Why wouldn't you buy an Alfa Romeo? (keep it civilized)

swarlb · 31-01-2019 9:23am

Gael23 wrote: »

Decpeciation os phenomenal on them.

Not nearly as bad as your spelling.

Oddly I've never bought anything with a view to what it may be worth if I were to sell it !

Mad_maxx · 31-01-2019 9:45am

jcdf wrote: »

The Giulia seems like a reasonable car to me. Though I have not seen one in person let alone driven it. I am judging it from only looking at pictures online. It is not ugly but perhaps too streamlined and curvaceous for my liking as most modern cars are.

The Stelvio is just ugly.

If I was buying a new car I might consider looking at a Giulia.

I once owned an Alfa Romeo 146 and it was a fine car, I have nothing against the brand name. The last car I bought was a Nissan Qashqui a comfortable little car.

"the stelvio is just ugly"

FFS

John_Rambo · 31-01-2019 11:07am

Avatar MIA wrote: »

Gawd, the reverse snobbery is just as bad.

You're right!

Borderfox · 31-01-2019 11:24am

I bought a 156 new in 1999 and for the 18 months I drove it, it was sublime. Never gave me a days trouble and nothing spent except for normal servicing. I was buying a house so had to sell it and got a 5 year old BMW 3 series coupe which was a heap of junk compared to the Alfa

John_Rambo · 31-01-2019 12:43pm

Borderfox wrote: »

I bought a 156 new in 1999 and for the 18 months I drove it, it was sublime. Never gave me a days trouble and nothing spent except for normal servicing. I was buying a house so had to sell it and got a 5 year old BMW 3 series coupe which was a heap of junk compared to the Alfa

They were amazing when they came out. The reg to one side horrified the conventional crew.

zilog_jones · 31-01-2019 12:59pm

The Giulia looks like a great car and seems to have a decent reputation, but availability and the dealer network would put me off over anything else. I don't even know where my local Alfa dealer is. Current German cars just don't appeal to me at all, I think they're overrated in terms of quality and reliability, and I couldn't care less about brand image. If I was in that market and the Giulia was not an option, I'd still go for a Peugeot 508 or something else long before considering an A4 or 3-Series.

I was considering a 156 a few years back, but just a few practicality things put me off them e.g. lack of folding rear seats, and also finding the right condition/spec at the right time. I went for a 406 instead. And now I have a Prius Plug-in :rolleyes:

ciarsd · 31-01-2019 1:16pm

Previous owner here too. Have owned 3 actually, 1 nearly new and 2 brand new.

2002 147 1.6 T-Spark Lusso (4 years) - disappeared
2006 GT 1.8 Lusso (1 year) - still see it on the road
2007 GT 1.9 JTDm Monza (Blackline) (almost 2 years) - ended up in the West of Ireland

The BMW’s I’ve owned since have cost me more to maintain outside of servicing. I don’t stand alone with this statement it would seem.

The 147 did need suspension work and a variator (under warranty). The first GT needed warranty work for tailgate rattle, and the second one needed nothing other than servicing. Granted my ownership was relatively short.

Fit and finish was ever improving, but not what it should’ve been at that price point when you reviewed the competition (you may have heard the term ‘a Monday car’!).

All in all, was very happy in my 7 years of ownership, and to this day, an Alfa (new and old) is still one of only a handful of cars that makes me turn my head or pass remark. There’s just something about them.

NoBread · 31-01-2019 1:39pm

ciarsd wrote: »

Previous owner here too. Have owned 3 actually, 1 nearly new and 2 brand new.

2002 147 1.6 T-Spark Lusso (4 years) - disappeared
2006 GT 1.8 Lusso (1 year) - still see it on the road
2007 GT 1.9 JTDm Monza (Blackline) (almost 2 years) - ended up in the West of Ireland

The BMW’s I’ve owned since have cost me more to maintain outside of servicing. I don’t stand alone with this statement it would seem.

The 147 did need suspension work and a variator (under warranty). The first GT needed warranty work for tailgate rattle, and the second one needed nothing other than servicing. Granted my ownership was relatively short.

Fit and finish was ever improving, but not what it should’ve been at that price point when you reviewed the competition (you may have heard the term ‘a Monday car’!).

All in all, was very happy in my 7 years of ownership, and to this day, an Alfa (new and old) is still one of only a handful of cars that makes me turn my head or pass remark. There’s just something about them.

