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Johnson Maserati and now AR in Cary NC

20K views 69 replies 20 participants last post by  Bigsakius 
#1 · (Edited)
Went by today in the Quad to meet the service Manager, Cory Rader. What a night and day atmosphere change from Hendrick. Extremely nice and ready to help us Alfa owners. Talked about getting my Quad all updated and he was all about it. They are awaiting the software and scanner but anticipate being ready in the coming weeks. Took my VIN and is looking up all the RRTs to apply. Said he'd loan my a Maserati Gibli while they updated my quad. Looking forward to establishing a relationship. Stop by and speak with Cory and express excitement over the brand.
 
#3 ·
I dropped in at Johnson Maserati/Alfa today as well. The Service Manager was super nice and echoed what's already been said here about service. He said the Alfa experience will be white glove and be very different than what most people were probably getting. I have a rattle under my car and Leith said it would be 3 weeks before they could work me in. Johnson can see me on Monday. He said the transition to Johnson from Hendrick literally just happened Monday so things are still a little unorganized as they get up to speed. My 5 minutes of working with them and I already know service will be closer to what I was getting when I owned BMWs vs. having Hendrick service my car at the Dodge Dealership...
 
#4 ·
hmmmm, wonder if they will honor the maintenance agreement for oil changes and tire rotation (every 5k miles up to 30k) I purchased with the car from Hendrick?
 
#5 ·
Probably not, but I'll ask next time I'm there. I have the same package from Hendrick. The wife is really eyeing a Giulia TI now...What have I done?!?

Also, they were able to do some checking of my VIN. I see several items have been applied, but the report uses different numbers than the 17-XXX, so I'm having a hard time crossing them. There were two different updates done to the Amplifier...but I can't tell if it's the 17-061 flash everyone has mentioned.
 
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#10 ·
Good to hear....dropping mine off next Tuesday.
 
#11 ·
I was feeling remiss, so I stopped in today to meet Corey as well. As you all have mentioned, great first impressions, and he also confirmed to me that they would honor the Hendrick oil change agreement. He pulled the history on my car so I could see all the service updates Hendrick performed prior to my purchase which is nice to have in hand. He asked me about the “odor issue” which I still experience on occasion. He said they would definitely look into that when I had the car serviced. At 3600 miles now, so at my driving rate will probably be a few more months before I head in for a 5K oil change.
 
#12 ·
The rumor is that also Hendrick in Concord (Charlotte) sold the Alfa dealership too but cant seem to find to whom and when. They still have Alfa's on their lot.


By the way I did get a 5000 miles oil change and while it was free I freaked out when I saw the price of the oil filter $85 had a cow.
 
#16 ·
My wife dropped off my QV at Johnson today to get the infotainment update and my brakes looked at. A couple of other nagging issues such as the hood latches popping on their own every once in awhile, and a few no start/stop failures will be looked at, but likely no resolution to those. White glove service, and they loaned my wife a Maserati SUV. I guarantee I'm going to be on the hook for her a new car now :)
 
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#18 ·
I picked up my QV today from Johnson Maserati. Service isn't complete, but it will take a few days to get the parts, so I took the car back for the weekend, much to the dismay of my wife who was loving the Maserati loaner.

But, I can say that as expected the service department at Johnson has been a pleasure to work with. They went to bat for me on the brake squeal. They did have to follow FCA's adviser's and first try to resurface the rotors. Once they did that and the squeal was still apparent, they went ahead and ordered a full set of rotors and pads while awaiting FCA's approval. Just to save a day due to shipping and processing, so I appreciate their aggressiveness. They also found my hood latch was the old design and so they've ordered a new kit which consists of the release handle, cable and latches. They upgraded some firmware that had to do with the two start/stop warnings I've had, and they updated the infotainment system to 002.009.055. Unfortunately, that upgrade blew away the Map and Online manual, so they'll have to reload those when I return the car next week for the brakes. This time around, Cory said they'll try to put me in a Ghibli to see how I like those. I think he's working through me to get to my wife...lol.

Lastly, Cory mentioned that they've had a huge surge of Alfa's coming into the dealership for various service. I think it's in part to the good press they're receiving here and word of mouth. They are looking to hire more support staff as they are working their tails off now to keep all these new customers satisfied. I think Hendrick has completely washed their hands of anymore Alfa support and is sending everyone to Johnson. I'm not surprised. I found out today, that three weeks later, Hendrick still hasn't changed ownership of my Alfa in the registry and I still haven't received my permanent plates.
 
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#20 ·
I had my car into Johnson today for the 10k mile service. Actually was having it done at 4k miles since I bought the car new in November and the oil has been in there > 12 months. No other issues, so just routine service. Good experience overall. Got what they told me was the first Alfa loaner they had ever given a customer, a nice new black Stelvio. I did ask them to see if there were map updates for Navigation, I was at the 971.7832 version, and other posters had reported a 991.xxxx version was available. However, for whatever reason, they could not access a more current version for my car on their system. They said they were going to do some additional research and get back to me.
 
#21 ·
I just had mine done last week at Johnson as it was wiped out when the infotainment update was done. I didn't even check to see what version I was at now. I'll check and report in a bit.
 
