Same 'Ol, Same 'Ol? Or, Did THIS Alfa Romeo Quadrifoglio NOT Get A Fair Shake?

What this demonstrates is careless engineering by FCA under abysmal leadership by Sergio Marchionne.

Before Sergio bought in to Chrysler, he decided to recycle the Chrysler 300 for the Quattroporte and Ghibli and was being very open about the arrangement until he caught wind that is would be better to say the platform was "all new" so as to create the illusion that Maserati sedans weren't just a rebodied Chrysler 300s. Well the LX was all-new to Maserati, so that makes it all-new I guess.

Then he was very open about the Giulia being heavily based on the Ghibli and then when he caught wind that it would be better to say it was an all-new platform, he christened it the the Giorgio.

The prototypes had barely been seen and the Giulia was announced. The Giulia immediately failed a crash test probably because engineering had not been sufficient or complete.

To paraphrase Jeremy Clarkson: "In the past Alfa Romeo would have gone 'Oh dear! That's terrible' and then put it on sale anyway." I think Alfa's past is its present.

Sergio probably assumed that because so much Dodge/Chrysler was under the skin, that what could go wrong? Well, hacking two cylinders off a Ferrari engine to create a new V6 probably wasn't thought through completely.

The rush job is probably due to Sergio making a plan then changing the plan then changing the plan and then going oh sh!t we have no plan, so throw some garbage out there.

If anything, the Giulia is Sergio's Edsel.

Sergio, it's time to sell off Dodge, Chrysler, Ram, and Jeep and retreat back to Italy in shame with Fiat, Alfa Romeo, and Maserati.

"not getting a fair shake". I'm not even sure what that's supposed to mean. Cars are meant to function as intended and if they don't, they are rightfully recognized accordingly. Absolutely nothing subjective about it. I can't remember any one car that has had this many problems in decades. It's not like they're sending the same car to various journalists, either. And the problems are all over the place, not just isolated to any specific area of the car. I wouldn't even want to take a test drive for fear I'd end up getting stranded in the 100*+ temperatures somewhere.

All cars have lemons - from Yugos to Rolls Royce and EVERY car in between. I have driven a number of cars for long periods that would be considered bad when looking at their quality record. WE must also remember that a both the Chevy Corvair AND the Chevy Vega garnered car of the year awards when they first came out. I have often stated that one should NEVER buy the first year of a car - or major component. Even with the best engineering - things do go bump in the night.

I still do not believe that using some parts from the Chrysler (Which were actually from Mercedes to begin with) would reduce the quality of the cars involved - and as I have noted - EVERY PLATFORM for EVERY CAR TODAY - is a variant of something that came before - there are just too many parts that the new car will have in common with the last generation to say there had a clean sheet -- we still do not have many five wheeled cars around for instance. And the Giulia is NOT under any situation merely a rebodied Chrysler 300 - not even close.

I have driven the several different Giulias - and It appears to actually have been put together well - it handles as well as any BMW - and Ferrari engine seems outstanding. No - I never owned one - nor have I had any one for more than a week - but I see a car that is leagues above a lot of cars in its class. Maybe I cannot justify its pricing equal to Mercedes and BMW - but we all know that at the dealer - that number is worthless. I simply do not believe that FCA deliberately put out a car that was not ready (It was delayed at least twice) - knowing that the car would not meet expectations. However - I also point out that Chrysler was the worst of the big three when it came to quality - and Certainly the words Quality and FIAT - do not appear in the same tome. However - Fiat also Produced Ferrari for a while - they had few problems - and Maserati - and the Pentastar engine - upon which Ferrari started with - is actually a plus for me - because it is reliable and powerful - actually a product of Mercedes and Chrysler when they were together.

I have been stuck on the road in so many different new cars over the years - it was once my job to find out what was wrong - that I have to tell you stories of the stupid things that have been done by Toyota - and Honda - and a lot of manufacturers that have good reputations. So I am less likely to listen to people accusing any manufacturer of deliberately trying to sabotage itself.

This wasn't a one off incident. Multiple reviewers have noted issues with the car and these press fleet cars are impeccably maintained and closely monitored by high level engineering/technical a staff. The Alfa forums are also full of people complaining of issues. They definitely have more quality issues with this car than is normal or acceptable.

I know of two customers that made enough noise with attorneys present that their contracts were bought out to placate them. One was given the down payment and monthly payments back and the other was rewritten into a Ghibli for the price of a Giulia. The Ghibli is almost Camry-like for reliability compared to the Giulia.

Pretty much all FCA products have issues, but those issues are with a frequency a touch more often than average for the industry, but not anywhere near lemon status. The Giulia is pretty much a lemon too often to the point that it's shocking even within FCA's norm of lower than average reliability.

FCA has some really angry dealers on its hands.

I have driven the Giulia. The problem is NOT a platform issue at this point. It is true that this car was rushed into production. That rushing into production created a problem with not meeting the crash standards. So engineers had to then go back and improve the platform. I would have to say that platform is a decent one now. The car feels solid. It is quiet and refined. The way the car takes bumpy roads is very impressive. The steering feels great. The transmission shifts smooth. The 4 cylinder engine sounds very nice if a little too quiet. So whether this platform was a chopped and cobbled up Chrysler 300 or Maserati Ghibli it really does not matter. The Ferrari engineers have created a very good platform that has now excellent ride and handling characteristics. The problem is in engine management and electrical software. My issue with Reid Bigland is that he saying or implying that however the vehicles come out of the factory it is then up to the dealers to fix any major problems before the customer purchase. This seems to include the engine management and electrical software issues. That approach is fundamentally wrong to me. Engine management issues and electrical software issues should be identified and dealt with at the factory before the vehicles are shipped to the dealerships. Dealers should not be having to deal with these issues. All of these issue seem to be things that can be corrected. I just think the factory has to shoulder the burden rather than make it the customer or dealer that have to get involved. Alfa needs to make this right before they start selling the Stelvio. If FACA can make the Ghibli reliable there is no reason why they can make the Giulia reliable. Pain and simple.

Reid Bigland's response to Road & Track was telling. He first dismissed their experience as not being representative of how the Giulia behaves, but that flies in the face of the many documented instances of the Giulia failing. You are correct in saying that he then blamed the dealers for the issue.

His response should have been 'We are deeply troubled by this issue with so many Giulias and we are hereby stopping sales until this issue can be resolved."

There is a lot of rage at all FCA dealers, but especially ones handling the terrible-selling Italians.

Yes I agree there should be a "stop sale" invoked until all the fixes are made to existing cars sold, existing cars on the lot that have not been sold and new cars being built. That would be the proper way to handle this issue. If Alfa hopes to compete with the Germans, Swedes, Japanese and the Americans in the near luxury market they need to make this car right.