I’ve covered 13500 motorway miles in 6 months and other than one unfortunate large stone chip on the bumper, there’s nothing else. I find the paint to be ok, I have Alfa Red which is notoriously soft.
I’d guess they will honour the claim as it sounds like it’s a failure of the top coat (“bubbles”), irrespective of the stone chip nearby.

 

I just had warranty claim of top coat peeling on door pillar. Had stonechip nearby and dealer mentioned that to Alfa but was approved no problem.

 

Remember , the front doors and wings are aluminium. What colour is yours?

 

All 4 doors are aluminium.

 

Yes, sorry. It’s the doors and front wings. And on the Stelvio, the tailgate.

 

So I had both mirror shells replaced under warranty earlier this year as the lacquer had started to come off, was done quick, no fuss.

 

Bonnet is also aluminium.

 

Indeed.

 

Have now found rust under the boot lip and above the windscreen on the drivers side.

Not happy.

It's blue.

 

Not wanting to point out the obvious and be "that guy"....but clearly you did not have a very good look around it BEFORE you bought it. If you have only done 500 miles since purchase the rust must have been there when you signed the order. If you had taken a little more time viewing it you might not be in this situation. Hopefully they will play ball on the warranty...and,as said, they should. Caveat emptor...as they say.

 

Boot lip rust bubbles is a known issue on some cars and covered under warranty. Never heard of the other areas but would guess will be covered under warranty.

 

Well, whilst you are correct, but you you have to be very hard nosed in suppressing your emotion when seeing and inspecting your intended purchase. An inspection which discovered the minutest of detail would take some considerable time. Hopefully the selling dealer will do the honourable thing.

Caveat emptor indeed, you must be very diligent never to have been in this position yourself.

 

well put! Part of the excitement of the handover is lost if you examine the car that thoroughly so not many people probably would.

 

Precisely!
First time I ever laid eyes on a Qaud in the flesh was on the day I collected mine new from the dealer.
So far 2 1/2 years on no disappointments in any way whatsoever.

 

Yes I'm kicking myself now for not inspecting it in tiny detail.

Both times I looked at the car it was wet (weather, they hadnt done it on purpose) and the issues are really small areas, so even in the dry I'm not convinced I'd have spotted it.

To be honest I had the mindset of it being a two year old approved used car so probably didn't look as closely as I have when I've bought older cars privately.

 

Don't beat yourself up m0t. I am OCD but still would not have looked for small areas of rust on a 2 year old approved used car. Looks like there was a manufacturing issue on yours and should be covered under warranty. If you get any issues with dealer pushing it through warranty, give AR customer care the 00800 number a call and raise a case. I am confident it will be sorted eventually under warranty. Don't get pushed over and remain of the view that you have bought an approved car under warranty which is less than perfect. More over don't beat yourself up. It will be sorted.

 

Your 159 was probably out of warranty when you acquired it?
It’s easy to forget what can happen to a car in two years especially when buying it and it’s new to you.
However according to FCA
“We also protect your car from manufacturing defects that concern the paint. We repair your vehicle to eliminate the verified defect, according to the standard conditions of manufacture. This service lasts 36 months, starting from the date your car was delivered.

We also have a warranty on the body of your car in case of perforation due to corrosion from the inside out. We repair and/or replace any part perforated by corrosion for 8 years, starting from the date your car was delivered.”

 

And there is the get out....."manufacturing defects" to get out of paint repairs. They will try and blame it on something you did (or the nearby chip letting water under the paint as suggested above). And the rust only being covered if it rusted through from the INSIDE.....something you really don't see much these days. When I worked for VW Audi we had some very interesting (and sometimes heated!) conversations with customers as to why we where not going to repair their top surface rust under warranty!!!!

...and yes my car was years out of warranty when I got it....still does not mean that I did not want it correct and damage/rust free when I bought it though. If its going to get paint problems or stone chips ….then I want to do them myself!! LOL!!

