I'm assuming it's because I live in Louisiana and it's so hot. I think it's a manufacturing failure. I have the MOPAR extended warranty and they won't cover it.
Subaruzi
Mopar warranty sucks, complete scam. Had a leaking radiator and they denied service, stating the vehicle had impact damage. It has never been in an accident. I would recommend canceling it and keeping your money for what it's worth.
The best "fix" for a leather dash failure, is prevention. While it could be a bad glue, or sewing, or installation when new, it is important to do what one can to reduce UV and heat impact on the interiors of our cars. My son has a friend who has had the dash replaced three times on his daily driven Aston Martin. The dealer has told the owner that they will not replace it again, it. is up to him to protect his dash more than he has thus far done. Leather dash's are a real upgrade to a car's interior ambiance. But that choice comes with the obligation to reduce as much as possible the inevitable problems all leather will eventually have. My QV has the UV reducing windshield, and I have more protection for my glass and interior with an expensive film on the windshield. But I still park it in my garage (I know not every one can do the same) and if parking for more than a few minutes in the SC sun, I slip my reflective sun shields on.
I have no idea what Alfa claims about leather deterioration, and the OP's certainly is pretty bad. But perhaps it would be appropriate at the first sign of any leather problem to bring it to their warranty attention. By the way, when I see new cars parked on a dealer's lot in the sun, for months at at time, I just cringe at the searing heat and rays on their dash and interior. If the OIP's car is out of warranty, there isn't much he can do. Some years ago, my son had an engine failure in his Porsche, out of warranty, and they provided a new engine, and he just had to pay a small amount for the removal and install. And two years ago, had a valve train problem in his Toyota suv, and again out of warranty, Toyota paid for the repair. One can only hope....
I agree having a good relationship with one's dealer and service department may help in some cases. Not long ago, I wanted new trunk pneumatic struts replaced, they were just a little saggy, and my service rep, with whom I get along great with, told me "..sure, I'll put new ones one". My Alfa is still on an extended warranty, and struts were not expensive, but there was no push back for slightly droopy struts in what passes for winter in SC.
The OP's dash looks awful. I have my own horror story. Few years ago, a respected Porsche racing shop damaged my GT3's engine, and they refused to cover the over $7K it ultimately cost me to get it made right. I hope the OP can have his problem resolved somehow. NV
I have no idea what Alfa claims about leather deterioration, and the OP's certainly is pretty bad. But perhaps it would be appropriate at the first sign of any leather problem to bring it to their warranty attention. By the way, when I see new cars parked on a dealer's lot in the sun, for months at at time, I just cringe at the searing heat and rays on their dash and interior. If the OIP's car is out of warranty, there isn't much he can do. Some years ago, my son had an engine failure in his Porsche, out of warranty, and they provided a new engine, and he just had to pay a small amount for the removal and install. And two years ago, had a valve train problem in his Toyota suv, and again out of warranty, Toyota paid for the repair. One can only hope....
I agree having a good relationship with one's dealer and service department may help in some cases. Not long ago, I wanted new trunk pneumatic struts replaced, they were just a little saggy, and my service rep, with whom I get along great with, told me "..sure, I'll put new ones one". My Alfa is still on an extended warranty, and struts were not expensive, but there was no push back for slightly droopy struts in what passes for winter in SC.
The OP's dash looks awful. I have my own horror story. Few years ago, a respected Porsche racing shop damaged my GT3's engine, and they refused to cover the over $7K it ultimately cost me to get it made right. I hope the OP can have his problem resolved somehow. NV
Same issue here - being replaced under Australian standard warranty. Well known issue and common in warmer countries I hear.
Leather protection with a proven leather conditioner is highly recommended if the car will be baked in Sun on most days.
Leather protection with a proven leather conditioner is highly recommended if the car will be baked in Sun on most days.
Thank you for bringing this concern to our attention! We would love to look into this further for you. Please send us a PM with the last 8 characters of your VIN along with your appointment details if you have one scheduled.
Yenori
Alfa Romeo Cares
Yenori
Alfa Romeo Cares
My beloved Giulia has a similar problem in the front corner of the dash. I keep a car cover on her and the dash is still lifting. My car is 4 years old and she lives in California ( not super extreme temps). The dealer said the dash was not covered under warranty. Not sure if I believe that. I’d love some good advice on how to fix it regardless of warranty. Thanks.
Having a similar issue with my QV. Reached out to Alfa Cares (coincidentally also Yenori) who opened a case for me. Was contacted by someone from Alfa Romeo Premium Care and was pretty impressed by their response and willingness to assist with the repair. They told me to schedule an appointment at a dealer to get a cost estimate, they would review it and then just require me to pay co-pay since the car is out of warranty. Fair. Today I got a call from someone else at Premium Care saying the previous advisor was mistaken and they will not cover the dash replacement. Tried to tell them I was given very different feedback a week ago but he wasn't hearing it. Seems like some owners here have gotten lucky, others not so much. Curious to see how it goes for you...
Update here that should be encouraging to everyone with the shrinking dash.
TL;DR -- Second times a charm; Alfa replaced the dash and only charged me $100 co-pay.
I don’t know how many more times I could have walked up to my car and looked at the shrinking leather and exposed edges of the dash. It was driving me crazy. I decided to try my luck with Alfa Premium Care one more time before I just paid for a new dash.
