[Sharmouta]

Hey all, new member here and just recently turned on to the idea of a Giulia due to their stunning aesthetics and great handling. My E92 335 which I had for 9 years was totaled (not at fault), and I have been looking to purchase a 2015-16 CPO'ed IS350 F Sport for the last few months. However, I am now considering a 3 year lease of the Giulia Ti Sport, especially after having driven one yesterday. I like to purchase cars but due to questions of reliability and repair costs, I prefer to only have an Alfa within factory warranty and would definitely only go the lease route.

My question is, how has the reliability improved since the original release in 2017, since all the software updates? I have read some terrifying things in the "Issues and Problems" subforum, from one guy having his car in the shop 40 days in 6 months, multiple lemon law and customer dissatisfaction buybacks, to incompetent dealers unaware of how to fix things. Indeed the car I test drove was a buyback. I've read of multiple car bloggers having their loaner cars break on them during testing. Are these all red flags to continue my search for another car? I need my car to be fairly reliable as I'm in medical school and am expected to show up on time, every day, no matter what the circumstances.

Is this not the right time for me to own a Giulia? Have most of these problems been left behind with the 2017 models? If I get a 2018 will I be smooth sailing, or would even a 2017 be fine since the software updates? I can afford to have the car in the shop one or twice a year, but 40 days in 6 months is something I cannot deal with. Would love it if some people with higher mileage could chime in too!

Thank you guys in advance, really appreciate your advice and I love your cars!

 

[Max]

You owned a BMW for 9 years, I think you understand the difference between electrical quirk and problem. I think all cars these days, especially when loaded with technology, will have the occasional quirk here and there and the Giulia is no different. This doesn't mean the car has problems. Most of us, an overwhelming majority of us, do not have any problems with this car, myself included.

A 3 year lease on the Giulia is definitely not taking a big risk ... 40 days in the shop out of 6 months is obviously inexcusable ... but please note how many people are reporting that, or similar cases. I think about 2-3 at most. I don't see how a BMW forum would yield you any different results, there will always be a few bad examples regardless of car. This is why lemon laws exist and use them when you need to.

If the Giulia is tugging at your heart, go for it. I think it would serve a benefit to roughly know your location so we can figure out the situation on dealers near you as well.

 

[Sharmouta]

You owned a BMW for 9 years, I think you understand the difference between electrical quirk and problem. I think all cars these days, especially when loaded with technology, will have the occasional quirk here and there and the Giulia is no different. This doesn't mean the car has problems. Most of us, an overwhelming majority of us, do not have any problems with this car, myself included.

A 3 year lease on the Giulia is definitely not taking a big risk ... 40 days in the shop out of 6 months is obviously inexcusable ... but please note how many people are reporting that, or similar cases. I think about 2-3 at most. I don't see how a BMW forum would yield you any different results, there will always be a few bad examples regardless of car. This is why lemon laws exist and use them when you need to.

If the Giulia is tugging at your heart, go for it. I think it would serve a benefit to roughly know your location so we can figure out the situation on dealers near you as well.

You're certainly right in that my BMW was not all that reliable itself, although not too bad and I never had any big dollar fixes outside of warranty, most expensive was probably water pump and thermostat.

You bring up an excellent question about location and local dealers. I'm in Central Florida now so there's 3 Alfa dealers in 50 miles. However, I will be moving for residency in a year and a half, and I will not know where I'll be moving to until this time next year! It may not be even remotely close to an Alfa dealer, who knows!

 

[MDriver]

Hey all, new member here and just recently turned on to the idea of a Giulia due to their stunning aesthetics and great handling. My E92 335 which I had for 9 years was totaled (not at fault), and I have been looking to purchase a 2015-16 CPO'ed IS350 F Sport for the last few months. However, I am now considering a 3 year lease of the Giulia Ti Sport, especially after having driven one yesterday. I like to purchase cars but due to questions of reliability and repair costs, I prefer to only have an Alfa within factory warranty and would definitely only go the lease route.

My question is, how has the reliability improved since the original release in 2017, since all the software updates? I have read some terrifying things in the "Issues and Problems" subforum, from one guy having his car in the shop 40 days in 6 months, multiple lemon law and customer dissatisfaction buybacks, to incompetent dealers unaware of how to fix things. Indeed the car I test drove was a buyback. I've read of multiple car bloggers having their loaner cars break on them during testing. Are these all red flags to continue my search for another car? I need my car to be fairly reliable as I'm in medical school and am expected to show up on time, every day, no matter what the circumstances.

Is this not the right time for me to own a Giulia? Have most of these problems been left behind with the 2017 models? If I get a 2018 will I be smooth sailing, or would even a 2017 be fine since the software updates? I can afford to have the car in the shop one or twice a year, but 40 days in 6 months is something I cannot deal with. Would love it if some people with higher mileage could chime in too!

