Owning a guilietta
Discussion
Hi all,
I have managed to convince my girlfriend that the car she wants next is an Alfa Guilietta, probably the petrol 120bhp one. They are still too expensive at the mooment, but once they are another year or two old and have more "used" milage on them (they all seem to be around 15k still, which is a new car to me
) hopefully we will start to look more seriously.
My question is what are they like reliability/ownership wise. My less then cheap-to-own 156 has rather tainted my GF's opinion of alfa's . It wouldn't put me off at all, but reliability and being cheap to run is more important to her then me.
Some realy world mpg figures for the 120bhp 1.4 would be great as well
TIA
JAmes
I have managed to convince my girlfriend that the car she wants next is an Alfa Guilietta, probably the petrol 120bhp one. They are still too expensive at the mooment, but once they are another year or two old and have more "used" milage on them (they all seem to be around 15k still, which is a new car to me
) hopefully we will start to look more seriously.My question is what are they like reliability/ownership wise. My less then cheap-to-own 156 has rather tainted my GF's opinion of alfa's
. It wouldn't put me off at all, but reliability and being cheap to run is more important to her then me.Some realy world mpg figures for the 120bhp 1.4 would be great as well
TIA
JAmes
jimmy156 said:
Hi all,
I have managed to convince my girlfriend that the car she wants next is an Alfa Guilietta, probably the petrol 120bhp one. They are still too expensive at the mooment, but once they are another year or two old and have more "used" milage on them (they all seem to be around 15k still, which is a new car to me ) hopefully we will start to look more seriously.
My question is what are they like reliability/ownership wise. My less then cheap-to-own 156 has rather tainted my GF's opinion of alfa's . It wouldn't put me off at all, but reliability and being cheap to run is more important to her then me.
Some realy world mpg figures for the 120bhp 1.4 would be great as well
TIA
JAmes
Make sure you test drive one first - I hired one and there is no left foot rest which can get uncomfortable.I have managed to convince my girlfriend that the car she wants next is an Alfa Guilietta, probably the petrol 120bhp one. They are still too expensive at the mooment, but once they are another year or two old and have more "used" milage on them (they all seem to be around 15k still, which is a new car to me
) hopefully we will start to look more seriously.My question is what are they like reliability/ownership wise. My less then cheap-to-own 156 has rather tainted my GF's opinion of alfa's
. It wouldn't put me off at all, but reliability and being cheap to run is more important to her then me.Some realy world mpg figures for the 120bhp 1.4 would be great as well
TIA
JAmes
jimmy156 said:
Mermaid said:
would never buy one, regardless of how cheap it is.
Why is that?Also if it is manual and you change gears, your hand is likely to hit some of the switchgear.
Just my experience, yours may be different.
Mermaid said:
jimmy156 said:
Mermaid said:
would never buy one, regardless of how cheap it is.
Why is that?Also if it is manual and you change gears, your hand is likely to hit some of the switchgear.
Just my experience, yours may be different.
jimmy156 said:
Hmm well i guess these are all things we would find out on a test drive, having only looked inside one i had to say the interior looked pretty high quality to me. Maybe it differs from model to model.
I so wanted to like it, for I was offered a BMW 318i or the Audi A3. I expect a petrol driven car may "feel" better (previous Guilia, Alfetta, Alfasud, GTV owner BTW) Hope your experience is better than mine
My wife has a 1.6 JTD Veloce, she loves it but it does nothing for me.
The DNA switch annoys me, in Dynamic, which for me should be the default setting, the steering becomes artificially heavy yet in Normal the throttle response is too soft, it also reverts to Normal every time your restart the car.
The lack of a foot rest is also a pain especially on long journeys and the visibilty is borderline dangerous especially for taller drivers, when I get to a T junction and look left the B pillar obscures the view, I also find the A posts too thick and the rear view mirror is mounted too low hindering forward vision.
She is also only averaging around 44mpg albeit in fairly heavy commuting however when we have been on longer journeys and with me being on an economy run I have only managed to coax about 47mpg from it.
