It's red and it's beautiful

[wjh]

As the forum title suggests, I'm new to the club and to Alfas. I'm very much looking forward to the fun my new Giullietta will offer. My introduction has been rather inauspicious, 10 days after taking delivery it was off the road for 5 weeks. But that's a story for another day.
Cheers
Warwick

[Garibaldi]

Hi Warwick,

Welcome. I hope you enjoy your Giulietta. I am a little concerned it was off the road for 5 weeks.

What happened?

[colcol]

Hello Warwick,
Welcome to the forum, lots of knowledge out there, the Alfa Romeo Owners Club were up at Daylesford a few weeks ago, we go on Sunday runs to interesting places, checked out the weekend market there and had an excellent lunch at the Farmers Arms Hotel, getting to be a lot of Guilieta's around, what caused the 5 week Vehicle Off Road incident?, most Alfa Owners you talk to these days don't seem to have these incidents any more, its a bad memory of the olden days, don't let this setback muddy your enjoyment of what the Marque has to offer, hope you join the club and do some events, Colin.

[wjh]

Thanks for the welcome. I saw you all at the Farmers Arms. Sadly, I was following the Alfa which was on the back of a truck. Turns out the Welsh plug popped out. The replacement from Italy got lost in the post. Peter Stevens Motorworld were very good, pity I can't say the same of others involved.

But that is all behind me, hopefully, and so onward and upward, I've joined the club so hope to get to some events.
Cheers
Warwick

[colcol]

Warwick, what you are saying is that it popped out a welsh plug?, we get parts from the UK within about 3-5 days, dealers should do the same, i have purchased parts through Alfa Romeo dealers in the UK because they had the part for a good price.
Being under warranty they would have to have used a genuine part its not like they can go down to Repco and get a replacment as they have to garantee the part.
Welsh plugs are usually steel and after they are a few years old rust out, the welsh plugs in my 33 were replaced by brass plugs that don't rust, the one in you Guilieta must not have fitted correctly from the start, hope you noticed the leak and didn't cook your motor, Colin.

[Neil Choi]

Which part of Wales did the Welsh plug come from?

Welch plugs by Mr Welch.

You can get them anywhere, replace with brass ones better.

Oh welcome Warwick.

[colcol]

Ok Neil, sorry we will have to call them core [blimey] plugs or freeze plugs, those Welsh plugs cannot be trusted with all that singing going on.
You can imagine that Alfa Romeo/Fiat/Chrysler Australia would frown upon non genuine parts being used for warranty work, but 5 weeks is totaly hopeless for the waiting for a common part like a welsh plug, Colin.

[wjh]

Colin, you're right. They didn't want to use an after market plug. To add insult to injury, the day after I collected it, the battery died. Bad cell it seems, bad dream more like. Though back on the road a week and all is good. Onward & upward. Does anyone have an address for Alfa Romeo Australia, either email or post? I am keen to give them some much needed feed back on their idea of looking after customers.
Thanks
Warwick

[colcol]

Hey Warwick, FIVE WEEKS is totaly unaceptable for a welsh plug replacement, i did one on the 33 and it took me ONE hour, if this is what Alfa Romeo/Fiat/Chrysler's idea of customer satisfaction, then some one should tell them that its not British Leyland circa 1975, its 2013 and there are too many good cars out there to buy.
If you ruined an engine, then five weeks to get it fixed might be acceptable, but a welsh plug, the service manager should have found out how long the replacement would take and made an executive decision and gone to Repco and purchased a brass welch plug that will never rust, unlike the genuine steel ones.
I hope you got a replacement car for your trouble, buying a new car and then having it off the road for five weeks, try explaining that one to your freinds.
On a positive note, Alfa Romeo owners club member up the road from me, well his brother purchased a white Guilieta from Damon at Lance Dixon's, [a long time club sponsor], took me for a drive in it, wow, what a ripper car, does any modern car look that good?, it was tootling along in 3rd gear at about 10 kilometres per hour and he put his foot down and it took off with no hesitation or drama and the power!, 125 kilowatts from a 1.4 with a hair drier, to show you how far we have come, the 1984 5 litre Holden engine had 125 kilowatts and the 1.5 33 had 78 kilowatts, its no wonder the Multi air won international engine of the year.
If you look in the owners manual or look up the Australian customer service website, you should be able to find the National Customer Service Manager, and then put your case to him, Colin.

[Garibaldi]

Col,

I don't know about their customer satisfaction for owners but they don't seem real keen to sell cars. I jumped on the Alfa Romeo website to request a brochure for a new Guilietta and was informed that I would be contacted by the local dealer who I presumed would offer me a test drive along with the brochure. That was 2 weeks ago, so far I've heard nothing.

Gary

[colcol]

I heard that in South Australia there was such a demand for the $25,000 Guilietta that there is a five month waiting list, which is better than the five week waiting list for Guilietta Welsh plugs, Colin.

[AnthonyCaruana]

Wow - scary story. I've had my Giulietta Progression for just over a week. Nearly 800kms and I love driving it!

The kick when the hairdryer starts blowing is sensational!

With the wait times

1. It took one dealer over a week to send me a brochure as well. Crappy service

2. The dealer in Nunawading said that I'd be waiting till Christmas for a Progression (he was happy to get me into the QV he had in stock!). Lance Dixon Doncaster (Bill was my sales guy but he was aided by Damon who i gather is now a minor celebrity amongst local Alfisti) had what i wanted in stock and ready to go. From when I walked into the dealership till I had my car was about 4 work days (and most of that was waiting for the finance company to get organised). And I got a really good price for my trade-in (a 2003 Mini Cooper R50) - basically got the same as I'd have managed on the open market.

Shop around for dealers - while stock might be low, there seems to be some varity around if you're prepared to look around. Even shopping interstate is worth a look if you don;t want to wait - and the drive home could be a fun way to get to know you're new bellezza!