Haven't used the Giulia too much over the past few weeks, couple of runs into Cornwall before the holiday makers arrived and remain impressed with it and completely satisfied with my change. After the road trip I gave it it's first wash by hand expecting to find chips and dings that you only seem to notice when cleaning, to my surprise noticed very little; both front inner wheelarch liners were a bit loose, one with a screw missing and one just not quite tight. On closer inspection found both lower brackets missing from the inside of the front bumper and a blob of what looked like black silicone sealant instead. I removed the sealant, drilled through from underneath and fitted a black plastic kitchen cupboard block to each side, works a treat, three M6 roofing screws and invisible bar a single screw head. All tight and much cheaper than a new bumper. The nearside front wheel has definitely been repainted at some point there is some overspray on the red brake caliper and the nearside rear has a couple of marks that will not clean or polish out. Probably get all four refurbed at some point. The rear bumper scuff that the selling garage could not remove completely disappeared in 10 secs with a bit of T Cut. Due a service in Aug I booked it in via the MOPAR Alfa website who offfered a waiting appointment 0800 20 Aug at Vospers, Exeter. Agreed the offer and received a confirming e mail from Exeter. At about 1630 on Thu 19 Aug got a phone call asking me to confirm service booking; dropping off 0900 leaving all day, I referred them back to the confirming e mail, they suggested it was from a central booking service, had to point out it was from Exeter and signed by the very person I was talking to, bit awkward. Anyway being as they don't open til 0900 agreed to a 2 hour appointment. Arrived a bit early, service advisor was great and after about 90 mins received a video suggesting brakes all round were 60% worn and could be changed if I wanted, declined. Popped back to the dealership who advised to keep an eye on the brakes they may not make the next service, fair enough. Car was cleaned and looked great, tick off list of all checks handed over and bill for £293 presented for new oil and filter, air and cabin filters also replaced. Now good for 12 months and 9k miles. Apologised for booking cock up and now have service desk direct number for anything else. Passengers have commented on how comfortable it is in the back, smooth and very quiet. I love the way it rides, performance is great and happily it seems to use a bit less fuel then my old 428i saw 42mpg on a steady speed limit run down the A38.
I wonder what was the original cause of the missing brackets? Maybe some frontal damage or just a bodged repair? Great to hear you have bonded with the car, still looks superb.
Crikey are the filters made of gold? Nice to hear you’re getting along with the car. Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk Pro
I think the missing brackets had snapped off due to an impact to the flap in front of the wheel that's part of the liner, the nearside one is a bit worn and tatty. The nearside valance has a number of scratches underneath and the offside just one, I reckon it has previously been parked on the kerb a few times or parked front onto a higher kerb. The black sealant suggests quick bodge. The car is very low at the front, I have rubbed a couple of multistory ramps already, now know I need to crawl up steep ramps, haven't rubbed any speed humps yet, at least it's only the flaps. Good news is all the front suspension parts are original and have matching date parts stickers, there is no evidence of any repair work other than a bit of wheel coloured overspray on the caliper. As for the filters, bearing in mind the car is under three years old, I think the service was a bit cheaper than for an equivalent BMW. Oil was £53, oil filter £18 and air filter £26, labour was £128 (1.5 hrs charged) all plus VAT. My last visit to Ocean BMW labour was £170 per hour and that was a couple of years ago. I usually use my local garage once the warranty has expired, I'll see what offers Alfa make for extended warranty later in the year then go from there.
Considering I paid £349 for an oil change two weeks ago, that’s a pretty good price I reckon. My last Porsche minor service was £750!
I was going to say, compared to BMW’s platinum and diamond encrusted filters the Alfa ones don’t seem too bad to me.
Talk about coincidence, at the time you posted this question I was on the phone booking a test drive for tomorrow! The end of my tether with the Alfa was reached in Feb so it has to go. I was considering updating this thread after I had moved it on (still will). It is the best looking, best driving car I have ever owned but after best part of a year throwing check engine lights for fun I have had enough. Main Dealer eventually found a problem and replaced the in tank fuel pump in Mar and it has been fine for 500 miles since but I have lost confidence in it and want it gone while it is warning free with new MoT. Off to test a Skoda Superb TSI Sportline in the morning.