I called Alfa again and explained my previous experience when Alfa said they would assist with the replacement only to have someone walk that back and refuse. I spoke with a gentleman named Nathan who was really great to work with and eager to help. He was surprised to hear about my previous experience and said he would create a new case try to push the replacement through. After some back and forth, Nathan called and let me know that he was able to get the repair approved. Awesome! I had to schedule an appointment at an Alfa dealer to get an estimate and then Alfa Care would determine what they would contribute and what my out of pocket cost would be. At this point I’m still thinking this is all too good to be true but decided to play through.
The Alfa rep said he had a good working relationship with Alfa Romeo Livermore so I took his recommendation, booked the appointment and got the estimate. A few days later Nathan called me to let me know that they approved the repair (about $3k all-in) and would only require co-pay of $100. I was floored, quite literally speechless. As I mentioned in my previous post, I would have happily paid for half and if this whole thing failed, I was now ready to pay for the entire repair. Before anyone could change their mind I immediately accepted, scheduled a second appointment and the dealer ordered the parts. The part took about a week and the dealer was able to swap the dash out in a day. Props to Silvano and Kenny at Livermore Alfa; they were awesome all the way through.
One interesting thing to note. I have an ’18 QV and the new dash is covered in a completely different material to the leather that was used on the older cars. The best way I can explain it is the original dash is softer and had a very natural feeling to the touch. The new dash leans a bit more charcoal grey than deep black and feels synthetic, almost rubber like. It bothered me for about 5 seconds then I had to tell myself to STFU and remember that I just paid $100 for something that would have otherwise cost me $3k. Then I ripped the car the whole way home and haven't thought about it since. What I have been thinking about is how to spend this $2900 I just found...
Hope this is helpful and hope Alfa is equally gracious to some of the other owners having the same issue.
Good luck!
TL;DR -- Second times a charm; Alfa replaced the dash and only charged me $100 co-pay.
I don’t know how many more times I could have walked up to my car and looked at the shrinking leather and exposed edges of the dash. It was driving me crazy. I decided to try my luck with Alfa Premium Care one more time before I just paid for a new dash.
I called Alfa again and explained my previous experience when Alfa said they would assist with the replacement only to have someone walk that back and refuse. I spoke with a gentleman named Nathan who was really great to work with and eager to help. He was surprised to hear about my previous experience and said he would create a new case try to push the replacement through. After some back and forth, Nathan called and let me know that he was able to get the repair approved. Awesome! I had to schedule an appointment at an Alfa dealer to get an estimate and then Alfa Care would determine what they would contribute and what my out of pocket cost would be. At this point I’m still thinking this is all too good to be true but decided to play through.
The Alfa rep said he had a good working relationship with Alfa Romeo Livermore so I took his recommendation, booked the appointment and got the estimate. A few days later Nathan called me to let me know that they approved the repair (about $3k all-in) and would only require co-pay of $100. I was floored, quite literally speechless. As I mentioned in my previous post, I would have happily paid for half and if this whole thing failed, I was now ready to pay for the entire repair. Before anyone could change their mind I immediately accepted, scheduled a second appointment and the dealer ordered the parts. The part took about a week and the dealer was able to swap the dash out in a day. Props to Silvano and Kenny at Livermore Alfa; they were awesome all the way through.
One interesting thing to note. I have an ’18 QV and the new dash is covered in a completely different material to the leather that was used on the older cars. The best way I can explain it is the original dash is softer and had a very natural feeling to the touch. The new dash leans a bit more charcoal grey than deep black and feels synthetic, almost rubber like. It bothered me for about 5 seconds then I had to tell myself to STFU and remember that I just paid $100 for something that would have otherwise cost me $3k. Then I ripped the car the whole way home and haven't thought about it since. What I have been thinking about is how to spend this $2900 I just found...
Hope this is helpful and hope Alfa is equally gracious to some of the other owners having the same issue.
Good luck!
I had mine replaced on my '20 Quad a couple of years ago at the now closed Steven's Creek Alfa dealer. No drama getting it approved under warranty. Mine was replaced due to warpage above the cluster. I could almost put my pinky finger in the gap it was so large. I regret not asking to keep the old dash.
I wish Alfa really cared I've spent over 11k in repairs on this car. Now the dash is coming up. I love the car and wanted another one but no I can't go through everything I've been through with this car. It would be nice for someone to call me for once and tell me what they can do about the dash. I had a good dealer in my previous location but the dealer where I live now is no help. Had to go to a regular car shop to get repairs. The question now is what to do about my dash shrinking. Alfa cares didn't care when I called.
Attachments
Lucky for those who were able to get @AlfaRomeoCares to cover it outside the warranty because that seems to be the only way to fix it.
I took my car to 3 different auto upholstery shops this week and none of them even want to take up the job to attempt to fix it because they know it either won’t look good or it’s just not possible to get the leather to stretch again since it’s molded to the padding underneath.
Only option seems to be to live with an awful looking damaged dash. Dealer quoted $3.6k parts and labor to replace the dash.
I took my car to 3 different auto upholstery shops this week and none of them even want to take up the job to attempt to fix it because they know it either won’t look good or it’s just not possible to get the leather to stretch again since it’s molded to the padding underneath.
Only option seems to be to live with an awful looking damaged dash. Dealer quoted $3.6k parts and labor to replace the dash.
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