Plus points are the styling, the quality and personally I like the interior styling - a nice change from VAG products and not tacky like Fords/Vauxhallx etc.
To put into persepective how much I like it, on a recent 5 day holiday to the Yorkshire Dales I opted to take my V reg smoker Merc E320 CDi, which manages 42mpg from a 3.2 6 cylinder diesel no matter how I drive it!
The DNA switch annoys me, in Dynamic, which for me should be the default setting, the steering becomes artificially heavy yet in Normal the throttle response is too soft, it also reverts to Normal every time your restart the car.
The lack of a foot rest is also a pain especially on long journeys and the visibilty is borderline dangerous especially for taller drivers, when I get to a T junction and look left the B pillar obscures the view, I also find the A posts too thick and the rear view mirror is mounted too low hindering forward vision.
She is also only averaging around 44mpg albeit in fairly heavy commuting however when we have been on longer journeys and with me being on an economy run I have only managed to coax about 47mpg from it.
Plus points are the styling, the quality and personally I like the interior styling - a nice change from VAG products and not tacky like Fords/Vauxhallx etc.
To put into persepective how much I like it, on a recent 5 day holiday to the Yorkshire Dales I opted to take my V reg smoker Merc E320 CDi, which manages 42mpg from a 3.2 6 cylinder diesel no matter how I drive it!
I'm another one who doesn't care for the modern Alfas. The Mito and Giulietta do nothing for me perhaps with the exception of the Giulietta MA TCT.
I love the handling, performance, styling, economy and practicality of my 2004 156 SW, I love the car to death and think I will own it for quite a long time. I've driven the 159 a lot but even that doesn't feel as special to drive as my 156 I'm afraid.
Now a nice GT Blackline Q2, that would tempt me!
I love the handling, performance, styling, economy and practicality of my 2004 156 SW, I love the car to death and think I will own it for quite a long time. I've driven the 159 a lot but even that doesn't feel as special to drive as my 156 I'm afraid.
Now a nice GT Blackline Q2, that would tempt me!
Not a lot of love for the guiletta, i am a little surprised!
With regards to visibility and the B pillar being in the way, i dont see this being a problem for my OH as she is 5ft nothing so the set will be a long way forward anyway.
Alfahorn - i know what you mean about "modern" alfa's , i drove a 159 2.4jtd and it wasnt anywhere near as involving as my 156 is.
But for a stylish, economical, safe (safest in its class), modern car with a bit of flair and nice handling i was led to believe its a good bet!
With regards to visibility and the B pillar being in the way, i dont see this being a problem for my OH as she is 5ft nothing so the set will be a long way forward anyway.
Alfahorn - i know what you mean about "modern" alfa's , i drove a 159 2.4jtd and it wasnt anywhere near as involving as my 156 is.
But for a stylish, economical, safe (safest in its class), modern car with a bit of flair and nice handling i was led to believe its a good bet!
jimmy156 said:
.
But for a stylish, economical, safe (safest in its class), modern car with a bit of flair and nice handling i was led to believe its a good bet!
Stylish certainly, the rest is offered by other manufacturers too. AFAIk residuals on Alfa's are not good, so buy appropriately.But for a stylish, economical, safe (safest in its class), modern car with a bit of flair and nice handling i was led to believe its a good bet!
All seems a bit negative really this doesn't it...
For what it's worth I'd add the following comments regarding the points which have been brought up.
Economy, my 140 BHP jtdm is clocking 48 mpg (long term over 20000 miles or more), which is slightly better than the 120D I ran for 3 years.
Handling, have to say I think it's pretty good, OK it's FWD but as a car to chuck about on a back road I find at least as good as my 120 D, I'm comparing a Veloce spec car with a 120D Coupe on M sport suspension. As far as ride quality goes the Alfa has the BM well beaten. Compared to a 156.... well much as I love 156's and I had three of them, the Giulietta is miles better as a drivers tool. I prefer it to a Golf 6 too having driven one back to back with mine recently.
