work in parts at a dealer, people constantly call us after getting in a accident and want us to do it, so it stays off the carfax. We almost always tell them to go to a body shop unless it’s something very minor like a mirror cover or tail light.
Strange that people would take their car to a dealer to avoid a Carfax record. Almost all dealers around me report to Carfax, and provide free reports on the used cars they’re selling. It’s the small independent shops that do things that sometimes do not get recorded.
Right? Look for the mom and pop shop that has “cash” rates available. They aren’t gonna report a thing to anyone, including the US Govt tax man.
How is this the dealership’s fault? He had a crash. It’s taking time to get parts to fix his vehicle from the crash. That sucks, but it’s reality. I think Mr. Kaplan needs to be yelling at his insurance company, who really should be stepping up to provide him with alternative transportation (assuming his policy covers it) while his car is being repaired, and should be hounding the shop fixing his car to get the parts in stock and get the car returned. Also curious why this is being fixed at the dealership, rather than at a autobody shop closer to home.
The blog says that 1) he arranged repair with the dealer, 2) they promised a loaner, and 3) he pre-paid for the repair.
Assuming that those facts are true, it is on the dealer to both provide the loaner and to get the repair done in a timely manner (not give BS like a “bad paint job”, which can be re-done in a day if they really wanted to).
That said, it was also pretty stupid of the guy to pre-pay for something at a dealer. No way in heck I’d pay a penny to one until work was completed to my satisfaction.
Yeah, I know Autopian likes to crap on Alfa, but this article has scummy dealer written all over it. I’ll add that the dealer stated there was a fault with the cruise control sensor and it needed replacing, but the owner had had no problems with it.
Leith was a pretty good local dealership group (as far as car dealers go) but they were recently bought by a larger dealership network. I wouldn’t be surprised if this was a result of large corporate dealer enshitification.
That is happening all over the US (maybe worldwide). And if the dealer has a decent reputation, the private equity buyers usually keep the name. One here locally even contracts with the former owner to do advertisements even though she sold the store in 2017.
The more I think about this, it feels like something fishy is going on. I wonder if the guy doesn’t have rental coverage on his insurance, so rather than taking it to a body shop he said I’ll see if the dealer can handle it, then I can press them for the rental car they promised me.
Very much a spirit of the agreement vs letter of the agreement type argument, but the dealership should have told him to take his collision repair to a body shop vs trying to do it themselves.
I work in parts at a dealer, people constantly call us after getting in a accident and want us to do it, so it stays off the carfax. We almost always tell them to go to a body shop unless it’s something very minor like a mirror cover or tail light.
Strange that people would take their car to a dealer to avoid a Carfax record. Almost all dealers around me report to Carfax, and provide free reports on the used cars they’re selling. It’s the small independent shops that do things that sometimes do not get recorded.
Right? Look for the mom and pop shop that has “cash” rates available. They aren’t gonna report a thing to anyone, including the US Govt tax man.
His problems started with the first link in the chain: Alfa Romeo. I personally know four people who purchased or leased Alfas in the last 10 years. Suffice to say, none are still driving Alfas.
I love Alfa and I will love to the last my key to repair. Period
I love so many Alfa designs and how they run – for the 15 minutes they run right. If you have the time, patience, tools and parts, they’re lovely cars, but definitely hobby cars, at least over here in America. Maybe, close to the Italian motherland, they do better.
Alfa is nothing if you have lovely Renault Dauphine, I carry screwdriver in my packet all the time.
Ordered a Giulia in 2017, loved it despite many problems. Bought a ’23 Stelvio Quad off the lot last fall, and it is an amazing vehicle. I never thought the dynamics of an SUV could be this good. I really mean it when I tell people that the Stelvio Quad is an All-Weather Supercar. What other vehicle under $100k has the Stelvio Quad’s combination of pedigree, styling, performance and still is hugely practical?
I still have the Giulia too!
My friends’ experiences do not match yours. A combination of constant small problems (and one large problem) including electrical glitches, brake issues, misfires and stalling, fuel leaks and an engine fire, plus piss-poor dealership support soured them on Alfa forever. They had three Giulias and one Stelvio between them.
I did not say I had a problem free experience with our Giulia, I said, I remained with the brand despite the multitude of problems. But I had a great dealer too for the Giulia, who picked up our car in a covered trailer and dropped off a loaner for service and warranty work. And I lived 160 miles from that dealer. A good dealer can make up for some poor reliability experiences, depending on how they handle customer service and accommodate the issue. My wife and I are very busy professionals, so having that commitment to so service/warranty work with pickup/dropoff service at our home or office was incredible value to us. I can’t buy my personal time that would have been lost back in those cases.
Probably the most annoying period of ownership with the Giulia was the summer of 2020, when it spent the better part of two months at the dealer going through all sorts of issues with the evaporative emissions system. On top of that, the Giulia had some electrical issues, failed sunroof, failed radiator (end tank leaking – manufacturing defect from supplier Mahle), and a probably at least half a dozen other things sorted under the original warranty.
Even my new Quad hasn’t been problem free. As I noted in another comment I just had to wait a couple of weeks for a new engine ECU. The Quad uses two engine ECUs, one for each bank of the V6, and there was some sort of sync issue between the two ECUs that would result in engine occasionally running very rough until shutdown/restart reset. So far that is the only issue I’ve encountered over 9 months of ownership.
Alfa’s aren’t for everyone, they’re an acquired taste that requires you prioritize the vehicle experience when everything is working properly (which is still most of the time), rather than constantly bitching about the headaches.
Definitely Alfa and Ferrari not for dome peoples. Viva Italia. Viva Lancia Stratos.
Sounds just like my experience with BMW with my 325is. One year of ownership and the damn car spent 4 and a half months of it in the shop getting issues fixed. Two weeks after delivery it had to go in for service BC of warped rotors. Of course the dealer didn’t have any in stock. Nor did BMW anywhere in North America. It took six weeks to get the parts from the motherland. They kindly provided me with a Lada loaner at ten bucks a day. The instrument cluster shorted out and had to be replaced, the driveshaft was out of balance and destroyed the differential. The list was long and frustrating. The Lada was far more reliable. Traded the POS on a Mercedes 190e. It was better, but the dealer was worse.
His problems started with the first link in the chain: Alfa Romeo. I personally know four people who purchased or leased Alfas in the last 10 years. Suffice to say, none are still driving Alfas.
I love Alfa and I will love to the last my key to repair. Period
I love so many Alfa designs and how they run – for the 15 minutes they run right. If you have the time, patience, tools and parts, they’re lovely cars, but definitely hobby cars, at least over here in America. Maybe, close to the Italian motherland, they do better.
Alfa is nothing if you have lovely Renault Dauphine, I carry screwdriver in my packet all the time.
Ordered a Giulia in 2017, loved it despite many problems. Bought a ’23 Stelvio Quad off the lot last fall, and it is an amazing vehicle. I never thought the dynamics of an SUV could be this good. I really mean it when I tell people that the Stelvio Quad is an All-Weather Supercar. What other vehicle under $100k has the Stelvio Quad’s combination of pedigree, styling, performance and still is hugely practical?
I still have the Giulia too!
My friends’ experiences do not match yours. A combination of constant small problems (and one large problem) including electrical glitches, brake issues, misfires and stalling, fuel leaks and an engine fire, plus piss-poor dealership support soured them on Alfa forever. They had three Giulias and one Stelvio between them.
I did not say I had a problem free experience with our Giulia, I said, I remained with the brand despite the multitude of problems. But I had a great dealer too for the Giulia, who picked up our car in a covered trailer and dropped off a loaner for service and warranty work. And I lived 160 miles from that dealer. A good dealer can make up for some poor reliability experiences, depending on how they handle customer service and accommodate the issue. My wife and I are very busy professionals, so having that commitment to so service/warranty work with pickup/dropoff service at our home or office was incredible value to us. I can’t buy my personal time that would have been lost back in those cases.
Probably the most annoying period of ownership with the Giulia was the summer of 2020, when it spent the better part of two months at the dealer going through all sorts of issues with the evaporative emissions system. On top of that, the Giulia had some electrical issues, failed sunroof, failed radiator (end tank leaking – manufacturing defect from supplier Mahle), and a probably at least half a dozen other things sorted under the original warranty.
Even my new Quad hasn’t been problem free. As I noted in another comment I just had to wait a couple of weeks for a new engine ECU. The Quad uses two engine ECUs, one for each bank of the V6, and there was some sort of sync issue between the two ECUs that would result in engine occasionally running very rough until shutdown/restart reset. So far that is the only issue I’ve encountered over 9 months of ownership.
Alfa’s aren’t for everyone, they’re an acquired taste that requires you prioritize the vehicle experience when everything is working properly (which is still most of the time), rather than constantly bitching about the headaches.
Definitely Alfa and Ferrari not for dome peoples. Viva Italia. Viva Lancia Stratos.
Sounds just like my experience with BMW with my 325is. One year of ownership and the damn car spent 4 and a half months of it in the shop getting issues fixed. Two weeks after delivery it had to go in for service BC of warped rotors. Of course the dealer didn’t have any in stock. Nor did BMW anywhere in North America. It took six weeks to get the parts from the motherland. They kindly provided me with a Lada loaner at ten bucks a day. The instrument cluster shorted out and had to be replaced, the driveshaft was out of balance and destroyed the differential. The list was long and frustrating. The Lada was far more reliable. Traded the POS on a Mercedes 190e. It was better, but the dealer was worse.