How weird! I’ve been looking at one or two on Autotrader, was wondering what your experience has been with the car.
Don't really want to start a new thread and suspect only Wynne will be really interested so here goes the whole story: Bought Jun 21 31k Miles Immediately happy, great car to drive, comfortable, agile and pretty quick. I accepted my nearest dealer was 45miles away and that may be a problem but also knew my local garage are great and work hard to resolve issues so went ahead with the purchase. I don’t regret owning this car for the best part of three years it is a fantastic machine to drive but unfortunately it has not been a good experience and I have lost faith in it always expecting the next CEL to arrive. Many of these issues are now known and if Alfa had contacted me I would have happily paid for software updates but communication has been non-existent and after poor advice ref brakes at my first service with them I wasn’t keen on taking a day off work to visit them once the warranty had expired. The need to wait four to six weeks for an appointment also makes it difficult. That said the technician who had the car in Mar was excellent, great communication and logical diagnosis path discussed before asking for permission to continue. Below is a summary of the three years, if I had taken it to Alfa each time there was a CEL it would have been very, very expensive. Not sure when the software update was issued or if would have prevented some of these problems but in the 2020’s a car should not be this difficult to own. Stellantis appear determined to prevent non main dealers accessing the cars diagnostic system which doesn’t help. The defective fuel pump broke the camels back and I can’t see how this was the cause of anything other than the problems experienced since Nov when the fuel cut off warning started. I know intermittent defects are hard to pinpoint but can’t help thinking the electrics on these are not as good as they should be. HRW and Start Stop have rarely worked until the software update in Mar 24. So here goes! Shortly After Collection First minor issue, boot lid opens and drops back clouting your head, quick Google says tie wrap the springs. Tie wrapped the springs much better. Aug 21 Service due booked with Alfa as still under warranty, advised brake pads and discs should be changed as 60% worn, I only do 6-8k per year so declined as I’d expect approx. 16-20k miles left so reckoned 2 years. Sep 21 Left car at airport for a week, returned to find inside of car very wet, set off home full aircon and heated rear window on to clear condensation. HRW not working car still wet inside after two hours. Googled issue probably air con condenser drains blocked, Alfa estimated £800 to remove gearbox and clear drain, booked into village garage who charged one hour labour to investigate, they unblocked it and drained car within the hour. Nov 21 3 months and 1.5k miles later front brake pad warning on dash. Just out of warranty so enquired with local garage who I usually use, stated no problem already servicing a 2017 Giulia. Inspected, plenty of life left in discs needs pads, pads replaced. Couldn’t reset brake service due to Security Gateway on 2018 cars. Garage spent three weeks with their account supplier trying to update software to gain access to the car, gave up and they took it to the main dealer to get everything reset. Basically, Stellantis would not provide third party access for traders. Mar 22 CEL couldn’t hear aux water pump running after engine shut down so asked garage to investigate. Aux water pump required, on order approx. 4 weeks lead time. Car useable but only in Normal mode. Condensation issues over winter, car difficult to demist, front footwell damp but not as wet as before. This time they cut off the lower; reduced diameter, end of the drain pipe, fixed no issue since. Pump arrived four weeks later and fitted all modes available cost approx. £350. May 22 CEL garage couldn’t identify fault, warnings reset. Set off on trip to Somerset CEL on after 10 mins, completed trip. Set off back CEL reset itself. Jun / Jul 22 Couple of CEL usually reset after drive of approx. 100 miles. Aug 22 Service, no issues, garage software sorted and service schedule reset. Sep / Oct / Nov 22 Random, self resetting CELs. Oct 22 Rear brake pads replaced. Jan 23 Drove 120 miles on a Sunday out, came to use car Wed, battery completely flat, 4.6volts couldn’t recover it bought new AGM battery with the same rating to replace the EFB, installed and reset all warnings, CEL remained for approx. 