I wish I had never bought this car...its full of faults that the dealer has failed to fix, AND Alfa GB dont seem to care or believe there is a problem...Even though I have an independant AA report that Alfa GB actually asked me to arrange.. I also have video of the failures..
I phoned Alfa on the 7th Jan 02 to tell them that there is serious and dangerous problem with the Alfa. They didnt believe me! I invited them to send an engineer down to look...They said that the dealer said there was no problem! hence they would not come and see it.
I am now having to drive my 22 year old TR7 which is much more reliable, economical, and better than the complete rubish that I feel I have wasted all £19,100 on.
Here is a list of my faults of which most are on the AA report.
1) Selespeed failure to engage gear. Leaving car in dangerous position.
Normally happens when on roundabout or turn when engine cold.
Video available of this.
Alfa dealer has already had car in 4 times and not solved this!
2) Boot when unlocked with remote control, opens and then Alarm sounds!
Sometimes it takes minutes to stop the Alarm.
3) Boot plastic gutter trim is not secure at rear edge, and hatch not
aligning.
4) Some oil leak benieth the car.
5) Positive terminal battery cover is broken
6) CD Player skips on normal CDs even when car stationary.
7) Front Windscreen washers very poor
8) Power Steering level below minimum
9) Handbreak cable on left is not fitted properly to floor bracket
10) Timing belt cover not fitted correctly, with gap at top, and its loose.
11) Carpeting hanging out of passenger front lower trim
12) Carpeting loose on side of center console
13) Alternator fails to charge battery
14) Only 25 to 26mpg
15) Car uses oil
Other problems
16) Rattles from Door trims
17) Rattles from rear seats
18) Rear seats not locking in position
19) Sunroof blind completely missing
20) Where sunroof blind eventually fitted after months, grease, and bad fit.
21) Sunroof fails to open
22) Selespeed Paddles on steering wheel. Finish keeps coming off.
The steering wheel has been replaced twice!
23) The Climate Control kept going to HIGH and MAX !!!
The dealer accused me of not knowing how to use it.
It took 3 attempts. On the 3rd the car came back with a replacement Door Mirror! With overspray!!
They told me a sensor (I have the Climate Pack) in the door mirror had to be replaced.
The Climate control is almost ok now, apart from annoying way it goes to high if you open the door.
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Now you no why Alfas loose their value at such an alarming rate
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A lesson here, never believe all the blurb written by the press at the launch of a new model.
I suppose a journalist can't envisage a car becoming an unreliable lemon.
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When have Alfas ever been anything other than poorly designed and built scrap?I really cant think of a brand available in the UK that comes any where near as bad as Alfa.There used to be Lancia but we managed to get rid,the same thing needs to happen to Alfa,total junk.
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There's still Fiat, Alfa's 'poor relation' but at least they are much cheaper and good value i.e. secondhand only.
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Shame really, in particular now that Alfa were realising diesel was the fuel of the future.
David
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That has to be one sad car,an Alfa with a diesel engine.
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Last week there was a post with problems on a 156 Selespeed.
I'll say it again ,the Selespeed is proving troublesome most owners seem to reject there Selespeeds in exchange for Manuals.
Visit www.alfaowner.com.
Apart from the gearbox faults the other faults are fairly typical of Alfa Romeo.
You need to look at these faults like most Alfisti would :
2) Boot when unlocked with remote control, opens and then Alarm sounds!
Sometimes it takes minutes to stop the Alarm.>>turn off the alarm
3) Boot plastic gutter trim is not secure at rear edge, and hatch not
aligning.>>Unless its leaking does it matter ?
4) Some oil leak benieth the car.>> more serious, gearbox?
5) Positive terminal battery cover is broken>> So?
6) CD Player skips on normal CDs even when car stationary.>>turn off CD Player ,Listen to the engine thats what Alfa's are about.
7) Front Windscreen washers very poor>> So?
8) Power Steering level below minimum>> top it up
9) Handbreak cable on left is not fitted properly to floor bracket>>unless its a safety issue does it matter ?
10) Timing belt cover not fitted correctly, with gap at top, and its loose.>> Refit and tighten.
11) Carpeting hanging out of passenger front lower trim>>So?
12) Carpeting loose on side of center console>> So?
13) Alternator fails to charge battery>>New Alternator
14) Only 25 to 26mpg>> not bad
15) Car uses oil>>all twinsparks use oil, FACT
Other problems >>Nothing here of importance.
16) Rattles from Door trims
17) Rattles from rear seats
18) Rear seats not locking in position
19) Sunroof blind completely missing
20) Where sunroof blind eventually fitted after months, grease, and bad fit.
21) Sunroof fails to open
22) Selespeed Paddles on steering wheel. Finish keeps coming off.
The steering wheel has been replaced twice!
23) The Climate Control kept going to HIGH and MAX !!!
The dealer accused me of not knowing how to use it.
