Used Giulia QV (2020+) Servicing and Warranty questions

[david-j8694]

Morning all.

I've fancied one of these since they were first released and think this will be the year.

Appreciate the quad is a complicated, powerful car and in general these types of cars throw bills that will sting, so I'm keen to have a warranty to cover anything catastrophic. It'll be a used one, as I can't stomach the depreciation on new cars and there doesn't appear to be much to spec on these things anyway, so limited value in "making it my own". My warranty questions are: Is the Alfa warranty worth it? Is it transferable if already purchased (i.e. does it follow the car)? If the car doesn't have it, can one be purchased straight from Alfa (presumably subject to an inspection)?

I've read a fair few of the threads on here, alfaowner and giuliaowner forums and mechanically the car appears decent. I hope now they've fixed any software / electrical gremlins as the platform is getting on a bit. The battery seems a week point, but easily fixed - probably mandatory given my use case, which won't be daily and I can't keep it on the CTEK permanently. Yearly service is fine and I believe Alfa do service packages that can be quite cost effective. Can these be added as and when to used cars?

I only really want Montreal Green, but will consider Etna Red as a backup (appreciate both are stunning colours, but I've just come from a red car so fancy a visual change). I've read about the steering differences between the OG models and the refreshed ones, but I'd still prefer the latter.

Some options on AT are:
https://www.autotrader.co.uk/car-details/202411226...
https://www.autotrader.co.uk/car-details/202412067...

Other than checking the age and type of the battery, confirming yearly servicing has been carried out and the costly serpentine belt has been done (at 4 years I believe?), is there anything else I'm missing? Any other thoughts, comments or words of wisdom from previous owners would be hugely helpful

Thanks all in advance.

[kith]

Spec-wise, I'd look for a car with the upgraded stereo (HK, I think) and the Akropovic exhaust. Mine has neither and I feel it's lacking in those areas. Otherwise in 4 years and 47,000 miles its been perfectly reliable, only needing servicing, tyres and a rear ARB link in that time.

[david-j8694]

kith said:

Spec-wise, I'd look for a car with the upgraded stereo (HK, I think) and the Akropovic exhaust. Mine has neither and I feel it's lacking in those areas. Otherwise in 4 years and 47,000 miles its been perfectly reliable, only needing servicing, tyres and a rear ARB link in that time.

That's good to know. Do you keep it under any kind of servicing and/or warranty package?

Not sure what age yours is, but it seems a fair few of the 2021/2022 ones I was looking at have the HK audio - not sure if it even become standard at one point. The akra exhausts are definitely harder to find, though, and coming from a howling flat 6 I am prepared for a more muted engine.

[b8575]

I bought a 2019 QV and had been looking for a while. There aren’t that many of them out there (say compared to an M2/M3 etc) and I wanted a particular set of specs including HK. Would have loved a Montreal Green one but wanted a pre MY2020 car.

From MY2020, I think they changed the standard audio to be better than the older ones, so there wasn’t such a big difference to HK - there might be some info in this thread: https://www.giuliaforums.com/threads/change-over-t...

Warranty wise, I think the cars have a 3 year manufacturer’s warranty which you could extend when you bought the car. I don’t know what you have to do to extend it if it’s out of this period but there are a few Alfa dealers in the UK who can do this for you (I don’t think all can).

There were some cars that had the 5-3-5 warranty and service plan on them but I think those would have all expired now.

I was told you can only ever put two service plans on a particular car (eg a 2 x 2 year plans). Mine already had two, so I couldn’t extend this unfortunately.

Edited by b8575 on Thursday 27th February 18:52

[kith]

david-j8694 said:

That's good to know. Do you keep it under any kind of servicing and/or warranty package?

Not sure what age yours is, but it seems a fair few of the 2021/2022 ones I was looking at have the HK audio - not sure if it even become standard at one point. The akra exhausts are definitely harder to find, though, and coming from a howling flat 6 I am prepared for a more muted engine.

Mine is a 2021 car (I bought it new). I didn't extend the warranty after it expired at 3 years as my experiences with the nearest dealer has led me to have no confidence in their ability to look after the car, I now use a local specialist.

