[AllanR]

Hello guys and gals,

I've never posted here before, but I was hoping to get some opinions about my situation.
Here it is:

I bought an Alfa GT 1.9 JTD Lusso in April 09. It's a 57 reg. So the warranty had 1.5years to run. It ended last November (2010).
In April (2011) it had it's 18k service and they gave me a long list of advisory warnings.
I didn't have any work carried out because my uncle is a mechanic. I gave him the list to go over.
He was appalled by it and estimated it would cost over £1000 for him to do the work at cost!

So we contacted Alfa UK and they agreed to consider the issues etc. A month or so later they ask me to take the car back to the dealer for an inspection, of which the results would be sent to Alfa.
In the meantime the GT has started shaking badly while accelerating. Uncle says it must be the driveshaft. I didn't get to see the inspection report before it was sent to Alfa.

Another month passes and Alfa finally calls and says they are willing to contribute £200 towards repairs to be carried out by the dealer. I call the dealer. Repair will cost £2000!

I can't afford it with or without Alfa's help.
The GT is my 3rd Alfa (156 and 166 previously). It is under 4 years old and has only 20k miles on the clock.
Frankly I'm close to taking the GT to webuyanycar or something and getting a Scirroco or C30 instead. I haven't investigated how the required work might affect the trade-in value yet.

My uncle wants me to send letters to my dealer, Alfa UK and Alfa/Fiat HQ. He believes that the contribution Alfa has offered is an admission of fault on their part and thus they should cover the whole cost.

What do you think?

 

[whatmoretyres]

What do they say needs to be done?

 

[wynne71]

That seems like an outrageous amount of work to be done on a car with so few miles.
Would like to know what they are suggesting needs doing.

 

[AllanR]

The advisories were:

Both rear exhaust rubbers broken.
Slight play in o/s/r top suspension mount.
Play in n/s/f inner drive shaft.
N/s/r brake pad back plate has come away (pushed back in for now)
REP
Pipe has broken away on sensor on vacuum pipe box.
Radiator showing signs of leak.

Copied exactly from the service invoice.

When I asked about the results of the inspection I was told that 'significant work' was needed.

 

[hdseven]

no way on earth does that lot add up to prices u have been told !!!

love the "radiator showing sings of leak" it either does or doesnt leak.......u would know if it was by the need to add water

there is nothing there to worry about

wots the REP ?

Gary

 

[Dickymint_156]

ummmmmmm that is NOT the sort of list I was expecting....

 

[ALFADOIT]

Seems to me the the biggest issue is the drive shaft. The others are well sortable one at a time!

Whats really scary is the condition of this Gt for its mileage? And begs the question where the previous owner had her serviced or indeed how badly was this car treated before your purchase?

Good luck with alfa uk! i hope they manage to up the 200 quid token offer? but a lot of that list is wear and tear? was the last owner a rally driver? Its heartbreaking stuff, especially with that mileage, the car is barely run in?
If you do end up having to foot the bill, there are some great specialists out there. I don't go anywhere near an alfa dealership, granted my warranty ended many moons ago.
I take my GT to Ned at autolusso he knows the Gt and all its potential problems. You might be pleasantly surprised at the cost of fixing her compared to alfa uk. She is a special car Allan, and either way i hope somehow you get her sorted.
Damien.

 

[Autolusso]

The advisories were:

Both rear exhaust rubbers broken.
Slight play in o/s/r top suspension mount.
Play in n/s/f inner drive shaft.
N/s/r brake pad back plate has come away (pushed back in for now)
REP
Pipe has broken away on sensor on vacuum pipe box.
Radiator showing signs of leak.

Copied exactly from the service invoice.

When I asked about the results of the inspection I was told that 'significant work' was needed.

How is that 2 grands worth of work? Even if it dose need doing

Ned

 

[whatmoretyres]

Sounds like wear and tear and about £200 worth to me. Just stop going to the Alfa dealer and go to a good indie
and get them to have a look

Like Autolusso!

 

[AllanR]

My nearest Alfa specialist appears to be Avanti autos in Ipswich (I live in Great Yarmouth, Norfolk) so I'll give them a call tomorrow.

 

[AllanR]

Just a little update:

Took the GT to Avanti last week and they assessed it for free, so that was a bonus.
Some of the issues are as serious as the dealer suggested, others not so much.
It does need 4 or 5 parts replaced and they can get them and do the work for £650.

I called Alfa and asked if they would contribute to that. They said no, has to be done at the dealer. I won't spend £1350 in order to get a £200 contribution.

It's booked in for next week.

Thanks for the advice!

 

[wynne71]

Good to see that there is a little light at the end of the GT tunnel.

Once all is as it should be you will have a brilliant car. Good luck.

 

[SteveD GT]

Allan - also might be worth contacting The Alfa Shop in Norwich for a quote. Really good guys and very reasonable too - have done agreat job looking after my GT.

 

[AllanR]

I didn't know Alfa Shop existed. Thanks for posting, I'll be contacting them when my next service is due. Not using the dealer anymore!

 

[06gt]

How did your uncle come up at £1000 at cost???? I think he is also taking you for a ride...