Am I Jinxed Or What?!?!?

Cheers AF.
Yes I'm a patient soul to a point.
Monday will be interesting Anyone else want to pop along

Originally Posted by Hunter

Not going to flame you Fraser

However, I was given so much flannel about the fantastic condition of the new car and how ARUK would look after me in the future etc.

I accepted the car INSIDE the showroom, not in the sunlight. It was 6 days later on the side of the car that I never use (ie the passenger side) in the bright sun that I saw the glaring fault. This is not 'wear and tear' on a 7k mile car and has not 're-instated my faith in Alfa Romeo' as I was promised.

I would however like to say that Mango's leading up to the colection of the vehicle, bent over backwards to make everthing ready. In fact I started a thread on how great they were. This is one reason why I feel so let down now as all concerned seem not to be interested in making things happen now.

I phoned ARUK the day I took the photos. I was promised someone would call me back when they had spoken to the supplier of the car. Nobody from ARUK called me. Indeed there's an invoice outstanding that ARUK PROMISED to pay when my old 159 was off the road and I was forced to hire a car. This STILL has not been paid.

At the end of the day if I want this 159 sorting out, I have to do it and make the effort as it seems no other bugger wants to assist a customer.

It seems I'm the only one being proactive in finding a resolution Fraser.

Wierd. Especially when ARUK and the dealer have another enquiry from us for a 166 3.2.

As I said, I'm jinxed with 159's and UK Alfa dealers as well

Points taken. If the car was only reported to have fair wear and tear it's hard for Mangos to argue their case. It's also a shame that you seem to be being ignored, particularly as you have been a loyal customer.

All this flannel about the posting 'affecting residuals on Alfas'...If only ARUK took any notice whatsoever about their sub standard cars, crap after sales back up from p*ss poor dealerships who provide an inferior service to other franchises....Mud slinging? Its from someones personal experiance, who is (probably was) a repeat Alfa buyer...I've also loved Alfas all my life, but if I had been treated as bad as Hunter, I'd've blown a gasket long ago.
Hunter, you have the patience of a saint, good luck fella

Originally Posted by Hunter

I think the photos say it all. (poor quality phone camera, but you get the idea I'm sure)


It was really cringe-worthy. Picture the scene - I was at a fairly large BMW dealership over the weekend (don't ask ) with my gorgeous, clean and shiney 159, when the DP asked if my new, replacement 159 had been in a smack/had the door repainted or was all Alfa paintwork that shoddy.

"Don't be so silly" I replied, thinking he was taking the ****, and then looked at the passenger door in the bright sun light.

Oh bugger.

..and so it began, the "Alfa's are crap routine" and "You should have bought the 3 series coupe you test drove Mr Hunter"

The door is metallic black. The rest of the car is Oceano black. You can only tell in sunlight (the blue flecks in the oceano black really shows through), but it looks so obvious about 5/6 feet away...

Guys, please be honest with me.

Can you see the difference in colour in the 1st post photos or not

Perhaps I'm being a little mad or crazy, but the dealer who has the same photos emailed twice now, cannot see the difference between the panels....

As I said people, please be honest - are they a different colour or not

I see a metallic black door panel and an oceano (blue) black rest of the vehicle.

I'm taking 1/2 a day off work to go there and I have a feeling that my patience may, perhaps, finally expire if this is the attitude I am met with...and a 6'1" 15 stone rugby player getting seriously mad aint a pretty site.

Tomorrow, I'm going to take some more photos and post them, this time with a high res camera.

Oh my god, now I'm even questioning my own eyes....WTF is going on with everything

Photos are virtually useless in this context. The fact is someone noticed the difference, you can see the difference so it must be different. Why they won't accept it more graciously is only known to them. When you get there hopefuly large portions of humble pie will be on the menu for them.

Okay, lets do a test.

I don't think you've said (well I haven't read) that
the wing mirror is also the wrong colour.

If that's the case, then I can see in the photos
that the wing mirror is also the wrong colour.
QED.

(If not, I'm talking out my @rse and I apologise in advance.)

On my screen the door has a greeny tint that looks different to the wing and the rear door so yes there is a difference.

There is a green/yellow tint in both photos which does not help but I still see a colour difference.