For £19K you deserve better but you will not get from Alfa Romeo. Their dealer network is very poor.All the Alfa's i've owned have been 3 years old or older so most problems have been ironed out.They are great cars but only if you can live with eccentric electrics/trim faults.
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Sounds like you need legal advice. Either that or Anne Robinson.
If all else fails get as much publicity as you can. It certainly put me off Alfas for life!
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Anne Robinson now charges ten times as much as the best legal advice. So what Neil should do is see a solicitor for advice about rejecting the car. I already gave him this advice via e-mail. The only reason why any 22 year old TR7 could be more reliable than a modern car, even an Alfa, is that through the course of its life it has been completely rebuilt. I had a TR7 in the 1970s and it was complete sh**te; probably one of the worst cars ever conceived or ever built. It will be conforting to Neil to realise that if he fails to reject his Alfa and get his money back the understandable act of publicising its long list of faults not only hastens the demise of the marque in the UK but has the effect on the value of his car of parking it on quicksand, then filling it with Readymix. I'll put a link to www.alfaowner.com in the car by car breakdown entries.
HJ
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What I don't understand is - Why buy the car in the first place?
Independant advice (J D Power, What Car? or Which?)
will ALL say the same story - unreliable cars and DREADFUL dealers.
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Neil,
I'm amazed to hear this. I'd like to offer some advice based on actual experience.
My dad bought a new Yamaha 650 motorbike some years back, a real beauty.
Took it in to the dealer for its first routine service. When he picked it up he noticed a cracked crankcase. Dealer refused liability, after months of wrangling and getting nowhere, he wrote to Yamaha in Japan. a month later they replied and told him to take it to another dealership where no less than a complete brand new engine was shipped all the way from Japan to replace his existing one.
Alfa in Italy have spent the millions in producing these cars to sell not Alfa GB. Put yourself in their shoes, wouldn't you be a little cheesed off if your dealership actually put people off buying your products?
Good Luck
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I've mentioned elsewhere about the similarity between the switch-gear and fixtures and fittings between the Alfa 147 and the Fiat Bravo. Whilst this duplicity isn't a problem for some manufaturers whose components (or at least those of their suppliers) work well, it is a problem for Fiat, whose quality can best be described as poor.
Also of note is the Alfa 147's European Car of the Year award and it's subsequent poor frontal crash protection observed in EuroNCAP.
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Just remember that the Talbot Solara was also a European "Car of the Year".I think sales in UK eventually got into double figures.
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I can't even think what it must feel like for you Neil. I am sure you must be
absolutely gutted. I really do hope that you get some sort of satisfaction
at the end of the day.
We on the www have now got some power to make a difference. I would be
inclined to name and shame the guilty parties in this case and rake up as
much publicity as I can until someone started to actually listen.
There must be a Name and Shame website where a campaign could be started?
I think my first step would be to copy your original posting along with all the
responses and e-mail them to anyone at Alfa Romeo who could possibly
help your cause or pass them on to someone who could. There are also
plenty of Motoring newsgroups out there that should know all about this, and
what about all the members of the Alfa Romeo Owners Clubs? They normally
have good connections.
You should not be expected to take this s#*t from anyone. It's about time that
we as consumers started to get a bit stroppy.
I really hope it turns out right in the end, Who knows, next time it could be any one of us.
Please let us know how you get on. If I can help, I will.
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Spud,
Agree totally with what you say. However, it is always better to supply a pointer to a discussion like this than it is to extract and send.
Saves hassle and misunderstanding.
However, and I mean no disrespect, the report above seems either incomplete or to have some things which I don`t understand.
Neil -
How long have you had the car ?
In what way and circumstance did Alfa GB ask you to get the Engineer's report ?
In what what way have they said that they are not interested in the Report ?
Does the dealer accept the existance of the faults ?
How did he fail to fix them, or did he think he did ?
Why did the dealer tell Alfa there was no issue ?
Also don't ignore the suggestion above of contacting Alfa in different ways or places.
M,
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Maybe the success of the 156/147 is making build quality suffer ?
Last year was Alfa's best ever for UK sales.Perhaps the sheer volume of production means Quality control slips (more than usual).
Think its a shame Alfa Romeo show complete lack of interest in thier loyal customers.Alfisti have put up with it for years but now they are selling more cars and to a different type of buyer this attitude will not be put up with.
Just when the 'Alfa's rust' tag has gone they shoot themselves in the foot by fitting advanced semi-auto gearboxes into their cars which are unreliable.
Perhaps its no coincidence resale values of Alfa's have fallen considerably since January ?
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For the last 2 years, J D Power survey has reported that the VERY worst thing about Alfa ownership (ALL models) has been the DREADFUL dealer service.
Until (if ever) Alfa bulid their cars with Toyota build quality so that owners dont need dealers, this sorry saga will continue.
TrevorP
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