Fit and finish was always a weak point for sure. Never as bad as some other cars, I thought the panel fittings in the first Freelander was terrible for example, but there was some room for improvement. Often with the Italian brands the facelift version would fix the small issues.
But from an engineering point of view, they were much more hit than miss. BMW have the fit and finish done very well. They are also engineered well, but they definitely cost cut on the design or implementation of the mechanical components.
VW on the other hand often cut cost on the engineering R&D, so you get a dull offering but it's dependable enough, mainly because there's nothing special about it. However they have plenty of dud's in the mix too. The trusty (but awful) long serving 1.9 diesel got the cheapo treatment and later ones would put rods through the block. That's terrible stuff, to have your engine tried and trusted for many years and then obviously look for a way to build it even more cheaply, and fail. It's 2 fingers to your customers. Not the only time they've done that!
I like brands that look at different ways of doing something. I like Alfa, I've liked some Fiats in the past, I like Subaru, Mazda, Toyota from 20 years ago, and once or twice recently, and actually BMW too. VW/Audi would be of less interest by and large, but they have their handful. Mercedes would be in the minority of cars I'd like also. But to have some BMW owner laugh at an Alfa owner for reliability reasons is just too ironic to resist commenting!

JoeA3 · 31-01-2019 1:46pm

I had a real hankering for a 147 when they came out here first. They were a lovely looking thing relative to its peers at the time and they came with lots of nice spec and kit - I think 17/18" alloys, climate control, etc, were standard, back when such things in a VW Golf / Focus were either unavailable or cost silly money to spec. I remember test driving one (in 2001 / 2002) and loving it.

Problem was, the dealer was poor, I remember him offering an abysmal trade in for my existing car and insulting it into the bargain... I know they were doing that open-book pricing thing but even with that in the equation, the cost to change was looking much too much.

I think a huge problem with them here, as many have alluded to, is the crap dealer network and almost non-existent marketing for them. Who knows anything about Alfa Romeo's current offerings outside of the posters in this thread? I don't think they register as a brand on Joe Soap's radar at all. That's down to poor marketing. The Koreans, particularly Hyundai market their cars incessantly. The brand has recognition here.

fancy pigeon · 31-01-2019 1:57pm

John_Rambo wrote: »

They were amazing when they came out. The reg to one side horrified the conventional crew.

Funny thing is you see a fair few cars knocking round with the plate mounted to the side, completely unintended from where it was from factory... How times change!

MTBD · 31-01-2019 3:13pm

JoeA3 wrote: »

I had a real hankering for a 147 when they came out here first. They were a lovely looking thing relative to its peers at the time and they came with lots of nice spec and kit - I think 17/18" alloys, climate control, etc, were standard, back when such things in a VW Golf / Focus were either unavailable or cost silly money to spec. I remember test driving one (in 2001 / 2002) and loving it.

Problem was, the dealer was poor, I remember him offering an abysmal trade in for my existing car and insulting it into the bargain... I know they were doing that open-book pricing thing but even with that in the equation, the cost to change was looking much too much.

I think a huge problem with them here, as many have alluded to, is the crap dealer network and almost non-existent marketing for them. Who knows anything about Alfa Romeo's current offerings outside of the posters in this thread? I don't think they register as a brand on Joe Soap's radar at all. That's down to poor marketing. The Koreans, particularly Hyundai market their cars incessantly. The brand has recognition here.

I was recently getting a replacement key through my insurance. I told her I needed a key for my Alfa Romeo and she asked who I would be getting it from. I said a dealer and she replied "You can't get it at a dealer anymore can you? Alfa Romeo are gone out of business, no? Oh sorry that's Saab."

She wouldn't be the first person I have heard that from.

carsfan2 · 31-01-2019 3:38pm

Following this thread prompted me to go to the Alfa website last night.
It appears they have some great offers going but have also reduced the price of the Giulia quadrofoglia from over 100k to just under 73k!
That is a serious bargain supercar but a big ouch for any Alfa fan that bought for the original price.

John_Rambo · 31-01-2019 3:40pm

http://www.sarsfieldmotors.ie/used-cars/

Saw and heard this two weeks ago.

I can still hear it.

Sorry, the link isn't working, it's an Alfa 4C, you have to search for alfa, one for sale.

Borderfox · 31-01-2019 3:46pm

When I went to insure the 156 they said it was one of those twin spark engines and it had an extra loading on it?

2 litre engine was a peach with plenty of equipment, I got the black leather and with the emblem embroidered into the seatback it was so nice.

Krombopulos Michael · 31-01-2019 3:52pm

carsfan2 wrote: »

Following this thread prompted me to go to the Alfa website last night.
It appears they have some great offers going but have also reduced the price of the Giulia quadrofoglia from over 100k to just under 73k!
That is a serious bargain supercar but a big ouch for any Alfa fan that bought for the original price.

I have a good mate who bought the Giulia quadrofoglia at the full original price and i've been in it for a spin and its an amazing car. I doubt he has any plans to sell it for many years to come, if ever, but yes that's a pretty hard hit.

