HERE q
Posted on 07/01/2019 3:54:49 PM PDT by C19fan
We knew pretty early in our 14-month relationship with this Alfa Romeo Giulia Quadrifoglio that we weren't going to be able to make a clean break from it. This was not that kind of relationship. And it is not that kind of car. No, instead we would continue coming back to the Giulia, no matter how it betrayed us. Mostly that's because we were obligated to finish this 40,000-mile test. But we also just couldn't give up on it. Rarely have we hoped for a car in our possession to succeed more than we did for this Alfa. And rarely have we been more consistently disappointed.
(Excerpt) Read more at caranddriver.com ...
During its 14 months with us, the Giulia spent 80 days out of commission.
I sometimes watch the Mecum Auctions on tv. Every time there are a few low mileage Maseratis that hit the auction block and sell in the $20 K - $30 K range. I was thinking to myself. WOW I can own this gorgeous car for the same price as a new Honda Accord. Of course, I do some research why a car listed for $80 K new depreciates so much. This article encapsulates the reason. These high end Italian cars look gorgeous and are impressive on the specs sheet but they are absolute maintenance nightmares. A dream car would combine Italian design, German engineering, and Japanese quality controls and reliability. The moniker Fix It Again Tony seems to apply to any Italian car.
People like retro. How much more retro can you get than building poor reliability into Italian cars. Man, JUST like the good old days. Now, you too can have the full experience of owning a beautiful genuine Italian. Warts and all.
HERE q
FIAT..... Fix It Again, Tony!
The Alfa story is always the same...only the model changes.
Kind of like dating a stripper.
Loads of excitement until she finds someone richer and leaves you holding the lease.
I have heard it said that the only reason to own an Alfa
is if you can afford to support three Alfa mechanics and
their families...
I don't have a need for one, or a place to park it, but a Triumph Spitfire with reliable innards would be awesome.
Once upon a time, I bought a Lotus Elan +2S. I picked it up at the factory in England and drove it back to Germany. It was a beautiful car wth burl walnut dash panel, leather seats, and the rest. Under the bonnet, it was a pure Formula Ford racing machine and it drove that way.
It was also a maintenance nightmare. I used to have to take my wife’s paycheck and hand it over to the mechanic. You can imagine how well that went. Broke my heart to see it go, but you know what the choice was.
“A dream car would combine Italian design, German engineering, and Japanese quality controls and reliability.”
I fell in love with a Lotus (lots of trouble, usually serious) — specificaly a Lotus Exige.
Italian style, Toyota supercharged engine, German ergonomics.
Also so stripped down that it has very little to break.
I track the crap out of it and have never done anything but change the oil (and the brakes and the tires, but that’s because I track the crap out of it).
Great car; mind-blowingly spartan.
Alfa are Fiats. As is Chrysler, Maserati, Lancia, and Ferrari.
What chaps my hide is that the most quintessentially American automobile brand, Jeep, is now a Fiat pig wrapped in a Jeep blanket.
My brother bought a Fiat Spider many Yates ago. Parts were dirt cheap, but you made up for it in volume.
GUIDE TO BUYING EUROPEAN CARS:
NEVER BUY A FRENCH CAR, UNLESS YOU LIVE IN FRANCE
NEVER BUY AN ITALIAN CAR, UNLESS YOU'RE A MECHANIC
NEVER BUY AN ENGLISH CAR, NEVER
ONCE YOU OWN A SAAB, YOU WILL OWN IT FOR LIFE
IF YOU CAN AFFORD A BMW, BUY A MERCEDEZ
Just don’t drive it in the rain. Or snow. Or through a mud puddle.
We had a ‘75 Spitfire, and the electronics (Lucas) were the worst.
My aunt supposedly still has her Triumph TR6 and being restored.
I have Willys and American Motors.
See post 9. Toyota engine.
I don’t have a need for one, or a place to park it, but a Triumph Spitfire with reliable innards would be awesome.
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It’s called a Miata.
You had to fall in love with the car before it could break your heart. It's 2019. How many new cars can you fall in love with?
Joseph Lucas, the Prince of Darkness!
Many, many years ago there was commercial where a guy takes his car into a foreign car shop and asks how long the repair will take. The answer was "four months and you gotta leava da car".
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