https://www.caranddriver.com/reviews/a23145269/alfa-romeo-giulia-quadrifoglio-reliability-update/After 40,000 Miles with the 2018 Alfa Romeo Giulia Quadrifoglio, Our Heart Is Broken
And rarely have we been more consistently disappointed.
Our honeymoon lasted 2400 miles. Then the Giulia failed us for the first time. We still hadn't taken it to the track to perform our initial battery of tests when, on a 650-mile road trip, our Giulia lit its "service electronic throttle control" warning as well as a check-engine light.
With 4100 miles on its odo It also managed to light the "service electronic throttle control" warning again. Back to the dealership we went.
When we took the car in for its 10,000-mile service, we lost use of it for 31 days. Thirty-one days! That's because, in addition to our requested oil change and inspections and such, we complained about a rear-end whine. The dealer diagnosed the sound as bearing noise from the differential.
About 8500 miles later, our QF seemed to have an acute attack of hypochondriasis. It believed its engine-oil level was low and threw a warning. The oil level was fine, though. So the dealer reflashed the sensor.
Then at 23,000 miles, our old nemesis, the "service electronic throttle control" warning, lit again.
This would happen once more, at 34,000 miles, at which time the tech found a connector that wasn't fully seated and replaced it.
At 27,000 miles, one staffer was greeted to a kaleidoscopic light-and-sound show while motoring away from a drive-through carwash.
At 31,000 miles, the low-oil light came on again during a long drive. And again, the oil level was actually fine. By the end of the Giulia's 19-day stay in the shop, the dealer had reflashed the sensor, replaced the sensor, and then brought in an engineer with a software update for the sensor.
But it wasn't the pricey spark plugs or the short-lived tires that bothered us the most. It was the absurd frequency and duration of the Giulia's stays at the dealership. During its 14 months with us, the Giulia spent 80 days out of commission.
This a compelling toy for enthusiasts. Too bad its atrocious reliability makes it a poor transportation device. –Rich Ceppos
Mind you, we're not referring to our complaining that the warning lights have come on (although there's a lot of that as well)
but actually criticizing the placement, color, and luminosity of the warnings themselves. Hey, critics are going to critique. But still, it indicates a familiarity with warnings, both false and true, that is pretty shameful.
A few thousand miles before that, one Giulia driver was greeted to a festival of lights and sounds that would do a carnival fairway proud. Following a morning carwash, the Giulia warned of an open rear door and an inoperative turn signal.