>>>problems With Alfa-romeo 147 Gta?<<<

[Barbalatte]

Hello,
I live in Australia, Sydney to be exact. I am having problems with my Alfa 147 GTA. I purchased my Alfa-Romeo 147 GTA from Alfa-Centro in Rushcutters Bay. It is the Blue color. The car is advertised as a ”Hot Hatch” or a performance car. I first noticed problems after 5000-6000km and mentioned it to them after approximately 7,500km. My problems are as follows:

1.After receiving the car from service, they told me my car, after 10,000km, has a problem with the clutch. Worn apparently. 10,000km?
Because this is a "Ware and Tare" item, I may have to pay for the labor involved in changing the clutch including the clutch. Let me tell you I have been driving these cars for a long time and I know how to drive.

2.After 7,900km all my tires were worn out. I went to see Steve at Bob Jane in Haberfield, as he has looked after me for a long time. Also with my previous car, an Audi S3.
The "Toe" of the rear wheels was both out by 5.9mm and 5.2mm respectively. The tires were shot to pieces and opted to do a front to back rotation and got away with approx. 10,000km.
I brought this up with Jason and the Service crew and is still being investigated. Up till now have denied any responsibility.
I thought the cars were supposed to have a "Wheel Alignment" before they left the showroom. They apparently get their alignments at Bob Jane Rushcutters Bay.

3.After a long day, I got into my car, started it and took off normally to the traffic lights ahead. As I released the clutch to move off, the car made loud clunking noises from under the bonnet! I was stunned. I turned the car off immediately and called a toe truck. Later that week, they found that the Differential had teeth sheared off. When they drained the oil, metal shavings came out with it. They told me it is not covered under warranty.

All these problems happened in a short succession. I have absolutely nothing to hide. I DO NOT “Thrash” my car, I DO NOT ‘Ride The Clutch” and I DO NOT abuse my car in any way what so ever. This damage to my car is a real shock to me and am very disappointed with the Customer Service and the treatment that I have been receiving, implying that I abuse my car. I am get very offended every time they bring up “Drive Technique” as an excuse.
I have also had the problem with the VDC light. 2 times.
I am fed up and what my car back as I bought it. The car is still characterized as new and I want it that way.

DOES ANY ONE HAVE SIMILAR PROBLEMS?


Thank You
Barba

[Coventrysucks]

Sorry to hear about your problems.

It isn't good ettiquette to "name and shame" in a forum such as this, as it can cause problems, both for the owners of the site, and yourself if you find that you want to take leagal action against the companies later on.

The clutch is a wear an tear item, but 10,000km doesn't sound like much. Have you tried searching Alfa Romeo Owners forums to see if other owners have had similar problems?

The tyres are some thing that you will have to replace regularly - a high powered front wheel drive car, so the front tyres have to steer and drive the car - unless you drive with an egg under the accelerator they are going to wear out faster than on most cars.

I can understand your greviance with the wheels being miss aligned - perhaps the offset of the wheels could be a contributory factor to the differential damage.

If you really are not happy with the car - take a look at the sale of goods act, or whatever the Australian equivilant is, depending on how long you have had the car, you might be able to reject it, and either get a replacement, or a refund. I would speak to the dealer you bought it from first, if they aren't helpful contact the Australian Alfa HQ.

[fpv_gtho]

1.After receiving the car from service, they told me my car, after 10,000km, has a problem with the clutch. Worn apparently. 10,000km?
Because this is a "Ware and Tare" item, I may have to pay for the labor involved in changing the clutch including the clutch. Let me tell you I have been driving these cars for a long time and I know how to drive.

after being told by my dad a bit about wear and tear items, im not really surrpised at them charging the labour. apparently the muffler on his AU one tonner isnt covered by warranty as a wear and tear item either, same goes with tyres and now it seems clutches are as well.

ive got a story about customer service that happened to my dad recently though. his AU one tonner has been misfiring for a couple of weeks, and new leads and plugs havent fixed it so my dad concluded it needed a coil replaced. the engine has 3 coils for 6 cylinders by the way. he took the car down to the local ford dealer, booked it in for a service and told them to replace the coil. during the day, he got a call back from them saying they had finished, and they thought they found the problem with the car. theyre telling my dad theyve had the car up on the hoist to have a good look at it, and theyve found a hole in the muffler, so they thought that was the problem. my dad told them not to worry about the muffler, and just to replace the faulty coil and leave it at that, but the mechanics insisted that the muffler was the problem. my dad was told a replacement muffler was going to be $360 and that should fix all the problems. he told them that he could easily go down to Midas and get a new muffler for cheaper, and for them to not worry about it and fix what he told them to. later on in the day, they again rung back, and told my dad that the car had started running terribly, and that they may need to keep it overnight because they didnt think he would make it back home, they thought it would break down. my dad just told them that the car would be fine, and went down to pick it up. driving away from the dealership, the car was sounding awful, not wanting to go over 10km/h foot to the floor! my dad pulled over to the side of the road, and popped the bonnet. he had a look around in the bonnet, and started swapping around the leads. the first 2 from coil #1, he swapped them around, and no change, so he swapped them back. the next 2 leads from coil #2 he swapped them around and the engine was getting a bit better. finally, the last 2 from coil #3, he swapped them and the engine was back running on all 6 cylinders running fine. the mechanics had obviously been playing around with the spark plug leads after installing the new coil because my dad didnt want them to fit a new muffler and they wanted a higher concessino from the parts fitted. my dad gets home no problems, and on his own hoist gets the car up on it and has a look at the exhaust, sure enough, there is actually a small hole in the exhaust, so down to Midas and $220 for a new one

[Mustang]

wow that is a real strange prob i dont know, hope you sort it out soon

[drakkie]

strange, the tires are weared out very short,yeah, but it can happen. but your clutch broke VERY,VERY,VERY, soon.I heared lots of stories but the poor customer care of alfa romeo.They gotta improve that!!!