Alfa Romeo Giulia Quadrifoglio... reliability

[Stu-nph26]

RonnieHotdogs said:

MadCaptainJack said:

New competition red cars? Or second-hand ones?

They were brand new, the orders went in before they stopped offering it as an option. Went within about 48 hours of them showing as available on Autotrader etc.

I was tempted by one of them, but due to the cost of the paint and carbon bits (and akra on one) it pushed them a bit above my budget.

What is the biggest discount of you don’t mind sharing?

Have you been given a quote for monthly payments?

[RonnieHotdogs]

Stu-nph26 said:

What is the biggest discount of you don’t mind sharing?

Have you been given a quote for monthly payments?

Percentage wise the biggest is about 17%.

If you use pcpcal.co.uk you should be able to work out what payments will be based off the list price, Apr etc.

I used Alfa's own finance calculator off the back of the configurator to get the list price and the GFMV.

The only thing you'd need to watch out for is the APR as it can vary depending on how the dealer applies the discount. I'd recommend having a look at Beechdale's site for a few more pointers on discounts / APRs etc as it's laid out quite well on their Quadrifoglio page.

[MadCaptainJack]

RonnieHotdogs said:

MadCaptainJack said:

New competition red cars? Or second-hand ones?

They were brand new, the orders went in before they stopped offering it as an option.

Hmmm. That suggests that they filled the dealer orders for comp. red cars instead of reallocating those build slots to customer orders.

[S43]

Hi, new to this forum and hopefully to Alfa.... Just about to put a deposit on one this week, got my second test drive over the coming days....any tips or advice on buying/owning a Quadrifolio would be appreciated. I’m also thinking about adding HK, yellow callipers and red seatbelts (it’s an age thing,😂) and buying the service pack for the first three years.

Coming from a number of BMWs in the past so not sure on Alfa ownership. Dealer service is outstanding so far for the brand.

Thanks in advance for your help.

[Steve Campbell]

If it's going to be a "keeper" consider the 5 year service plan as year 4 is the expensive one. I'm also new to Alfa coming from BMW this year.

If its a new one, read the thread above about discounts etc etc

[Riff Raff]

Steve Campbell said:

If it's going to be a "keeper" consider the 5 year service plan as year 4 is the expensive one. I'm also new to Alfa coming from BMW this year.

If its a new one, read the thread above about discounts etc etc

Can you get a five year plan with a new car now? I bought mine a few months ago, and the only plan available was a three year 27,000 mile one.

[firethorne]

Hi, I’m in the originator of this thread when I was interested in the q.v. Ive owned my competition red one now for 2 1/2 years. It has left me at the side of the road three times, with a 10 to 15 day wait For parts from Italy and had a period of 2 months where I didn’t even see it . It’s my daily driver and I live a busy business life, and while it’s the best saloon out there I don’t feel it’s got the reliability/
Infrastructure and support that I need.
So I’m going to write in more detail the highs and low ‘s once mine had goes, but for now this is my summery .

It’s the best car you should never own.

I’ve just put the deposit down on the new Macan, I have other fast cars now and need a reliable daily to run my business.

Sorry for the negative response, but I think I’m
still pleased I’ve owned one……tbc

Edited by firethorne on Thursday 9th September 22:05

[david-j8694]

firethorne said:

Hi, I’m in the originator of this thread when I was interested in the q.v. Ive owned my competition red one now for 2 1/2 years. It has left me at the side of the road three times, with a 10 to 15 day wait For parts from Italy and had a period of 2 months where I didn’t even see it . It’s my daily driver and I live a busy business life, and while it’s the best saloon out there I don’t feel it’s got the reliability/
Infrastructure and support that I need.
So I’m going to write in more detail the highs and low ‘s once mine had goes, but for now this is my summery .

It’s the best car you should never own.

I’ve just put the deposit down on the new Macan, I have other fast cars now and need a reliable daily to run my business.

Sorry for the negative response, but I think I’m
still pleased I’ve owned one……tbc

Edited by firethorne on Thursday 9th September 22:05

As a very real prospective buyer of a Giulia QV, this so disappointing and, despite my best efforts to ignore the reliability concerns and pretend everything's gonna be fine with my one, it's really starting to put me off. I spent 2-3 hours yesterday trawling alfaowner and giuliaowner forums, and it's just littered with people posting about reliability issues. People stranded numerous times per year, cars shutting off at busy intersections or in the middle of busy motorways (and subsequently wouldn't fire back up for hours), dashboards lighting up like Christmas trees if the stars haven't properly aligned when you put your foot down.

A lot of the owners over there are either happy to put up with the constant problems, because the car is so good, or they seem to be hardcore indoctrinated Alfa fanboys, who think every negative comment on any Alfa product is the result of some VAG-sponsored shill. Either way, I fall into neither of those categories.

The one grain of hope left is that the issues seem to be battery, electrics, fuelling and stop/start issues, so maybe these things have been rectified with the MY20 QV.... Time will tell...

Edited by david-j8694 on Friday 10th September 11:43

[firethorne]

Yes I sit On the fence brand wise, I love having something that is non-standard and getting thumbs up as I drive-by. But I hate feeling anxious driving my car when I need reliability for meetings. If it was a weekend fun car that matters less, but there is much more obvious weekend cars then a four door saloon .

If you get one you will fall in love with it, it really is an amazing car. Like I say I’m pleased I’ve done it, but I’m not sure I’d ever do it again.

[ThisInJapanese]

david-j8694 said:

As a very real prospective buyer of a Giulia QV, this so disappointing and, despite my best efforts to ignore the reliability concerns and pretend everything's gonna be fine with my one, it's really starting to put me off. I spent 2-3 hours yesterday trawling alfaowner and giuliaowner forums, and it's just littered with people posting about reliability issues. People stranded numerous times per year, cars shutting off at busy intersections or in the middle of busy motorways (and subsequently wouldn't fire back up for hours), dashboards lighting up like Christmas trees if the stars haven't properly aligned when you put your foot down.

A lot of the owners over there are either happy to put up with the constant problems, because the car is so good, or they seem to be hardcore indoctrinated Alfa fanboys, who think every negative comment on any Alfa product is the result of some VAG-sponsored shill. Either way, I fall into neither of those categories.

The one grain of hope left is that the issues seem to be battery, electrics, fuelling and stop/start issues, so maybe these things have been rectified with the MY20 QV.... Time will tell...

Edited by david-j8694 on Friday 10th September 11:43

I'm in exactly the same position as you, I had a Kodiak that died on my 5 times in 6 months, once at 80mph in the outside lane. I don't want another car that 'might' do that, it made pulling out of every single junction a horrible experience. What happens if I nip out and it dies 2 meters in the road and the kids are in the car.

The QV, even on my little test drive showed that it has a huge amount of potential, but I just can't escape the niggling doubts that you've mentioned, and that I've read elsewhere.

Thanks for the OP posting as well, it's a shame that you didn't report that it was flawless over your ownership.

[david-j8694]

firethorne said:

Yes I sit On the fence brand wise, I love having something that is non-standard and getting thumbs up as I drive-by. But I hate feeling anxious driving my car when I need reliability for meetings. If it was a weekend fun car that matters less, but there is much more obvious weekend cars then a four door saloon .

If you get one you will fall in love with it, it really is an amazing car. Like I say I’m pleased I’ve done it, but I’m not sure I’d ever do it again.

Its rarity is a huge appeal for me too. And its credentials as a sports car seem an immutable fact wherever you look and whoever you ask. I always said as a kid I wanted an M3 when I "grew up". I've been grown up for some time, but when I saw the Giulia QV I thought that's it. That's my M3. But, as you say, the anxiety would kill it for me. I'd be interested to hear your full run down of issues and how/if they were rectified.

ThisInJapanese said:

I'm in exactly the same position as you, I had a Kodiak that died on my 5 times in 6 months, once at 80mph in the outside lane. I don't want another car that 'might' do that, it made pulling out of every single junction a horrible experience. What happens if I nip out and it dies 2 meters in the road and the kids are in the car.

The QV, even on my little test drive showed that it has a huge amount of potential, but I just can't escape the niggling doubts that you've mentioned, and that I've read elsewhere.

Thanks for the OP posting as well, it's a shame that you didn't report that it was flawless over your ownership.

Same here. It'd only have to happen once and I'd be done. The thing is, it's not like someone buys a QV, gets a ton of problems, and Alfa gradually fixes them over the course of the first 6 -12 months and then that's it. They're the same recurring problems on tons of cars that seemingly have no concrete resolution. I read threads yesterday where people's advice was stuff like "Drive it in Race 24/7 and it'll be good", "It doesn't like being parked on an incline/decline", "rev out each gear, it's what it was designed for and you get less issues" and stuff like that. Those aren't fixes. That's just the automotive equivalent of gym bro science.

Personally, I don't rely on my car for work or anything like that, but I do a 350 mile return journey every 4th weekend. I also tend to do it late in the evening (8pm - 11pm) to avoid outer London's horrendous traffic adding an hour to my journey. I appreciate any car can go wrong at any time, but owning a QV would really make me ponder changing those plans.

Anyway, I don't want to hijack this thread with my moaning. I'm not Alfa bashing. I might even still buy an MY20 QV. I just wish they hadn't made it so hard to buy what is one of the best 4 door saloons ever made.

I'll probably start a thread closer to the time asking people with >=MY20 QVs their experiences.