Thank you guys in advance, really appreciate your advice and I love your cars!

an E92 335i for 9 years you say??..so you had an 09??? which means you had a N54 block.....
your concern should be dealer network...how good is your local Alfa dealer? reliability has had a BROAD range here...there are those who have had nightmares, many related to dealer more so than car and others have had not a hiccup, the average has been that once updates were done to address early issues the cars have been generally good.
If money isn't an issue I would order to spec an 18 Ti Sport w/AWD (if needed)
Good Luck

 

[mtb.ck]

One Giulia Story

I too watched for a little while... starting in 2016, when the Giorgio platform got previewed and EU early Giulia buyers bought in the UK and Europe. By the NYC autoshow in April 2016 and subsequent shows in Europe later that year, I knew that the potential for something spectacular was in the works. Later in summer 2016, the word was out — Tantalizing details about the “Ferrari Sedan/Saloon Project” were confirmed and cool Cassino photos and design advertising spots started to hit YouTube.

I’m an Engineer a prime sucker for going back into my Auto-mania, having recently become an empty-nester with a wife who knew my passion for Sports and Performance autos. By first blush of Giulia in the NA market in Jan/Feb last year, it really looked like I might have two dealerships in Denver and the FCA relaunch of the brand was gonna be a reality. Was further enthused by early QV and Ti review, even though there was some imperfection in early code for the five (or 6 in a QV) computers in the car. Knowing all this, I watched and waited for April ‘17 availability here in town.

So skeptically, with much of the same reasoning about leasing, Chrysler stewardship, etc. that you mentioned, I decided to take a testdrive in April to see if this was for real — I was blown away by my first drive of a Ti Q4.

Meanwhile, I did homework on that software and found that the NA market required “unique and new releases of code” for all the computers that made this car run. I’m in the computer industry, so I knew the first couple of code updates would be critical and the technical base at the dealerships would be hard-pressed to make upgrading a smooth and quick process. Cars hit Denver the week of April 10th, and I leased one on April 15th. Joined this Forum that week and had this experience with my Feb 2017 build, Q4 Sport Ti Performance version:

- Week 1-2. Perfect 1st day with a 100 mile innaugural drive in canyons and up to altitude on Peak to Peak Hwy. Day 2 car threw a CEL, which the dealer reset and attempted SW updates. Was told the dealership had updated the car,. I was pissed-off when day 5, another Check Engine Light popped. Got a Fiat loaner (ouch) and left the car at the dealership for 3 days while the regional AR engineer came out to train the dealership team to actually upgrade the ECU code, etc. End of week 2, reliable engine, trans, indicators, etc.

- May 2017. No CELs but came to know some goofy bugs in Infotainment and Instrumentation - My iPhone voice dialing didn’t work (and Alfa Premium care was clueless that it was indeed a bug, even though multiple reports showed that 100% of IOS devices failed to voice dial). Much frustration with Alfa Care, who was courteous yet clueless, clearly supporting mostly Dodge/Fiat/Mopar, and not Alfa. Got 2 freebies — 6 oil changes / tire rotations and wheel appearance support/Towing/Loaners anywhere during my calls, but even had problems seeing FCA create the entitlements with my contract. Months to clear up their paperwork. Oil level readings were also FUBARed on the Infotainment SW.

- June 2017. Got my breakin oil change (free) at about 2,500 miles.

Car still ran like a champ. Meanwhile the trolls and haters went into overdrive on Forums and actual owners did have some problems — a few horrific (by my count maybe 5-10 owners), some potentially owner-induced (or maybe not) and many CEL / no-workee issues, like my own, from a combination of immature code, minor product defects and inconsistant dealership repair skills. During this time, the Forum became a vital resource for facts, tips and tactics for dealing with FCA / Dealerships and humor (No fistfights)

- August 2017. The Infotainment system code got big fixes which accounted for Oil Level, losing presets and the iPhone voice dialiing working. Unfortunately, the Dealer service network had a really hard to install update (6 hours plus) that cost me 2 trips to the dealer (and an Alfa engineer dispatched to Denver to train both dealerships). In some markets FCA upgrade policy cost much goodwill because the dealships were getting inconsistant approval for the fixes. By my second visit a whole batch of new updates, including 2 physical installs (Glove box and HK Amp waterproofing) were performed as Alfa NA proactive maint. processes matured.

Just had my 10k mile service performed (complimentary) with zero new code updates mandated, and still have a minor and occasional loss of Telephone presets as my only remaining bugaboo. I’m told another batch of engine / transmission refinement updates will be available for my 1st anniversary. Zero CELs, and I watch all codes via ODB II blutooth monitoring.

