[Robert Seeger]

I am getting ready to buy a low mile 2017 Quad for a daily driver. I would love some advice on what I should be looking for. One of my largest dilemmas is buying one with ceramic disc brakes or not. I have read and read both sides of the story. Of course more horror stories of buying one with them. Some of the problems I have heard of is squeaky and unpredictable until the rotors get warmed up. Also $10k to replace if ever needed but I dont think I would ever have to. It does not seem the used market demands any higher price for the upgraded brakes so you get them for free practically. Any thoughts on this and more things to look for would be greatly appreciated. Thanks.

 

[JerryNY]

I am getting ready to buy a low mile 2017 Quad for a daily driver. I would love some advice on what I should be looking for. One of my largest dilemmas is buying one with ceramic disc brakes or not. I have read and read both sides of the story. Of course more horror stories of buying one with them. Some of the problems I have heard of is squeaky and unpredictable until the rotors get warmed up. Also $10k to replace if ever needed but I dont think I would ever have to. It does not seem the used market demands any higher price for the upgraded brakes so you get them for free practically. Any thoughts on this and more things to look for would be greatly appreciated. Thanks.

The steel ones on mine squeak too. Every large cross drilled rotor car I’ve ever had squeaked somewhat. The QV has the biggest ones I’ve ever had so not surprised really so I wouldn’t worry about that really. It is what it is. Also unless the car has been tracked hard you’ll probably spend less money maintaining them because the rotors last forever in normal street use. If something does go wrong they will cost more though so that’s a consideration but $10k is a whole system; you’ll likely not need to ever replace the whole system. If you’re not paying a premium to get them I say that’s great and to go for it. Also nice is like no brake dust!

Also you can purchase an extended warranty as long as the car is under original warranty term. Obviously a 2017 will still be unless it has 50k miles. Might be nice for peace of mind too...

 

[Robert Seeger]

What seats do you have? I live in FL so I would never need the heated seats.

 

[JerryNY]

I have the standard ones. Love them. I would miss no heated seats here in NY though. The carbon seats are undeniably cool looking though. I have a feeling if you don’t like them you’d have ZERO problem finding another QV owner willing to to swap their standard seats and maybe even a little cash for them lol

 

[Robert Seeger]

Thank you very much for the advice.

 

[Swissalfa]

Since it is a used car ask to see the service records. I have qv with carbon ceramic brakes and no issues with them except they are very soft just after a car wash. Other than that, for normal use there is no long warm up time. Ie they stop fine right away.

 

[CJ_Xclr8]

No issues whatsoever either with the CCB's. And coming from someone who likes to keep their wheels clean the nearly zero brake dust is a huge plus in my book.

 

[freedomgli]

Any thoughts on this and more things to look for would be greatly appreciated. Thanks.

Many people happily daily drive their QVs but like anything else you have to pay to play. They guzzle gas, consume tires quickly, 36k maintenance is a major service that is costly, few Alfa dealers are competent enough to work on them, repair parts can take an unreasonable amount of time to arrive if/when you need repairs so don't crash your car, get hit by anybody else or get a crack in your windshield as you could be waiting a long, long time for repairs. If I had the means I would consider QV a reasonable daily relative to its peers assuming you have another car to drive as a backup just in case.

 

[jameswells]

Robert - I have a white 2017 QV with 5,000 miles and it's been perfect with no problems. I have several cars with another on the way, so I think I'm going to sell this one. Let me know if you are interested as I am motivated to move. I'm in Austin, TX.

 

[FlyinWege]

Many people happily daily drive their QVs but like anything else you have to pay to play. They guzzle gas, consume tires quickly, 36k maintenance is a major service that is costly, few Alfa dealers are competent enough to work on them, repair parts can take an unreasonable amount of time to arrive if/when you need repairs so don't crash your car, get hit by anybody else or get a crack in your windshield as you could be waiting a long, long time for repairs. If I had the means I would consider QV a reasonable daily relative to its peers assuming you have another car to drive as a backup just in case.

Some of these points just depend on how you drive and want to use the car. I have had the car 13 months and put over 10K miles on my QV and I generally average 22MPG in mixed driving (on a road trip it will pull nearly 30 MPG on the highway in 'A' mode). My Corsa tires look practically new. If you want to burn through tires and gas you certainly can but it's not required...



I agree with you on the remainder of your points but would point out that there would be similar wait times for most new model import repairs although from some of the stories here clearly Alfa needs to continue to improve its dealer service experience.