[generationx]

Just for balance: I've had mine since new (it's one of the first on a '66 plate), have covered 28,000 miles and not been let down once.

The people who have had problems tend to shout the loudest. The rest of us just enjoy our epic Giulias.

[RonnieHotdogs]

david-j8694 said:

I'll probably start a thread closer to the time asking people with >=MY20 QVs their experiences.

I'm hopefully picking mine up next weekend so I'll let you know! I'll be doing around 12k miles / year in mine.

I had a MY19 for about 1800 miles and had no issues with that ... but that was over a short period of time and obviously not huge mileage.

I'm coming from BMWs for the last few years, so reliability is also incredibly important to me, especially how issues are dealt with if they do occur. BMW have been by far and away the best manufacturer I've experienced for offering support and service; not that I've ever had a breakdown in 4+ years and 40k of mileage in BMWs, but even for the minor things they've been excellent. Unfortunately the new M3 / M4 does nothing for me, and the fact there's motoring journalists who still pick the Alfa over the new BMW after all this time really speaks volumes.

Now apparently Quad owners are supposed to get some sort of enhanced support from Alfa, and they've opened a UK warehouse in the last 8-12 months to stock parts so they don't have the issues waiting for parts from Italy. I've had first hand experience of this recently as the dealer I'm buying the car off is sourcing something for me, and it arrived the next day from the UK warehouse.

Admittedly the last time I bought an Alfa I did have some anxiety, but it's such a good product and had no issues during my previous short ownership that I've decided to do it again. I know the service won't be anywhere near the level of the BMW, and my closest Alfa dealership is 30 mins away instead of 5 mins for the BMW, but convenience isn't everything. I'm also at a point now where I'm working from home for a portion of my time, so if I do encounter issues I can work from home whilst sorting it.

The time to own a car like this is probably limited, so I thought now's the time to do it for a few years with a full manufacture backed warranty, and as much of a cliche as it might appear, you buy an Alfa with your heart not your head.

[darty]

Just to add a bit more weight to reliability, I have had mine since new (June 2017) and I have had no issues except for headlamp height needing adjustment and rear number plate bulb issue to pass an MOT. I have bought the extra 2 years MOPAR warranty and service pack for sleep at night cover. Every time I drive mine it puts a smile on my face and I still have it as there is nothing else that I can think of to replace it with…

Edited by darty on Friday 10th September 21:50

[Dezbo]

Here’s my experience: bought my 2017 car at 2 years old so still under warranty. Had a couple of niggles in 1st year sorted under warranty without issue: turbo wastegate, might have just been the sensor, split door seal and alarm adjustment. Since then have extended MOPAR warranty for 2 years but not needed to use it. Battery on early models needs regular trickle charging if you want stop start to work as the charge threshold is set too high and you won’t reach this unless doing long journeys. Nevertheless have left the car for weeks without charging and not had a flat battery. I’ve not driven mine loads during lockdown so when I do I tend to have a good blast and it drives like a dream without issue. So my advice with this and any similar performance car: buy the car, buy the warranty and enjoy without worry!

[stephen-i416b]

I’ve had my 2018 Giulia QV for over a year now, it’s been remapped to 600bhp by Celtic Tuning and had their gearbox remap done too.

I did both of these upgrades very soon after getting the car and I’m pleased to say the car has been utterly faultless.

I drive my cars hard, race mode everyday and generally not in a straight line. Feel a little immature saying that, but want to be honest and show that my car is not one that’s babied and never rev’d out.

Having had various performance cars over the years I can say this is one of the best I’ve had the pleasure of owning.
It’s also been more reliable than the majority (Porsche, Bmw M3/4’s, Tesla)

It’s gets so much positive attention which is nice too, despite this it somehow never gets seen in that ‘boy racer’ way a M3 often gets labelled as.

I was looking to replace it with a newer one in Montreal green but they have changed the front suspension/steering apparently taking away from the experience/steering.

I’ve not driven a MY21 car yet but either way decided there’s not really much point in ‘upgrading’ to a newer one as mine has everything I need.

[delta0]

I’m seriously considering a Giulia QF and will try and see some used ones next year. Is there a buyers guide or advice for what to look out for?

[StescoG66]

I am sure there was a guide on here a few months back.

[MissChief]

delta0 said:

I’m seriously considering a Giulia QF and will try and see some used ones next year. Is there a buyers guide or advice for what to look out for?

There was indeed a buyers guide!
https://www.pistonheads.com/news/ph-buying-guides/...

[delta0]

StescoG66 said:

I am sure there was a guide on here a few months back.

MissChief said:

There was indeed a buyers guide!
https://www.pistonheads.com/news/ph-buying-guides/...

Amazing. Thanks for finding that!