[JSP11]

Hi,

I currently have a BMW M135i which I'm looking to change for a 2.0T Giulia Veloce.

Before I do this what are the common issues with the Giulias? I know Alfa haven't got the best reliability record so what should I look out for?

Also has anyone had a detachable towbar fitted, I'll need to tow a jet ski on the odd occasion (please don't roast me haha)

 

[Papa Gallo]

the most common issue with Giulia are battery related - most if not all early glitches have been addressed with software updates,
there has not been one single solitary mechanical fault that is inherent in all Giulia
nobody has had a gearbox or a diff (audi) or a crankshaft drop on the road (mercedes) or complete engine failures (bmw) reported like what you would hear from what you may consider to be the so called more reliable brands, like ... i dunno, bmw, mercedes and audi ?
i am confident to say none of those brands are any more reliable than this car, its just a fact, actually recent customer satisfaction surveys have it rated much higher than all three of those.

I know Alfa haven't got the best reliability record

where did you hear that ? i dont believe you know anything of the sort, you are just rehashing stories from ... well, last century ... to be quite honest, otherwise you would know its not the case these days

cars that were driven hard for pleasure were bound to need a little more maintenance and actual workshop time on their way to multiple super touring car championships during those same years ... its part of the ownership of cars like 156 selespeeds, but those sorts of actuator maintenance are no longer required with todays ZF8's

youll be right, just post up any problems and we can talk you through it, mostly just a trickle charge, or a software update,

Veloce is a fantastic car, and yes, very mechanically sound

 

[chaadster]

The new Giulias have a pretty good reliability record, I think. They’re not Toyota-like bulletproof, but generally small, easily remedied issues.

Electronic faults, which generally do not render the car inoperable are probably the most common problems by my reckoning, and I’d advise any Giulia owner to have a OBD2 scanner to help deal with them.

The biggest issue to look out for is having dealer service nearby, IMO. It’s a skimpy network, most cars are still in warranty period, and finding an indie to work on one is hard, so unless you’re the odd freak with more time than better things to do, you’ll find driving for hours to get service gets old and annoying fast.

I don’t know about tow hooks.

 

[Papa Gallo]

you might want to brush up on this

Alfa Romeo in motorsport - Wikipedia

no car can win that many championships by being unreliable

 

[JSP11]

the most common issue with Giulia are battery related - most if not all early glitches have been addressed with software updates,
there has not been one single solitary mechanical fault that is inherent in all Giulia
nobody has had a gearbox or a diff (audi) or a crankshaft drop on the road (mercedes) or complete engine failures (bmw) reported like what you would hear from what you may consider to be the so called more reliable brands, like ... i dunno, bmw, mercedes and audi ?
i am confident to say none of those brands are any more reliable than this car, its just a fact, actually recent customer satisfaction surveys have it rated much higher than all three of those.


where did you hear that ? i dont believe you know anything of the sort, you are just rehashing stories from ... well, last century ... to be quite honest, otherwise you would know its not the case these days

cars that were driven hard for pleasure were bound to need a little more maintenance and actual workshop time on their way to multiple super touring car championships during those same years ... its part of the ownership of cars like 156 selespeeds, but those sorts of actuator maintenance are no longer required with todays ZF8's

youll be right, just post up any problems and we can talk you through it, mostly just a trickle charge, or a software update,

Veloce is a fantastic car, and yes, very mechanically sound

My knowledge on the Giulia is very limited hence my post for more information about them. All I have for reference is my friends 159 1.9 TI. Lovely car but chewed driveshafts for fun and had gearbox issues. That was years ago though.

Glad to hear the Giulia is reliable. I was initially looking at a BMW 430d but the individuality, looks and interior of the Alfa has swayed me. Love that Alfa is also using the ZF8 box 👍

 

[Papa Gallo]

interior is greatly improved in the 2020 model, you might want to wait and check that out,

 

[JSP11]

interior is greatly improved in the 2020 model, you might want to wait and check that out,

I'd love a 2020 Giulia but its out my budget. Looking at a 2017 model around the £20k mark. Any idea on risiduals of these cars? I'll be buying the car outright.

