Car&Driver magazine took the hotter-than-fire Alfa Romeo Giulia Quadrifoglio for an extended 40,000-mile test, and it broke their tiny little hearts.
Why so? Well, to anyone who’s ever owned or driven an Alfa Romeo for any length of time, it’s quite simple, really:
Of course the electricals were going to fail — and of course the hoses weren’t going to be properly clamped, and of course the indicator lever was going to snap in your hand like a piece of raw spaghetti, and of course the door-handles and gear knob were going to come off in your hand — wait, the last three didn’t happen?
Actually, by normal Alfa Romeo standards then, the little Giulia QF is quite reliable.
Here’s the thing: the more complicated cars become, the greater the chance that things will go wrong. (Hell, my rock-solid-reliable VW Tiguan has a faulty tire-pressure sensor, and a dicky coolant sensor needs replacing as well — granted, these after 85,000 miles, but still.)
Now add that greater complication to an Italian car — especially any Alfa Romeo — and the chance of things breaking will increase exponentially. All those electrical- and electronic doodads are simply begging to fail, and the more of them there are… well, clearly Car&Driver didn’t get the memo.
Read the linked article for the testers’ comments, which are priceless. My favorite:
Just a prediction: Nobody is going to buy this car when we are done with it.
Wrong. Serious Alfa Romeo fans will read the critique and see that in just over a year, the car was in the shop for a total of three months. Then they’ll shrug and say, “I wonder if I can get it in green?” (Answer: no.)
Silly rabbits.