Arthur Daley · 31-01-2019 4:07pm

carsfan2 wrote: »

Following this thread prompted me to go to the Alfa website last night.
It appears they have some great offers going but have also reduced the price of the Giulia quadrofoglia from over 100k to just under 73k!
That is a serious bargain supercar but a big ouch for any Alfa fan that bought for the original price.

Couldn't see a 73 grand QV anywhere on their website. This shows their 191 'offers' and a 280bhp Guilia runs at 50k, so I would expect them to be inundated if they sell the 510bhp 4 door supercar for 73k, it is actually serious value for money at close to 100k, a mini Ferrari.

http://www.alfaromeo.ie/finance-examples

It doesn't help things when you go to spec a Guilietta out of interest and the website is down.

H3llR4iser · 31-01-2019 4:09pm

Krombopulos Michael wrote: »

I have a good mate who bought the Giulia quadrofoglia at the full original price and i've been in it for a spin and its an amazing car. I doubt he has any plans to sell it for many years to come, if ever, but yes that's a pretty hard hit.

Drove the Quadrifoglio, phenomenal in more ways than one (if driven like a...christian, it feels like a perfectly comfy sedan; give her...plenty, and it's a Saturn V).

If you go through the configurator, the price mysteriously climbs back to 107k by the end, without adding any extras. There's some error on the site, either on the initial figure or on the final one. When I saw "only" 73k, I immediately had to check

Eric Cartman · 31-01-2019 4:18pm

fancy pigeon wrote: »

Funny thing is you see a fair few cars knocking round with the plate mounted to the side, completely unintended from where it was from factory... How times change!

Theres a special place in hell for people who do that

zilog_jones · 31-01-2019 5:27pm

Arthur Daley wrote: »

Guilietta

Krombopulos Michael wrote: »

quadrofoglia

Avatar MIA wrote: »

Giulla

I think Alfa definitely win at most difficult-to-spell model lineup - it's probably not doing them any favours either

Avatar MIA · 31-01-2019 6:14pm

zilog_jones wrote: »

I think Alfa definitely win at most difficult-to-spell model lineup - it's probably not doing them any favours either

Don't forget Alfa Romeo Pininnnfafafafarina

swarlb · 03-02-2019 2:43pm

Just curious... but reading from a different thread about BMW, and a recall on EGR coolers (possibility of cars going on fire). If there was a recall on Alfa Romeo with the possibility of the car going on fire, forums all over the place would be lit up with 'Alfa haters'.
Maybe threads should be started..
Why wouldn't you buy a BMW, or VW, or Opel... or any other make.
Seems to me that there are as many problems with brands other than Alfa.

Lofidelity · 03-02-2019 6:53pm

Alasta motors in Dublin has closed in recent weeks. They were an Alfa and Fiat specialist. That says it all....

NoBread · 04-02-2019 3:35pm

Lofidelity wrote: »

Alasta motors in Dublin has closed in recent weeks. They were an Alfa and Fiat specialist. That says it all....

It doesn't say it all, it says one thing. They aren't selling enough.

Low numbers mean the brand isn't popular with buyers right now. That in itself doesn't mean much.
The Mk4 Golf and B5 Passat's and other VAG cars from that era were riddled with electrical issues, but that didn't stop them flying out the door. Didn't stop owners telling friends that their car is fantastic, despite the fact that it went back in for warranty work many times.
So reliability in itself doesn't deter people if they have a notion that the brand is what they want.

Toyotafanboi · 04-02-2019 3:49pm

That and 95% of the time when you see a garage that has went "specialist", it's usually a cop out for being either set in their ways or unable to keep up with the times IMO.

Arthur Daley · 04-02-2019 4:02pm

The danger is that eventually Alfa stops or limits right hand drive sales, if their UK market share falls much more and the Guilia and Stelvio don't make enough impact there. Europe wide Alfa still outsells Jaguar and Lexus for example.

artanevilla · 04-02-2019 4:05pm

Just bought an Alfa.

Arthur Daley · 04-02-2019 4:07pm

artanevilla wrote: »

Just bought an Alfa.

You know it makes sense

route66 · 04-02-2019 4:22pm

suchafunkymonke wrote: »

My personal reason for not owning an alfa is the camel-toe front grill which means the number plate has to be off-centre. It looks wrong and I can't get over that.

You need to spend less time on those web sites - you'll go blind from too much of that you know.

kyote00 · 04-02-2019 4:55pm

https://www.motor1.com/news/303700/alfa-romeo-truck-rendering/

swarlb · 04-02-2019 8:38pm

Lofidelity wrote: »

Alasta motors in Dublin has closed in recent weeks. They were an Alfa and Fiat specialist. That says it all....

Not in this case... they closed for personal reasons.

Why wouldn't you buy an Alfa Romeo? (keep it civilized)

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