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#25 ·
Took my car into Johnson’s couple weeks ago for the 10k service. When I dropped it off I mentioned to Cory that the gas gauge drops like a rock once it hits two bars. I was honestly expecting they’d come back with “no fault found” or “they all do that”. But no, they made an honest effort to address my complaint. They tested the fuel sender, ordered a new part and synced it to the ECU. They provided a rental car. They even delivered my car to the house when they were done since I was out of town. No charge for anything.

I’m not sure the gas gauge is any better, but I’m very happy with the service. I’ll be returning if and when the need arises.


Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk
 
#26 ·
Took my car in for hood release issue. Corey and Brandon were great people...There are a campaign for hood release, window switch, and side mirrors switch, which I have no idea on. All have been taken care of. I have a very pleasant experience and I highly recommend them for service.

Sent from my PH-1 using Tapatalk
 
#32 ·
Took my car in for hood release issue. Corey and Brandon were great people...There are a campaign for hood release, window switch, and side mirrors switch, which I have no idea on. All have been taken care of. I have a very pleasant experience and I highly recommend them for service.

Sent from my PH-1 using Tapatalk

What was your hood release issue. Mine doesn't pop up like it should. Fortunately it is filmed but to me it seems like something is not right.
 
#27 ·
I took my car in for the Infotainment reboot SW update yesterday. They performed several other co/pre-req updates along with updating the Infotainment SW to the .059 level. Given the relative infrequency of the reboots, may be a while before I can confirm the fix, but everything seems to have gone well. One of the updates changed the look of my center display (eg the mpg instantaneous display now reads 0–75 instead of 75–0), so it seems as if everything is now up to date. The had to keep it overnight for the car to go into an extended sleep period before finishing, but Cory and Katelyn kept me well informed about what was going on. Even delivered the car to my house! Outstanding service all around.

btw, their loaner fleet is still kind of lean, so they put me in an Enterprise rental. It was an Infinity G50 3.0t model with 4K miles. Made me really appreciate my Giulia all over again. Steering was vague, acceleration sluggish even in Sport mode, and interior design not all all aesthetically pleasing. I owned a G35 and loved it, but guess I’m spoiled now.
 
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#28 ·
I too owned a first gen G35 and loved it. Sold it when I got divorced as that was "our" car.


Good to know that you guys are happy with Johnson. If Leith ever doesn't treat me right, I may have to change. So far they have been great though and they are right next to Johnson Lexus where I service the GX so it makes them convenient.
 
#34 ·
Thanks for this. The first SA said oh yeh they are all like that. It was not like that when I first had it delivered. The handle on the inside will open it but the handle stays out and the hood releases but does not pop up. Very carefully open hood. I am going to take this message to them. Do you know if there was a RRT mentioned for it?
 
#36 ·
I just had my 20K service performed at Johnson Alfa Romeo in Cary. Overall a very good experience. Katelyn, the service advisor was very friendly and kept me updated on the progress. When I made the appointment they couldn't tell me exactly which oil would be used so I brought my own and they happily used the oil that I brought. It turns out they would have used the same oil.
The loaner car was a Giulia TI with only 300 miles on it. Minimal fuss and paperwork.
I also had the alignment checked and a clunk in the left front addressed. Alignment was off so they adjusted. The clunk was a loose w/w bottle and the mechanic put some foam to insulate it from the body.
They applied 2 software updates even though there was no complaint.
My only complaint was that they were going to do the accessory belt service at 20K. I told them that I thought it only needed to be done at 30K. They mentioned something about dusty conditions and said that they would check the condition and leave it if it was ok. I didn't hear anything about it after that.
 
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#38 ·
I would recommend NOT doing this...the results will be short lived and could cause issues further down the road. WD40 is not a lubricant. It's a water displacer, and contaminent remover, but itself will attract dirt and dust and makr the components wear prematurely. Lithium grease or a teflon lube would be a better solution.
 
#41 ·
Another very nice service experience at Johnson Alfa Romeo yesterday. Routine service, oil and filter, tire rotation, multi point inspection and a update to the BCM. 8300 miles, service was triggered based on time from last service. Attempted a map update from the 2016 version on my MY17, but could not get it to install. ? Oh well, credit for trying. Had a nice new red 2019 Giulia Ti sport loaner for the day.
 
#42 ·
Other than my Giulia Ti Sport, I have a 2018 Maserati Ghibli SQ4 (that I absolutely love) and I bring it to this dealer for the service. I can confirm that it has been the best car service center I've ever experienced. Stellar opinion for them, I will keep going there for any need.
 
#43 ·
Hi everyone, new to this forum as well as to Alfa as I just purchased a 2017 Giulia Ti Sport Q4 and one of the contributing factors was this thread about the stellar service at Johnson AR. I went by last week and talked with Cory (who lived up to the hype everyone is talking about), great guy and very knowledgeable. Explained a couple of concerns and he asked about a few I had not though of, got parts ordered and scheduled a time that worked for me. The standard bar has officially been set and after 27 cars in my history I can say that no other service experience even comes close. Cory, keep doing what your doing, it is appreciated and makes a world of difference. If there are any owners in the Raleigh area looking for service this place is worth the trip even if it is out of the way.
 
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