At this point, I’ve actually started to enjoy telling people the Alfa has been reliable. At first, it was almost like an apology for disappointing them, then an annoyance after saying it a hundred times. Now, though, it’s become almost a point of pride. I know what you heard from a friend who had one way back when, or what you read on the internet, or what everybody knows about Italian cars. Not this one.
It hasn’t been perfect, though. As I mentioned in my last update, it does have one minor problem. The infotainment screen picked up a habit of occasionally rebooting itself shortly after the car was started. It would only happen within the first minute or two after engine start and resolved itself quickly. It happened to a few different staffers, but it came and went in random spurts, showing up for a few days then disappearing for months before reappearing.
As it was time for the car’s first service anyway, I asked the dealer to look into it. Unable to recreate the problem and seeing no software updates available or trouble codes stored, the tech wasn’t able to do anything for us. The problem hasn’t come back in the month since.
I’ll admit, I was getting a bit nervous waiting on the car to request its first service. Like many modern cars, its computer decides when the car needs service based on sensor readings, and our first didn’t flag until the better part of 10,000 miles. Even knowing full well the capabilities of modern engines, sensors, and oil, that kind of mileage on the oil still makes the DIYer in me tense.
Now, though, it’s got six fresh quarts of 0W30, some kind of proprietary “oil conditioner,” and a new oil filter to put my mind at ease. It also got a “fuel conditioner,” a tire rotation, a windshield washer refill, and the usual inspection. Out the door, the service rang in at $197.35 as Alfa doesn’t offer any free service like some competitors. Inspecting the infotainment glitch was free.
Also free was a voluntary recall. Four-cylinder Alfas like ours can suffer from backfiring, which overheats the catalytic converter and can damage nearby components. We never had a backfire, but the dealer installed the latest engine control software per the recall so we (ideally) never will.
Read more on our long-term Alfa Romeo Giulia here:
- Arrival
- Update 1: The Personal Connection
- Update 2: The Italian Scallion
- Update 3: Changes We’d Like
The post 2018 Alfa Romeo Giulia Ti Sport Long-Term Update 4: Pit Stop appeared first on Motortrend.
from Motortrend http://bit.ly/2MQLDw1
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