[david-j8694]

b8575 said:

I bought a 2019 QV and had been looking for a while. There aren’t that many of them out there (say compared to an M2/M3 etc) and I wanted a particular set of specs including HK. Would have loved a Montreal Green one but wanted a pre MY2020 car.

From MY2020, I think they changed the standard audio to be better than the older ones, so there wasn’t such a big difference to HK - there might be some info in this thread: https://www.giuliaforums.com/threads/change-over-t...

Warranty wise, I think the cars have a 3 year manufacturer’s warranty which you could extend when you bought the car. I don’t know what you have to do to extend it if it’s out of this period but there are a few Alfa dealers in the UK who can do this for you (I don’t think all can).

There were some cars that had the 5-3-5 warranty and service plan on them but I think those would have all expired now.

I was told you can only ever put two service plans on a particular car (eg a 2 x 2 year plans). Mine already had two, so I couldn’t extend this unfortunately.

Yeah they're super rare, to the point there's so much more choice with a similarly aged and mileage M3/M4... but I couldn't walk passed a Quad for one.

Thanks for the info on servicing and warranty. I was just trying to decide whether it's a car for which a warranty is really beneficial - for example with Porsches you only need one PADM to go, which is almost guaranteed, and that alone pays for like 3 years warranty lol. I'm not going to be running it on a shoe string as such, and I'm expecting Porker running costs, just want to go in eyes wide open.

[david-j8694]

kith said:

Mine is a 2021 car (I bought it new). I didn't extend the warranty after it expired at 3 years as my experiences with the nearest dealer has led me to have no confidence in their ability to look after the car, I now use a local specialist.

Ah right, yeah I'm getting that feeling from a lot of owners during my research. It looks like Alfacare in Hook would be my most local. I might give them a bell and pick their brains too about general red flags or things to be aware of.

[Matty_]

Worth joining the Facebook group, some great information on there.

For me, HK was very nice to have, and convenience pack is essential (as well as for resale). Also consider the Carbon seats, they're very popular but do lack heating and electric adjustment. The Akra exhaust is *incredibly* rare, and you'd be better off just fitting a H-Pipe with the manual valve mod.

MY2019 is a sweet spot, got the 5 split seats, many of the fixes (like scuttle panel). MY2020 they started increasing the refinement, so some feel it's less involving, but the dash is nicer. Also note at that point, the carbon roof became optional! Standard became aluminium.

Regarding reliability, mine was faultless. Only things to watch out for are batteries (cheap enough), damaged active splitter (actual splitter is expensive, and actuators can fail if damaged, £750 each, and need replacing in pairs apparently), and dampers (knocking/weeping - £700/corner). Otherwise, other major issues seemed rare...occasional bushes or drop links, but they're not bad.
Brakes are cheap too, considering - £400/pair for discs if bought at the right time from Autodoc, and £60 for pads from Alfaworks. Also remember major service is about £1500, so factor that if due soon.

Personally I'd skip the warranty and use a good specialist.

[arguti]

david-j8694 said:

Ah right, yeah I'm getting that feeling from a lot of owners during my research. It looks like Alfacare in Hook would be my most local. I might give them a bell and pick their brains too about general red flags or things to be aware of.

I don't know Alfacare but Adie Hawkins is not that far; AHM are as good as it gets independent wise.

https://www.ahmotorsports.co.uk/

[MisterBigglesworth]

I have a 2020 face-lift car. Was actually the EVO press car so a overlap that got comp red paint and yellow calipers but the carbon roof and face-lift upgrades, mine had the sparco carbon seats and factory akra exhaust..

I wouldn't bother with the warranty and wouldn't go near an alfa dealer for servicing. I took mine to a reputable alfa specialist in Bournemouth and it ended up needing about 4.5k of work doing to bring it up to standard so I don't trust alfa dealers to do anything. Big items were belts, battery, some suspension bits, brake discs and pads.

I also swapped the corsa tyres for Michelin pilot sports. Noisier but better suited for our cold and wet climate.