 

[wingler]

I'd love a 2020 Giulia but its out my budget. Looking at a 2017 model around the £20k mark. Any idea on risiduals of these cars? I'll be buying the car outright.

No idea on residuals where you are, but you can slightly reduce odds of experiencing the electrical and SW glitches mentioned above, and get CarPlay/AA by going for a 2018. Not having CarPlay has been my sole regret with my 2017.

 

[Il_Conte]

@JeFizz does this forum support sticky threads? We get a new one asking about reliability every single day... getting tired to answer the same questions over and over

 

[JeFizz]

@JeFizz does this forum support sticky threads? We get a new one asking about reliability every single day... getting tired to answer the same questions over and over

Yep, we can Stick threads.

 

[Biscione]

you might want to brush up on this

Alfa Romeo in motorsport - Wikipedia

no car can win that many championships by being unreliable

As much as I love Alfa Romeo, let's be fair here and stop being a biased fanboy. None of those championships used normal unmodified road-legal cars, and none recently at all. So all it means is that AR can make really good race cars at various points over its history. But that doesn't necessarily translate to normal road car reliability, so it's totally irrelevant.

 

[Papa Gallo]

As much as I love Alfa Romeo, let's be fair here and stop being a biased fanboy. None of those championships used normal unmodified road-legal cars, and none recently at all. So all it means is that AR can make really good race cars at various points over its history. But that doesn't necessarily translate to normal road car reliability, so it's totally irrelevant.

disagree
3 Bathurst Unique Fuel Championships were won in a 159 2.4 diesel production car
The 159 contested the Bathurst 12 Hour race for production cars in 2007, 2009 and 2010. Competing with the 2.4 Litre JTDM diesel engine, it won the Alternative Energy Class in each of these three races.

the era was in reference to the myth that Alfa were unreliable when in fact they are no more or no less reliable than any other car

 

[hawkeye_a]

From my observation on these boards, the most common issue is the battery (I had a dead battery in my 2.0 a year or so after ownership). From my experience the common issues seem to be "electronics"; for me...i got a "shifter warning"(which was replaced under warranty), the aforementioned dead battery(replaced under warranty).

I recently found out about an "official" Alfa branded trickle charger on mopar's site, which might be a way to mitigate the issue (I haven't ordered one myself.... yet).

Cheers

 

[Papa Gallo]

As much as I love Alfa Romeo, let's be fair here and stop being a biased fanboy.

we prefer the much more neutral term Alfista

 

[Kefurr]

These are “uncommon” cars, they have no common issues only undocumented features

 

[lockem]

the most common issue with Giulia are battery related - most if not all early glitches have been addressed with software updates,
there has not been one single solitary mechanical fault that is inherent in all Giulia
nobody has had a gearbox or a diff (audi) or a crankshaft drop on the road (mercedes) or complete engine failures (bmw) reported like what you would hear from what you may consider to be the so called more reliable brands, like ... i dunno, bmw, mercedes and audi ?
i am confident to say none of those brands are any more reliable than this car, its just a fact, actually recent customer satisfaction surveys have it rated much higher than all three of those.


where did you hear that ? i dont believe you know anything of the sort, you are just rehashing stories from ... well, last century ... to be quite honest, otherwise you would know its not the case these days

cars that were driven hard for pleasure were bound to need a little more maintenance and actual workshop time on their way to multiple super touring car championships during those same years ... its part of the ownership of cars like 156 selespeeds, but those sorts of actuator maintenance are no longer required with todays ZF8's

youll be right, just post up any problems and we can talk you through it, mostly just a trickle charge, or a software update,

Veloce is a fantastic car, and yes, very mechanically sound

I'm afraid your statements stretch the truth. Several forum members have had the engine replaced under warranty, both 2.0 and 2.9. Problems requiring these replacements ranged from catastrophic (coolant leaking into oil) to trivial (noisy valve lifter, but no replacement part available). Several forum members have had the rear differential replaced also. One of those had no oil in the diff as delivered. The only transmission fail that I recollect was due to the owner accidentally punching a hole in the transmission pan--hardly the fault of the transmission.