Footrest, yes much discussed and not ideal, you get used to it in time but the intrusion of the centre consol in to your leg leg is worse than lack of a footrest.
Visibility, not ideal but what modern car is they all have giant pillars which makes life difficult.
Quality, don't have much of a problem to be honest, nothing has dropped off and it doesn't rattle.
The seats in the Veloce look great and feel nice, but do lack support.
DNA. I find D a bit OTT around town and use N as a rule, unless I'm deliberately driving it hard. I have found the 170BHP Diesel doesn't seem quiet as edgy on D, which is better. It will be related to the mapping and I think the more powerful car works better. There is supposed to be a new version coming out which stays in the last mode it was in which will answer that issue, it's supposed to be possible to reprogram the existing ones too but as yet I don't think this has become reality. A was brilliant in the snow, I really couldn't believe how good it was.
Fussy instruments?, fair enough I don't think they are the easiest to read, especially in sunlight and I don't think Blue and Me works well either, who ever programmed it wants shooting!.
Residuals?... will Alfa ever slay that dragon in the UK?, I think they will eventually but part of the problem is sterotypical views. It's not the same on the continent where often it's the Alfa's that are seen as the premium brand holding value with VW loosing it.
All things considered I think the Giulietta is sound Car, a few faults, but which Car hasn't ?, it's certainly more interesting than the vast majority of Cars on the road.
For what it's worth I'd add the following comments regarding the points which have been brought up.
Economy, my 140 BHP jtdm is clocking 48 mpg (long term over 20000 miles or more), which is slightly better than the 120D I ran for 3 years.
Handling, have to say I think it's pretty good, OK it's FWD but as a car to chuck about on a back road I find at least as good as my 120 D, I'm comparing a Veloce spec car with a 120D Coupe on M sport suspension. As far as ride quality goes the Alfa has the BM well beaten. Compared to a 156.... well much as I love 156's and I had three of them, the Giulietta is miles better as a drivers tool. I prefer it to a Golf 6 too having driven one back to back with mine recently.
Footrest, yes much discussed and not ideal, you get used to it in time but the intrusion of the centre consol in to your leg leg is worse than lack of a footrest.
Visibility, not ideal but what modern car is they all have giant pillars which makes life difficult.
Quality, don't have much of a problem to be honest, nothing has dropped off and it doesn't rattle.
The seats in the Veloce look great and feel nice, but do lack support.
DNA. I find D a bit OTT around town and use N as a rule, unless I'm deliberately driving it hard. I have found the 170BHP Diesel doesn't seem quiet as edgy on D, which is better. It will be related to the mapping and I think the more powerful car works better. There is supposed to be a new version coming out which stays in the last mode it was in which will answer that issue, it's supposed to be possible to reprogram the existing ones too but as yet I don't think this has become reality. A was brilliant in the snow, I really couldn't believe how good it was.
Fussy instruments?, fair enough I don't think they are the easiest to read, especially in sunlight and I don't think Blue and Me works well either, who ever programmed it wants shooting!.
Residuals?... will Alfa ever slay that dragon in the UK?, I think they will eventually but part of the problem is sterotypical views. It's not the same on the continent where often it's the Alfa's that are seen as the premium brand holding value with VW loosing it.
All things considered I think the Giulietta is sound Car, a few faults, but which Car hasn't ?, it's certainly more interesting than the vast majority of Cars on the road.
Thanks velocemitch
The foot rest issue is something we will have to make a decision on with a test drive, tbh i drove a punto the other day with not foot rest and didnt find it an issue.
The depreciation thing... hmmm. Maybe its worth waiting for there values to fall further, maybe 5 or 6k, limiting what we would loose. My GF is currently driving an old clio 1.2 with 100k+ on the clock which she may as well just run into the ground 'cos its not worth anything!
velocemitch said:
All things considered I think the Giulietta is sound Car, a few faults, but which Car hasn't ?, it's certainly more interesting than the vast majority of Cars on the road.