Now the most important part:

I’ve cranked a 4.94 0-60, beating the 5.1 published spec, using launch tips from the Forum
With summer rubber, I routinely exceded the 1.00G lateral during spirited canyon driving. (1.02 is my best)
Have canyoned with A/S3s, A/S4s and 340 x-drives and hung-with or dropped them. No Mercs, go figure.

This is my daily driver, and I thrill to go to/from work. Still open the door to the garage and look at the car. Glance back when I park it in a lot. Park like a weenie, to avoid door dings. And worst of all, drive my family crazy with... “did you know Alfa this and that...”

It’s “just a car”, but a better car than anything I’ve ever owned and most of what I’ve driven. That includes a 308, Ford Taurus SHO, X-1/9 and a host of others.

My take is the early adopter curve is over. I would purchase this car myself, knowing what I know. A lease is a very safe bet. Since I’ve got QV fever, that will be my Lease-end upgrade. Lease or not, I’m upgrading the Exhaust, Intake and other Stage 1 stuff because for 50K and change with reasonable insurance rates, nothing is even in the class of Giulia. Not even close.

Come join the fun,

 

[Lowflyer]

You could say I was an early adopter, drove the car in jan last year, put down some money and had car in early March....I am also an engineer even though I have spent most of my life in International business development I knew enough about architecture of SW systems and code development that I expected glitches everywhere....interestingly enough even though car we t through numerous SW updates, I never had a single problem in 12k miles, no lights, no hiccups, no stalls, nothing.....after 25 years of large and or sporty German sedans (740i, S6, A6, S4) I am very happy to have an Alfa again (owned a 33 for short time when stil in EU)....I say jump into it....most likely an 18 will be pretty much flawless.

 

[AlfaCrisis]

OK, well here’s my take: The only thing you’ve said that makes me pause from saying buy the Giulia is that you are moving to an unknown location soon.

The Alfa Dealer network is the weakest point right now. There are coverage holes over large areas, and the quality of the dealers can be inconsistent. The 40 days in 6 months car is a result of one (poor) dealership in a major metro area (Atlanta) with no others closer than 120+ miles. If you can narrow your possible relocation areas to allow a search to show Alfa dealer(s) within about 100 miles of your future location, it would be a go...if you can’t, it’s a concern.

Reliability, I wouldn’t worry that much. The forums are for people looking to solve issues, discuss cars, complain and brag. Naturally, this means that you will see a biased sample of issues. Why do I say this? Well, I have a Jan 2017 build Giulia that has performed as follows:

July 2017 - Took delivery, but RRT’s has not been performed (dealership was changing hands, fell through the cracks). Brought the car back two weeks later, into a loaner Giulia for the day while the RRT’s were performed. No issues were noted prior to this visit, the updates/RRT’s simply needed to be done.

September 2017 - Brought in on a Friday morning for 6 RRT’s that were pending, and had waited because I wanted the parts for the Glove box RRT to be there. No car issues noted. Placed in a loaner Giulia, and expected car back the evening...was not to be. This was the first Navi Giulia they tried to update and load new map files for, and the process was not as easy as expected. Dealership kept me abreast and I got my car back Tuesday afternoon, everything working perfectly. The time was caused by the process for maps update being less than well taught by FCA to the trained tech and then slow turnaround response (weekend) from AR Technical Support.

November 2017 - Brought in for evaluation of iPhone issues. Put in Stelvio loaner, car back that afternoon with issues confirmed, Star Case opened, no other hassles.

So we have a pretty early build car that now has 9000 miles on it and has performed flawlessly. Does it have quirks, **** yes...would I like Apple Play in it, yep, but it won’t happen...do I love it, absolutely!

You’ve driven the car, you know how great it felt, it only gets better. Could you get a lemon, yes, but it’s not any more likely with AR than BMW, IMHO. “Life is too short to drive a boring car” is what my shirt reads right now.

 

[lockem]

I just got my car 10 days ago, so nothing to report regarding reliability. My plan regarding addressing reliability is that I am keeping my fully paid-for and relatively cheap existing cars as "back up", they are cheap to keep and will pay for themselves after only one incident with Giulia.

I have my fingers crossed that a competent dealership appears in either Reno or Carson City (there is no Audi dealer there either, but there is one BMW dealer), since the current nearest dealership is a 3 hour drive over a mountain pass. I have a trailer and a pickup truck also "just in case".

 

[lost1750GTV]

"water pump and thermostat"

oh, no big deal hahaha

 

[Jooleeyah]

Are you near Daytona? There’s a great YouTube channel called Ron’s Rides - he has a lot of informative videos on the Giulia there- and Ron is now a salesman at Daytona Alfa/Maserati!

 

[cratervanawesome]

Bought my 2018 Ti early January. No issues so far.

 

[Alwaysdutch]

Bought my 2018 Ti early January. No issues so far.