Numerous people are reporting problems with suspension bushings. The many bushings in the antisway bars appear to be particularly problematic, albeit relatively easily replaced.

There have been lots of electrical problems reported, ranging from failed components to loose connectors to harness abrasion to broken wires to rodent damage to the harness. MY2017 models have more problems with the wiring harness than later models. There was a recall for MY2017 due to the brake wear sensor wires being too short, for example. My MY2018 Q4 Ti Sport has a splice in the power feed wires to the BCM, apparently due to the wires being too short by 5-10mm. These kinds of issues are likely to be different for an RHD Giulia than the LHD Giulia that is more familiar to me.

Early RHD Giulia have a problem with PCM failures due to excessive moisture exposure due to poor positioning of a water drain.

Is it better or worse than Audi, BMW or Mercedes? I dunno. A UK reliability poll seems to indicate it is similar to Audi and better than BMW or Mercedes.

 

[Papa Gallo]

I believe we are talking about COMMON ISSUES as per the thread title, but if you want to go to extreme measures to help you think you might win an argument go right ahead, i still say you are full of shit lockem, and even more so now

what was the last one ? oh, yeah, you claimed "American PSI must be different to Australian PSI" and you simply could not accept the results we are getting ... PSiML

let it go
its just a bone

I'm afraid your statements stretch the truth

I say im spot on to the question asked by the OP

are you calling me a liar ?

the most common issue with Giulia are battery related - most if not all early glitches have been addressed with software updates,
there has not been one single solitary mechanical fault that is inherent in all Giulia

this remains reliable and accurate advice
read it again carefully
now which part are you struggling with ?

 

[Papa Gallo]

rodent damage to the harness.

rodent damage ? really ?
getting desperate there

talk about long bows and stretch marks ... seems like you are milking it just because ... peculiar that you would throw that in

in your quest to appear "honest" at your calculated expense of others, you have demonstated yourself to be very dishonest, just by virtue(if that is the right word to use here) of the fact you want to include rodent damage as a possible COMMON ISSUE

I dunno

exactly ... so why all the bullshit about rodent damage. Another sort of damage had already been done by the time you got to this part

Is it better or worse than Audi, BMW or Mercedes?

hellavalot better than those three garbage trolleys
you should sell yours and buy a BMW

 

[Papa Gallo]

Early RHD Giulia have a problem with PCM failures due to excessive moisture exposure due to poor positioning of a water drain.

i have a Nov 2016 build, one of the first in Australia, RHD, and i never heard of or ever had this problem

but i invite you to call me a liar again ...

 

[Papa Gallo]

A UK reliability poll seems to indicate it is similar to Audi and better than BMW or Mercedes.

total and utter bullshit, if you are going to try and smack me down i suggest you either
-get up earlier than you normally would
-do a little more research that would avoid your fanciful off the cuffs be smacked down with actual results

Shock results in ‘most reliable car’ study

Revealed: the cars with the happiest owners – Which? News

Best car manufacturers 2020 | Auto Express

i believe those recent reliable surveys cast more than a little aspersion on your perceptions of "German reliability" and it actually specifies the model in question here ... 2017 Giulia

The Giulia's third-place finish on the list of the best new cars to own contrasts with the Audi A4, Mercedes-Benz C-Class and Jaguar XE which finished in the bottom five. The Vauxhall Astra (sold locally by Holden) and Renault's discount Romanian Dacia Sandero spin-off rounded out the bottom rungs.



when i finished with and said "actually recent customer satisfaction surveys have it rated much higher than all three of those." i wasnt talking out of my arse like you are