Couldn't agree with you more Mayor. My BMW friends all love my car and tell me it drives better than their cars. One thing though I've owned my Ti for 5 weeks now and I've had at least ten people of all ages and genders (ok 2) that have come up to my car and tell me how beautiful it is. So...
This is true, they love to put down Italian cars, with their apparent rust, unreliable (German, mostly) electrics. You are wrong about British cars though. The media did talk about how **** British cars were and have been since the 1970's and this only finished in 2005 when Rover finally sank. That today is untrue though, because we manufacture more cars in the UK today than we ever have but we don't own any apart from McLaren and I think Morgan. Those Nissans, Toyotas, Hondas and Mini don't get any grief. It is still the same people building them. I worked for Warwick University in the 1990's who worked closely with Rover. That first BMW Mini (R50) was an all British design. Rover tried to negotiate for that in the break up. However from experience I have not found Italian cars today to rust or be unreliable and the most reliable car I have ever owned was a British Rover. In the UK press the best cars are all German, which is mostly bollocks. The best and most reliable are Japanese and following closely Korean I think. We don't buy American cars here so there is no perception good or bad, but they are all only good for for drag racing and apparently not made it around any bend in the UK yet!! We are not good to anybody unless it is German. German diesels still regularly win in comparisons despite them being a bunch of deceiving lying bastards. VW UK (I understand) have told UK owners to go and **** themselves over the loss of both power and MPG after the fix.
Auto journalists keep old problems alive. A batch of horrible Russian steel in the '70s/'80s left Italian cars with a reputation for being "instant rust -- just add water". Lucas got a horrible reputation from skipping gold plating on contacts in a damp climate. US muscle cars were all about engines, and ignored suspensions. (The result of cheap petrol in the US in the '60s, and curveless interstate highways.) All of these issues are in the past, but just saying they're "long ago" doesn't shift perception without some proactive damage control. Ferrari switched to galvanized steel (then aluminum) to counter the "rust" question. When BMW dealers got sloppy doing shoddy service for Biff and Buffy, the trust fund babies, BMW responded by providing a couple years free service with their cars. Today's Vette isn't just a straight line car, but the US auto industry is still all over the map, so they haven't really recovered from that "drag racer" image. Caddy built a couple of cars to offset their "land boat" reputation from the '60s and '70s. Alfa needs to up their game with dealerships and service, if they want to repair their damaged image. But buyers will till need to "really want" to buy Italian. Much of the "reliability" perception on Italian cars is because they're not Japanese. You drive Japanese cars until they stop. Many owners don't even remember to change oil. A whole aftermarket industry has grown up to get the extra performance Japanese manufacturers leave on the floor. Italian cars aren't like that. It takes regular service to keep them going, but they're tuned to peak out of the box. Of course, ricers need regular service once you've "tricked them out", too. But the stockers can be abused. Alfa needs to make sure their dealers can service what they sell, and they may need to provide routine service with their leases, to provide incentive to keep the cars maintained. That might help patch up their reputation from "long ago" -- -- especially as they haven't been in the US market since "long ago". But it'll still be a struggle. Most new Alfa dealerships would likely be completely stumped by a Spica system, so the classic Alfas won't be helping fix Alfa's dealership reputation.
OK done deal. Order placed. 2K deposit. 2018. No prices yet but I don't expect anything out of the ordinary. No carbon seats, no carbon brakes. I'll post the order/build sheet as soon as I can. Nothing I saw in the US really came close so even if it takes till next spring, I am cool with that. David at Central said anywhere from October to March but there is a lot or change with the new fiscal and model years. Then Augusto break, which was part of my plan. There was a sweet new 4C right on the floor with bright 5 hole wheels and colored center caps. I will post those pics too. That's what I ordered, in the 19s for the Quad.
I don't have them on mine either. They are expensive and uncomfortable. The standard seats are excellent. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
Nothing settled yet. Order only, although I did notice something about discounts going to the dealer. May have rushed past that and signed it away. Not too worried, I am just not planning on any markup. Nothing in writing about that. No carbon brakes because I don't plan on tracking it too much. I don't want to plan on an $8000 brake job either. Same on the seats. Plus standard leather has heaters for the northeast
True but what I meant to say is that most British reviews will always begin with the negative same old tired stereotypes before getting on with it. I have rarely watched a Jaguar or Range Rover review as of late on youtube which begins with the same negative connotation. I doubt any of us expect Toyota Land Cruiser type reliability when buying any premium European brand.
Sounds fair. I think a discount is reasonable, and it will be especially reasonable 6 months from now. There are 3 unsold QV's at my local dealer and 22 4-cylinders, 6 of which are 60-90 days old by chassis number. (Yes, I've been transporting like an anorak.)
Woah, that's more than I would have thought but good news. I just emailed my salesman some updated info for my forms and told him I still want to try for a discount. And he did ask for 2k and not 1 like I thought we had discussed for the deposit. I figured they could use the cash flow and it goes against the sale price anyway. I also saw the registrations fee on there. About the same as my Ferrari, cross state. I actually got that one refunded because we missed Concorso Ferrari & Friends (going this weekend again this year). Then I was able to buy larger tires for OZs. Believe it or not, I can still go wider on the rears! Maybe a half inch, especially with the spacers!
Went by Naperville Maserati/Alfa/FIAT today and they have 35 Giulia's on the lot for sale. Some are inside and in the back, but atleast 35 that I counted. They have as many Maserati's but not as many FIAT 500's and around 10 FIAT Spiders. At the present time(this month) they are the number 1 for sales Alfa dealer in North America. Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login
YIKES! Where did you see that? Vegas dealer has $299 / mo lease (24 months) or $2750 cash back. So, they are already putting incentives on the car.
I think I counted two as they are moving those pretty fast as soon as they come in. They also have sold 3 4C's in 10 days. Not sure if they are trying to set a record or not, but good luck to them and Alfa Romeo USA.
legit leases here for ti model is 420/month. pretty good deal but they really need to get deal on qf esp vs m3. that way, enthusiasts buy alfas and spread the word. also more likely to put up with poor dealer, reliability than basic consumer who just wants transportation on base model
Saw two Giulia QV on separate occasions in the wild today - a red and a gray - looked great, but off gas so not much sound...