Here is the guy with the "40 days in 6 months". What my car has is clearly an isolated issue, and even though the dealership has failed in my opinion, I have also come to the understanding on how difficult these cars can be for techs (thanks to Alfa Tech). The 2017 cars could be a bit tricky as they were truly our first year models. yes, in Europe they were already available in 2016, and the 2017 models were fixed for 2016 issues, but we have totally different setups than in Europe, including the use of a very popular diesel engine that we don't have here.

The models that bloggers and car site/magazines had were mostly early models that were not exactly production ready. After testing models again there were no issues at all, noting MotorTrend's COTY and being one of Car & Driver's 10Best.

I like to think that the 2018 models are safely said without problems, and if AR would give me the chance on another vehicle, I would hope they can offer me a 2018 (although probably not going to happen).

My suggestion; go for it, you will enjoy the Giulia every single day, and even if AR would buy my car back, I make the 150 mile trip and get me another one.

 

[ALFATECH]

The cars are reliable now, no worries there, the 2017s will obviously be the best deal and are no different than the 2018 since the 2017s should have had all the rrts/tsbs/software updates done already. The awd cars drive amazing, so if there’s a chance of inclement weather, I’d go for an awd one, just make sure the updates are done.

Now, since the radio software update has been brough up here, allow me to add something to that: don’t expect it to be done quickly, book time shows .6/hr I believe, but usually the cars need to be kept overnight unless they arrive early on. Reason being that the update requires the battery to be disconnected for several hours to be successful, we never had AR/FCA tech give us much help with this as they were actually looking for our tips on how we do them, lol, but we have them down to a science now.

Basically I agree with the guys here, and if you consider the pain Alwaysduch has been through with his car, and the fact he would trade it for another of the same, that should tell you how truly special these cars really are.
Personally I like unique cars, something that catches your eye, something people see and wonder “what was that”, to me that’s the best car to have, and the a Guilia is that car.

 

[AlfaCrisis]

The cars are reliable now, no worries there, the 2017s will obviously be the best deal and are no different than the 2018 since the 2017s should have had all the rrts/tsbs/software updates done already...

Not totally true. The 2017’s have Infotainment equipment that is not, and will never be, compatible with Apply CarPlay and Android Auto. Disappointing, but true.

 

[ALFATECH]

Thx, wasn’t aware of that.

 

[Garraty]

12000 miles after and i'm still very very happy man So in short no single issue so far. As i'm in Europe so i own Veloce version, '17 model bought in April 2017.

The car is fantastic and AWD works great especially during the winter time. Spent some time in the mountains a week ago and had some fun!

 

[AlfaCrisis]

Thx, wasn’t aware of that.

Here's the 33 page thread that wends it's way from expectation, to hope, to sadness to dispar...

http://www.giuliaforums.com/forum/1...id-auto-carplay-courtesy-software-update.html

I'll summarize it for you, the 2018's have diffent hardware and the 2017's can't be retrofitted.

 

[Alfa in Vegas]

I was an early adopter. Got my 2017 Giulia Ti in Feb 2017. It is a Nov 2016 build. I have had no reliability issues. I had it in to the dealer once for some software updates, and tomorrow it goes in for it's 1 year service (free). Other than that the issues I've had are people motioning to roll the window down at traffic lights to ask about the car. Or taking longer than normal to get gas, because people want to know about the car.

 

[larrysing]

My July 2017 car had two problems, both of which were solved, eventually.

1. Brake squeal (not normal, AWFUL TERRIBLE METAL-ON-METAL) and they replaced all the rotors and pads under warranty.
2. Some warning lights and limp mode events, which turned out to be a loose connection under the console. Took them 23 days in the shop to solve this one.

Since those issues have been resolved, this car has been as trouble-free as any of my prior Camrys (which I got almost 200K miles total from them combined and never had a day in the shop due to a faulty part) and QUAD-ruple (get it?) the fun !!!

 

[Chanosh]

I watched, waited, read/watched every review, and followed this forum. I was smitten with the Q.V., but cautious. The only issue that caused me significant concern was the extremely rare “shutting down at speed” issue. I spoke with dealer, head Alfa tech, and regional Alfa tech. Watched and waited more, and ordered a 2018 in May of 17. Took delivery in November. 2600 Miles so far without a hitch. The car was delivered with a paint chip on driver door edge, and a mysterious “inside-out” passenger door dent. The interior has a few buzzes and rattles that would have really bothered me in my younger years. Something about my size and seating position makes seeing left hand corners a bit wonky when leaving stop lights, and lane changes to the right require extra attention. My only point in saying all this is to emphasize how excellent this car is dynamically. The car is so good that I don’t care about this minor stuff. It makes interactions with it truly joyful — whether I’m sitting still in traffic staring at beautiful details of the interior, walking towards the car and enjoying its beauty, or blasting up a canyon road. As others have said the biggest variable is your dealer.
Get the car if you can. You will love it.