Was I Wrong About the Alfa Romeo Giulietta?

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Today I'm in this 2014 Alfa Romeo Giulietta.

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[pufifa]

"When Alfa breaks, it is a crap car. When German branded car breaks down, it's a coincidence."

This is how majority goes about Alfas. But I prefer it this way. So you can get used Alfas cheaper. My brand of choice. Alfa 🍀

[ghostdog]

For people who are looking to buy an Alfa you might be interested in another guys channel, Italia Autos. He's worked on them for years and goes through things to look out for and common issues before you buy.

[sophieengland]

I love my giulietta Quadrigfolio 1.75tbi that will change your mind in them in a second

[sevesellors]

Alfa once driven you understand the magic. To be fair all the Italian cars we've had were totally reliable.
I've had plenty of problems with French and German cars.

[richardjohnson]

Thanks for an honest review, Alfas often get an unfair bad press....

[mikecourtney]

I have always liked the design of Alfa's. They always remind me of picking up the hottest girl in the nightclub and realizing she's on day release from the funny farm. I've always wanted to own one, but could never summon the courage to buy one.

[gavinmellon]

I had a 147 for years. I bought it from Kinghams in Croydon as trade in and paid 200 quid for it. I loved it, it was totally reliable and changed my perception of Alfas.

[paula]

Ive had 3 Alfas, including a Giulietta. Loved every one of them. They bring a smile to your face in a way that German cars, for instance, just can't do. And yes - ive owned German cars, too!

[adrianflower]

An armrest for a T-Rex and a clutch for Darcy Bussel feet! 😂🤣 It's going to take me a long time to get the image of that monster out of my head! Thanks Matt, Quality review.

[jeremyjs]

Looks of this car have grown on me. It's actually a beautiful design. Driving in Sicily a couple of years ago I saw one approaching in the rear view mirror. Taut bonnet lines glinting in the evening sun. Roared past, looked absolutely brilliant. I will have one when circumstances allow.

[glitchjob]

Wife has a 57 plate 159, no issues in 4 years, and most stylish car on the road still

[twbtl]

Had my 2010 170 2.0 Giulietta for almost 5 years now. I’ve done almost 50, 000 miles with it and only had a few of the common issues. The issue, like you say, is that many garages hate working on them and so charge a lot for small issues or modifications. You are correct about the parts cost. I’m going to spend a fair bit of money on it this year to make it perfect - For the money I don’t see upgrading yet as it still drives good, looks modern and get loads of compliments. Easy to make them look like a 2018+ model with a few changes! A genuinely reliable car.

[GM-mkep]

I have one, a 2011. And bought it bc it's different like you said. Mine has 106000miles. Did 64mpg on a recent run up the motorway. Is quick and handles brilliantly. I've loved mine, the minute I saw it advertised.

[pete]

I owned a flagship QV manual (with the same 1.7 Turbo as the 4C) and it was a really nice overall car honestly.

It was quiet, smooth, refined, much better put together turn i would have expected.

It accost had a very nice balance between ride and handling - handling was pretty good as long as you didn't push it near its limits, and the body felt tight and well controlled over bumps - firm but never uncomfortable.

The motor was very torquey and pulled hard in the midrange. It genuinely did give you a bit of that push on the back feel.

Interior was fairly useful overall, with decent rear seat space, decent boot space, and a wide load area that could actually swallow some surprisingly large items when folded.

Perhaps most importantly of all, the car gave me a deal sense of pride of ownership. It's a car that i would genuinely look back at every time i left it at a car park and think "damn that's a good looking car". And that's something that few cars I've owned other then Alfas have been able to do to me. My current car is an 8v Audi S3 saloon in a very eyecatching blue with 19" alloys and it still doesn't draw that response out of me like the giulietta did.

But it wasn't all perfect.

My first problem was that the Giulietta was supposed to be an upgrade from my existing Alfa - a 147 GTA manual. And while the giulietta was infinitely more refined and better built then the 147, the driving experience didn't come close. The 147 GTA with that busso V6 has such an amazing sound and such a responsive and linear torque curve, while the giulietta by composition had a noticably narrow torque band. It had noticable lag below 3000rpm, and pretty much died off after about 5500rpm. The manual shift was very nice, but the clutch was annoyingly oversensitive - and the narrow power band meant you were clutching and changing gears constantly...vs the 147 gta qhich i cpuld just leave in 5th at 1700rpm, put my foot down, and it would just go. So that sas the first issue.

Second issue is that the 147 GTA had a Q2 Diff upgrade and excellent tyres on it, and it really handled unbelievably well. Add that to the laser fast steering, and it just felt like a go cart throwing it through chicanes and tight corners. Also high speed corners, it would just hold on and grip. The giulietta handles nicely in 80% of scenarios, but through very tight and fast bends it was noticably less agile/chuckable and just felt like a softer, heavier car. Likewise in high speed tight turns it was a bit soft and sometimes the rear end failed to inspire confidence. But this was all when trying to push pretty hard.

Also dissapointing was fhe fuel economy. My 147 GTA had a 3.2L v6 that begged you to thash its nuts off every time you drove it, and yet i would typically average around 12L/100km. That's high, but somewhat expected. The giulietta with its 1.7 turbo in theory should have averaged far less, especially when driven in a laid back way, but that just wasn't the case. Even when i wasn't driving it hard i struggled to get it much below 11L/100km which is a lot for a relatively light front wheel drive 1.7 turbo. My S3 right now easily averages 8.5L/100 and it's significantly heavier and quicker.

