How many miles did you drive between June 2021 and now that you need to change the accessory belt a 2nd time? If you got it done back then for $600, you scored the deal of the century. That said, labor at your dealer seems pretty steep (it's that /Maserati part that gets you...). "If it were me" I'd take a good look at the belt and decide if it looks sufficiently worn to justify replacing. And if so, I'd continue down your path of looking for an independent Euro shop to do the work. I'd also look back at the June 2021 receipt and make sure the belt was actually replaced. That's an impossibly low price for changing it. I suspect they "inspected it" but hey, I've been wrong before. I wasn't there.

 

Thanks for the reply and feedback!

I drove 40k miles in that timeframe. I thought the service interval is 40k, but maybe I’m mistaken.

You know, now that you mention it, $600 does seem low. Maybe it was just a visual inspection. I’ll look at the service record more closely later this week. I’m currently out of town…

 

I got 3 quotes for serp belt service near me just a couple weeks ago.

Alfa dealer 1: $1300
Alfa dealer 2: $2000
Indy mechanic: $1650

$3K is crazy.

Both Alfa dealers told me 50-60K mi for a garage kept car that doesn’t see harsh conditions, would be where they’d advise for the service to be completed.

 

Thanks for your feedback! Are those quotes from SoCal Afla Romeo dealerships?

I’ll do a visual inspection as best I can and provide photos later this week.

 

LOL at this dealer service pricing...we Alfa customers must have "Rich Suckers" written on our forehead when they hand out quotes like this. Another good one is some of the CCM service/replacement costs, they are expensive parts but those labor charges are hilarious, guess some dealers are trying to rival the med device/pharma industry on profit margin...

 

For reference mine was 1.8k in Dec 21 from an Alfa mas dealer and they said 10 hours

 

Hi everyone. I got a quote of just over $3,000 for the accessory drive belt service from Russell Westbrook Alfa Romeo in Van Nuys, CA. They also claimed it was a 10 hour job. I last had it done in June 2021 at the same place for about $600 and they completed an oil change all in the same day within an 8 hour business day.

Other services have increased over the years as well, but not by this much. For example, oil changes cost about 10% more than in 2022 based on my service records.

1) Do you know a reputable independent shop in SoCal?

2) Have you seen costs increase at such an alarming rate?

3) How does this compare to costs in your experience?

4) @AlfaRomeoCares Is Stellantis aware of such increases? If I was quoted accurately, what can they do to prevent what appears to be price gouging?
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if you're in socal and don't mind driving a little bit i got my belt service does at HP performance in San Marcos (just north of San Diego). was around $1500. Phil and their staff know their stuff. I drove down from Norcal (made it in a mini vacay and played 3 rounds of golf at torrey pines while the car was in the shop).

 

Hi everyone. I got a quote of just over $3,000 for the accessory drive belt service from Russell Westbrook Alfa Romeo in Van Nuys, CA. They also claimed it was a 10 hour job. I last had it done in June 2021 at the same place for about $600 and they completed an oil change all in the same day within an 8 hour business day.

Other services have increased over the years as well, but not by this much. For example, oil changes cost about 10% more than in 2022 based on my service records.

1) Do you know a reputable independent shop in SoCal?

2) Have you seen costs increase at such an alarming rate?

3) How does this compare to costs in your experience?

4) @AlfaRomeoCares Is Stellantis aware of such increases? If I was quoted accurately, what can they do to prevent what appears to be price gouging?
View attachment 150388

Bring it to me, we can do it for nearly half- $1500+/- (We are in Oceanside but shop is in San Marcos) Van Nuys has a nice reputation and I highly recommend avoiding them. They are epitome of why Alfa has a bad dealer rep. I also have a partner shop in Costa Mesa. Ether Supercars. Likely around the same cost. Talk to Hector there.

 

I realize this might be a dumb question that might be common knowledge to most, but I have no experience with it and don't know:

If you take your car to an Indy shop for the belt service, and then later something goes wrong with the car that would be covered by the Mopar warranty and could even remotely be related to the belt, can they refuse to cover it because the belt service wasn't done by an Alfa dealer?

 

Received a

I realize this might be a dumb question that might be common knowledge to most, but I have no experience with it and don't know:

If you take your car to an Indy shop for the belt service, and then later something goes wrong with the car that would be covered by the Mopar warranty and could even remotely be related to the belt, can they refuse to cover it because the belt service wasn't done by an Alfa dealer?

FWIW I was also recently quoted $3K plus for this service, so +1 on that question.

 

Can vouch for Hector from Ether Supercar, great guy. Very meticulous about his work and passionate about cars. Doesn't hurt to see the kind of cars he is working on at his shop. Last time I was there, he was working on a Ferrari 488 GT3 race car and a Radical SR8X

 

He has lots of super cars in there. QV is a cakewalk for him. Works on Base model Giulia's to Pagani. This is why I have partnered with him.

 

Just make sure they charge you for the change of the belt only. When I asked the dealer, they quoted me several items, including oil/filter change, air filters change and fluid brake flush, which they assumed I would do together with the belt change. At this specific dealer, the belt change is $2,100.

 

How hard is this to do yourself? Special tools required?

 

As someone said in a different thread, if you’re even considering it, you’re probably mechanically inclined enough to do it.
I followed this method and was able to do the belt and an oil change in about 8 hours (working on a lift). For the next one, I’ll probably go for the factory method and take the opportunity to do tensioners/water pump.

 

lucky either way... it hasn't snapped on you

>Looks like I got lucky. Or unlucky if my belt has 80k miles on it 🥴

 

Ok here’s video and photos of the belt, which is really hard to see with the intercoolers, piping, and duct in the way. Thoughts? How many miles do you think are on it?

 

It's really an involved and daunting job to access and change the serpentine belt. There's a YouTube video on the procedure - just a few of the steps are: remove front fascia, drain the coolant from the radiator and intercooler systems, evacuate the refrigerant from the A/C, etc. There's a lot of stuff to remove to access the serpentine belt. Then you have to put it all back together including charging the A/C system. Probably a good idea to replace the belt tensioner while you're at it. Alfissimo has the belt, two idlers, and tensioner for about $400.

 

I got Van Nuys Alfa to put it in writing that they don't recommend the belt service. I instructed them to do an inspection on my last oil change. Also, get the owner care convenience package. I paid 1.5k for 12 oil changes on my Stelvio QV.