Alfa Giulietta

barry181091

Hey guys,

So I am in the market for my first car. Up until this point I have been renting cars as it is quite reasonable, but is still restrictive, so I have decided to bite the bullet.

I would like something that has good fuel economy as I will be doing Cork - Galway a lot of weekends.

As it is my first ever insurance with no NCB or named experience, a lot of cars are around the same price (2-3k) so I may as well get a nice one.

I was looking at going to the UK to get one over the Christmas and the Alfa Giulietta's have caught my eye ('11/'12 year). They seem to be a lot of car for the money and have great fuel economy, especially the 2l diesel model.

Would I be mad to get this car for any reason? If so, any other recommendations in the current market? They do not seem to be expensive relative to other brands and have a decent reputation. I am well used to the 'Fiat Platform' as we have had three Punto's at home, all with their own foibles but great cars overall.

Barry.

GavMan

Check out AlfaOwner.com

Specifically: Giulietta Forum

Republic of Ireland Forum

Gravelly

I only know one person that has owned one, and her stories would turn anyone off them (pretty much never managed to go a full week without some kind of fault, usually expensive or difficult to track down), but as a sample of one, it's not much use.

NIMAN

I would guess that Alfa might be in a higher insurance bracket, and as such might be expensive to insure for your first car.

mistress_gi

I've had my 1.6 diesel since April. I love it, it is a cracking car.

aerofoiled

Get a test drive in one here before taking the trip the UK.

I had a 2.0 170bhp for 6 months and while I didn't have any reliability issues, the fuel economy (avg. 42mpg at motorway speeds) and refinement were disappointing.

There is wind noise around the A-pillar /wing mirror that I initially thought was a problem with the window seals. However, a friend mentioned they had the same issue with a brand new rental car this year, so there's obviously a design flaw. It may not be an issue if you were just using the car for short runs, but if you're doing motorway miles, you will notice it.

I still think the Giulietta is a fantastic looking thing for an 8 year old design but I couldn't recommend one.

damemcd

The fiat/alfa dealer in Greenhills was looking for silly money for a veloce 2litre during the Summer, it was still with him up until recently.Good cars , love them to bits but its always a worry to put your own hard earned into them.Clean example from uk best way to go ,look at Mannheim /BCA as well as dealers,

murphyebass

Gravelly wrote: »

I only know one person that has owned one, and her stories would turn anyone off them (pretty much never managed to go a full week without some kind of fault, usually expensive or difficult to track down), but as a sample of one, it's not much use.

Maybe this is true but I highly doubt it is.

Op Alfas in general get a LOT of stick and quite frequently from people who have never driven one let alone owned one. Just keep that in mind when you're asking about them.

I owned a GT. Had a few niggles but nothing that major. They're a bit soft in comparison to say a Toyota but with a bit tlc they're not the disaster that some people would have you believe.

I absolutely loved my GT. :-(

Gravelly

murphyebass wrote: »

Maybe this is true but I highly doubt it is.

Op Alfas in general get a LOT of stick and quite frequently from people who have never driven one let alone owned one. Just keep that in mind when you're asking about them.

I owned a GT. Had a few niggles but nothing that major. They're a bit soft in comparison to say a Toyota but with a bit tlc they're not the disaster that some people would have you believe.

I absolutely loved my GT. :-(

It is. Name any make of car and you'll have lads telling you they commuted to Namibia every day for 10 years in one and it never even needed a service. There was a lad (wasn't you was it?) on here recently trying to argue that Renaults were more reliable than any German car. Alfa's are great fun cars, but you are deluding yourself and others if you are trying to pretend their reputation for poor reliability isn't true. I haven't owned one because I come from a family that has a long history in the motor trade and I know what to expect. There is a reason that few established motor dealers have them on the forecourt.

It's the old thing about nobody having ugly children themselves

R.O.R

Gravelly wrote: »

It is. Name any make of car and you'll have lads telling you they commuted to Namibia every day for 10 years in one and it never even needed a service. There was a lad (wasn't you was it?) on here recently trying to argue that Renaults were more reliable than any German car. Alfa's are great fun cars, but you are deluding yourself and others if you are trying to pretend their reputation for poor reliability isn't true. I haven't owned one because I come from a family that has a long history in the motor trade and I know what to expect. There is a reason that few established motor dealers have them on the forecourt.

It's the old thing about nobody having ugly children themselves

Weird - we had quite a few modern Alfa's on fleet where I used to work (customer was part of the FIAT Group) and there were no major issues with them from 2007 cars onwards.

Can't recall a single issue with any of the 8 Giulietta's I supplied which were a mixture of 1.6 & 2.0 Manual's and even the Veloce DCT (or whatever their auto is called) didn't give any issues.

I was slightly dissapointed with the Cloverleaf I had for around 3 weeks - not as fast as I thought it would be, and fuel consumption was pretty heavy, but it was quite nice, and nicer than the 1.6JTd I had earlier the same year for a few weeks.

Personally, I don't think there's any reason not to go for one if that's what you really want, but it honestly doesn't do anything a Ford Focus wouldn't do just as well and probably for less money.

JoeA3

Like most Alfa’s they’re a really nice looking car. You might also get lucky and it’ll never give you much bother.
But I’d also expect it to be virtually worthless come trade in time down the road. No one will want it. If that’s not a concern and you’re getting it at a good price now, then....

Gravelly

One of the mechanics in our garage reckons you should only ever take a woman’s opinion on a car because no man will ever admit to having bought a bad car!