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APEowner
APEowner GRM+ Memberand UltraDork
9/19/24 6:56 p.m.
David S. Wallens said:

Just went out to take a few more photos of the Alfa’s carbon interior bits. What’d I see drive by? Some of today‘s greatest CUV hits from Toyota, Hyundai, Porsche and Kia. I hear you, but the market says otherwise. 

Yup.  It makes me feel old and a little cranky but clearly the market feels very different from me.

David S. Wallens
David S. Wallens Editorial Director
9/19/24 7:11 p.m.
Fueled by Caffeine said:

Wow that's pretty.  Bet it makes good noises as well. 

You know, the “exhaust note” actually sounds a little thin. 

David S. Wallens
David S. Wallens Editorial Director
9/19/24 7:16 p.m.

About 20 years ago, Dodge gave us what we thought we wanted: a Ram pickup fitted with a Viper V10 engine. 

Was it fast? Yes.

Did it ride like an SCCA Improved Touring car heading to grid? Also yes. 

Personally, I’d rather have my performance a little closer to the ground. But I realized that many others are voting with their dollars....

Fueled by Caffeine
Fueled by Caffeine MegaDork
9/20/24 7:17 a.m.
David S. Wallens said:
Fueled by Caffeine said:

Wow that's pretty.  Bet it makes good noises as well. 

You know, the “exhaust note” actually sounds a little thin. 

This is one of the most disappointing things I've read in a while. 

Duke
Duke MegaDork
9/20/24 7:26 a.m.

Oh ho ho.

My boss is in the process of lemon lawing one of these with under 15,000 miles.

It went in the shop for a routine oil change and it was there for more than 90 days. He got it back and it hasn't been right since.

 

David S. Wallens
David S. Wallens Editorial Director
9/20/24 9:23 a.m.
Fueled by Caffeine said:
David S. Wallens said:
Fueled by Caffeine said:

Wow that's pretty.  Bet it makes good noises as well. 

You know, the “exhaust note” actually sounds a little thin. 

This is one of the most disappointing things I've read in a while. 

Never meet your heroes? 

theruleslawyer
theruleslawyer Reader
9/20/24 9:48 a.m.

The best thing about the Stelvio is that is it typically discounted quite a bit. Even at the height of the pandemic when nobody had cars, Stelvio were on the lot, and at a discount.

David S. Wallens
David S. Wallens Editorial Director
9/20/24 10:11 a.m.

Some Alfa Romeo Stelvio Quadrifoglio history, too:

Released in 2016 as a 2017 model with a slight update for 2023.

We sampled the pre-update Stelvio Quadrifoglio in 2022.

Colin Wood
Colin Wood Associate Editor
9/20/24 10:39 a.m.
Duke said:

He got it back and it hasn't been right since.

I just thought that was the "Alfa Romeo experience." It won't run correctly for 364 days of the year, but there's going to be one single day that everything works perfectly and you reach automotive nirvana. wink

David S. Wallens
David S. Wallens Editorial Director
9/20/24 11:34 a.m.

On Carfax, I’m seeing early Stelvio Quadrifoglios advertised down into the $30s. One is listed at like $29,999, but there’s no photo.

Duke
Duke MegaDork
9/20/24 12:44 p.m.
Colin Wood said:

I just thought that was the "Alfa Romeo experience."

From the Minor Win thread.  The minor win is that I did not buy a Giulia despite wanting one, hard.

At the beginning of this year, my boss traded his 2022 Audi RS3 for a 2024 Alfa Stelvio Q4 because the RS3 was too small.

In mid-June, with about 10,000 miles on it, he took it in for a routine oil change.  They said it had an oil leak and they needed to replace an oil sensor, under warranty.  They gave him a loaner and ordered the part.

Something like 2 weeks of radio silence later, after he called to check status, they told him it needed a new engine.  Also under warranty.; no real reason given.

It took about 2 months to get the engine in.  In the meantime, the dealer gave him almost zero information.  In fact, they almost never call him except to demand that he bring their loaners back because he's putting too many miles on them.  Mind you, he's just driving the way he would have driven his car if it was in his driveway.  Eventually they put him in a cheap-ass rental Cherokee.

They got the new engine in and installed it, finally.  Then they called to tell him they have to take it out again.  I don't know how the drivetrain in these is configured, but apparently, somebody left some plastic caps inside and the front axles won't go in.

Another week for them to R&R the engine a second time, and they gave him his car back.   They had it more than 90 days, so he initiated a Lemon Law proceeding.  His lawyer told him he has a case and filed it, but it will be next year until it gets heard.  Alf Romeo still hasn't informed him about why it needed a new engine.

Oh, and the car now has a shimmy it didn't before.  He took it back and they tell him they can't repeat it.  Throughout this entire ordeal, getting information out of them has been difficult at best.  He believes they have put 1200 miles on his car but he doesn't have record of the mileage when it went in, so I'm not convinced about that.

Over the weekend it went into limp mode for no apparent reason.  He's in another rental and they're coming to get the Stelvio out of his driveway again.

nocones
nocones GRM+ Memberand PowerDork
9/20/24 2:03 p.m.

I drove a Giulia Q4 with the wizbang race seats and carbon brakes.  Oh man was it a fun car to drive. 

But..  is the door opening in the Stelvio the same.. kinda not in the right spot and too small as it is on the Giulia?  With the seat at a very normal position the B pillar was right beside my head in my line of sight.  It was forward enough of the seat that it was kinda awkward to get out in the space between the steering wheel and the B-pillar.   I have not ran into that problem with any other cars and it was noteworthing on the Guilia.  Cool car though.. made excellent pops and bangs and whoosing noises.    

David S. Wallens
David S. Wallens Editorial Director
9/20/24 4:27 p.m.

The Stelvio’s door opening didn’t seem awkward to me. Thick A pillars, though. 

The rear doors on the Tonale bug me, though. As you open the door, the rearward edge of the frame just misses your face. 

kb58
kb58 UltraDork
9/20/24 4:53 p.m.

At one time I considered a used sedan version of this (assuming the same 500hp turbo V6), but passed. The reason came down to suspecting that they as a dealer entity are going to vanish from the US. Even now, there are so few dealers it's kinda scary. Yes, there are always independent shops specializing in Alfas but I rather have choices. If and when they disappear, I don't see that being good for the resale value of their cars. OTOH, if I lived in Europe, I'd probably have one, at least for a while, to see what all the fuss is about. Jeremy Clarkson certainly liked it and appeared to buy one.

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