Alfa Romeo 147 Recall.

ZENER

Got a call from Michael Barrable Motors (Swords) informing me that all Recent Alfa Romeo 147's were being recalled due to a vent hose on the fuel tank cracking due to a production fault. Anyone else hear of this ? Brought my motor to them to see if it was effected and they confirmed that it is so it has to get replaced !

I'd noticed a strong smell of fuel after driving the car, may be a symptom !? Also I put the poor fuel economy (100M/€20) down to a heavy right foot after getting used to a 2 L 156 (120M/20€)for a year or so, perhaps not after all !

I did some checking and discovered that the recall was initiated back in April ! Why did it take them so long to do it in Ireland I wonder ?

ZEN

Turner

Problems with Alfa's, whats new....

Just add it to the list of all their other problems...

ZENER

Ok they they have a bit of a bad reputation but this is my third Alfa and this is my first problem !! The other 2 156's were great to drive , lovely engines!!! I'm not quite old enough to be a Toyota owner just yet . . god forbid !!!

ZEN

Shadow_2k5

Alfa's are a lovely looking Car but its just basicly a FIAT luckley there recalling em. perhaps one Day Alfa will not have Problems :rolleyes:

Turner

The should recall them all.... imagine a timing belt going at 37k miles...

pfft.

SouperComputer

Chief--- wrote:

The should recall them all.... imagine a timing belt going at 37k miles...

pfft.

how about ferrari - 8000 miles on a cambelt :eek:

Turner

Must be some itallian thing.

ZENER

Chief--- wrote:

The should recall them all.... imagine a timing belt going at 37k miles...

pfft.

Ouch . . . I feel your pain !! I know a lad who had this happen (45000 miles) on a Toyota corolla !!! Still it's not like it's a common occurance, could happen to any car.

ZEN

Turner

Not a BMW I think you'll find.


...roll on BMW vs Alfa argument....muahahaha

drdre

they should have called you earlier,they are very slow.

HashSlinging

sure just stick a magic wing on the back and you'll get another 100k out of it.

:cool:

ciarsd

And back to topic...

poor form from Barrable Motors to be so late in re-calling you - couldve been more serious.

Nuttzz

its hard to blame one brand anymore, there is so much commonality between them nowadays, for example the new alfa 1.9 diesels have a GM engine which are used in the saabs. mazda and ford have the same chasis etc

prospect

I think you Alfa bashers should pick up a copy of this months Autocar mag, and go to page 64.

The results of a 24hour endurance race between 21 standard production hatchbacks????

Yes, Alfa 147, Clear Winner.





Oh look, there is an uninformed bandwagon, I think I'll hop on....

Corben Dallas

"Alfa's are a lovely looking Car but its just basicly a FIAT luckley there recalling em. perhaps one Day Alfa will not have Problems "

BS thats like saying Ferraris are basicly Fiats, they are not and neither are Alfas ......so there

+Alfa have a much longer racing history, much longer that even Ferrari (who are blow ins) :P

alias no.9

Or rather the 1.9 diesel used by GM in Opels/Vauxhalls/Saab's is sourced from Fiat/Alfa.

Back to the original post, I'd imagine that Alfa's are shipped here in infrequent batches rather than a steady stream and it may have taken time to identify if any of these batches were affected.

Finally, just to stir the whole Alfa/BMW thing, wasn't there a massive recall of the new Mini soon after launch because of static electricity buildup occuring in the neck of the fueltank during refueling.

unkel

Nuttzz wrote:

the new alfa 1.9 diesels have a GM engine which are used in the saabsc

LOL I understand the confusion. The Alfa / FIAT JTD Diesel is used under license by GM (who were going to buy Alfa / FIAT but recently pulled out). Indeed it is used in a range of cars, a.o. the Opel Vectra and it's twin sister the Saab 9-3

Nuttzz

GM and Fiat actually developed the JTD together and both can build them as the have shared IP after the split.

unkel

Nuttzz wrote:

GM and Fiat actually developed the JTD together and both can build them as the have shared IP after the split.

No the JTD was developed by FIAT with a bit of help from Bosch. The 2.4JTD was the first common rail diesel in the world

In return for GM's handout of nearly $2,000,000,000.00 to FIAT, they indeed share the IP for the JTD engines amongst other things

In fact both of them still own and run the engine plant in Poland together

ds20prefecture

Chief--- wrote:

Problems with Alfa's, whats new....

Just add it to the list of all their other problems...

I know we should encourage obvious trolls, but few cars have not had recalls. - e.g.

2003 BMW 3-Series Recall Date: APR 29, 2003
Component: VISIBILITY:POWER WINDOW DEVICES AND CONTROLS

2003 BMW 3-Series Recall Date: MAR 31, 2003
Component: VEHICLE SPEED CONTROL

1999 BMW 3-Series Recall Date: AUG 09, 2002
Component: AIR BAGS:SIDE/WINDOW

Make : TOYOTA Model : COROLLA Year : 1995
Component: AIR BAGS:FRONTAL:SENSOR/CONTROL MODULE
Potential Number Of Units Affected : 627858
Summary:
IF LIQUID IS SPILLED IN THE CONSOLE BOX AREA, THE AIR BAG WARNING LIGHT CAN ILLUMINATE AND STAY "ON" DURING NORMAL DRIVING CONDITIONS.
Consequence:
THIS LEAKAGE CONDITION COULD CAUSE THE AIR BAG TO INADVERTENTLY DEPLOY.

ds20prefecture

ds20prefecture wrote:

... but few cars have not had recalls. - e.g.

For a laugh, compare the number of BMW recalls here with the number of Alfa Romeo recalls here

What does it prove? Nothing.
BMW might be more vigilant about warning their customers of potential defects.
Alfa Romeos may have fewer component faults.
The database may be incomplete (most likely - it's a US DB)

Still. Get off your high horse, Chief - it's just another BMW.

PS: More BMW fun here. These BMWs must be crap

Nuttzz

unkel wrote:

No the JTD was developed by FIAT with a bit of help from Siemens. The 2.4JTD was the first common rail diesel in the world

didnt know siemens did engine work... learn something new everyday..

ds20prefecture

ZENER wrote:

I did some checking and discovered that the recall was initiated back in April ! Why did it take them so long to do it in Ireland I wonder?

Hi Zener

While the issue certainly seems a bit serious, only two or three months elapsed between the recall and a garage calling you. I would say that's pretty good.

I'm sure there were a large number of 147s affected, and the garages have to work through a backlog. Other marques used to do this centrally by mail - Volvo, for example. But it's difficult to get people to "register" their 2nd hand purchases, so that approach is a little limited in it effectiveness.

Lets face it, marques are rarely going to take out a full page add in the Times to advertise their faults Look at the Ford Explorer & Firestone for a more typical attitude to notifying the customer of serious faults.

If the problem is fixed without cost, I would say you have little cause to complain. My brother's Citroën C5 was recalled 4 times in 2 years, all for major work. I know a guy who packed in his Citroën dealership because of the volume of warranty claims.

unkel

Nuttzz wrote:

didnt know siemens did engine work... learn something new everyday..

LOL I'm just after editing my post when I read this. I meant Bosch

Siemens do indeed do engine work as well. High speed train anyone?