 

My dealer is progressing a claim on a blemish present on a rear door when I collected my new Stelvio. As the doors are aluminium , on your basis they would be trying to say “ it’s not going to rust, nah, nah, nah!” but they’re not.
You worked for VW/ Audi ? Was this in Milton Keynes or Germany? I always found their warranty dealings ok with my first Audi, an A2 , also aluminium.

 

No..Sorry....just to be clear...I worked as a Sales manager for an Audi and VW dealer (not the importer) in Chichester....although I used to spend a lot of time at Blakelands in sunny MK!

I would expect the wording to be different on a corrosion warranty on a aluminium car to a steel one. Its was in the Audi A8 (All aluminium). Although they will corrode through....we did have that a couple of times....normally from box sections that were not correctly sealed and filled with water!!...a rare fault though.

 

I bought my Spider at 2 years-old from a main dealer, and under their warranty. Did I go over it with a fine tooth comb? Nope. I was more like a kid in a toy shop or on Christmas day!
I'd assumed a 2 year-old car being sold by a main dealer under its approved used scheme would be as near perfect as it's possible to get. Thankfully mine was, but perhaps I need to be more vigilant in future.
When I've bought cars privately, I'm completely different, almost looking for reasons NOT to buy it.
There's a feeling of 'protection' and 'security' (and with what's assumed to be a comprehensive warranty) one gets from a main dealer, even if it isn't always there. The mindset can be one of buying a perfect, new car with nothing to be concerned about. Clearly that's not always the case.

 

Relax, I had a warrenty 3/4 respray on a 159 years ago because of stone chipping and 'paint defects'. The paint shop told me, Alfa Romeo were very good covering that sort of issue. They said Audi had a similar problem with the TT, told their customers to go swivel.

 

That's amazing. I'd have put good money on it being the other way around!

 

I bought an Alfa Red1 year old 159 ti from Mangos in 2009 and that ended up with th lacquer problems. To be fair to them and Alfa UK, full front end,was respirated under warranty. Would hope same kind of service would be given to yourself if you have bought from an Alfa main dealer.

 

I get corroded brake discs every time I wash the car, just take it for a drive and they will soon clear. Of course brake discs will corrode, they are untreated iron.

 

TD, what HM is referring to is the pitted rear brake disc surface and the grooving. I have had a set replaced under warranty, after the dealership themselves flagged it up at second service and wanted me to fork up to have them renewed. So I challenged them. After about 10 months on the newer discs, I can see the same grooving without much pitting. Oxidation of cast iron disc surfaces is normal after either washing or rain and the car has been still.

 

Hadnt heard of that as an issue, of course that is not a paint warranty. Rear brake discs will score and pit when there is not enough pressure on them to clean the disc when surface corrosion appears, you can often see this on cars where the rear callipers are not working as they should.???

 

Or owners who drive like Miss Daisys chauffeur!! Which was the main cause when I was in the trade. They only do a small percentage of the work that the fronts do. My wife (A class Merc) spends all her time around town...i replace her rear discs/pads pretty much every other year as they dont really get used!!

 

I drive more like mrs doubtfire. Seriously, I use the brakes quite hard with my rapid driving which is mostly A and B roads. The rear brake calipers, pads have a design issue resulting in uneven wear, pitting etc.

The other thread this was discussed is here. Sorry OP for the thread diversion.

Rear brake pad wear

Hi all, took my girl into get a nuisance check engine light looked at and during the vehicle health check they noted that the rear pads are 50% worn. Call me stupid, but at less than one year old and only 10,400 miles on the clock, I don't think I should be seeing this! I would also expect the...

www.alfaowner.com

 

Those of us who have had them replaced under warranty was as a result of uneven wear on pads and discs inboard and outboard.

Mine are due to be changed 2nd time for the same problem after just 18k ... trust me, I do not drive like Miss Daisy’s Chauffeur [emoji106]

There’s a thread on here somewhere that covers it ... can’t find it using Tapatalk though

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