Well I could see the difference from your photos with no problems.

Refer them to the website. If they can't see it when we all can..draw your own conclusions and await the photographers from the press.

Its getting more bizarre with every new day this one.

AlfaLincs

Originally Posted by Hairyblokedude

If only ARUK took any notice whatsoever about their sub standard cars, crap after sales back up from p*ss poor dealerships who provide an inferior service to other franchises....

Well y'see I agree Hunter's had a god awful time but I don't believe his experience is particularly common. I've already made the point on another thread that there have been quite a few posts/threads recently about good service and great cars - but these threads don't spin out to umpteen pages. They get a few "that's great" comments and then they disappear - so how come those that continue to write the marque off only see the bad news?

Originally Posted by Hunter

Guys, please be honest with me.

Can you see the difference in colour in the 1st post photos or not

Perhaps I'm being a little mad or crazy, but the dealer who has the same photos emailed twice now, cannot see the difference between the panels....

As I said people, please be honest - are they a different colour or not

I see a metallic black door panel and an oceano (blue) black rest of the vehicle.

I'm taking 1/2 a day off work to go there and I have a feeling that my patience may, perhaps, finally expire if this is the attitude I am met with...and a 6'1" 15 stone rugby player getting seriously mad aint a pretty site.

Tomorrow, I'm going to take some more photos and post them, this time with a high res camera.

Oh my god, now I'm even questioning my own eyes....WTF is going on with everything

There is an apparent difference but TNH there's so much reflection on the paintwork it's difficult to tell. Using a higher res camera probably won't help. You need to park the car against a dark wall or something and have the light coming over the wall and onto the car. Hard to explain but maximise the contrast in the photograph and cut down the reflections.

Also - see my PM.

Hunter, I used to work in the textile dyeing trade and learnt an awful lot about colour variation & recognition. From what I can see in the photos the car's main colour is a "blue" black whereas the door panel is very clearly different in that it is a very "yellow" black, if that makes sense

So as far as I'm concerned you're certainly not going mad, you just have far better eyesight than Mango's

Here's hoping they pull their thumbs out of their arse and sort your issues out quickly and conclusively

Originally Posted by Fraser

Well y'see I agree Hunter's had a god awful time but I don't believe his experience is particularly common. I've already made the point on another thread that there have been quite a few posts/threads recently about good service and great cars - but these threads don't spin out to umpteen pages. They get a few "that's great" comments and then they disappear - so how come those that continue to write the marque off only see the bad news?

Maybe the positive threads die out because not may people agree with them?

I have had nothing but unfailingly bad service from every Alfa main dealer I have used. Perhaps Western will be an improvement but I doubt I will ever find out.

Are you still worried about your residuals?

Originally Posted by Fraser

Well y'see I agree Hunter's had a god awful time but I don't believe his experience is particularly common. I've already made the point on another thread that there have been quite a few posts/threads recently about good service and great cars - but these threads don't spin out to umpteen pages. They get a few "that's great" comments and then they disappear - so how come those that continue to write the marque off only see the bad news?

Hi Fraser,I feel as though its giving support to someone who needs it rather than knocking the dealers. They are not all bad obviously and the bad cars are probably few in number. Hunter has had a raw deal with his cars as I see it and maybe needs a bit of support to get through it via the forum.
You have had a good experience by all accounts and you've made that known,which has got to be a good thing for anyone buying a new Alfa. So, far from being ignored I reckon you've done a pretty good job in letting us know how good the car can be when everything goes well.

Originally Posted by bigredshaza

Are you still worried about your residuals?

No, I'm more concerned about Hunter getting sorted out, as he well knows.

Hunter would you feel offend if i said yes!

sorry only joking,i wouldn't wish what you have went through recently on my worst enemy.

P.S Are you planning on flying anywhere anytime soon,can you let me know the flights details..... just in case you know

Originally Posted by Fraser

No, I'm more concerned about Hunter getting sorted out, as he well knows.

Yes I know mate.

Email sent Fraser

Oh how I wish I was as happy as you Your 159 has been faultless, you've had great customer service and most of all you're a very happy customer.

Originally Posted by scett23b

P.S Are you planning on flying any