Alfa's reputation for major glitches is still alive and kicking
The car had developed a little noise from the power steering pump that got quite loud when turning, I thought to myself; I’ll get this looked at this week… then in an entirely unrelated incident: On this glorious sunny morning, my partner and I got into the car; I started the engine, and pushed the button to open the soft top. All seemed fine until a large bang followed by my girlfriend having about half a pint of Hydraulic fluid dumped all over her from the roof!! Not good…..
after closer examination (very easy as you can see all the hoses when the roof is partially open it was clear a hose had failed under pressure and with the pump running for a few seconds before I realised the problem, emptied a load of tepid oil into the passenger compartment, as the failure was right over the my girlfriends head she bore the brunt of the oil dump!!
So; girlfriend covered in oil and not happy at all, seat covered in oil. Pool of oil on the floor behind the seat, spattered oil all over the place, the honeymoon period is over, after just 5 days!!
Took it to motor vogue after disengaging the roof mechanism per the manuals emergency recommendation of pulling the cable in the rear storage box. They said “ooer, this is not a small job, may take a week, its 10 hours just to get the roof off”
I asked for a courtesy car to which I got the standard reply of; “they are all out” I then said I’d need to get a hire car and would expect Alfa to pick up the tab, to which I was told they’d need authorisation, followed by “it usually takes a few days to get a hire car sorted out”
I did ask about Alfas policy re courtesy cars in the event of warranty work and got no satisfactory answer here know?
I'm running around in a hire Ford Focus whilst my 159 is off the road, again The dealer 'didn't fancy' me having a loan car for 5 or 6 days...
The official poilcy from ARUK is on a like for like loan. Broken Spider? You SHOULD get a 159, Brera or Spider. At the very least a 147 or GT.
Really sorry to hear your situation. DO you now have a hire car What did they give you Have you got confirmation that your dealer or ARUK will pick up the tab
Hey Hunter, I've read your tales of true woe in detail so consider your input most valuable. I had to leave the garage this AM in a Taxi as I had a meeting at 11.30 ( the dealer picked up the taxi tab on account)
I'm waiting for feedback re a stand in car but was told by the dealer that it was not their policy to give a like for like car under warranty claims, when I expressed concern at this point, she (service centre girl) said I could take it up with customer services, but I said I'd leave it with her for this morning and if she had no joy, I would take up the issue with customer services this avo. the dealer was initailly helpful in that overt 'dealer' kind of way.
Oh and also my girlfriend just called and said (quite rightly I think) "will the garage pik up my dry cleaning bill?"
I think I may cancel my order - really sorry to hear of your nightmare.
You would think the least they could do is put you straight into a hire car!!!!
Was there anything Blocking/jamming the roof at all - i used to work on many types of Hydro/Pneumatic systems on the large guns/tanks in the army and I don't recall one case of hose failure - could have been dangerous!!!
Hah Sean, you're ahead of me on the girlies clothes lol!!
I opted not to take the maint in the end as the non maint price got even better...
I'll wait until the service guys come back and deliver the bad news re a weeks work etc then chuck the good will thing into the hat as this has really pi**ed me off. I accept Alfa have a rep for Quirkyness but at 5 days old, to have no servicable car in this day and age is not on.
:lol: shame I'm well-known for the 'wrong reasons'! :lol:
1. They should give you an Alfa loan car for duration of repairs. Effective immediatley.
2. You Spider should have full valet after works completed.
3. Your g/f's clothes' dry cleaning should be paid by ARUK.
4. P/S pump should be fixed during SAME visit.
Get a case number from ARUK and persue it with them AND the dealer in parallel. Make sure your case is in writing too.
If you want contact details for them, then please PM me and I'll send them.
Agreed they should replace everything thats nas been touched by trhe stuff (Except your girlfriend).
AR should sort out a courtesy car and pretty quickly - any sort of spider should do - I would not accept a 147 as you are paying a contract that they are then breaking.
Really sorry to hear about your problems. I really hope I don't encounter anything like this it will really ruin the experience. Lets hope they sort it out quickly. Does the dealer not have a demo spider? I'd be insisting they lent it to me.
On a side note I have heard it is always best to call the manufacturers break down service rather than trying to get the car to the dealer. That way the breakdown service are obliged to arrange a hire car for you if it can't be fixed the same day and whilst it might not be like for like it will be of similar grade. If you take it to the dealer yourself there is no such obligation.
OK here's my thoughts ... within 5 days you should be able to say that the car was not sold to you in a sellable condition (poor english I know but I'm an engineer) ... some trading standards type thingy should apply ... so deinfitely recount the whole story to ARUK
In terms of what they should be doing
for that sort of leak I'd expect new trim/carpets rather than just a cleanup ... oil is a yucky substance to clean
they definitely need to provide you with a vehicle ... when I had a problem with my current car a couple of years ago (a Toyota Celica) I was given the Dealerships Managers car as they had all their loan cars out
as to your other halfs clothes ... definitely claim dry cleaning and/or replacement if it doesn't come out
oh and definitely ask for some form of compensation for the fact that your othe half got covered in oil
Cheers chaps for all your thoughts and support, defo means a lot when one considers the behemoth that is Alfa.
I’m hoping optimistically that this will all be cleared up quickly, certainly everyone so far seems concerned and wanting to help, maybe I'm being naive - we’ll see- I'll keep ya'll posted
I hope that they resolve this issue for you quickly - an issue like this is bad enough on a car thats only a few days old but if the dealer is a pain as well then it will sour your feeling towards AR for ever.
i agree that new clothes are a starting point but i would also demand new car/replacement of all affected parts.
did you get photos of the clothing and inside of the car?if not get back to the dealer and get some photos of the car to show the extent of the affected areas.
also if parts replaced will there be colour match issues?
was any paint affected - thought this stuff could strip paint.
no way i'd be without a car whatever it took and i def wouldn't wait 48 hours or even 48 mins for it to be authorised.
I still say that with an Alfa, it's not so much the problem itself but the poor way you get treated when it happens
With another "premium" brand, you'd get a like for like or next step up replacement car for sure.
I have to say that I've been happy with my dealer (Chris Variava) even if the faults couldn't be fixed first time and Alfa are still crap at supplying the correct parts:rant:
It always helps when you take your car back to the supplying dealer.
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