Finally! The LE arrived.

I did the wheels on ours this weekend and can confirm the wheels are glossy smooth. Rough surface to alloys normally indicates a repair, or maybe they've collected some overspray too.

Went over every inch of paintwork and it all looks very good on ours.

How are you getting on with the dealers about this issue?

Its due to go in on Wednesday, they arranged that when we were collecting the car and I pointed out the paint faults. I am a bit concerned they might respray our brand new car. They did straight away offerer to lend me their Spider so I can't fault the dealer so far.

I'll mention the wheels when I take it in, along with the rocking drivers seat (has anyone had a fix for that?) and also the absent drivers washer jet. It doesn't have one! When you activate the windscreen washers its just pumping water into the inside of the bonet somewhere.

The roof has also failed to open/close correctly three times now. Never for me though always the GF so it could be user error

Originally Posted by RichardM

and also the absent drivers washer jet. It doesn't have one! When you activate the windscreen washers its just pumping water into the inside of the bonet somewhere.

The roof has also failed to open/close correctly three times now. Never for me though always the GF so it could be user error

Jeez - you do despair sometimes. I guess the QA at Pininfarina maybe isn't what it should be, but you'd expect these things to be picked up either at Bristol or at the dealer.

I did laugh to myself when I looked to see why the washer wasn't working and saw it was completely missing. It makes me wonder what else might be missing somewhere?

I am making note of each one of these faults and I will be checking my car very carefully before I sign for it.

Am picking mine up at lunchtime today! Very excited. Anyone give me an idea how long the 'collection' takes, I've got my lunch hour so hopefully that will be enough, dealer is just about 2 minutes from here.

D

It takes a slong as you want it to - my first spider took an hour but you need to check the car over well before you sign - an hour should be enough

Originally Posted by Delia

Am picking mine up at lunchtime today! Very excited. Anyone give me an idea how long the 'collection' takes, I've got my lunch hour so hopefully that will be enough, dealer is just about 2 minutes from here.

D

Hey Delia

Try to take your time when picking up the car. If you've Leased it it'll take about 45 mins to complete the paperwork (also if you have leased do make sure you've got the crucial Gap insurance). if you've already done the paperwork you should still allow a good amount of time to check the car over. an hour is tight to get it all sorted and back to work.

check the car closely, for Alfas I'd look at: shut lines, look for overspray, check the roof action sevceral times, check for fit and finish in the cabin and over the car body, lookunder to bonnet too for anything obviously missing/rusty/not inplace properly etc.

sounds daft as I'm sure it will have been pdi'd properly but its your hard earned thats being spent so might as well be diligent.

PDI = chuck a bit of water of it and shine the tyres

I agree an hour is not enough time. Particularly since quality control on the Spider seems to be poorer than the other cars.

I'm sure most of them are fine, just make sure yours is too and enjoy

Its a sad situation when you have to spend ages checking that your new car doesn't have loads of faults!

That may sound incredibly naive of me, I know, but something is wrong somewhere when a car has all those faults and has to visit the dealer during the first few months of ownership

Originally Posted by cooper1997

Its a sad situation when you have to spend ages checking that your new car doesn't have loads of faults!

That may sound incredibly naive of me, I know, but something is wrong somewhere when a car has all those faults and has to visit the dealer during the first few months of ownership

totally agree. Its also very difficult trying to stay focused and PDI the car yourself when all you really want to do is jump in it and go off driving!

QA needs to improve but then thats a constartant thread through near every on AO...

Luckily, my 159 was perfect back in October but then again, Tim & the Variava team know very well what I'm like

Originally Posted by Squadrone Rosso

Luckily, my 159 was perfect back in October but then again, Tim & the Variava team know very well what I'm like

As was mine when I picked it up from County Motors in May 2007. And they didn't know me at all.

Well I think we are all correct to check these Spiders carefully on collection, but the reason is not that Alfa PDIs are generally shoddy, it is that there has been a big problem with getting these Spiders out of the docks and delivered. There is a lot of murk concerning what really happened to this batch of Spiders, but I have heard the following:

1) Big batch of Spider LEs showed up all at once in addition to normal delvieries and completely shafted the PDI team; and
2) Docks went on strike so cars couldn't be moved.
3) Cars are sitting in a dock yard for an extended period, exposed to the elements and potential accidents.

Now if any of these took place (and certainly number 1 seems likely given all 200+ LEs were supposed to be registered in the same month), then that means a big back log and possibly rushed PDIs at the dock. Then you are basically relying on the PDI services of the dealer, who isn't really supposed to be doing a full PDI at all.

Hence the problems with this batch of cars perhaps.

Mine was perfect when it was delivered to my house on 19th March 2008 but a few "irritations" have cropped up since which I need to get sorted.

Thanks for the tips guys, have now returned (yes took longer than an hour but don't mind, better to get it right), and have the hugest grin on my face! It just doesn't feel like this when you pick up a lot of other cars. Just cruised back to work in a leisurely manner, didn't want to overdo it, but experience was fab!

Very pleased and looking forward to this evening when I get to drive it for more than 5 minutes. I should have taken the afternoon off!

D

Delia,

If this is your first Alfa I'd suggest running it in for the first 1000 miles ... let the engine warm up nice and smoothly and try to resist taking it above 3000rpm unless it's a short blipor straining the engine too much.

you'll find Alfas still like to be run in a bit ... and with that the engine will get better with age!

Have fun Delia, they do make you smile like nothing short of a supercar! Yes keep her under 3,000 revs or so for a month, and under 4,000 for say 3 or 4 months - the engines are very tight at manufacture and loosen up very nicely over time - so you will find your car actually gets faster for at least the first 18,000 miles!

Originally Posted by Delia

Thanks for the tips guys, have now returned (yes took longer than an hour but don't mind, better to get it right), and have the hugest grin on my face! It just doesn't feel like this when you pick up a lot of other cars. Just cruised back to work in a leisurely manner, didn't want to overdo it, but experience was fab!

Very pleased and looking forward to this evening when I get to drive it for more than 5 minutes. I should have taken the afternoon off!

D

Originally Posted by Delia

Thanks for the tips guys, have now returned (yes took longer than an hour but don't mind, better to get it right), and have the hugest grin on my face! It just doesn't feel like this when you pick up a lot of other cars. Just cruised back to work in a leisurely manner, didn't want to overdo it, but experience was fab!

Very pleased and looking forward to this evening when I get to drive it for more than 5 minutes. I should have taken the afternoon off!

D

Congrats Delia Now quick, get out while the sun's shining or you'll miss the summer!