Would you spend your hard-earned cash on a new Alfa Romeo? It doesn’t need to be the spendy 505-horsepower Giulia Quadrifoglio shown above. There are more affordable options at play in the current Alfa Romeo product lineup offered here in the States.
Could you overlook any perceived quality issues and pull the trigger on an Alfa Romeo?
I ask because I’m currently running into the tail end of a great week with the car above. The video will be out soon. Over the course of my time with the car I’ve been waiting for it to break down. It’s done just that with nearly everyone that’s driven the thing. Yet it hasn’t done so yet with me. I realize it’s now bound to happen, but I’m holding out hope that it doesn’t.
Still the niggling worry is there that the dash will explode into a symphony of warning lights and the entertaining machine will leave me as it rides away on the back of a trailer. That thought exists… but so does the thought of a sharp driving sports sedan with aggressive styling and a truly excellent dynamic experience.
Would you spend the dough on an Alfa?
Hooniverse Asks: Would you buy a new Alfa Romeo product?
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42 responses to “Hooniverse Asks: Would you buy a new Alfa Romeo product?”
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Not a chance. My nearest Alfa dealer is over 6 hours away – I learned this hard lesson once before buying a Saab.
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That’s why I try to avoid marques that are associated with extant dealerships.
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I wouldn’t buy any car new, especially not an Alfa.
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This kind of question is usually converted internally to “Would you buy today’s Alfas in five to fifteen years?” anyway.
My answer is no, their products won’t offer anything I would like to afford maintenance for: a third hand, formerly mid-range, sporty car will certainly have been babied by its owners, in order to preserve it for the fourth owner.-
The maintenance doesn’t scare me off but the price of entry is too high. I’ll consider second-hand Julias when my Subaru is due for replacement but that’s probably a couple of years off.
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There is this window between right after the end of the warranty and before the aftermarket and non-dealer specialists pick up a model which scares me. But that is not particularly Alfa Romeo.
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Never have and never will , worked at a dealership summers when I was in High school. Just not worth the loss of money.
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New, no. Certified pre-owned maybe. I really like the look of the new Stelvio and I’m hoping that depreciation hits them hard. If I could get a Stelvio for used Ford Explorer money, I would be very tempted. But it always come back to, do I want to spend my hard earned money on something cool or something reliable/cheap to fix from GM, Ford, Kia/Hyundai, or one of the better Japanese imports. Once they depreciate under $5k, a Giulia would be VERY tempting.
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Buy one used, in two or three years, well depreciated, from CarMax, buy the the longest MaxCare warranty you can afford….then drive the hell out of it.
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I’m not sure I could justify new Alfa money any time soon (unless we get the MiTo or similar), but CPO, I’d be willing to take the risk on, if I could find a Giulia without a sunroof (we had a handful land last week at work, and I’m not tall, but I don’t fit in it comfortably). The interior materials aren’t quite up to German standards, but I doubt the ownership experience will be that far off (maybe just less convenient with less dealer base to accommodate you).
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Since I grew up with British sport cars I’d go for a Lotus Elise for a newer performance car. I thought about it seriously if they got below $25,000 but that hasn’t and probably won’t happen.
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If I had the money I’d go for a 4C but I don’t see the rest of the line as offering enough passion over the alternatives to be worth the risk. Also If I can afford a 4C I can afford a spare care to drive when it’s in the shop.
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We’ve owned our Stelvio since October 2017. Just passed 10k trouble free miles. Needed a software update in the beginning and that’s about it. The car puts smiles on my face, whenever the better half lets me drive it!
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IF THEY HAD SOLD THE GIULIA WITH A MANUAL IN THE US!!!
I’m only bitter because I saw a Giulia Quadrifoglio with a beautiful wooden manual shift knob in the flesh at the NYIAS when it was new, only for that carrot on a stick to be yanked away.
You gotta love FCA for getting so many things right, but then finding some way to mess things up.-
Never forget that the high cost of emissions certification in USA is keeping many manuals out of this market. The automatics and manuals are certified separately since each requires its own ECU calibration, so double the cost to Federalize. For low volume cars, like manuals, the business case just isn’t there…..
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Are there specific numbers out there for this process?
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I heard/read somewhere that roughly 1 in 4 manual BMW M3s are sold in the US. It’s a number that’s on the decline, certainly, but what if 1 in 4 potential buyers of a Giulia Q (who likely cross-shop M3s) walked away from the lot because of the lack of a manual option? It wouldn’t take long for that to pay for certification.
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It seems to make sense to me…yet not manual GQ here…I wonder what unseen factors contribute to this?
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“…the dash will explode into a symphony of warning lights and the entertaining machine will leave me as it rides away on the back of a trailer.”
Tempting, but I doubt any new car, even an Alfa, could live up to my rather demanding standards for both frequent and diverse modes of failure.-
I heard Mr. Lucas has hooked up with Marchionne…you may be in luck!
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Like any other premium European car, these are for LEASING, the shorter the term, the better. Once these things go out of warranty, make sure you are out of your lease!