There's also a somewhat annoying lack of small compartments for storage. I was constantly struggling to find places to put my wallet, phone and other small odds and ends. That wasn't the end of the world, but it was a bit annoying, as I've never really had that issue in other cars I've owned.

As for reliability, mine was advising really great. The main stuff was bulletproof and the car didn't cost me a thing in the time i owned it. I did have some annoying things come up that were related to iffy build quality. The handle on the inside of the droevr door vsnapped clean off - apparently common ussue, and is designed in such a way that it can't be easily replaced. The dealer had to replace the smelt door car, which they thankfully did under warranty (apparently it was at around $1500 cost). The only other issue was this weird thing where the duel door would get stuck and would refuse to release. Apparently could be fixed by putting a bit of lubricant on the mechanism, but still very frustrating when it happened while i was at the petrol station, almost on empty, and couldnt get it open. I had to take the car back home and take my second car to work that day. Putney then this little things, the car was flawless - zero issues. Easily one of the most reliable cars I've ever owned.

[will_lifts]

Only recently discovered your channel but it's quickly become one of my favourites for car reviews. You deserve a lot more subscribers. I own a GTV 3.0 as my weekend toy, I feel like Alfas get a lot of grief from people who have never actually owned one.

[johnphaceas]

The old Alfa unreliability myth - if they are maintained properly they are certainly no worse than any other car of comparable age. I still run a '99 V6 156 as my daily (now just approaching 170, 000km). It's never left me stranded, still looks contemporary, drives superbly and has the brilliant V6 Busso. The only "high cost" items are the cambelt/water pump change every 3 years (AUD$1500), and relatively short life lower front wishbones ($600 every few years). Unlike VW/Audi/Ford owners with similar age vehicles, I've never had any issues with electrics or the transmission. Meanwhile, my '81 Alfetta GTV still runs like a Swiss watch - just need to keep on top of the inevitable '80s creeping tinworm...

[joodertio]

I have recently about 3 weeks bought a giullieta based on this video in white and it stands out everywhere I go, very confortable and just fast enough, also very cheap to run and plenty of head room if you are over 6’1 like me !

[cabal]

I've had my 2010 Giulietta 1750 TBi for 18 months now and I love it, maybe too much. I went from a 147 that was cost me £10k keeping it together for 3+ years to barely any issues at all, but the driving experience kept me paying the bills and has totally converted me... I can't now see myself in anything but an Alfa. I really miss the steering in the 147, it handles like a dream even with older traction control. I had some problems when I bought the Giulietta, the guy tried to pull a fast one and it ended up needing a new radiator, clutch and the turbo went within a couple of weeks. It's on 105k miles atm, so no spring chiken. So it seemed like it was a nightmare purchase a few weeks in, scrambling to borrow cars, but the dealer covered most of the cost (I paid extra to have some of the work done by the dealer). It has had issues with wiring (this quite common) where you'll get a random fault that goes away after you jiggle some wires or re-seat a connector. Luckily I have MultiECUScan (Fiat group specific) that can do pretty much anything you need programming wise (like your flashing obometer, which means an important ECU is missing or has been swapped without a PROXI allignment being done FYI). This I had from the 147 too, Airbag errors don't auto clear but if you know it's just wiring then you reseat and clear the error, hope it doesn't come back! I've discovered that this car 100% (particularly my varient, as it is even less common than others) needs to go to the dealer for just about everything. I tried letting mechanics do 1 or 2 little jobs and they either brake other things in the process or don't understand the complexities that give a poor driving experience. I echo what people have said before, don't cheap out owning an Alfa because you'll pay for it later. Keep it well, check all the fluids, change things when they're meant to be changed and try to use a dealer. Annoyingly my Bristol dealer closed at christmas so I now have to drive 30 miles each way to the next closest, but still worth making sure you have that assurance that a trained technician with the full service manual access is working on the car. The only big thing was the throttle body failed, car idle was really rough and it would stall or put me in limp mode. This car could blow up in my face and I'm pretty sure I'd still love it, you feel so much more alive when you drive it. German cars are fast but they lack that feeling. Ford get pretty close, but they just don't feel as special as Alfa.

[pauld]

Good positive vid. Owned a new 2018 Giulietta Super Sport jtdm2 in Misano Blue. It was absolutely fab. What a great looking car. Real fun to drive. After 22k and 13 months of faultless driving I was confident enough to get a new (2019) Giulia 200bhp Super Sport in Vulcano Black, red leather interior, 18" dark Dynamic alloys with red Alfa callipers, privacy glass and dark window surrounds. 1 year of faultless driving and 20k later... What a machine. Stunning to look at from every angle, presence, quick, phenomenal road holding, comfortable, incredible "turn in", flappy paddle gearbox makes you grin madly on both ups and downs, lots of good spec and rare. Yeah the reversing camera's a bit rubbish and the entertainment system is just ok/good. But just take a Giulietta or Giulia for a drive and surprise yourself - in a world of beige don't be afraid of colour and dynamism. Let your inner Alfisti out!!

[samartz]

My QV was the 2nd most reliable car Ive owned! Few niggles but ive spent so much more on my nissans and toyotas! Miss you my Bella