[peczenij]

I only have 300 miles on my Quadrifoglio but when I make a left hand turn, and accelerate a bit, the right back side of my seat drops 1-2 inches.
The feeling you get while driving is that the seat is going to fall back while you are accelerating - it's very disconcerting...

I took it to the dealer and showed them what I am talking about.
One of their service technicians sat in the back while I drove and demonstrated and sure enough he saw it drop (if someone's foot was under it, it would smash it I believe).
He is going to call Alfa and see if they have heard of this.

We tried duplicating this on anther QV and also another mode of Giulia - they did not have the same issue.

The problem can be duplicated by pushing the right side of the seat toward the middle of the car and down - it drops and you can hear a bit of a sound when it does too...

 

[BandE]

I only have 300 miles on my Quadrifoglio but when I make a left hand turn, and accelerate a bit, the right back side of my seat drops 1-2 inches.
The feeling you get while driving is that the seat is going to fall back while you are accelerating - it's very disconcerting...

I took it to the dealer and showed them what I am talking about.
One of their service technicians sat in the back while I drove and demonstrated and sure enough he saw it drop (if someone's foot was under it, it would smash it I believe).
He is going to call Alfa and see if they have heard of this.

We tried duplicating this on anther QV and also another mode of Giulia - they did not have the same issue.

The problem can be duplicated by pushing the right side of the seat toward the middle of the car and down - it drops and you can hear a bit of a sound when it does too...

Carbon seats? Those flex in every video on youtube.

 

[peczenij]

Good question - these are the standard QV seats.
It doesn't really flex itself, but seems to drop in the track or how it's attached to the track.
Happens when only pushing the throttle down 1/2 inch on a left hand turn - 10 MPH.

 

[John_K_348]

Ahhhhh, sounds like it may have been damaged on install. Check it out and replace the track or seat mount. You know, like cafe tables. There's always one corner that's bent from being bashed around sweeping and mopping floors. But by the same logic you could always roll up a stack of napkins and jam it under that corner of your Q seat. Haha.

 

[Racer Z]

I'm thinking a bolt is missing. I'm sure the dealer will find and fix it, whatever it is.

 

[lockem]

Good question - these are the standard QV seats.
It doesn't really flex itself, but seems to drop in the track or how it's attached to the track.
Happens when only pushing the throttle down 1/2 inch on a left hand turn - 10 MPH.

I think the seat needs to be removed and examined to determine what is going on. Your dealer's service department should have done that immediately after you demonstrated the problem, rather than checking the Alfa. There is always some slight chance that an actuator or some such is doing this, but it seems far more likely that a fastener is missing, a guide is not in its track, or a bracket is broken. Normally seat controls are mechanically forced to be symmetric.

When my truck was delivered it was missing a bolt in the upper drivers side door hinge. This kind of stuff happens. The dealer tried to convince me that it didn't matter in spite of the obvious bowing of the cowl when the door was swung open; it was an expensive fix because part of the dashboard had to be dismantled to install the bolt. Don't let them feed you B.S.

 

[peczenij]

My dealer called me today after talking with their "Alfa rep".
The Alfa rep stated he has not heard of anything like this, and it may be normal flexing of the seat...
They said next time a Quadrifoglio comes in they would compare it.

I have had a lot of cars in my years and checked the movement of other Alfas at the dealer, and no seats drop an inch or two suddenly when you turn.

I told them I guess what they are telling me is I have to remove the seat and check it myself, so they made an appointment for me for Friday.

 

[Racer Z]

My dealer called me today after talking with their "Alfa rep".
The Alfa rep stated he has not heard of anything like this, and it may be normal flexing of the seat...
They said next time a Quadrifoglio comes in they would compare it.

I have had a lot of cars in my years and checked the movement of other Alfas at the dealer, and no seats drop an inch or two suddenly when you turn.

I told them I guess what they are telling me is I have to remove the seat and check it myself, so they made an appointment for me for Friday.

Good for you!

The basic problem that I've seen with Alfa and warranty work (I've had my 4C 2.5 years) is that the dealer is not allowed to make any decisions. All warranty work and decision making goes through STARS. The dealer can do simple stuff like changing a fuse, but if that doesn't fix it, they must conference with STARS.

If the job was not warranty, they would simply troubleshoot it and talk to the car owner, then fix it if the owner agreed to the price.

They are reluctant to remove your seat and assess the situation because STARS is reluctant to acknowledge there could even be a problem. It has always seemed to me that this is a Freudian situation where the entire world is stupid and knows nothing, except the guy in charge. "Surely they must be wrong."

 

[peczenij]

I took my QV in today to have the bottom of the seat assembly replaced.
The assembly was ordered on my last visit and it only took a few days to arrive.
They removed my seat and we compared the original assembly (still attached) with the replacement.
None of us were able to find anything wrong comparing the two assemblies but I suspect it has to do with the mechanism that raises and lowers the back part of the seat (the drive mechanism to raise or lower is on the opposite side of where the dropping was occurring - its possible the connection to the shaft that goes from side to side was not attached securely).
The replacement assembly was installed and I test drove it and it is fixed - like Night and Day (there is currently 800 miles on the car).

Overall result was great service for an unusual problem.

 

[Racer Z]

Nice!

 

[John_K_348]

Wow so even after the clear repair, we're not sure what the problem was, or it was concealed in the drive mechanism? Wonder if they can take it apart to investigate?