Reliability wise car hasn't put a foot wrong in past 2.5 years and never let me down. Ironically given my other car a Porsche taycan isn't nearly as reliable.

Love the car to bits and it's one of the best drivers cars I've owned and will be sad to see it go.

[TA14]

Does anyone have an independent warranty that they can recommend?

[david-j8694]

MisterBigglesworth said:

I have a 2020 face-lift car. Was actually the EVO press car so a overlap that got comp red paint and yellow calipers but the carbon roof and face-lift upgrades, mine had the sparco carbon seats and factory akra exhaust..

I wouldn't bother with the warranty and wouldn't go near an alfa dealer for servicing. I took mine to a reputable alfa specialist in Bournemouth and it ended up needing about 4.5k of work doing to bring it up to standard so I don't trust alfa dealers to do anything. Big items were belts, battery, some suspension bits, brake discs and pads.

I also swapped the corsa tyres for Michelin pilot sports. Noisier but better suited for our cold and wet climate.

Reliability wise car hasn't put a foot wrong in past 2.5 years and never let me down. Ironically given my other car a Porsche taycan isn't nearly as reliable.

Love the car to bits and it's one of the best drivers cars I've owned and will be sad to see it go.

Great to hear. Fair chunk of work needed doing though - I wonder if I should see if a specialist like AHM can do a PPI?
I didn't fancy the Corsas year round myself either. I was either going to swap them to PS4S or, if they had plenty of life left in them, just do a few track days to burn them off lol. I think it would eat up something big and open like Bedford or Silverstone.

Car looks epic. It's such a thug of a car. Mega spec too by the sounds of it

arguti said:

I don't know Alfacare but Adie Hawkins is not that far; AHM are as good as it gets independent wise.

https://www.ahmotorsports.co.uk/

Ah yeah if you search Alfacare it seems to link to this site. This is the one I was referring to. Not sure if the name changed or something. Reassuring to hear there's a highly rated local indy though.

Matty_ said:

Worth joining the Facebook group, some great information on there.

For me, HK was very nice to have, and convenience pack is essential (as well as for resale). Also consider the Carbon seats, they're very popular but do lack heating and electric adjustment. The Akra exhaust is *incredibly* rare, and you'd be better off just fitting a H-Pipe with the manual valve mod.

MY2019 is a sweet spot, got the 5 split seats, many of the fixes (like scuttle panel). MY2020 they started increasing the refinement, so some feel it's less involving, but the dash is nicer. Also note at that point, the carbon roof became optional! Standard became aluminium.

Regarding reliability, mine was faultless. Only things to watch out for are batteries (cheap enough), damaged active splitter (actual splitter is expensive, and actuators can fail if damaged, £750 each, and need replacing in pairs apparently), and dampers (knocking/weeping - £700/corner). Otherwise, other major issues seemed rare...occasional bushes or drop links, but they're not bad.
Brakes are cheap too, considering - £400/pair for discs if bought at the right time from Autodoc, and £60 for pads from Alfaworks. Also remember major service is about £1500, so factor that if due soon.

Personally I'd skip the warranty and use a good specialist.

That's really good info, thanks a lot. As I'm pretty firm in wanting Montreal Green or the Etna (previously Comp?) Red, it's going to be tough to find something like Bigglesworth's holy grail spec, so I'm expecting to have to compromise on some stuff. I didn't fancy paying 80 odd either for a barely used one. I wouldn't mind something around the 50-60 mark with a few miles under its belt and hopefully a few early niggles dealt with.

Edited by david-j8694 on Tuesday 4th March 13:33

[david-j8694]

I must say though, you're doing a pretty shoddy job at putting me off lads.... Where are all the horror stories

Goes without saying, if any of you know of anyone on FB or Owners groups looking to sell one that would match what I'm looking for please shout

[b8575]

It is the first time running an Alfa for me. So, whilst I’ll likely use specialists for servicing, I did opt for an extended Alfa warranty on the car as it already had one and I could just extend it. Not sure how good it is compared to the likes of the BMW approved/extended one but I hope it’s peace of mind should something go wrong.