 

[MINIME]

I have a 2017 QV with CCM and Sparco Seats. We have no complaints. We live in AZ so I miss not having air ventilated seats but with remote start it cools off the car so quickly it is not a problem. No heat the remote start the car and the car will warm up. We have required no service calls except one that the remote start threw a code and it was in the shop for an hour. OEM tires are soft had a flat and it was a $500 tire but that was at a dealer which is a lot more than tire rack or Discount. CCM's most folks that say they are a bad choice are the ones that don't have them. Pricey to replace YEP but depending on how you drive you may never have to vs steel. So they are going to impress the heck out of anyone looking at those things because they fill the whole wheel and they will stay super super clean. Braking, we are careful in wet payement but I think that has more to do with the Corsa's than the brakes. I honestly have no squeaks (I think we heard it once when we first got it) and stopping is no problem. I notice far better braking than on my other car that I thought had the best brakes. My braking is smooth so I don't know how other people drive theirs but we don't notice anything other than great brakes. There were two things that my husband fell in love with on the QV. The CCM and the Sparco seats and R mode. Outside of that he was blind.


Good luck with wherever you land. If I have any I should have done's with my QV, seats and CCM brakes would not change a couple other things might have. I don't track my QV, I just use it as a daily and have fun.

 

[tadslc]

Have CCM on my car, 9300 miles. No squeaks, etc. although Alfa did replace the rear rotors for excessive noise around 6K miles ago.

Pads barely look worn and my god they look good!

 

[Swissalfa]

Any thoughts on this and more things to look for would be greatly appreciated. Thanks.

Many people happily daily drive their QVs but like anything else you have to pay to play. They guzzle gas, consume tires quickly, 36k maintenance is a major service that is costly, few Alfa dealers are competent enough to work on them, repair parts can take an unreasonable amount of time to arrive if/when you need repairs so don't crash your car, get hit by anybody else or get a crack in your windshield as you could be waiting a long, long time for repairs. If I had the means I would consider QV a reasonable daily relative to its peers assuming you have another car to drive as a backup just in case.

I use mine as a daily driver and don’t have nor have I needed a back up. I have only had scheduled services performed and am provided with a loaner. I have 16000 kms and still on the original tires with lots of tread left. I switch to winter tires during the colder months so that helps. Also if gas consumption is an issue for you (not sure why it would be since your gas is practically free in the US ?) then you can save gas by using the more economical modes.

 

[Swissalfa]

Any thoughts on this and more things to look for would be greatly appreciated. Thanks.

Many people happily daily drive their QVs but like anything else you have to pay to play. They guzzle gas, consume tires quickly, 36k maintenance is a major service that is costly, few Alfa dealers are competent enough to work on them, repair parts can take an unreasonable amount of time to arrive if/when you need repairs so don't crash your car, get hit by anybody else or get a crack in your windshield as you could be waiting a long, long time for repairs. If I had the means I would consider QV a reasonable daily relative to its peers assuming you have another car to drive as a backup just in case.

I use mine as a daily driver and don’t have nor have I needed a back up. I have only had scheduled services performed and am provided with a loaner. I have 16000 kms and still on the original tires with lots of tread left. I switch to winter tires during the colder months so that helps. Also if gas consumption is an issue for you (not sure why it would be since your gas is practically free in the US ?) then you can save gas by using the more economical modes.

 

[freedomgli]

I use mine as a daily driver and don’t have nor have I needed a back up. I have only had scheduled services performed and am provided with a loaner.

Count yourself lucky then I guess. The Alfa Romeo dealer network seems to be marginally better in Europe than elsewhere but they're not great there either. Just look at how poorly they fare virtually every reliability and customer satisfaction survey or ranking.

Here in the USA there are many reports about simple problems that should take mere hours or days to resolve that end up taking weeks or months due to unqualified/ inexperienced technicians and service advisors, poor service information and tools, poor parts supply, etc. There is no guarantee of loaner cars. 16000km is nothing and if you're saving gas in a QV you're doing it wrong. Gas is not practically free here. Yes, it's cheaper than the EU but it's hard to make an apples to apples comparison between standards of living. Price/gallon at the gas pump is just one variable of many that affect "affordability" and living standards.

One unlucky stone chip could turn into a cracked windshield and a car that's unsafe to drive until repaired. Most dealers don't do window glass replacement - they subcontract it out - but even places like Safelite were running into supply issues. There have been several reports of windshields being back ordered indefinitely with no ETA. Eventually customers got their cars fixed, but not without great delay. Again, no loaners for many customers.

