The return of Alfa Romeo

[jlwdm]

Originally Posted by Ken Robb

I guess the relatively meager number of Alfa dealers makes it awkward to go to another dealer to get a fair deal. Even if you did that to get the car, where would one have to go for service and warranty work?

This dealer was four hours away. Last night I searched every dealer in over 20 states. It is a seller's market for this model so it is not easy to find the car you want at MSRP. I have a line on a couple of cars that might work depending on the price the dealership is asking - I will only pay MSRP. The Alfa Giulia forum has been helpful in giving me some good dealers around the country but none of them have the car I want.

Service is not a problem as I have a dealer not too far away - just don't have the inventory.

Jeff

[Ken Robb]

Originally Posted by jlwdm

This dealer was four hours away. Last night I searched every dealer in over 20 states. It is a seller's market for this model so it is not easy to find the car you want at MSRP. I have a line on a couple of cars that might work depending on the price the dealership is asking - I will only pay MSRP. The Alfa Giulia forum has been helpful in giving me some good dealers around the country but none of them have the car I want.

Service is not a problem as I have a dealer not too far away - just don't have the inventory.

Jeff

Is it possible that a nearby dealer could do a swap with another dealer to get the car you want or does EVERYONE want the same car you do?

[froze]

I had a 74 Alfa Spider back in the day and it was the best of the Euro sports cars that I owned which included an MGA, Triumph TR6, and a Lotus Europa JPS, but by best it was still crap, just not as bad of crap! The MGA was the worst, like driving a piece of glass, work on it all week then maybe get to drive it 1 to 3 days before having to work on it again, it was slamming me financially, but I loved the body design. But that old Spider was better than a friend's Fiat 2000.

Anyway it's the association that Alfa has with Fiat which Fiat is still making crappy cars today that makes me leery about Alfa's new cars. But I do have to say, they are making the best looking cars in the world in my opinion, but I have a feeling it's a good thing I can't afford one.

[jlwdm]

Originally Posted by Ken Robb

Is it possible that a nearby dealer could do a swap with another dealer to get the car you want or does EVERYONE want the same car you do?

Too rare. Three dealers in DFW. One Quadrifoglio total and it has the carbon fiber seats upgrade so no heated seats.

I have not found the car I want anywhere.! My two possibilities had minor differences from what I want. Stock brake calipers are red so why have a few dealers ordered the red cars with black calipers? Makes no sense.

Jeff

[Red Tornado]

Originally Posted by jlwdm

Too rare. Three dealers in DFW. One Quadrifoglio total and it has the carbon fiber seats upgrade so no heated seats.

I have not found the car I want anywhere.! My two possibilities had minor differences from what I want. Stock brake calipers are red so why have a few dealers ordered the red cars with black calipers? Makes no sense.

Jeff

They're Italians, they do things a little differently sometimes. When I worked for an Italian company I was amazed at the "small" differences that sometimes turned out to be not so small in the end.

[dgauthier]

Originally Posted by jlwdm

Now I am not buying the car.(...)

First: good for you for walking away. Second: you dodged a bullet.

A few hops from FlashUNC's link is this:

"Consumer Reports’ 2017 Alfa Romeo Giulia Ti Basically Lives In The Dealer Service Bay"
http://www.thetruthaboutcars.com/201...r-service-bay/

Life is too short to live with a unreliable Italian P.O.S. car! Soothe your hurt by buying, well, basically *anything* else...

[froze]

Originally Posted by jlwdm

Too rare. Three dealers in DFW. One Quadrifoglio total and it has the carbon fiber seats upgrade so no heated seats.

I have not found the car I want anywhere.! My two possibilities had minor differences from what I want. Stock brake calipers are red so why have a few dealers ordered the red cars with black calipers? Makes no sense.

Jeff

Rare? Geez, even a pretending to be a big city like Fort Wayne has an Alfa dealer.

And to clear up a comment I made earlier about not buying one and that's a good thing I don't have the money to get one, because if I did have the money unreliable cars frustrate the crap out of me and would probably be selling it quickly after the first 3 times into a shop for repair in a year's time. I don't know if the Alfa is that bad, but the Fiats sure are, and that's all I need to know about the Alfa to be smart enough to stay away.

[pbarry]

I drove a client's 2012 Lexus 600h L sedan from Boulder to Vail one New Year's day. It was a sublime ride. Everything went well until I noticed the speedo was at 90 on canyon curves I usually take at 65 in my truck. I got into the right lane and brought it down to 75 so I didn't have a stroke. No body roll or sway, almost silent inside the cabin. I've driven sportier cars, but none that were as sure footed, quiet, with power to spare. Glad I'm not in the position to shop for cars of this ilk. There are some incredible machines out there, and the choice would be tough.