I also think MY2019 is the sweet spot for the above reasons, but I would say that. Additionally, at some point in 2020 (I think) they changed from a carbon fibre roof to a steel one - probably won’t make too much difference but I like saying I have a CF roof. I also think that MY2019 was the last without a GPF/OPF. They are also good value compared to MY2020 at the moment, too.

ETA: you can join the Facebook groups pretty easily. There are two “Alfa Romeo Giulia Owners (U.K.)” and “Alfa Romeo Giulia Quadrifoglio - UK owners”. There are a few cars for sale at the moment

Edited by b8575 on Tuesday 4th March 17:48

[AMVSVNick]

b8575 said:

It is the first time running an Alfa for me. So, whilst I’ll likely use specialists for servicing, I did opt for an extended Alfa warranty on the car as it already had one and I could just extend it.

On the hunt for one myself.

What I can't find anywhere is how long/many miles Alfa will provide warranty for. Can anyone help please?

[StescoG66]

david-j8694 said:

That's really good info, thanks a lot. As I'm pretty firm in wanting Montreal Green or the Etna (previously Comp?) Red, it's going to be tough to find something like Bigglesworth's holy grail spec, so I'm expecting to have to compromise on some stuff. I didn't fancy paying 80 odd either for a barely used one. I wouldn't mind something around the 50-60 mark with a few miles under its belt and hopefully a few early niggles dealt with

I could be wrong, but I think there was one in each colour in Thames in Slough about a month back when my son picked his cooking version up.
For what it’s worth, Thames were a joy to deal with and Vincenzo Quattromini both thorough and knowledgeable.

[b8575]

AMVSVNick said:

On the hunt for one myself.

What I can't find anywhere is how long/many miles Alfa will provide warranty for. Can anyone help please?

On my documentation, the extended warranty mileage limit is 100K miles. Not sure what you get as standard if you buy from a dealer

[Steve Campbell]

One thing to note in the '21 - '22 plates they are coming up for their 4 year service which is the "big one"......I think it's ~£1500 or more.....I bought mine new with a 5 year service plan so not an issue and have booked it in for end May......but if you are in the market for a car in that range it's worth bearing in mind if it hasn't had it done already.

[MisterBigglesworth]

david-j8694 said:

I must say though, you're doing a pretty shoddy job at putting me off lads.... Where are all the horror stories

Goes without saying, if any of you know of anyone on FB or Owners groups looking to sell one that would match what I'm looking for please shout

Mine will be going on sale on autotrader next week. Really would have liked to keep it but moving into an apartment with only 1 parking space.

As mentioned I had autolusso do all the big jobs last service including belts, suspension, brakes and new battery and bill was £4850 so car is now very well sorted.

Currently on 26,300 miles as used as mostly used as my summer toy. Had all the 2020 MY options ticked so has the autonomous driving package.

Only really looking to get out of my finance deal on it - settlement is £39,600 which is below what most cars of this age / miles are asking on AT especially given the Unicorn spec option list inc carbon seats/roof/akra.

[david-j8694]

Steve Campbell said:

One thing to note in the '21 - '22 plates they are coming up for their 4 year service which is the "big one"......I think it's ~£1500 or more.....I bought mine new with a 5 year service plan so not an issue and have booked it in for end May......but if you are in the market for a car in that range it's worth bearing in mind if it hasn't had it done already.

This is true, thanks. The service plan sounded like a really good deal.

MisterBigglesworth said:

Mine will be going on sale on autotrader next week. Really would have liked to keep it but moving into an apartment with only 1 parking space.

As mentioned I had autolusso do all the big jobs last service including belts, suspension, brakes and new battery and bill was £4850 so car is now very well sorted.

Currently on 26,300 miles as used as mostly used as my summer toy. Had all the 2020 MY options ticked so has the autonomous driving package.

Only really looking to get out of my finance deal on it - settlement is £39,600 which is below what most cars of this age / miles are asking on AT especially given the Unicorn spec option list inc carbon seats/roof/akra.

Hmmm very interesting. I've send you a PM