This is essentially my thinking, all new cars are a bit bloated/numb compared to older stuff, and the guilietta looks better then anything else in its segment.The foot rest issue is something we will have to make a decision on with a test drive, tbh i drove a punto the other day with not foot rest and didnt find it an issue.
The depreciation thing... hmmm. Maybe its worth waiting for there values to fall further, maybe 5 or 6k, limiting what we would loose. My GF is currently driving an old clio 1.2 with 100k+ on the clock which she may as well just run into the ground 'cos its not worth anything!
We've had a Giulietta as a family car for a few months. You get used to the lack of foot rest almost immediately. It's the 140 JTDm version which get driven around the city for 80% of its life. So far we've achieved 47mpg, which is pretty close to the official claimed figures for "Urban" at 50mpg.
Ours is in Alfa Red in Veloce trim, which makes it a really nice place to be. It pulls well and is much more entertaining in D. I'm certianly glad we didn't buy a Golf.
Ours is in Alfa Red in Veloce trim, which makes it a really nice place to be. It pulls well and is much more entertaining in D. I'm certianly glad we didn't buy a Golf.
Drive one and see what you think.
I have a 1.6JTDM which is never going to be the most exhilarating drive but I keep more intresting things tucked away for the fair days so I'm not fussed.
A plus point for me is that its not a Golf. It drives ok as far as I'm concerned and returns low 50's MPG which is important.
The DNA switch is pointless, the lack of a footrest and poor visibilty when pulling out of junctions at oblique angles are gripes; the biggest bug bear is the quality of the aircon which is poor at high fan speeds.
I have a 1.6JTDM which is never going to be the most exhilarating drive but I keep more intresting things tucked away for the fair days so I'm not fussed.
A plus point for me is that its not a Golf. It drives ok as far as I'm concerned and returns low 50's MPG which is important.
The DNA switch is pointless, the lack of a footrest and poor visibilty when pulling out of junctions at oblique angles are gripes; the biggest bug bear is the quality of the aircon which is poor at high fan speeds.
B@W said:
The DNA switch is pointless.
I strongly suspect the DNA switch is the only way Alfa can get the low emission cars inside the tax brackets they are aiming for. The tests will be done in D as it's the default setting, but the throttle response in N is so much sharper that I reckon that the emissions are probably off the scale. I'm perfectly happy to save myself a bundle of cash on company car tax if the only sacrifice is to move a little switch when I feel like a bit of fun. You can't do that in a VW Bluemotion, it's just boring ALL the time.Not pointless at all, but clever thinking then
velocemitch said:
I strongly suspect the DNA switch is the only way Alfa can get the low emission cars inside the tax brackets they are aiming for. The tests will be done in D as it's the default setting, but the throttle response in N is so much sharper that I reckon that the emissions are probably off the scale. I'm perfectly happy to save myself a bundle of cash on company car tax if the only sacrifice is to move a little switch when I feel like a bit of fun. You can't do that in a VW Bluemotion, it's just boring ALL the time.
Not pointless at all, but clever thinking then
Out of interest, whats the economy like in the N mode. Agreed the throttle response is (a little) better, but the steering weights up unnaturally so I always drive in the default setting.Not pointless at all, but clever thinking then
B@W said:
velocemitch said:
I strongly suspect the DNA switch is the only way Alfa can get the low emission cars inside the tax brackets they are aiming for. The tests will be done in D as it's the default setting, but the throttle response in N is so much sharper that I reckon that the emissions are probably off the scale. I'm perfectly happy to save myself a bundle of cash on company car tax if the only sacrifice is to move a little switch when I feel like a bit of fun. You can't do that in a VW Bluemotion, it's just boring ALL the time.
Not pointless at all, but clever thinking then
Out of interest, whats the economy like in the N mode. Agreed the throttle response is (a little) better, but the steering weights up unnaturally so I always drive in the default setting.Not pointless at all, but clever thinking then
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