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I have an uncle who lives in LA who used to drive BMWs and Mercedeses but now seems to be quite happy with an EcoBoost Mustang for day-to-day use and an old but well-preserved GMT400-series Suburban for bigger jobs. He came to an opinion that the best use of the last miles of warranty coverage of a German car was to drive it to the junkyard.
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I’d dig the 124 Spider.
Wait, that’s a FIAT? Or Miata??
In any case, there’s a dealer on my way to work (for now). -
If I had the money for a new Alfa I’d probably spend it on a new Mustang GT or a slightly used Corvette. I like the 4C Spider but why bother. New Alfas don’t have the look or the mystic of the beauiful designs from the 50’s and 60’s. I just don’t have the jones for Italian cars that I used to. Or German cars. French cars, maybe.
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Yeah, that is my issue with the Giulia as well. It looks too German to my eyes. From the back it doesn’t look Italian, unlike the Milano/75 😉
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Yes, other than the grille and tail lights it looks like a BMW 3-series. And those are as common as Toyota Corollas now.
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No. I bought a new 164L back in 1992 and went thru the whole orphan car thing when Alfa bowed out of the U.S. in 1995. The local Ferrari dealer was the only place that would touch it, none of the independent Alfa shops would, I wish Alfa good luck this time around and enjoy my ’73 GTV that I currently own, but I will stick with my Miata for my DD.
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How was that, driving an 164L in the happy 90s? Would people comment on it?
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Not really, but this was in anti-car Seattle. I do remember my 80 year old neighbor’s 70 year old gardener calling it an Italian Cadillac. I enjoyed owning the 164, daily-ed it for 10 years. The 3L Busso V-6 was symphonic. I think the one in the current Giulia sounds flatulent, but shouty, farty cars seem to be the style nowadays.
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No, but it’s not their reputation that keeps me away. They just don’t have anything in their current lineup that I want.
I want to want the 4C, but the lack of a manual is a deal breaker on a toy car.
The Giulia is fine, but it wouldn’t be my choice in its segment.
My race trailer is pushing 6k lbs loaded. I can’t buy a Stelvio if it can’t replace my Trollblazer for towing.-
This is exactly my thoughts. The one Alfa I was even interested in wound up being sold as a Fiat instead.
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Towing capacities in the US are always lower, just to push people to buy big-ass trucks. EU-spec Stelvios, for example, are rated for 5k lbs.
http://www.stelvioforum.com/forum/265-towing/2618-towing-capacities-eu-us.html
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Sure if it were something other than luxury/near-exotic class. As it is, the Mazda 3 is much closer to the kind of Alfa I’d want than any Alfa I could actually buy new.
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At Alfa price points I’m more of a Dodge SRT and luxo-trim Ram 1500 customer. Doesn’t help that the nearest dealer is in the Twin Cities.
(I actually would think about buying a BMW or an Alfa before I’d consider Mercedes, despite having a Mercedes dealer local to me in Fargo, but that’s because of how I feel about the Daimler Chryslerrape and pillage“mErGeR oF eQuALs”) -
Can’t go any more wrong than a German car these days..
I bought a Fiat from new circa 2000, was in the family for a decade (passed it to my parents after 4 years), it was grand despite leading a very tough life. The door sorta started falling off its hinges near the end of its life, but considering the intersteallar mileage my folks did and the state of the rural Irish roads my parents drove it on, it’s not really surprising. -
This is one I wouldn’t even consider. I have come to choose whatever product so that it is convenient, simple, reliable to use. With cars even more so than some other things. I wouldn’t be opposed to make it squeak up and down a mountain road, but I’d absolutely prefer to get home again, too – and take all my gear without being afraid to damage or scratch anything.
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If I could afford it, absolutley yes.
I can’t, and by some margin. Alfa is not in the market here, and if it were, it’d be a USD 80k+ car. (that’s more or less where c-class and 3-series are). -
giulia is a nice looking car. the interior is just ok but not something i would be willing to tolerate at the price level they are asking for it. the seats feel like high school gymnasium bleachers. there is a sad lack of shoulder room to the outboard side of the seats. on the up side, i feel the build quality is as expected. the car as a whole is fairly good.
i can easily compare this car with many others in its class. this one i would not buy at any price -
Not a chance. There’s a reason they left once. Only reason they’re back now is FCA … and other than a RAM,(big maybe), there’s not a one of those I’d touch.
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I guess for a lease its worth a chance. But nowadays, we take cars working for granted. A car that needs time in repair shop, even if manufacturer pays for it, takes from our busy lives. Just don’t see it happening. This will be a niche player until Fiat and Alfa go hide back in Italy and Europe again and run away from America with their tail between their legs.
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“Would you spend your hard-earned cash on a new…”
No.
Setting aside my personal tendency to buy well used toys, with 2-4 year old cars nearly indistinguishable from a new model, why buy new? Besides, anything newish would be primarily for my wife’s use. Her priorities are reliable, economical and comfortable. Nothing in Alfa’s line up is even in the ballpark. -
I would but not another tiptronic. Manual only.
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