[Louis]

Originally Posted by dgauthier

"Consumer Reports’ 2017 Alfa Romeo Giulia Ti Basically Lives In The Dealer Service Bay"
http://www.thetruthaboutcars.com/201...r-service-bay/

Life is too short to live with a unreliable Italian P.O.S. car! Soothe your hurt by buying, well, basically *anything* else...

1) Consumer Reports is the last place I'd go to look for advice about buying an Alfa. If you listen to them, you'll end up buying a 3-yr old Honda Civic.

2) Life's too short not to spend at least part of it driving a 505 hp Italian car, especially if that's the sort of thing that excites you.

[joosttx]

Originally Posted by Louis

1) Consumer Reports is the last place I'd go to look for advice about buying an Alfa. If you listen to them, you'll end up buying a 3-yr old Honda Civic.

2) Life's too short not to spend at least part of it driving a 505 hp Italian car, especially if that's the sort of thing that excites you.

Amen. That car is dope.

[jlwdm]

Originally Posted by froze

Rare? Geez, even a pretending to be a big city like Fort Wayne has an Alfa dealer.

...

It is the Quadrifoglios that are rare. They do have one in Fort Wayne, but it has an extra almost $11,000 for the carbon fiber seats and the ceramic brakes. Valuable for track days but not valuable to me.

Jeff

[jlwdm]

Originally Posted by dgauthier

First: good for you for walking away. Second: you dodged a bullet.

A few hops from FlashUNC's link is this:

"Consumer Reports’ 2017 Alfa Romeo Giulia Ti Basically Lives In The Dealer Service Bay"
http://www.thetruthaboutcars.com/201...r-service-bay/

Life is too short to live with a unreliable Italian P.O.S. car! Soothe your hurt by buying, well, basically *anything* else...

I am considering this car because of the love for my first Alfa Romeo and because it is a ridiculously fun car to drive. I don't need this car and would not consider the Base or Ti models. This is all about the engine developed with Ferrari and everything else on the Quadrifoglio making it a great ride. It is the fastest sedan around the Nurburgring track - a place I want to go drive.

I am not looking for a car like a Toyota that is dependable. I want a car that is fun to drive. I know a first year car has more issues also.

Plus bonus points because it is Italian - I only ride Campagnolo.

Jeff

[beeatnik]

Originally Posted by pbarry

I drove a client's 2012 Lexus 600h L sedan from Boulder to Vail one New Year's day. It was a sublime ride. Everything went well until I noticed the speedo was at 90 on canyon curves I usually take at 65 in my truck. I got into the right lane and brought it down to 75 so I didn't have a stroke. No body roll or sway, almost silent inside the cabin. I've driven sportier cars, but none that were as sure footed, quiet, with power to spare. Glad I'm not in the position to shop for cars of this ilk. There are some incredible machines out there, and the choice would be tough.

Didn't Top Gear name a similar Lexus the World's Worst Car.

Luxury Japanese sedans (and coupes) are so weird.

[froze]

Originally Posted by beeatnik

Didn't Top Gear name a similar Lexus the World's Worst Car.

Luxury Japanese sedans (and coupes) are so weird.

That car he mentioned wasn't anything like the cars we were talking about, absolutely nothing about screams performance.

There are certain manufactures, like Toyota and Honda, that are into professional racing but don't have a high performance car that they sell to the public, which is a shame because the new Toyota 86 looks fast but it only has 205 horses which is just plain crazy for a car like that not to have something closer to 450 horses under the hood. Talking about Lexus, the RC350 is another example of a fast looking car but with just 307 horses, again it should be closer to 500 horses to make it a serious contender. And Toyota has the know how to do make a high performance car, they just choose not to. Honda has just come out with the fastest front wheel drive car in the world with the new Civic R that has just a tad over 300 hp.

And can any explain to me the craze with the flat bottom steering wheel? These cars with the flat bottom steering wheels are not formula cars with a 1/2 turn to lock steering, so if one is having to turn the steering wheel 2 1/2 times to lock wouldn't that flat bottom make it awkward to do that? especially if one had to do it very fast?

[oldpotatoe]

Originally Posted by Louis

1) Consumer Reports is the last place I'd go to look for advice about buying an Alfa. If you listen to them, you'll end up buying a 3-yr old Honda Civic.

2) Life's too short not to spend at least part of it driving a 505 hp Italian car, especially if that's the sort of thing that excites you.

Glad somebody said it..My brother in law lived by what CR said about anything..he drove boring cars and had boring appliances..boring guy..

Knew a guy in the 80s that had a new, red, Alfa like this one..like Ducati, it dripped sex appeal. Funky driving position(real tilted steering wheel), trunk latch gave up 3rd day..fit and finish..well, not great but the engine!! The suspension!!..loved that car.