 

[MDriver]

One Offs

Not to make light or belittle the OPs issue but this seems to be unfortunately as demonstrated to be a one off to his car
Shiiit happens with first run cars even with cars that aren't first run
I'm starting to worry that every issue no matter how small or large is going to be highlighted
Even vaunted Toyotas Nissans Lexus etc have/get little and big nits that do not transcend to the model as a whole
Glad for the OP that is was fixed straight away

 

[peczenij]

Not to make light or belittle the OPs issue but this seems to be unfortunately as demonstrated to be a one off to his car
Shiiit happens with first run cars even with cars that aren't first run
I'm starting to worry that every issue no matter how small or large is going to be highlighted
Even vaunted Toyotas Nissans Lexus etc have/get little and big nits that do not transcend to the model as a whole
Glad for the OP that is was fixed straight away

Yes, this one turned out to be a one-off.
When I posted it, I was not aware if anyone else had the issue or not, that is why I posted it.
That is what forums are for, no?
If this would happen to someone else, now we know there is a fix and what it is.

It may seem to be a trivial issue, but when you make a left turn at low speed and your seat drops 2 inches, that can be a safety issue.

I also experienced great and effective service from my Dodge/RAM/Jeep/Fiat/Alfa dealer and I felt it was positive news to share that.

 

[peczenij]

Wow so even after the clear repair, we're not sure what the problem was, or it was concealed in the drive mechanism? Wonder if they can take it apart to investigate?

The dealer said that the part would be sent back to Alfa to determine what the problem was.
In my opinion: It could be thoroughly analyzed, or perhaps thrown in a pile and moving on if there are no other complaints about the same issue.

 

[AlfaAndy]

Perhaps it was a gear or cog skipping on the seat actuator. Or a hairline crack in the metal frame that would bounce back into place and was invisible to the naked eye.
When I worked as a tech at an Alfa Dealer in the 90's, doing pre-delivery-inspections- PDIs, the Spiders were terrible. Two of the 4 seat bolts, and washers would be found tossed under the seats on the carpet. The caps for atop the rear shocks would be laying on the shelf next to where there should be installed. Door panels missing fasteners. Stuff like that. The 164's had their own issues, but were assembled better. Different factory perhaps.

 

[MDriver]

Yes, this one turned out to be a one-off.
When I posted it, I was not aware if anyone else had the issue or not, that is why I posted it.
That is what forums are for, no?
If this would happen to someone else, now we know there is a fix and what it is.

It may seem to be a trivial issue, but when you make a left turn at low speed and your seat drops 2 inches, that can be a safety issue.

I also experienced great and effective service from my Dodge/RAM/Jeep/Fiat/Alfa dealer and I felt it was positive news to share that.

It is not a trivial issue nor did I say it was....and forums are meant to share information good or bad about the product/brand/vehicle...my only concern is that it seems some of the "issues" that get posted do not rise to the level of alarm sounding...if I came across in that way in regards to your situation I'm sorry....I just think that there will be times when things may just unfortunately be unique to their vehicle and not the sign of something inherent in design or build quality for all concerned.
IF it has not been done yet, perhaps we can set-up a "stickey" to show what is an "issue" that has effected more than a handful of cars, OR an issue like that of JeffShul which goes to the very safety of the vehicles, EVEN if it is is JUST ONE...driving safety I think we can all agree is paramount.
My headlight washer cover coming off was not a big deal...silly, stupid, but nothing to grab the torches & pitchforks...the good that came from it was that we learned the interior brackets were the culprits...
I'm glad that the fix was done and the issue is gone for you...

 

[peczenij]

All good MDriver
I always enjoy your posts and feedback
I am curious to see my headlight washers pop up and make sure the cover is on their tight.

Anyone have a photo or video of the washer in action?

To put how great a drivers car these Alfas really are, check out the new Infinity Q50 turbo YouTube video by Motor Trend. It's a great review to watch and put things into perspective (some humor added as well).

 

[MDriver]

All good MDriver
I always enjoy your posts and feedback
I am curious to see my headlight washers pop up and make sure the cover is on their tight.

Anyone have a photo or video of the washer in action?

To put how great a drivers car these Alfas really are, check out the new Infinity Q50 turbo YouTube video by Motor Trend. It's a great review to watch and put things into perspective (some humor added as well).

@peczenij unfortunately you probably won't notice that it came off until you see a hole in your bumper....the BIG thing is getting them to match the color, not so much the piece...my Quad is RC and the replacement cap, while it said it was RC, just does not match...bother's the crap out of me when i look at it...but not a big deal....
the problem isn't the cover...inside your bumper are 2 brackets that are not very good...it may or may not happen to you.

 

[Alfaholico]

Headlight washers

I am convinced I will just never use them....On certain cars they actuate every time you activate the windshield washer, on others, they only work when the headlights are illuminated.....Does anyone know which method Alfa has chosen for the Giulia headlamp washers ?

 

[MDriver]

I am convinced I will just never use them....On certain cars they actuate every time you activate the windshield washer, on others, they only work when the headlights are illuminated.....Does anyone know which method Alfa has chosen for the Giulia headlamp washers ?

when you activate your windshield washers, if you hold and release your fine, if you hold and don't release they activate the headlight ones as well...my brackets were changed on both sides...no longer have to worry...I think...I hope...not sure