 

[John_K_348]

For a 2017 I would check the service records and be looking for these things:

1. Headlight washer upgrade replacement
2. Software updates for ecu and infortainment. May be many.
3. Working amp in trunk especially with tinted cars.
4. Scuffs on steering wheel
5. Chips in paint on rockers, rear fender flares, hood, bumper.
6. Damage to splitter and diffuser.
7. Auto stop start, and remote start, parking sensors, anti collision all working.
8. Oil is clean or at least free of fuel smell. No excessive valve tap, good oil level.

Good luck and have fun. The Sparcos and CCBs are probably fine if you can get them. Just don't trash them and be ready to deal with winter conditions if needed.

 

[JerryNY]

Count yourself lucky then I guess. The Alfa Romeo dealer network seems to be marginally better in Europe than elsewhere but they're not great there either. Just look at how poorly they fare virtually every reliability and customer satisfaction survey or ranking.

Here in the USA there are many reports about simple problems that should take mere hours or days to resolve that end up taking weeks or months due to unqualified/ inexperienced technicians and service advisors, poor service information and tools, poor parts supply, etc. There is no guarantee of loaner cars. 16000km is nothing and if you're saving gas in a QV you're doing it wrong. Gas is not practically free here. Yes, it's cheaper than the EU but it's hard to make an apples to apples comparison between standards of living. Price/gallon at the gas pump is just one variable of many that affect "affordability" and living standards.

One unlucky stone chip could turn into a cracked windshield and a car that's unsafe to drive until repaired. Most dealers don't do window glass replacement - they subcontract it out - but even places like Safelite were running into supply issues. There have been several reports of windshields being back ordered indefinitely with no ETA. Eventually customers got their cars fixed, but not without great delay. Again, no loaners for many customers.

Sure they are relatively new but you definitely are dealing with a small network that is trying to carve out a spot in the market. That said my QV has been more reliable than most cars I’ve had before. I’ve just passed the 5k mark in just over 6 months and zero issues. Gas mileage around town is not great but 500hp doesn’t come from magic it takes some fuel to do that but that said I recently took a trip to RI with my gf and got almost 32mpg on one 90 mile stretch and just over 30 for the whole 160 mile trip. Didn’t buy the car to save gas but impressive a 500hp sedan can loaf along the highway and top 30 mpg...

 

[Swissalfa]

I use mine as a daily driver and don’t have nor have I needed a back up. I have only had scheduled services performed and am provided with a loaner.

Count yourself lucky then I guess. The Alfa Romeo dealer network seems to be marginally better in Europe than elsewhere but they're not great there either. Just look at how poorly they fare virtually every reliability and customer satisfaction survey or ranking.

Here in the USA there are many reports about simple problems that should take mere hours or days to resolve that end up taking weeks or months due to unqualified/ inexperienced technicians and service advisors, poor service information and tools, poor parts supply, etc. There is no guarantee of loaner cars. 16000km is nothing and if you're saving gas in a QV you're doing it wrong. Gas is not practically free here. Yes, it's cheaper than the EU but it's hard to make an apples to apples comparison between standards of living. Price/gallon at the gas pump is just one variable of many that affect "affordability" and living standards.

One unlucky stone chip could turn into a cracked windshield and a car that's unsafe to drive until repaired. Most dealers don't do window glass replacement - they subcontract it out - but even places like Safelite were running into supply issues. There have been several reports of windshields being back ordered indefinitely with no ETA. Eventually customers got their cars fixed, but not without great delay. Again, no loaners for many customers.

I know gas isn’t free in the US. That was a joke. And you seemed to miss my point about the car being more fuel efficient in A and N modes. So I am not “doing it wrong” as you say. I don’t count myself lucky. I think there are many other people who have had positive experiences with their cars.

 

[JerryNY]

Seriously though if you’re lucky enough to have total consciousness granted to you on your deathbed are you going to think back to all the boring practical cars you owed over the years or the one that you loved despite people warning you you should think about all the more conventional choices out there!:wink2:

That said lots of Alfa’s over the years were worth owning even though they weren’t terribly great cars but the QV is definitely a great car...

 

[MDriver]

Seriously though if you’re lucky enough to have total consciousness granted to you on your deathbed are you going to think back to all the boring practical cars you owed over the years or the one that you loved despite people warning you you should think about all the more conventional choices out there!:wink2:

That said lots of Alfa’s over the years were worth owning even though they weren’t terribly great cars but the QV is definitely a great car...

I hope I'm thinking of other things on my deathbed:wink2:
Brunello, Pasta al Pesto, White Truffles and all the other goodies I've eaten over the years:grin2: