Yahoo Autos After 40,000 Miles with an Alfa Romeo Giulia Quadrifoglio, Our Heart Is Broken
40,000-Mile Wrap-Up
We knew pretty early in our 14-month relationship with this Alfa Romeo Giulia Quadrifoglio that we weren't going to be able to make a clean break from it. This was not that kind of relationship. And it is not that kind of car.
No, instead we would continue coming back to the Giulia, no matter how it betrayed us. Mostly that's because we were obligated to finish this 40,000-mile test. But we also just couldn't give up on it. Rarely have we hoped for a car in our possession to succeed more than we did for this Alfa. And rarely have we been more consistently disappointed.
We've been down this road before. Have a look at our reviews of the Alfa Milano and 164 sedans from the '80s and '90s. They are rap sheets of shoddy workmanship, schizoid electronics, and unforced errors, even if they are interspersed with glowing praise. Such is the reputation of old Alfas that many staffers still firmly believe that a long-term Milano burned to the ground in the parking lot of a local mall. No evidence of this exists. But there was, decades ago, a long-term Milano test that, after a tragicomic series of faults, was terminated.
We'd hoped for better with the Giulia Quadrifoglio. Upon first encountering the model, we were enthralled. A Quadrifoglio beat a BMW M3, a Cadillac ATS-V, and a Mercedes-AMG C63 S in a 2017 comparison test. We named it, and the beautifully balanced lesser Giulia with its turbocharged 2.0-liter inline-four, to our 2018 list of 10Best Cars.
We ordered a Giulia QF at our earliest opportunity and had it slathered in $2200 worth of Rosso Competizione paint that's the color of fresh blood. The sinister-looking, dark-finish five-hole 19-inch wheels cost an additional $500. For $1200, we had our Giulia loaded with Alfa's driver-assist features (lane-departure warning, adaptive cruise control, and automatic high-beam headlights) because, well, we should test those things, right? We added carbon-fiber accents to the steering wheel for $400 and regretted it because they add nothing to the experience of looking at or driving the car. Also, we don't fetishize carbon fiber. We passed on two of the QF's priciest options, the $3500 carbon-fiber-backed Sparco race seats and the $8000 carbon-ceramic brake rotors. The standard seats are plenty supportive, highly adjustable, and easy to get into and out of. And the iron brakes provide stunning stopping power. To say we were eager to burn through the engine's recommended 1500-mile break-in period would be a massive understatement.
Our honeymoon lasted 2400 miles. Then the Giulia failed us for the first time. We still hadn't taken it to the track to perform our initial battery of tests when, on a 650-mile road trip, our Giulia lit its "service electronic throttle control" warning as well as a check-engine light. The car was still operational, but its mode selector became inoperative, locking the car in its standard suspension and powertrain settings. Once it was back near our Michigan headquarters, we took it to the dealer, who could find no cause for the warnings, which were no longer lit by then anyway. While crawling around the car for a solid week, though, the dealership tech found a small coolant leak. Tightening a loose hose clamp stemmed the flow. This incident is what's known as foreshadowing.
Problems with no identifiable causes are always disconcerting, even when they vanish on their own. But with the car back to full power and functionality, we went about the business of filling the logbook with praise for the Giulia Quadrifoglio. Despite some sour but justified complaints concerning the interior's subpar material quality and the touchy response of the brake-by-wire system, we fell hard for the Giulia. Its 505-hp twin-turbocharged 2.9-liter V-6 is an absolute gem, even if it's still slightly in the rough. At idle, the engine sends shivers through the car's body. In Dynamic and Race, the sportier of the QF's four modes (which include Natural and Advanced Efficiency), the throttle pedal becomes a hair trigger and the ZF eight-speed automatic fires off shifts as quickly as the best dual-clutch transmissions. The exhaust note becomes furious, blatting loudly on upshifts (whether initiated via the big aluminum shift paddles or computer instinct). The thing positively buzzes with restless energy. It feels as close to a living being as any sedan currently on the market. And the steering. Oh, goodness, the steering! It's supple, lightly weighted, and commanded by a relatively thin-rimmed steering wheel. It turns sporty-car steering norms on their heads. And it's delightful. Thanks to that quick steering and the hyperaggressive Pirelli P Zero Corsa Asimmetrico 2 tires, the QF turns in with an immediacy that should make highway driving a nerve-racking chore. But it's not. Even on short sidewalls and with a chassis tuned to handle all that power, the Giulia rides with a shocking lack of harshness. We were in love.
With 4100 miles on its odo, we finally got the car to the test track, where it managed to get to 60 mph in 3.6 seconds, run the quarter-mile in 11.8 at 122 mph, circle the skidpad at 0.98 g, and stop from 70 mph in 145 feet. It also managed to light the "service electronic throttle control" warning again. Back to the dealership we went. This time, the dealer replaced the fuel pump under warranty. For the remaining 12 months of the test, we settled into a routine with the Giulia: periods of praying in vain for the problems to cease interspersed with flashes of pure driving joy. We were elated when we could finish a long drive without scheduling a dealer visit. That's a sad state of affairs.
When we took the car in for its 10,000-mile service, we lost use of it for 31 days. Thirty-one days! That's because, in addition to our requested oil change and inspections and such, we complained about a rear-end whine. The dealer diagnosed the sound as bearing noise from the differential. The solution, after the dealer consulted with Alfa corporate support, was to replace the diff. Problem was, it would have to be ordered. Then when it finally arrived, the single Alfa tech was swamped with work—the overworked Alfa tech being a sort of yin to the Maytag repairman's yang. So for a month we drove a loaner Chrysler 300 instead of our $79,595 Alfa. The regular service cost us $169, but the delay cost us most of our patience.
About 8500 miles later, our QF seemed to have an acute attack of hypochondriasis. It believed its engine-oil level was low and threw a warning. The oil level was fine, though. So the dealer reflashed the sensor. Then at 23,000 miles, our old nemesis, the "service electronic throttle control" warning, lit again. The dealer could find no fault. This would happen once more, at 34,000 miles, at which time the tech found a connector that wasn't fully seated and replaced it.
At 27,000 miles, one staffer was greeted to a kaleidoscopic light-and-sound show while motoring away from a drive-through carwash. The car warned of an open rear door and an inoperative turn signal. The attention tones mixed unhappily and were joined by the beeps of malfunctioning parking sensors for the remaining 10 minutes of his commute. And then it stopped. And never happened again.
At 31,000 miles, the low-oil light came on again during a long drive. And again, the oil level was actually fine. By the end of the Giulia's 19-day stay in the shop, the dealer had reflashed the sensor, replaced the sensor, and then brought in an engineer with a software update for the sensor. Sigh.
The regular service stops, at 10,000-mile intervals, cost us $169, $223, $786, and $251. The 30,000-mile service included new spark plugs at $49 apiece—more if you include the cost of screwing them in. We cracked the windshield, which we replaced for $1209. We spent $295 for a new front tire after it developed a sidewall bubble. The rears were down to the cords with 12,000 miles on them, and the fronts wore out after 15,000 miles of use. A low-speed traffic accident and a raccoon strike near the end of our test cost us $3529 to repaint the front fascia and replace a headlight. Also, we replaced the front brake pads and warped rotors for $1191.
But it wasn't the pricey spark plugs or the short-lived tires that bothered us the most. It was the absurd frequency and duration of the Giulia's stays at the dealership. During its 14 months with us, the Giulia spent 80 days out of commission. That's unforgivable. We went from recommending that people buy Giulia QFs to recommending that they lease Giulia QFs to recommending that they stay away from Giulia QFs altogether.
You broke our heart, Giulia. You broke our heart.
Rants & Raves
This is not an $80,000 interior. I'm not sure it's even a decent $50,000 interior. –Alexander Stoklosa
I'd settle for a cheapish interior when a car is this good to drive. –David Beard
Just a prediction: Nobody is going to buy this car when we are done with it. –Jeff Sabatini
Waves in the glass distort the rear view. –Mike Sutton
The ZF eight-speed slams home wide-open-throttle shifts on par with the best dual-clutch trannies. –Dave VanderWerp
This 505-hp beast is a remarkably docile freeway cruiser: compliant ride, quiet exhaust note, good sightlines. –Joey Capparella
The shift paddles are perfection in material, placement, and feel. –Rusty Blackwell
It rips, snorts, and scampers like a playful puppy, and when you're pushing it hard on a good road, the steering is divine. –Daniel Golson
It has the optional wood-shop-scented interior: a heady mix of glue, burning wood, and sawdust. –Jeff Sabatini
It's sad when everyone is marveling that a new $80,000 vehicle didn't leave them stranded. –Joey Capparella
This a compelling toy for enthusiasts. Too bad its atrocious reliability makes it a poor transportation device. –Rich Ceppos
In a car this prone to failures large and small, shouldn't the warning lights be brighter? –Annie White
Its brakes are more difficult to modulate when attempting to drive gently than any other new car's. –Dave VanderWerp
Moderate rain on the highway and this got spooky, as if it were on marbles or ice. –David Beard
30,000-Mile Update
We probably should have known we'd eventually get to this point, but that brings no satisfaction now that we're here. We'll just say it: After a trouble-filled 30,000-plus miles with our long-term Alfa Romeo Giulia Quadrifoglio, we have officially begun criticizing the periodic warning lights that appear on its instrument panel.
Mind you, we're not referring to our complaining that the warning lights have come on (although there's a lot of that as well) but actually criticizing the placement, color, and luminosity of the warnings themselves. Hey, critics are going to critique. But still, it indicates a familiarity with warnings, both false and true, that is pretty shameful.
We've documented plenty of sightings of the "check engine" and "service electronic throttle" warnings. So much so, in fact, that they no longer spike our heart rate. Since we last updated you on the Giulia, the electronic-throttle warning popped up once (at about 34,000 miles). The dealer discovered a connector wasn't seated and replaced it. That seems to have solved the problem, so far.