110 miles then reset. Jan – Aug 23 Numerous, random CELs reset with no action. Booked into Alfa but had no alarms in the four weeks waiting so cancelled. Occasional low battery indicated, resets within a mile or two of driving. Alternator charging 13.96v couldn’t see a parasitic drain. Put down to low useage as mostly only driven on a Sun. Aug 23 Serviced but garage couldn’t update software apparently Stellantis updated their software and managed to delete all trade accounts. Garage working with their supplier to resolve. No big problem but on start up states oil change due and service schedule expired. Nov 23 CEL on drive of 45 miles, parked up for 4 hours or so, returned home CEL still on, car went into limp mode and restricted performance, also states “fuel cut off unavailable”. Battery at 12.5v when home couldn’t see a drain. Two days later battery completely flat 6v, managed to recover with intelligent charger, all reset car started, CEL reset after about an hour of driving. Still no measurable drain, car shuts down completely after ten mins, alarm was minimal current draw and within range for correct operation. Kept car on trickle charger over Christmas. Used throughout Jan 24 with no CELs. Feb 24 CEL back on and “fuel cut off unavailable” drove to Bristol, CEL reset for return journey but booked it into village garage see if they can identify fault. Battery tested, good condition, no drain identified, numerous communication errors listed but no specific fault. Garage reset all warnings drove for 45 mins no CEL all appeared well. Software issues resolved so they reset the service schedule and reset oil service warning. Two days later drove 3 miles to fill up to drive to airport, return to house CEL on and limp mode. Parked on drive, changed parking to wife’s car and set off. End of tether reached. Returned from holiday in Malaga, great week, lovely city. Booked into main dealer for investigation had to wait four weeks for appointment in Mar. Mar 24 First hour used and thought issue was loose battery terminals, asked for second hour to continue and conduct software updates to fix known problems. Second hour diagnosed LP fuel pump and / or fuel pump ECU error. Parts on back order no lead time. Instructed them to order pump, car not driveable left it with them. Pump delivered within 5 days, no ECU available so instructed them to fit pump. Pump fitted and two days of testing no CELs. Advised that ECU still needed as should be changed in pairs. Chose to collect car paid £890 and drove home. HRW and Start Stop fully working. Apr 24 Car due MoT first week of May so booked in for first week of Apr at village, noticed rear boot lid tail lamp full of condensation, concerned about electrical issues sought one online to fit. Found an online shop in Bradford has stock of genuine Alfa parts, tail lamp ordered. Also has stock of fuel pumps and ECUs for immediate despatch!! Tail light fitted, MoT passed. PX’d against a 2020 Skoda Superb Sportline 2.0 TSi. Got £15.5k for trade in at 48.5k miles, quite surprised.
Blimey, I don't know how you lasted so long with the car! You must have really enjoyed it when it was working 100%. A weird ownership experience being an Alfa driver. I've had four including the current 147, 75% of which (so far) have been all but faultless, but the 25% was a nightmare of biblical proportions. Until Saturday I had a want to buy this one: https://www.mangoletsi.com/used-car...es[annualMileage]=5000&finances[description]= But a sense of normality and reason came over me at the weekend, partly eased by the cheaper than expected insurance on the G22. Decent trade in for yours to be fair, that was a result. I hope the Skoda is a great car for you.
They do look good in Misano, mine wore its years very well there were no stone chips, interior only had some creases on the drivers bolster, alloys needed a refurb when I bought it and still do, corrosion was appearing in a few places. The cars are rare and remain a great looking design. I have a suspicion that someone will get a pretty relaible car now the software updates have been done but a modern car shouldn't need an aux water pump and fuel pump in less than 50k miles, my remaining concern was that the rest of the anciliaries wouldn't last. First impressions of the Skoda are very good, it's well kitted out, quiet, extremely comfortable and very practical. Goes well considering it's 190hp, DSG works very well, mpg is better. I'm happy.
